Does doing yoga make you a Hindu?

[Svipdag]

Merely believing in the philosophy behind the practises of hatha yoga does not constitute yoga either. It is necessary to practise meditation with the objective of achieving samadhi which constitutes real Yoga. This kind of meditatioin is a Hindu practise

[arcticwolf]

What is referred to as "yoga" in the West is nothing but a set of exercises intended to prepare the body for REAL yoga which is meditation. Usually called hatha yoga, it is NOT really yoga, in that the objective of yoga, self-realisation, cannot be achieved through it.

The objective of real yoga is samadhi , often considered to be union with Brahman, but more accurately, total realisation of one's identity with Brahman. There are many ways of achieving this realisation, such as bhakti yoga, in which the object of meditation is a god and samadhi is achieved through total devotion to that god. Jnana yoga, on the other hand, is intellectual , involving the rejection of everything which is NOT Brahman. Its principle is stated as "Neti, neti" (= "not this, not this") These are but two approaches to self-realisation. None of them involves, e.g. standing on one's head. Hatha yoga is just a warm-up.

Samadhi aka tranquility meditation is also one of the two Buddhist forms of meditation, its goal is to develop concentration/focus of the mind, though the heart of Buddhism is vipassana. Many spiritual paths have a version of samadhi meditation, vipassana aka insight meditation is exclusively Buddhist.

[Fortis in Arduis]

It seems some people are butthurt because I tell my opinion about this unmanly activity
You guys shouldn't forget to bring your leather chaps and some mojitos to you next yoga session.

In its early years, transnational Anglophone hatha yoga was developed and practised solely by men, and they were nearly all Brahmins of a particular sub-caste. Stretching (which is a large component of contemporary posture practise) is seen as unmanly simply because women are naturally more flexible, and so women dominate in numbers, because, superficially, it is easier for them. This is a particularly Western phenomenon, yet at the top levels, men are found in more equal numbers, if they are not, in fact, more numerous than women. In the land of its origin, India, women might be more inclined to learn the art of dance, rather than the science of hatha yoga.

There are many brilliant advanced female practicioners, but it would a sad day for Western man if such strength, grace and poise were to be forever regarded as unmanly, when men are the best practicioners, pioneers and proponents of this empowering discipline. Hatha yoga's demand for the physical flexibility that comes more easily to women, lends itself all too well to gender-role stereotyping.

However, your trolling is most pertinent, and desperately needs to be busted wide open because, right now, Europe needs a generation of men with strength, focus and resolve. No man should feel excluded from practising hatha yoga, when hatha yoga's modern development stands on the shoulders of great patriotic men who sought to empower and embolden their nation's manhood.

The Indian hatha yoga revival was a successful nationalist man-building project, inseparable from the development of Hindu nationalism. Do not forget that India was once dominated by two sets of degenerate and parasitical Abrahamics, and that Hindu nationalism was the catalyst that busted them both. Europe may yet undergo a similar revival.

[Svipdag]

Boss, I agree with you, except for one negative aspect in some of the exercises. Some of the exercises take a particular joint beyond its natural ROM=Range Of Motion, that's a huge no, no if you want strong stable joint like you would if you strength train, and should want for health reasons even if you don't. Stretching a joint beyond its ROM renders the joint, loose, weak, and unstable. Other than that, I don't see any harm practicing Yoga.

Yoga the spiritual system is a different story as far as I know.

Very much so, but you have made a valuable point. "No pain, no gain" is a pernicious LIE ! Pain is always a sign that SOMETHING IS WRONG. Muscles and joints which hurt during exercise are being DAMAGED. My position is that "Pain is no gain."

Some trainers claim that "musclebound" is meaningless. I'd love to see one of these stiff over-muscled bodybuilders dance ! I'm sure that an elephant would be much more graceful.

[Fortis in Arduis]

Very much so, but you have made a valuable point. "No pain, no gain" is a pernicious LIE ! Pain is always a sign that SOMETHING IS WRONG. Muscles and joints which hurt during exercise are being DAMAGED. My position is that "Pain is no gain."

Some trainers claim that "musclebound" is meaningless. I'd love to see one of these stiff over-muscled bodybuilders dance ! I'm sure that an elephant would be much more graceful.

Hatha yogis have to learn to distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' pain, never exerting themselves beyond the point where it might impede the next day's practise.

This is where hatha yoga should differ from the stress and recover approach.

If one man exerts himself to 70% of his ability three times a week, needing a day for recovery between each 'workout', whereas another exerts himself to 50% of his ability six days a week, then we have 210 vs. 300. So, which man wins? The answer is obvious.

[arcticwolf]

Very much so, but you have made a valuable point. "No pain, no gain" is a pernicious LIE ! Pain is always a sign that SOMETHING IS WRONG. Muscles and joints which hurt during exercise are being DAMAGED. My position is that "Pain is no gain."

Some trainers claim that "musclebound" is meaningless. I'd love to see one of these stiff over-muscled bodybuilders dance ! I'm sure that an elephant would be much more graceful.

The problem with some of the exercises is they streatch ligaments that's a tremendous mistake, as once stretched they stay stretched, leaving joints weak and vulnerable to injuries. Stretching muscles is beneficial, stretching ligaments is harmful.

As to pain, the old masters taught that you should be more energized at the end of the workout than in the beginning. Nowadays people train to failure and pump is everything. I don't buy it, the old masters had it right, they looked more natural, harmonious, they were very strong and acrobatic. Today is mostly about the looks, it used to be about the functional abilities. I am with the old masters on this.

[Ctwentysevenj]

Just looked at nude yoga video on the internet. Very nice!

[Óttar]

Do not forget that India was once dominated by two sets of degenerate and parasitical Abrahamics, and that Hindu nationalism was the catalyst that busted them both. Europe may yet undergo a similar revival.

Hindu nationalism must not fall prey to the prejudices of 19th century Victorian British morality. They must rediscover their ancient liberal attitudes toward sexuality and gender. Even Hindu nationalist political scientists ironically look to Lord Curzon in crafting a greater India. I am a believer in "study art from every angle or else you just get half the story..." and "If a lion were given wings, it would be a fool not to use them..." - Shaka Zulu; but Hindu nationalism must not gain the world merely to lose its own soul. These Hindutvadi fuckers even protested against the author of a book about 'Many Ramayanas' on the grounds that there can only be one Ramayana...

Let not Hindus turn into an ape of the Abrahamite way of thinking.

[silver_surfer]

Transnational Anglophone yoga (the best term I have heard to describe the hatha yoga movements in Western society) seems to be a form of gymnastics influenced by some ancient practises from the Vedic times. Certainly, it was developed and promoted by enthusiastic Hindus.

Go back seventy years, and both you and I might not have been permitted to learn these forms as they were being developed in India. At first, Westerner men were admitted as students in the 1950s, then Westerner women in the 1970s.

We have to pay homage to T. Krishnamacharya for his work which produced the two most popular systems of hatha yoga in the West, B.K.S. Iyengar's Iyengar Yoga and Pattabhi Jois' Asthanga Vinyasa Yoga.

This excerpt might be of interest:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtang...ory_and_legend

I do not believe that the Yoga Korunta ever existed outside an elaborate public relations / cultural propaganda campaign. Hatha yoga students from Mysore went touring around India giving demonstrations to encourage the development of an Indian physical culture. There have even been suggestions that the developments in Mysore were influenced by observation of the training techniques of the British Army in Mysore. It is possible.

Reading that surya namaskara (meaning "salutations to the sun") has caused religious consternation on the basis that it might be a form of sun worship is quite ridiculous, considering that it was never even part of traditional yogasana, and probably came from the training techniques of Indian wrestlers. Surya namaskara is a warm-up exercise which has the benefits of press-ups and sit-ups, and is recommended for developing upper body strength.

Where and how does hatha yoga become religious or spiritual in Indian culture? The most I could gather was that there were bands of travelling hatha yogis in India, who were regarded as heretical, dangerous and not very respectable.

I have to take slight issue with your statement that hatha yoga in the West is just stretching. Stretching is involved, but take a look at this:



I find it most inspiring.

I don't know much about it in deep, but yoga people do in the west has only the faintest resemblance to the practices of the hindu mystics. Yoga and meditation were designed to enable a person to quiet the body and superfucial mind and go deeper into sustained prayer to God. About the stretching part i said, it basically says get control of yourself, your actions, and your thoughts, through yoga postures and meditation, so that you can have single-minded intense focus and prayer on God. Most people in the US, of course, seem to not want the God part, so many yoga instructors just make it into an exercise program. A lot of people recommend Hatha for beginners, because it tends to be gentler and slower. Hatha will help with mindfulness and relaxation, but it might not be enough if yoga is your main form of exercise. Hatha can actually be seen as a reaction against classic yoga in many ways, rather than an expression or evolution of it.

[Leliana]

Does driving German cars make you German?

(You wish, but it won't. )