I get invited to talk at temples: big ones and little ones; Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative. As much as I dislike the travel, I like meeting the people, who always make me think.
After my presentation at a smallish Midwestern synagogue last spring, I was schmoozing over the dessert table when the rabbi came up to me and asked if my yoga practice had anything to do with my Jewish observance (thus letting me know that he had read my blog, where yoga is one of the few personal details in my profile.)
This was a cool, young rabbi, the kind of rabbi who runs serious wilderness hiking trips with congregants and prays with them under the stars. I assumed that he wanted to me say yes, but I told him the truth.
"No," I said. "Yoga is for emptying my head. The Jewish stuff is about filling it up. I try to keep them separate."
He grinned at me and said, "Me too."
Several years ago, I tried a "Jewish Yoga" class in which the instructor used Hebrew metaphors to get us into poses or asanas.
"Think of your body as an aleph," she said.
"Oh, no," I thought. That meant I had to remember the shape of aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As someone who was then barely (and remains only marginally) Hebrew literate, I immediately forgot what an aleph looked like. And then I had to wonder if she meant aleph in cursive or block letters, because they are very different.
At the end of the class, the teacher asked us to chant the Shema, the foundational six-word declaration of the divine unity. (Loose translation: Listen up Jews: Our God is One.) As I said, I go to yoga to empty my head, which means no theology. But there it was: "Adonai," posing the usual theological problem. Adonai means "Lord." As in "King." Which suggests a crown and a head, and all the other anthropomorphic male images that tend to block my access to divine unity.
In my regular yoga classes, the teachers sometimes open class with an "Ohm," which I've heard nicely described as "the hum of the universe." At the end they might say, "Shanti," which means peace, or "Namaste," which usually gets translated as, "The light in me salutes the light in you." These are all terms that, to my ears, sound utterly vanilla and empty of associations with anything except yoga classes.
This isn't to say that yoga is without content. There is a spiritual element involved -- with or without the Sanskrit names for poses or peace. One of my yoga masters (an Australian woman who has the long body and longer ponytail of a Nav'i) often says, "If all you're interested in is a work-out, you should go to an aerobics class." She also says things like, "Yoga is about paying attention, learning to explore discomfort, surrendering to gravity," and other bon mots that strike me as profound in class but tend to sound obvious and pedestrian when I try to repeat them later.
I have been told that some Orthodox Jews object to yoga because some of the poses look like "prostration," a position of extreme reverence that is due only to, well, Adonai. I imagine Child's Pose might be one of the problematic asanas, as it requires you to sit back on your heels and put your forehead to the mat, arms stretched out in front of you. I happen to love that pose, partly because I find it relatively easy and partly because when I stay there for more than 10 seconds, I feel calm, humble, and relaxed. My brain shuts up. And as far as I'm concerned, shutting down my brain -- my ego -- has nothing to do with worshipping idols. I'm pretty sure that the only way to experience the sacred is by shutting down the ego -- whether you're balancing on one foot or pouring over a page of Talmud.
For most Americans, yoga is a spiritual practice, but not a religious one. Of course, Judaism is both a religious and a spiritual practice. And while I experience the spirituality of Jewish life in song, ritual, holidays, and communal study, it is on the mat where I manage to lay down my ego for more than 10 consecutive seconds at a time.
People I trust and respect have told me about terrific teachers who masterfully blend yoga and Judaism. But I also know that finding the right yoga teacher -- like finding the right rabbi or hairdresser, is a matter of chemistry and kismet and timing. So maybe someday I'll give the Jewish yoga thing another try.
But the truth is, I am not interested in a reconciling my yoga practice and my Jewish practice. I feel no tension or contradiction in this double life.
Judaism demands debate, and justice, tzedakah (charity) and committee meetings. Judaism requires engagement rather than detachment. It's a complicated package that defines, delights, and challenges me.
Yoga is where I go quiet and stop striving -- even when I'm sweating. This is a counter-intuitive effort for someone like me: opinionated, impatient, perfectionist.
I am happily bifurcated; a Jew who studies yoga, a word that means "union."
Go figure.
Day After Night, Anita Diamant's latest novel, has its paperback release in August. To learn more about her, please visit www.anitadiamant.com and www.anitadiamant.blogspot.com.
