Alabama upholds a ban on yoga in school citing fears of the practice spreading Hinduism

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[–]jet199Instigatrix 5 insightful - 5 fun5 insightful - 4 fun6 insightful - 5 fun -  (3 children)

Yoga is barely hindu.

Modern yoga was created by con artists out of purely spiritual practices and British gymnastic exercise books as a way to molest vulnerable people.

Pretty much all the first yoga gurus had sexual abuse scandals around them.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Is the kind of yoga that has gurus considered modern? That was more of a cult thing from back in the 60s and 70s. Not that cults don't still exist, but I thought modern yoga had moved beyond that kind of thing.

TriYoga is the meditative trinity of posture, breath and mind. Prana-inspired and systematically introduced, TriYoga unites pranayama and mudra with dynamic and sustained asanas. The TriYoga Flow has the inherent qualities of rhythmic pacing, relaxation-in-action, wavelike spinal movements and economy of motion.

When the movement of asana, breath and mudra harmonize, the inner flow of prana is experienced. Continued practice makes the body~mind a fit instrument for meditation and for life.

Maybe I was wrong about the cult/religious aspect, although Kali Ray is not exactly a 'sexual abuser' type.

[–]jet199Instigatrix 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Did you see the Bikram documentary?

It's still mostly rapey gurus.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Haven't seen it, but that's kind of the whole point of being a guru. Most people being dumb herd animals just makes it easier.

[–]InvoluntaryHalibut 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

I think they are right, that it is a form of hindu meditation. I think it is reasonable to say that this is promotion of a pagan religion which is in conflict with christian beliefs and probably some other religions too. It makes total sense to me that devout christians object to it.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

What do you think about the exercises (postures) themselves? Could the physical movements be successfully separated from the hindu religious trappings?

[–]InvoluntaryHalibut 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Down facing dog is the the devils conduit to your soullllll!!!!!

Look, I think christians have a valid gripe here all joking aside. If you allow some yoga teacher to teach it to kids, even if you call it something else, it is from hinduism. I dont think you could ever divorce it from its origins in a way that would be satisfactory to devout christians who reject paganism. It is more incrementalism of globalism/progressivism on their way of life. Symbols mean something. This is a symbol of paganism. It really is a pagan practice. It doesnt bother me, but I dont see why they need to put up with it in the schools. Fuck, why are they wasting time on that shit anyway. Have them jog around the gym a couple times and then get back to math lessons.

Nobody swears around here. Am I going to get thrown off the pyramid or something.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I kind of see your point, but I'd also separate "modern" Christians from the less than 1% of actual Christians. Care of the temple is found in the yoga exercises, even if the moderns are more oriented towards corporate sports.

I know a lot of yoga teaching is oriented towards the hindu version, but I'm not seeing anti-Christianity in the actual physical movements. I might be missing something, but is there anything inherently anti-Christian in the postures themselves?

You might not call it 'yoga' if you put a Christian templet on it to replace the hindu stuff. But physical body movement that's oriented towards temple maintenance seems like it could easily be a Christian practice.

[–]jet199Instigatrix 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes, because they all originally come from European gymnastic excerises.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The practice of Yoga was started during the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India over 5,000 years ago. It was first mentioned in Rig Veda, a collection of texts that consisted of rituals, mantras, and songs which was mainly used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests.

Just a google result for 'origins'. But mixing and matching along the way over 5k years seems pretty likely.

[–]hennaojichan 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

That's Ha-ha Yoga.

[–]JoeyJoeJoe 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That sounds completely unconstitutional.

[–]NodeThis is my flair. There are many like it, but this one is mine. 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

"chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas, and 11 namaste greetings shall be expressly prohibited."

I don't have a deeply considered opinion on this, but I think the exercises themselves are beneficial. If you remove the overt and quasi-hindu trappings, I'm not seeing a reason why the exercises couldn't be a Christian exercise practice. It's not like Jesus mandated jumping jacks and pushups.

[–]bjam27 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Or it's because it's complete bullshit made up by a cult leader in the 70s.

[–]Salsashark 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't know a single person that would consider Yoga spreading Hinduism. And I'm from one of the most conservative cities in the US, in west Texas.