Yog(a): history; legal and administrative issues
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Christians and Yog(a)
Yoga doesn’t lead to God: Kerala Church
April 5, 2018: The Times of India
While the central government has taken several steps to promote yoga in the country, the Syro-Malabar Church’s doctrinal commission report has said that it was not a medium to attain divine experience.
The report was prepared by the Pala diocese bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangattu. “Yoga is not a way to reach God. It is not right to believe that it will be helpful to experience God or to have a personal encounter with the almighty. Yoga doesn’t bring about any improvement in any person,” said the report.
“The R-S-S and other Sangh Parivar groups are trying to promote yoga all over India. So, the laity should be more vigilant about the practice," the report adds.
“The stand taken by Pope Francis was that yoga was not a medium to attain divine experience. The Pope has several times raised his voice against the use of yoga as a medium of divine experience,” Thalassery archdiocese auxiliary bishop Mar Joseph Pamblani told.
Court decisions, Indian
SC: Yoga education not an enforceable fundamental right
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have led celebrations on International Yoga Day but his government has told the Supreme Court that yoga education cannot be an enforceable fundamental right under the law governing children's right to free and compulsory education.
Petitioner-advocate J C Seth had on March 8, 2011 persuaded the SC to seek response from the Centre on making yoga a compulsory subject in schools citing Section 7(6) and 8(g) and (h) of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
On April 21, the SC had asked additional solicitor general Maninder Singh to look into the issue, which has been pending in the SC for six years awaiting the Centre's response. Seth had filed an appeal in the SC challenging a Delhi high court order rejecting the plea for introduction of yoga as part of the syllabi and holding of compulsory yoga classes for all school students.
In its recent affidavit, the human resource development ministry informed the SC, “RTE Act does not specifically mention about the curriculum of yoga. As such, it cannot be concluded that yoga education has become an enforceable fundamental right. Yoga is an integral part of the curriculum of `Health and Physical Education', which is a compulsory subject for Classes I to X. To that extent, yoga has not been neglected in school education.“
The Centre also clarified that education figured in the concurrent list and a majority of schools were under the control of states and Union Territo ries. Hence, it was for states and UTs to ensure compliance of the provisions of NCF, under which yoga is an integral part of `Health and Physical Education' at all levels of school education, it said. “Implementation of various subject areas including yoga depends upon concerned states and UTs,“ an official said.
“NCF 2005 provides that yoga may be introduced from the primary level onwards in informal ways, but formal introduction of yoga exercises should begin only from Class VI onwards,“ it said.
“So far as schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education are concerned, which has adopted NCERT curriculum and syllabi, `Health and Physical Education' is compulsory for Class I to X and optional at Classes XI and XII,“ the Centre said.
Yog(a) teachers
2015: Non-Indian teachers in Tamil Nadu
The Times of India, Nov 16 2015
Diana Ningthoujam
Yoga gurus across Borders
Three Women From Foreign Shores Have Devoted Themselves To Teaching Yoga, Finding Inner Peace.
Pics: R Ramesh Shankar VALUE AND PURPOSE ARE THE SUSTAINABLE CRITERIA TO TEACH THE WONDERS OF YOGA
Alegal counsel, a psycholo gist and a photography major -bound together at a cosmic level by a reality rooted in the deep philosophy of yoga. Inspired by the idea of trusting the universe to do what it does, they stepped on the yoga mat and ever since, these three women have never been swayed from what they describe as the knowledge of life. Thousands of miles away from their birthplace, they found an awakening in their adopted land of Tamil Nadu, unknown to them before yoga brought them here. Now, they have made the south Indian state their home and have been relaying this knowledge and wisdom to others.
It was on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus that yoga found Iris Dremaine from Latvia. But before she could immerse herself in the asanas and `pranayamas', her life was stuck in the quagmire of stress and exhaustion of a legal job for four years. Iris has been teaching at Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in Kottivakkam for the past six months.
After learning yoga at Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram, Neyyar Dam, in Kerala, she returned to Latvia. “I worked for two years, and took time to understand if this knowledge would work for me,“ she says.
It was a debilitating eating disorder that made 25-year-old Franziska Krusche of Germany step on the yoga mat. After struggling with bulimia for 12 years, she finally found emotional healing through yoga. A n avid traveller since she was 18, Franziska has been to more than 30 countries. In 2012, in Bali, an inner voice told her to search for the brave new world of yoga. So she sold all her belongings in Germany and came to the Sivananda Centre, Neyyar Dam, to study yoga. She has been teaching yoga for the past few weeks at 136.1 Yoga Studio in Alwarpet.
