Philosophy I Presenter Chandrika Gibson The Yoga Space

Learning objectives View modern yoga through lens of historical and cultural context Reflect on personal philosophies, beliefs and values Be familiar with key yoga philosophies and texts Be able to articulate views with sensitivity to other’s belief systems Demonstrate active listening skills Demonstrate constructive communication of philosophical ideas Apply yoga philosophy to the role of yoga teacher The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Learning activities Lectures Discussion Role play – address a yoga student’s concern regarding yoga and religion Practicums – work in pairs to create a class plan that embeds a philosophical theme The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Assessment In class observation Successful completion in class activity Ability to work in a

Why do people need spiritual or religious frameworks? As humans we usually need to

To Overcome ’Bafflement’ “Any chronic failure of of one’s explanatory apparatus to explain things which cry out for explanation tends to lead to a deep disquiet” (Clifford Geertz) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

To Endure Suffering For many world religions, belief helps us to endure suffering Religion places suffering in a meaningful context When the context is understood the suffering becomes endurable The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Explaining Evil “The enigmatic unaccountability of gross inequity raises the uncomfortable suspicion that perhaps the world and our life in the world have no order at all” (Geertz) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

What is Authentic Yoga? Lineage? Efficacy? Origin? The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Importance of Ethics guide our actions Defining our own ethical framework can help with the integration of all that we learn on our mat. With the appropriate (non dogmatic) framework we can come to understand ourselves and other people better. We can also change our actions and how we live in the world The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

What Ethics is NOT… Ethics is not the same as feelings. Feelings provide important information for our ethical choices. Ethics is not religion. Many people are not religious, but ethics applies to everyone. Ethics is not following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms. Ethics is not science. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make better ethical choices. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Perennial Philosophy There is an infinite changeless reality beneath the world of change This same reality lies at the core of each person The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Indian Philosophy (Darshanas) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

What is Yoga? What are the main traditions? What are the main styles? The

Why practice yoga? The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Modern Yoga Where do we find the roots of modern Yoga? The Yoga Space

Is Yoga Hindu? The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016. Shiva: the world’s first yogi According to the yogic lore, over fifteen thousand years ago, Shiva attained enlightenment and abandoned himself in an intense ecstatic dance upon the Himalayas. When his ecstasy allowed him some movement, he danced wildly. When it became beyond movement, he became utterly still. His students to be observed him and later became ‘Saptarishis’ – the Patriarchs of the Vedic Religion.

Defining Yoga for Secular or Diverse Students: Yoga means union Harmony Both a technique and a space of being? Can be different things to different people Allow students to have their own definitions The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Hinduism One of the world’s oldest major religions More than 720 million Hindus Ancestors were the Aryans No known founder Consequently evolved greatly Spiritual texts are the basis as oral history hard to trace Hindu texts are classified into Sruti (revealed) and Smriti (remembered) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Four Goals of Life Kama – satisfying the desire for sense pleasure (urge common to human & animal) Artha – acquisition of worldly possessions or money (humans) Dharma – prescribes the "eternal" duties all Hindus have to follow, regardless of class, caste, or sect, such as honesty, purity, and self-restraint Moksha – liberation achieved through cosmic realisation (divinity equally present in all but not equally manifest) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Life stages Do you see your life as having stages? What are they? The

Four Ashramas Ages 12 – 24: Brahmacharya – student life, pleasure seeking perhaps but also time to learn scriptures, be initiated in to mantra. Ages 24 – 48: Grihasta – Householder years, for committing to marriage, production, livelihood, to live your dharmic path, continues Pravritti Marga – a focus on the world. Ages 48 – 72: Vanaprasta – forest dweller or hermit, maintain householder duties but pass on wisdom to next generation, start of Nivritti Marga – turning away from the world into contemplation, more meditation Ages 72+: Sannyasi – renunciation of worldly desires, The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016. retirement, direct focus inward.

Hindu Beliefs: GOD Originally Polytheistic: worshipped earth, water, fire, wind, sky, sun, dawn, night, thunderstorm. Pure Consciousness / Spirit: from which the whole world evolved, Brahman. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Nirguna Brahma “God without attributes” Beyond time and space Limitless (therefore no personality) Words

Saguna Brahman “The absolute with Qualities” We do not see things as they are.

