One of Mumbai’s finest yoga teachers is Father Joe Perreira, a catholic priest who has given thousands a glimpse of how our finite bodies can reach for the infinite. So when two clergymen from Somerset, UK, recently banned a yoga instructor from using the Church premises for her ‘un-Christian’ classes, it was ironic but not surprising. Ironic because the essence of yoga is uncannily similar to Biblical theology. And not surprising because ever since Galileo had the temerity to suggest that the Earth revolves around the sun, the Church has always been suspicious of ‘heathen’ cults.Of course, today yoga is more than a cult. It is a 30 billion dollar global phenomenon with an estimated 50 million converts from Beverly Hills to Beijing, and growing in inverse proportion to rapidly emptying Church pews in the Christian world. Presumably, this doesn’t exactly make it the Sunday sermon favourite in ecclesiastical circles.Now, again, far from surprisingly — Somerset’s divine fracas has been hijacked by yoga’s secular motherland. “It is foolish to link yoga with any religion,” says Guru Baba Ramdev of the VHP, “it is just a scientific tool to make the body and mind healthier.” I humbly beg to disagree with His Holiness, and — again, ironically enough — rest my case with the apex body of the Indian Catholic Church. “Yoga is deeply rooted in Hindu tradition” retorts Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, “it is not just physical exercise but sadhana too.” I’m afraid he’s right. Yoga is nothing but sadhana or spiritual practice that unites body, mind and soul with seamless perfection. India needs to emphasise this, instead of getting seduced by its new body-beautiful branding. In fact, asana practice is only one ‘limb’ of yoga’s ‘eightfold path’ that also includes yama (codes of conduct), niyama (rules of life), pranayama (breathing exercises), pratyahara (inner silence), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (ultimate attainment). Yes, all these are deeply rooted in Vedic philosophy, which, incidentally, happens to be a profoundly universal and catholic doctrine. In addition, yoga is powerfully therapeutic. That is why it must be taught by qualified practitioners from accredited institutions. You can spend an entire lifetime being a student of yoga. Yet today, even in this country, ‘instructors’ are being churned out in three days at five-star ‘retreats’ — mere novices who charge an arm and a leg for cavalier classes. This is not just unethical, it is dangerous, because yogic practices like breathing and meditation are very potent and traditionally imparted only when the student has gained a certain degree of physical proficiency. Wrongly taught, yoga can cause serious injury, psychic disturbances and mental illness. Yet even classical yoga institutes are preferring catch-and-carry weight-loss, stress-relief and diabetes management ‘packages’ on popular demand. Unfortunately, this popularisation inevitably leads to vulgarisation. An example is Somerset’s banned “Yum Yum Yoga” class for toddlers. Now I may be wrong but yoga is traditionally never taught to toddlers. Or dogs. Or cats. Neither, as far as I know, is it classically performed in the nude, for ‘tighter bums and tums’, to hip-hop and rave, with disco and salsa, on a $560 Gucci yoga mat, or in 105 degrees fahrenheit, a la Bikram Choudhury, Hollywood’s Rolls Royce driving ‘guru to the stars’ who is attempting to patent his line of ‘hot’ yoga. While most of these are harmless, I am not sure they really qualify as ‘yoga’, at least, not the kind of yoga the Church need worry about. Nevertheless, the Indian government has finally sought to protect our 5,000 year old brand by cataloguing 1,500 poses for its traditional knowledge digital library. But this is as absurd as trying to copyright the Bhagwad Gita or the Bible! Yoga is India’s gift to humanity, one we have never successfully packaged or sold. Yet, we do need to ensure that our gift remains genuine.
