By Karen Macklin on July 16th, 2011
We practice yoga and meditation for many reasons, one of which is to let go of our attachments to emotions, relationships, and habitual patterns and addictions. But what if we start to develop an attachment to our practice? And how do we know if it’s an attachment—or if it’s discipline?
The question comes up regularly – in classes and in the media. Is yoga a religion? Is yoga Hindu?
Swami Nirmalananda, the founder of Svaroopa® yoga, recently posted a blog entry which may help answer that question.
“… there’s a lot of difference between Hinduism and yoga, which is completely dependent on your purpose: if you are practicing it (yoga or Hinduism) for the purpose of being prettier, younger, stronger, healthier, happier, wealthier, smarter, etc – it’s religion, or worse – just another way of trying to manipulate your body and your life. If you are practicing it (yoga or Hinduism) for the purpose of knowing Truth / God / Reality within yourself, it’s yoga.”
“… at the same time there is very little difference between yoga and Hinduism. They use common terminology (Sanskrit terms), are based in shared texts, are looking at the same realities, and have the same foundational understanding…”
Read Swamiji’s complete commentary on the Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram blog»
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