What is the meaning of Atheist Yoga? Part 3 of my interview with Anton Drake, author of the new book
[Question 1.] Anton, in one of our previous interviews you had a few things to say about Reverend Ed Hird's article "Yoga, More Than Meets the Eyes." I have since been in touch with Reverend Hird, and he has sent me a response to what you said, which he felt was unfair and mistaken in various ways.
[Answer 1.] Yes.
[Question 2.] Well, what did you think of Reverend Hird's rebuttal, or response?
[Answer 2.] Well, first of all, I'm not exactly sure how I got into the middle of this. Rev Hird's main point seems to be that yoga isn't suitable for Christians. Since I am an atheist and not a Christian, if I'm honest about this I'd have to say that he, as an Anglican priest, probably knows more about what is or is not suitable for Christians than I do. What I had objected to was this idea that a line was being drawn in the sand, so to speak, in regards to yoga, and it was being said that since it came from Asia and had certain cultural associations with Hinduism or Buddhism that it was therefore dangerous or idolatrous for Christians to practice yoga. Again, I'm an atheist so in a sense I stand completely outside this kind of debate, however as an advanced practitioner of yoga I felt that this idea was clearly incorrect and at first blush I also thought it seemed slightly xenophobic .
[Question 3.] So you don't think that yoga is a religious activity?
[Answer 3.] Well I have no doubt that yoga can be dressed up as a religious activity, but the real roots of the techniques, which lie in concentration, meditation and inner absorption, are purely human in nature and therefore simply cannot be inherently religious. Of course if your worldview is overtly spiritual or religious, then it's natural that you would understand yoga in spiritual terms—if you think the mind is part of God, then meditating on the mind will be for you essentially meditating on God. Also, many techniques, especially mantra repetition and that sort of thing, can obviously be flavored toward one belief system or another. Part of the controversy I think with the Encinitas lawsuit is that some people probably see the danger, from a Christian religious standpoint, of freeform or secular yoga. They not only have reservations about the origins of yoga practice in ancient Asia and its perceived relation to Eastern mysticism, but also recognize that it is a practice that might eventually lend itself to being bent to their own religious uses as well. There is in fact a discussion going on right now as to whether yoga can rebranded, so to speak, as something explicitly Christian—Christian Yoga, as it is being called—and in my view it clearly can be. Rev Hird obviously disagrees with me on this point, but such a rebranding or conversion is likely to be highly effective, and is probably already being done in various places. In the long run, however, all such attempts to flavor the practice of yoga with religion are antithetical to its proper objective, its true core, which is the discovery and exploration of the self; however even with any of the various different belief systems grafted onto it I still feel that the art will eventually lead sincere practitioners toward a deeper understanding of themselves, and so in that sense it is probably a net positive no matter how you dress it up.
[Answer 1.] Yes.
[Question 2.] Well, what did you think of Reverend Hird's rebuttal, or response?
[Answer 2.] Well, first of all, I'm not exactly sure how I got into the middle of this. Rev Hird's main point seems to be that yoga isn't suitable for Christians. Since I am an atheist and not a Christian, if I'm honest about this I'd have to say that he, as an Anglican priest, probably knows more about what is or is not suitable for Christians than I do. What I had objected to was this idea that a line was being drawn in the sand, so to speak, in regards to yoga, and it was being said that since it came from Asia and had certain cultural associations with Hinduism or Buddhism that it was therefore dangerous or idolatrous for Christians to practice yoga. Again, I'm an atheist so in a sense I stand completely outside this kind of debate, however as an advanced practitioner of yoga I felt that this idea was clearly incorrect and at first blush I also thought it seemed slightly xenophobic .
[Question 3.] So you don't think that yoga is a religious activity?
[Answer 3.] Well I have no doubt that yoga can be dressed up as a religious activity, but the real roots of the techniques, which lie in concentration, meditation and inner absorption, are purely human in nature and therefore simply cannot be inherently religious. Of course if your worldview is overtly spiritual or religious, then it's natural that you would understand yoga in spiritual terms—if you think the mind is part of God, then meditating on the mind will be for you essentially meditating on God. Also, many techniques, especially mantra repetition and that sort of thing, can obviously be flavored toward one belief system or another. Part of the controversy I think with the Encinitas lawsuit is that some people probably see the danger, from a Christian religious standpoint, of freeform or secular yoga. They not only have reservations about the origins of yoga practice in ancient Asia and its perceived relation to Eastern mysticism, but also recognize that it is a practice that might eventually lend itself to being bent to their own religious uses as well. There is in fact a discussion going on right now as to whether yoga can rebranded, so to speak, as something explicitly Christian—Christian Yoga, as it is being called—and in my view it clearly can be. Rev Hird obviously disagrees with me on this point, but such a rebranding or conversion is likely to be highly effective, and is probably already being done in various places. In the long run, however, all such attempts to flavor the practice of yoga with religion are antithetical to its proper objective, its true core, which is the discovery and exploration of the self; however even with any of the various different belief systems grafted onto it I still feel that the art will eventually lead sincere practitioners toward a deeper understanding of themselves, and so in that sense it is probably a net positive no matter how you dress it up.
