Yoga programme at US school sparks religious controversy

[Developereo]

About 20 million Americans practice yoga daily.Are you saying they are all taking a crash course on Hinduism.Stop talking such BS.Yoga has physical,mental and spiritual disciplines.Majority of the people practice only physical disciplines only just like another means of exercise.

Context makes all the difference.

If I go (i.e. opt in) to a yoga class at my gym, it's all physical and there's no mention of anything spiritual. If I take a similar class at a yoga institute then, depending on the teacher, there might be quite a bit of discussion. However, it was I who chose to opt in to the yoga institute, so it is OK.

This is very different from a school activity for small kids in an environment led by an authority figure. Unless the teachers are strictly monitored, many teachers have a tendency to get into the cultural aspects -- especially when they are affiliated with a hardcore yoga foundation like the one mentioned. These are not your typical gym class teachers, but philosophical yoga devotees who can't keep quiet for two seconds without blabbering on about the spirituality. I know, because I have taken any number of yoga classes and know the different types of teachers.

Hinduism may, or may not, proselytize but some of these teachers -- like a lot of new age devotees (vegetarianism, climate change, environmentalism, etc.) -- have a missionary zeal that would make people squirm.

Would you be OK if your kids school had a course where a mullah and a priest came down every week to "discuss" Islam and Christianity? The kids would be expected to attend the course as a normal part of school unless they explicitly opted out. It would put them in an uncomfortable spot of standing out from other kids and teachers.

 

[indushek]

what about this saying

“There is no Yoga without Hinduism and no Hinduism without Yoga"

You don't visualize the lord of Yoga( Hindu God Shiva) when you close your eyes? It is also part of several Hindu rituals and prayers.

Actually if u go to a yoga teacher who is properly trained himself, he will tell you to close your eyes while doing the asana and keep ur mind calm. You are not needed to memorize anything as your thoughts will run away there and the peace of mind is not attained. Yoga while toning the body also provides much needed peace of mind.

It is the choice of the learner on what he wants to concentrate his mind on, it can be the eternal darkness or the incantation om (for those religious) or whatever u think gives u peace of mind. In this process u leave out unnecessary thoughts. Nothing to do with religion, but there are set of postures called surya namaskar which can be termed Hindu belief as u are praying to Sun god.

Context makes all the difference.

If I go (i.e. opt in) to a yoga class at my gym, it's all physical and there's no mention of anything spiritual. If I take a similar class at a yoga institute then, depending on the teacher, there might be quite a bit of discussion. However, it was I who chose to opt in to the yoga institute, so it is OK.

This is very different from a school activity for small kids in an environment led by an authority figure. Unless the teachers are strictly monitored, many teachers have a tendency to get into the cultural aspects -- especially when they are affiliated with a hardcore yoga foundation like the one mentioned. These are not your typical gym class teachers, but philosophical yoga devotees who can't keep quiet for two seconds without blabbering on about the spirituality. I know, because I have taken any number of yoga classes and know the different types of teachers.

Hinduism may, or may not, proselytize but some of these teachers -- like a lot of new age devotees (vegetarianism, climate change, environmentalism, etc.) -- have a missionary zeal that would make people squirm.

Would you be OK if your kids school had a course where a mullah and a priest came down every week to "discuss" Islam and Christianity? The kids would be expected to attend the course as a normal part of school unless they explicitly opted out. It would put them in an uncomfortable spot of standing out from other kids and teachers.

If such is the case and the parents feel kids are changing believes then they have every right to protest. Also it is the responsibility of the school management to take care of these matters don't u think?

 

[Spring Onion]

Please dont mind but a funny innovation which they made to dilute the parents objection, is to rename the poses as Dog Pose Monkey Pose, warrior pose etc etc.


i wonder if at the end the yoga owners get offended by such names DOG pose ?

 

[Azazel]

Context makes all the difference.

If I go (i.e. opt in) to a yoga class at my gym, it's all physical and there's no mention of anything spiritual. If I take a similar class at a yoga institute then, depending on the teacher, there might be quite a bit of discussion. However, it was I who chose to opt in to the yoga institute, so it is OK.

This is very different from a school activity for small kids in an environment led by an authority figure. Unless the teachers are strictly monitored, many teachers have a tendency to get into the cultural aspects -- especially when they are affiliated with a hardcore yoga foundation like the one mentioned. These are not your typical gym class teachers, but philosophical yoga devotees who can't keep quiet for two seconds without blabbering on about the spirituality. I know, because I have taken any number of yoga classes and know the different types of teachers.

