[internationalyogafederation] 23RD PUDUCHERRY STATE YOGA SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP 2008

November 18, 2008

Thanks for your thoughtful email.

It continues to surprise me that there are people that declare that 'this or that is NOT Yoga' To say so, implies an essential contradiction with the very definition of Yoga which is Union and not Separation. Yoga is the Whole and the Whole is not everything MINUS what I don't like.

A 'day' is 12 hours of light and 12 hours of absence of it, not just the sunny part...

A 'breath' is one inhalation and one exhalation, not just an inhalation...

A 'human being' is the material and the spiritual, not just the material.

Our fascination with one side of things, of course the 'good' side!, is a construct of our minds that prefers to be 'always young, always rich, always loved, always healthy...' and so on. But who's life is only the good; who is the spiritual being that only lives in the day time and never exhales....?

So..., despite the fact that we might not 'like' the competititive aspect of Yoga, we can accept it as part of Yoga. If, as Yoga says, 'the doors to God are always open', WHO ARE WE TO CLOSE THEM!!!. What righteousness, what entitlement of the Ego can led us to believe we are bigger than God and can now say that 'Yoga is everything less the competitions' !! That kind of thought has been the seed of religious war and human rights disrespect.

Competition is an intrinsic aspect of the Human Being and of creation and it needs to be worked through, not erased. It helps us improve, it motivates us and it is even in the core of the evolution of the species and the cosmos. It is not 'competition' that matters but what we do with it. It is not the tool but the operator that matters. That is why I thank you for your email, for me too I trust Ananda to use the competitions in the highest good of all.

Fortunately even those who don't get it are part of Yoga and can do nothing to stop it. God Bless them!

Antonio

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maitreyi 1

internationalyogafederation

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 12:50 AM

RE: [internationalyogafederation] Re: 23RD PUDUCHERRY STATE YOGA SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP 2008

Dear fellow yogis,

Yoga is not competitive. For any sane yogi who sees the two words, “Yoga” and “Competition” together it might seem insincere, way off the path and not true yoga. So I understand the sentiments coming from yogis about such a dichotomy.

However I’ve been to the yoga championships in Puducherry many times and have seen the wonderful work that Dr. Ananda has been doing to cultivate youngsters. Now as much as yoga is not competition, unless very evolved most have a need for attention, appreciation and sometimes showmanship. This need is beautifully sublimated by the yoga sport that Swami Gitananda encouraged and then continued by Amma and Dr Ananda. In fact the whole aim of the competition is to compete fairly and cultivate oneself with awareness. This is much needed in today’s environment of “win at all costs”. I personally never saw my self in one of those competitions, even when I was younger. However I have seen, they refine the body, emotions and mind of many youngsters who need to expend their energy usefully. This energy if not used properly can become quite destructive.

In fact Amma announced in the competition that if you win, you win and if you lose you also win as you learn about yourself and your reactions. Thus it is not just asana based but cultivates the knowledge and awareness of the participants as well. Though the asanas take priority in the minds of the competitors the yoga theory and awareness is also insisted on. This is the good aspect of yoga sport. Hence it is a smart way of getting some of the youngsters into a yogic lifestyle, though they may be initially attracted to the spectacular gymnastics they see.

Hence in this context, yoga sport is good for a particular kind of mentality and offers an outlet. It also offers some of the poor village boys a means to rise above their circumstances. In fact it is better to call it what it is, yoga sport rather than call it spiritual or holistic or just yoga and then have hard competitive asanas where everyone is sweating it out and competing in yoga class and a few disconnected spiritual concepts are thrown in for effect. Atleast here, there is a clear differentiation that it is yoga sport and kids are encouraged to be sportive about winning or losing.

Lots of Love

Yogacharini Maitreyiwww.arkaya.net

internationalyogafederation From: ananda (AT) icyer (DOT) comDate: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:55:25 -0800[internationalyogafederation] Re: 23RD PUDUCHERRY STATE YOGA SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP 2008

Yoga sport is not an untouchable of yoga!there are many branches on the great yoga tree and such new branches should be cultivated and helped to grow in a positive manner rather than throwing the baby out with the bath waterour lineage is no less in our sincerity to yoga as a whole but why cannot we see this effort in the right spirit and have to condemn it always?

Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani

Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER

Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association

25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry, South India-605 013

Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91-413 -2241561

Mobile: 9842311433

Website: www.icyer.com

www.geocities.com/yognat2001/anandahttp://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=yognat2001 & p=r