Fluent in Spanish, Italian, French and English, she wants to combine psychology and yoga teaching in future. “I want to set up my business and start healing people with emotional problems. London-born, US-raised Erin Korn began her yoga journey from high school. This 32-year-old yogini first came to India in 2005 to undergo Isha Yoga's teachers' training and has been a full-time volunteer with the centre in Coimbatore ever since. Taking cue from her major in photography, Erin believes in capturing moments in life and turning them into something mean ingful.
Though many rue yoga has become commercialised, value and purpose are the sustainable criteria on which a strong foundation to teach the wonders of yoga can be built, she feels.
A secular, international fitness regime
US Court: Yoga now a secular American phenomenon
Chidanand Rajghatta TNN
The Times of India 2013/07/04
Washington: Yoga enthusiasts in the US got a big boost this week when a California judge ruled that the practice which originated in India is now a “distinctly American cultural phenomenon,” while dismissing complaints from some parents that teaching it to school children amounted to “an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions.”
Weeks of testimony from yoga practitioners and opponents, including live demonstration in courtroom of poses taught to children, came to a convoluted finale on Monday when Judge John Mayer agreed that yoga “at its roots is religious,” but pronounced that the kind introduced by a school district near San Diego, which was the subject of the litigation, passed the test of secularism. “A reasonable student would not objectively perceive that Encinitas School District yoga does advance or promote religion,” he said.
Parents of some children had sued to stop the school district from teaching yoga maintaining it is a religious practice that surreptitiously promoted Hinduism. Funded with $533,000 from the K Pattabhi Jois Foundation, which is backed by Jois acolytes, hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife Sonia, the school district introduced a three-year pilot yoga programme in 2011.
While some 30 families pulled their children out of the classes, saying teaching of yoga in schools blurred the line between church and state and “represents a serious breach of the public trust,” many parents backed the programme. School authorities said in court that they had removed all religious elements from what was taught to the students, including the use of the word Namaste and substituting Sanskrit name of asanas with English ones. For instance, Padmasana, usually called lotus pose in English, became “criss cross apple sauce” in Americanese to appeal to children.
In fact, Judge Meyer, who had told the court early in the case that he himself had taken Bikram yoga classes, went so far as to observe that the yoga taught in Encinitas schools was no different from exercise programmes like dodgeball. He was also irritated that some of the plaintiffs were not really informed about yoga as taught in the Encinitas schools and had simply got their information from dubious sources on the internet.
Yog is secular: US court
Apr 05 2015
School yoga is secular, says US court
A US court on Friday ruled that yoga taught in a California school was “devoid of any religious, mystical or spiritual trappings“ and didn't violate students' right to religious freedom, after some parents filed a lawsuit alleging that Hindu and Buddhist doctrines were being surreptitiously promoted through yoga classes. It upheld a lower court's ruling that the practice was now a “distinctly American cultural phenomenon“, reports Chidanand Rajghatta. The Encinitas Union School District had introduced a three-year yoga programme in 2011, with biweekly classes. Thirty families pulled their kids out of the classes though the school said the classes were also aimed at curbing aggressive behaviour and bullying.
The parents' attorney hinted they may now move the Supreme Court.
Yoga has no religious trappings: US court
Apr 05 2015
Chidanand Rajghatta
Attempts by yoga opponents in California to twist the ancient Indian practice to present it as religious indoctrination has again been rejected by a US court. A three-judge panel of the 4th district court of appeal upheld a decision by the San Diego superior court that the yoga programme in the Encinitas School District is “devoid of any religious, mystical or spiritual trappings.“
“We conclude that the programme is secular... (and) does not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion, and does not excessively entangle the school district in religion,“ the appeals court said on Friday .
As reported in this paper earlier in 2013, a lower court judge in California has already ruled that practice that originated in India is now a “distinctly American cultural phenomenon,“ while dismissing complaints from some parents that teaching it to school children amounted to “an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions.“
Parents of some children had sued to stop the school district from teaching yoga, maintaining it is a religious practice that surreptitiously promoted Hinduism and Buddhism. Funded with $533,000 from the K Pattabhi Jois Foundation, which is backed by Jois acolytes, hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife Sonia, the school had introduced a three-year pilot yoga programme in 2011, with twice-a week classes in addition to regular physical education.