Sadhguru: Darkness: The Lap of Creation
Yoga Mosaic - an association of Jewish yoga teachers
Diane Bloomfield on Torah Yoga, yoga for Jews, yoga with Jewish ...
The yoga most know about is "hatha" yoga and it is a spiritual discipline properly practiced along with meditation, prana breathing, chakra and kundalini energy, chanting and a seeking of union with a universal consciousness.
Bifurcation is opposite to Yoga ( union ). You cannot be both split and unified simultaneously. You cannot be Jewish and practice real hatha yoga concurrently.
Jews and Hindus one religion .
1. Names of God,
a. The most holy of all names of God for a Jew is KNA or KANA, Rabbi's have slapped my face when I have said this name out loud.
This is considered to be the most intimate name for God in the Old Testament. Where it is translated, "I am a jealous God,
have no other gods before you", the literal Hebrew translation is, "My name is EL KNA, have no other gods before you."
This name expands to KRE ShTN as Rabbi Aryeh Kapln,in Meditation and the Kabbalah explains
"On Monday, you must intertwine the associated name "KRE ShTN""
b, From a Vedic (Hindu) view point, Kana is also an affectionate name of Krishna, The pronunciation used above "KRE ShTN" is very similar to
the way south Indians pronounce Krishna.
2. Very few know that there are two Abrahams in Jewish philosophy
a. There is a description of how the universe was in chaos until Abraham appeared. It is said, "Over the whole, there hovered Tohu (chaos)
and as long as Tohu dominated, the whole world was not in being or existence. When did that key open the gates and make the world fruitful?
It was when Abraham appeared."
b. In the First Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, there is a long description of how Brahma created the planets, stars etc. It is well know that the Brahma
of this universe has 4 heads.
The dichotomy that she sets up, between yoga supporting her in “emptying her head” and Judaism “filling” it, reflects only one version of what Judaism is and can be. She says: “Judaism demands debate, and justice, tzedakah (charity) and committee meetings. Judaism requires engagement rather than detachment”. “Demands” debate? Values, yes, to clarify, categorize, connect. But committee meetings? This flippant coda to a serious list of Jewish values and practices undermines her presentation of Judaism.
The issue is not “detachment” but non-attachment. When she experiences in yoga the shutting down of ego – which she so values – she is learning not to be attached to her image of her self, of her expectations, etc. She is then better prepared to engage in debate; more energized to commit to justice and tzedakah; ready for deep listening, with compassion, not dichotomy. Judaism is NOT at all about committee meetings -- but about letting go of ego to transform our hearts so that we help transform the world.
If Ms Diament allowed her yoga practice to inform her Jewish religious practice, she might find that they are not dichotomous, and her Jewish life might become richer for it.
Taoists employ many esoteric practices ( quasi-spiritual alchemy) designed to create balance and harmony with the Tao...There is no God in Taoism; there is no supernatural, no sin, no heaven and no hell.
Taoism seeks to flow with nature and Tai Chi practice leads to peace of mind, tranquility, complete harmony with Tao ( universal, cosmic, ultimate reality ). You can say Taoists worship nature.
The church members are correct that Tai Chi Chuan is a different spiritual path than Christianity.
I've been teaching Tai Chi, Taoist meditation and qi gong for 15 yrs.
Ayurveda is considered a support for Yoga, which itself is properly considered a Gnostic method. What most people are doing falls closer to the practise of Ayurveda, rather than Yoga; self-care rather than attempting to go past their notions of ordinary identity bound up in the contexts of culture, religious affliliation and nation etc.
But one thing I commend is do not mind of religion. If we are in one religion strictly, it can make you far more from other people because there are many religion in the world and they also exercise their own Yoga or theory. Please consider other as our friends or family!!
Do them when you're doing that.. Other things you may do, do them, too. if you like.
Don't half-do yoga. You're liable to pull something. :)
I don't don't practice My Christianity, but still fill Christian at heart. Nobody can take that away from me. So why would using any technique(s), from any source, that's PERSONALLY helpful .....bad?
there are multiple yogas...even a yoga of knowledge ( "gnana yoga") which postulates that perusal of knowledge (scientific/literary or otherwise) is also a valid path to enlightenment. scientists are gnana yogis :)
He was speaking at a conference and Ram Dass said to him afterwards, "Hey, you really know your stuff, why type of Yoga do you do?" Campbell replied, "I underline sentences.".