Today we are all modern people and
all our interests are of that kind. The
things we are interested in and we
carry out all have that modern touch. In
yoga too it is the same thing. Imagine
going to a small chawl where a person
is learning and practicing yoga, against
a place where there are beautiful
mansions, yoga studios, well dressed
people. Naturally, our preference will
be for the latter kind of yoga. We are
impressed. We believe it is scientific
and modern. Our friends are also in it.
The question of going to a small place
and learning from an individual does
not arise.
Yoga, in that sense, is growing.
There are thousands of yoga centers in
America. They are very well decorated,
furnished and very impressive. Even
the teacher looks impressive. Crowds
of people are also there. There is no
question about what is taught and what
is not taught. In our country also it is
the same thing. A lady joined the 7-day
camp at our Institute, but within one
day she decided she did not want to
continue. The reason was that she was
in another kind of a yoga center where
a number of things were taught and
the teaching was done in a great, showy
way. So these simple things here did not
interest her.
We are influenced by the modern
culture, the modern show, etc. We join
yoga because others are doing yoga.
We have a problem and we want to
solve that problem, and we know that
this is a subject that is helping. So, with
these vague ideas, we join. But we are
not interested in going deeper into the
subject as such. We attend a class and
the teacher, with great flourish, teaches.
Sometimes there is music, sometimes
candles and other things, and we are
very happy. Then we discontinue after
some time.The spirit of yoga should enter and
transform us. That is something we are
least interested in. Many times when
the question is asked, we say we don’t
want to become Yogis, as if being a Yogi
is a big dangerous thing. We want to
remain as we are.So, while we are learning yoga this
bias is very strong and therefore we
are not able to do full justice to what
we are learning. There is no such deep
dedication, nor total involvement, nor
faith. What is there is learning many
techniques? The techniques are very
impressive externally, many people are
doing it and are gaining some results
also, but the point we have to consider
while learning yoga is whether we
are interested in learning yoga or we
are interested in the presentation of
techniques, external show and quick
results.Talk by
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra