Yoga: For a Stable Mind & Body

British actress Anastasia Griffith (Solitary Man), 31, who is a big fan of yoga and does meditation also, thinks “yoga can help really to keep you centered, keep you grounded, keep you focused”.

Brazilian actress Morena Baccarin (Way Off Broadway), 30, reportedly said: “I like Jivamukti yoga, which is really hard and acrobatic, but there’s a lot of meditation too, which is nice.”

MTV Award winner American model-actress-singer Carmen Electra (Starsky & Hutch), 37, was reportedly spotted doing yoga moves while holidaying in Greece.

BAFTA winner actress Thandie Newton (Crash), 37, reportedly considers herself “yoga freak”. Cesar Award winner French actress-singer Vanessa Paradis (La fille sur le pont), 36, and actress Rebecca Gayheart (Bunny Whipped), 38, also practice yoga.

But acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed argues that ‘yoga’ has come to only mean in the entertainment world as ‘modern postural yoga’, while it actually is a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) unites with universal-soul (parmatman).Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further says that some sages have described yoga as the silencing of all mental transformations, which leads to the total realization of the Supreme Self. Some have used yoga attempting to gain liberation by removing all sensory barriers. According to Patanjali, author of the basic text, the Yoga Sutra, who codified yoga after being founded by Yajanavalkya, yoga is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

Rajan Zed has urged entertainment celebrities to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga also besides its physical benefits. Yoga is based on an eightfold path to direct the practitioner from awareness of the external world to a focus on the inner, which includes yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, darana, dhyana, and samadhi. ‘Raja-adhiraja-yoga’ (king of kings yoga) or ‘maha yoga’ is the highest form of yoga through which mind is free from anger, lust, fear, greed, jealousy, and melancholy.
Prominent Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman reportedly once said in an interview that while doing yoga, everything was in the present tense. Celebrity interest in yoga, which is referred as “a living fossil”, has definitely fueled the hype resulting in its explosive growth. According to an estimate, about 15 million Americans now do yoga.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that other celebrities, who had benefited from Hindu practices, should also come out in support of charities promoting Hinduism concepts.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, invited all entertainment celebrities to explore meditation to combat stress that their challenging jobs bring and to increase the powers of their minds.

If any celebrity needed assistance in his/her exploration in meditation arena, he or other Hindu scholars would gladly provide, Rajan Zed added.

Malaysia Bans Muslims from Yoga

A few days back I talked about how an American school is allowing the students to practice yoga without calling it Yoga. Now, more drama.

Muslim clerics of Malaysia issues a fatwa on Yoga. They believe this practice has Hindu elements…and we cannot have Muslims following kaffir influenced things, can we? You know, this is interesting. No matter how much we make fun of the Americans, the Muslim clerics always cross the limits and do something hilariously ridiculous thing.

Yoga is an ancient art of living healthy. Just because this rose from ancient Hindu philosophy it doesn’t mean just practicing yoga you become a Hindu. This is a cultural discovery. Now, the Christians invented computers, iPhone and all other cool stuff, why don’t the Muslim clerics put a ban on all these things? Those are all kaffir influenced devilish materials.

Well, it doesn’t work that way. They take the convinient path and it’s convinient to ban Yoga but a big hassle to ban the internet. We do have to mention though that youtube, wikipedia and all other Satanic websites had been banned by Malaysia, Pakistani and other Islamic countries. For sometime around mid 1990s, the Satanic internet was totally banned in Bangladesh. That’s a big achievement Bangladesh should be proud of.

The thing is that doing these types of things these clerics are really turning Muslims in general a laughing stock to the whole world.

Anyways, I totally consider myself to be a Hindu but I don’t do yoga. I have friends, who don’t call them Hindus but do Yoga all the time. People, who want to do yoga will do it in their private places regardless of stupid fatwas.

The Islamic authorities have issued a ruling, known as a fatwa, instructing the country’s Muslims to avoid yoga because of its Hindu roots.

To most people yoga is simply a sport – a stress-busting start to the day.

Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council said it goes further than that and that elements of the Indian religion are inherent in yoga.

Announcing the decision, the council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said practices like chanting and what he called worshipping were inappropriate and they could “destroy the faith of a Muslim”.

The ruling is not legally binding but many of Malaysia’s Muslims abide by fatwas.
Yoga classes here are filled with mostly non-Muslim Malaysians of Chinese or Indian descent, but in the major cities it is not uncommon to see several Muslim women at classes.

Read more: Malaysia Issues Fatwa on Yoga

We do not have to mention the fact that Yoga is a cultural thing now. It has roots in Hinduism definitely but practicing yoga doesn’t turn you into a Hindu. You do not become a Hindu by practicing yoga. Therefore, encouraging yoga doesn’t mean propagating or encouraging Hinduism.

“It is still yoga. If opponents feel a name change solves the dilemma, I’m all for that,” Board of Education President Julie Reagan said Wednesday. “We are basically doing the same thing, we’re just calling it something different.”

The compromise was reached during a meeting between Superintendent Roger Clough and several parents. Clough said parents agreed to change the name of the in-class program to “Raider Relaxation” and set up an after-school club to give interested students a deeper understanding of yoga. The school’s mascot is a raider.

Read More