Would you be OK if your kids school had a course where a mullah and a priest came down every week to "discuss" Islam and Christianity? The kids would be expected to attend the course as a normal part of school unless they explicitly opted out. It would put them in an uncomfortable spot of standing out from other kids and teachers.

Why don't you prove that Yoga teachers in US school are indeed teaching students Hindu beliefs.They are simply allegations.

Islam and Christianity are proper religion and have certain set of dogmas associated with them Don't compare them with Yoga.Spirituality in Yoga has nothing to do with any Gods or religion.It about an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being.It does not talk about any god at all.

 

[walwal]

I clearly have no idea but you contradict

Statue of Lord Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation in the Padmasana posture.

The argument makes me laugh at the same time wonder how people are brainwashed and not aware of the facts. Look at these pictures below



The above pose is known as Vajrasana. Google that if you dont know and will learn about its benefits. It resembles pretty close to the namaz pose as below.

Having said that, does Yoga now become Islamic ? Was'nt this unwarranted affillifation the reason behind uproar in Malaysia sometime back where a local Mullah declared fatwa against Yoga ?

Isn't this the same USA who markets concepts very well where the current uproar is ? They produce and market tonnes of Yoga accessories like yoga mat, yoga trousers, caps, t shirts and what not. Words like power yoga, quick yoga and this yoga that yga have originated from US. In essence, Yoga is originates from having close affinity to elements of nature for betterment of health. And I dont deny it might be based on Hindu philosophy; but again Hindu or Vedic philosophy has much to do with five elements of nature which goes beyond imposing , forcing and brainwashing people to follow a particular way.

Due to same reason in our country, our own politicians created an uproar by opposing Suryanamaskar, which is one of the most wholesome form of exercise.

 

[Trisonics]

Please dont mind but a funny innovation which they made to dilute the parents objection, is to rename the poses as Dog Pose Monkey Pose, warrior pose etc etc.


i wonder if at the end the yoga owners get offended by such names DOG pose ?

Why will they be? Happy, healthy, children will make everyone happy. No need to speculate when not one Hindu has objected to what a school in US decides. Furthermore, I fail to understand the motive and discussion on this topic.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

With this type of ignorance they will only produce Honey Boo Boo type of future Generation !!!

Worry about in India? Even here only a small percentage of students practise YOGA. Private schools have taken a lead.
But when govt school tries to enforce good things like yoga, 'some' people will start using the name of religion instead of physical and mental benefit.
It should be made compulsory all over India, as it is an Indian art form.

With this type of ignorance they will only produce Honey Boo Boo type of future Generation !!!

Worry about in India? Even here only a small percentage of students practise YOGA. Private schools have taken a lead.
But when govt school tries to enforce good things like yoga, 'some' people will start using the name of religion instead of physical and mental benefit.
It should be made compulsory all over India, as it is an Indian art form.

 

[Developereo]

If such is the case and the parents feel kids are changing believes then they have every right to protest. Also it is the responsibility of the school management to take care of these matters don't u think?

I suspect the school did not address the parents' concerns, which is why the matter escalated.

Like I wrote, there is a whole spectrum of teachers' attitudes -- from the all-physical casual gym teacher (vast majority) to the missionary zealot -- any maybe the school got one of the latter. I have had teachers who felt that physical yoga without a spiritual connection was a waste of time, and one might as well do pilates.

Why don't you prove that Yoga teachers in US school are indeed teaching students Hindu beliefs.They are simply allegations.

I don't need to prove anything. I am stating a fact that some teachers I have had behaved as such.

Did the teachers in this school behave that way? I don't know. That's what the lawyers will need to prove.

 

[Spring Onion]

The argument makes me laugh at the same time wonder how people are brainwashed and not aware of the facts. Look at these pictures below



The above pose is known as Vajrasana. Google that if you dont know and will learn about its benefits. It resembles pretty close to the namaz pose as below.

Having said that, does Yoga now become Islamic ? Was'nt this unwarranted affillifation the reason behind uproar in Malaysia sometime back where a local Mullah declared fatwa against Yoga ?

Isn't this the same USA who markets concepts very well where the current uproar is ? They produce and market tonnes of Yoga accessories like yoga mat, yoga trousers, caps, t shirts and what not. Words like power yoga, quick yoga and this yoga that yga have originated from US. In essence, Yoga is originates from having close affinity to elements of nature for betterment of health. And I dont deny it might be based on Hindu philosophy; but again Hindu or Vedic philosophy has much to do with five elements of nature which goes beyond imposing , forcing and brainwashing people to follow a particular way.

Due to same reason in our country, our own politicians created an uproar by opposing Suryanamaskar, which is one of the most wholesome form of exercise.