Many Names & Faces of God Brahma (impersonal) Worship of personal Gods – Ishvara / Saguna Brahman When we think of the infinite with our finite mind we project our limitations onto Nirguna Brahma and then God appears finite or personified. Nirguna Brahma gains a personality not unlike human personality Ishvara / Gods are simple Nirguna Brahma perceived through the lens of a particular time, place and society The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

"One ought to know the Supreme Spirit who is the ruler of all, subtler than subtlest, of resplendent glory, and capable of being realized only by the meditation of pure minded ones. Some call him Agni (fire); others call him Manu (thinker); and others Prajaapati (Lord of creations). Some again call him Indra (the glorious); others Praana (the vital life forces, Pancha praanas); and still others Brahma (the Great)" - Manu. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Prakriti & Purusha All gods are an instance of purusha Purusha = Self, Consciousness, and Universal principle, purusha is eternal, indestructible, without form and all pervasive. Interchangeable with Brahman (in the Upanishads) Prakriti: means ‘nature’. Goddesses are often a manifestation of prakriti. Prakriti composed of the three gunas. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Gunas & Doshas Three gunas are the (sattva rajas tamas) are the fundamental 'tendencies' of prakriti. As they pertain to the body in Ayurveda they are called doshas. The balance or imbalance of these doshas defines the prakriti or nature of one's body The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Yogic Cosmology The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Yoga Moves West In 2004 there were more than 2. 5 million practitioners of yoga in Britain alone, a truly exponential increase from previous years. In the United States, indications of growth are even more startling. A 1994 Roper poll commissioned for the world’s most popular yoga magazine, Yoga Journal, estimated that more than 6 million Americans (approximately three and one-third percent of the population) were practicing yoga— 1. 86 million of them regularly. Almost 17 million more—or about one in ten Americans—were “interested in yoga” but had not yet tried it The(Cushman Yoga Space Copyright © 1994: 2016. 47– 8).

Exponential Growth in the West Ten years later, another national poll estimated that 15 million Americans were practicing yoga regularly (Carter 2004), while the proportion “interested in yoga” had also risen substantially. Yoga Journal estimated in 2003 that approximately 25. 5 million Americans (twelve percent) of the population were “very interested” in yoga. A further 35. 3 million people (sixteen percent) intended to try yoga within the next year, and 109. 7 million (more than half the population) had at least a “casual interest” in yoga (Arnold 2003: 10). (From Singleton & Byrne(Eds), 2008, Yoga in the Modern The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016. World)

How old is yoga? “Yoga is as old or older than recorded history, its origins in the most part lost in the antiquity of Central, Western, and South Asia” (Gerald Larson, 2000). As a systemized discipline over 2500 years old. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Is there a pure Yoga? No! The many variations of ‘yoga’ in even the ancient world are due to interaction with other worldviews and practices, with adaptations due to geography, different times, and different individuals. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Modern Yoga Is what we largely do – postural yoga. The Yoga Space Copyright

The Beginnings Vivekananda presented at the Chicago Parliament of Religions 1893 In 1896 published Raja Yoga His interpretation of the Yoga Sutras is creative and westernised and modernised yoga. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Elevation of the Yoga Sutras In Modern Yoga the Sutras become the authority on yoga. Composed of elements from different schools of thought Not really representative of a particular practice tradition. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

“Patanjali and the “Classical Yoga” he symbolizes are today peversely used to underwrite the authenticity of techniques engaged in by modern transnational practitioners. ” Singleton Practitioners demand ‘authentic’ (Sanskrit) authority for their practice. The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

“In many cases such modern practitioner rationalisations are inherently tautological, in so far as the modern category of “Classical” has functioned to lend a new kind of canonicity to certain texts, which then lend their authenticity to the very exponents of yoga who helped establish said texts within modern expressions of yoga. In this sense, some forms of transnational yoga exist within a closed, circular and self-authorising system” (Singleton, 2008). The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

Obstacles to Yoga (from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) Illness - vyadi Languor - styana (or mental stagnation) Doubt - samshaya Heedlessness - pramada (or lack of foresight) Sloth - alasya (fatigue) The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.

More obstacles to Yoga Dissipation - avirati (or overindulging) False views - bhrantidarshana (or illusions) Lack of perseverance - alabdhabhumikatva and, Instability or regression - anavasthitatva The Yoga Space Copyright © 2016.