TIME Magazine recently
carried an article "Stretching for Jesus" that
covered the concept of how Christian churches, probably
troubled by yoga’s growing popularity in the US, are
trying to appropriate yoga by replacing all Sanskrit mantras
with Christian words and by renaming all yoga asanas. HAF
wrote a letter to the editor making it clear that yoga is
integral to the Hindu spiritual tradition while simultaneously
affirming our pluralism in that Yogic spiritual practices
are available to all without necessarily requiring conversion
on the part of the practitioners. The original TIME article
can be found here.
Your coverage of the growing
concept of "Christian Yoga" in American churches
was timely ("Stretching for Jesus", Time, August
29, 2005). Hindu Americans are rightfully outraged by the
brazen appropriation of one of their vibrant faith's most
lasting contributions to this country's health, well-being
and popular culture. Hindus are increasingly sensitive to
this intellectual property theft, as they have long endured
evangelical and proselytizing groups co-opting Hindu icons,
rituals, music and other traditions in efforts to deceive,
dominate and fraudulently convert too many throughout the
Hindu Diaspora.
Hinduism teaches that yoga,
which literally means union of the body and mind in a quest
to unite the soul with God, is comprised of eight steps of
which the popularly practiced postures are an integral part.
Indeed, the ultimate goal of yoga and Hinduism is one and
the same: union with God. As a pluralistic and tolerant religion,
Hinduism teaches-and every yoga teacher can attest-that one
need not become a Hindu or repudiate their own faith to practice
yoga and reap its immense benefits. It is a sad irony that
some churches seek to exploit Hindu pluralism, and its gift
of yoga, to increase their own legion of churchgoers.