Please do NOT bracket us with yoga for your own point scoring since ours is a simple religious parying NOT marketing for money, practice

 

[indushek]

Please dont mind but a funny innovation which they made to dilute the parents objection, is to rename the poses as Dog Pose Monkey Pose, warrior pose etc etc.


i wonder if at the end the yoga owners get offended by such names DOG pose ?

There are no owners of yoga as such, its been around for thousands of years. Nobody can take ownership for this 'healthy way of life'. However one remembers India immediately talking of yoga.

 

[Spring Onion]

, I fail to understand the motive and discussion on this topic.

ENCINITAS, Calif. — By 9:30 a.m. at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School, tiny feet were shifting from downward dog pose to chair pose to warrior pose in surprisingly swift, accurate movements. A circle of 6- and 7-year-olds contorted their frames, making monkey noises and repeating confidence-boosting mantras




A small but vocal group of parents, spurred on by the head of a local conservative advocacy group, has likened these 30-minute yoga classes to religious indoctrination. They say the classes — part of a comprehensive program offered to all public school students in this affluent suburb north of San Diego — represent a violation of the First Amendment.

After the classes prompted discussion in local evangelical churches, parents said they were concerned that the exercises might nudge their children closer to ancient Hindu beliefs



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/u...s-religious-protest-from-christians.html?_r=0

 

[indushek]

I suspect the school did not address the parents' concerns, which is why the matter escalated.

Like I wrote, there is a whole spectrum of teachers' attitudes -- from the all-physical casual gym teacher to the missionary zealot -- any maybe the school got one of the latter. I have had teachers who felt that physical yoga without a spiritual connection was a waste of time, and one might as well do pilates.



.

Yes may be that is the point on which this made to the newspapers. The management should have been more forthcoming in solving such issues. If the teacher is the kind u speak of then they should have arranged a meeting with the kid's parents and discuss the issue with them. However attaching religion to yoga is not a good idea, my yoga guru (i call him so because he brought to me into it but i didn't learn exactly from him but from a book) clearly told not to do any incantations like om and just keep the mind clear of thoughts and concentrate on the breathing i.e. my exhalation and inhalation. It does depend on the teacher as i have seen teachers making the learners do om.

 

[Vibs]

ENCINITAS, Calif. — By 9:30 a.m. at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School, tiny feet were shifting from downward dog pose to chair pose to warrior pose in surprisingly swift, accurate movements. A circle of 6- and 7-year-olds contorted their frames, making monkey noises and repeating confidence-boosting mantras




A small but vocal group of parents, spurred on by the head of a local conservative advocacy group, has likened these 30-minute yoga classes to religious indoctrination. They say the classes — part of a comprehensive program offered to all public school students in this affluent suburb north of San Diego — represent a violation of the First Amendment.

After the classes prompted discussion in local evangelical churches, parents said they were concerned that the exercises might nudge their children closer to ancient Hindu beliefs



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/u...s-religious-protest-from-christians.html?_r=0

A small but vocal group....That's my key take away. I would have been more interested in knowing if the people teaching yoga were Hindu in the first place. If not, it is ridiculous. We have to remember these are evangelists. (Evangelism is the preaching of the Christian Gospel or the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others with the object of conversion.)

Evangelists represent one of the more extreme side of Christianism and have been known to try and throw the theory of evolution out of school syllabus and interpret the extinction of dinosaurs as proof of Noah's flood and continuously claim that the Earth is no more than 6000 years old.

This is just another ridiculous tantrum thrown by them. I wouldn't read too much into it. It's a problem of the United States. They are welcome to it.

 

[walwal]

Please do NOT bracket us with yoga for your own point scoring since ours is a simple religious parying NOT marketing for money, practice

Oh Oh Oh Dear, You missed my point ! I am not that cadre to bracket anything so easily into religious bracket. In fact I hate to do so. I just wanted to ask the poster (I believe Raja. Pakistani) that would you associate in that case Vajrasana to Namaz ? My answer is emphatic NO.

The question stemmed out from the picture he showed of Lord Shiva sitting in Padmasana and hence associated with Hinduism.

I hope I have made my point.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

what about this saying

“There is no Yoga without Hinduism and no Hinduism without Yoga"

You don't visualize the lord of Yoga( Hindu God Shiva) when you close your eyes? It is also part of several Hindu rituals and prayers.

I don't , no .

Neither do most people in the west who practice yoga. Yoga has been practiced in West for quite some time now , they haven't complained of any such thing before . In this case , there are just some very conservative parents who are worried about such a thing , for these parents and their kids , the classes have been made optional. Perfect.