While some 30 families pulled their children out of the classes, saying teaching of yoga in schools blurred the line between church and state and “represents a serious breach of the public trust,“ many parents backed the programme, which the school said was also aimed at curbing aggressive behaviour and bullying. The school later told the court that it had removed all religious elements, including the use of `namaste', and substituting the Sanskrit name of asanas with English ones.
For instance, Padmasana, usually called lotus pose in English, was termed “criss cross apple sauce“ in the Encinitas school programme to appeal to children. In fact, the judge in that case went so far as to observe that the yoga taught in Encinitas schools was no different from exercise programmes like dodgeball. He was also irritated that the plaintiffs were not really informed about yoga as taught in the Encinitas schools and had simply got their information from dubious sources on the internet.“It's almost like a trial by Wikipedia, which isn't what this court does,“ he observed.
The chastisement did not stop the plaintiffs from going to the appeals court, which again snubbed them and upheld the ruling of the district court, which heard and saw weeks of testimony from yoga practitioners and opponents, including live demonstration in courtroom of poses taught to children.
Attorney Dean Broyles, who represented the parents in the lawsuit, said he and his clients “are disappointed with the decision and we are carefully considering our options,“ -a hint that the matter could even head to the supreme court.
Rishikesh exports yoga teachers
Prachi Raturi Misra, Rishikesh yoga gurus have China in a twist , March 7, 2017: The Times of India
Rishikesh, believed by many to be the yoga ca pital of India, is also emerging as one of the biggest exporters of yoga teachers to Southeast Asia as well as China where demand for yoga is at an all-time high.An estimated 1,500 Indian yo ga teachers, for instance, are believed to be teaching in China. Of these, 70 to 80% hail from Rishikesh and Haridwar, home to various yoga schools where these teachers have honed their skills.
Ashish Bahuguna, who has been teaching yoga in China for over a decade now, learned his asanas at the Par marth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh. Last year, he was conferred the title of `The Most Beautiful Yogi of China'. Bahuguna, who runs his own studio `WeYoga' in Beijing, says that even though there are others who are teaching yoga, Indian teachers are the most preferred. “The Chinese prefer us since we have a grip over the basics of the science,“ he told TOI over email.
According to a report by Beijing-based Daxue Consulting, yoga is growing rapidly in China with the number of people involved in its practice rising from four million in 2009 to 10 million in 2014. China has seen a surge in the number of yoga teachers in the country While in 2009, about 1.1 lakh .professional coaches -both local and from across the globe --were active here, the number had jumped to 2.3 lakh by 2014, as per a report by Beijingbased Daxue Consulting.
Mohan Bhandari, one of the first yoga teachers from Rishikesh to settle in China, says that the Chinese are very particular about learning yoga “the right way .“ “It is a characteristic of the Chinese that they want to learn things from people who they consider as subject natives. That is why the demand for Indian yoga teachers is high in the country .“
Bhandari, who went to China in 2003, now has a chain of `Yogi Yoga' studios across that country and claims to have over 9,000 students enrolled with him. In Rishikesh currently , along with a few of his students for the International Yoga Festival being held at the Parmarth Niketan ashram, Bhandari told TOI that the surging demand for good teachers -he estimates the yoga industry in China as growing at an annual rate of 20% -has prompted many youngsters to follow in his footsteps. “I have seen a sizeable number of well-qualified boys from Rishikesh come to China to teach yoga. All of them are earning upwards of Rs 1 lakh per month.“ Although there are several types of yoga styles being taught in the various studios, Iyengar Yoga (which uses props) is a big hit with the Chinese. Manu Rana, another Rishikesh lad who now teaches yoga in the Fujian province of southwest China, says that Iyengar Yoga despite being tough “gives great results and has impressed many of my students“.
David Li, a Chinese yoga practitioner, told TOI over email that “yoga has given me great benefits and rejuvenation. Last year, I got the opportunity to visit the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh and became completely enamoured with the practice. I soon enrolled in an Indian yoga studio in my city . I think I must have done some good deeds that I am able to learn this ancient practice from traditional teachers“.
Outside India
`Yoga' among 15 popular words in UK
`Yoga' among top 15 popular words in UK |Apr 14 2017 : PTI
`Yoga' along with words like `Facebook' and `Twitter' is among the top fifteen popular words in the British society , say scientists who found that the internet age has had a massive influence on the English language.
The study , by Lancaster University and Cambridge University Press in the UK, looked at the most characteristic words of informal chit-chat in today's Britain.
