yoga cult?

[Guest guest]

What experiences do any of you have with friends,

family, coworkers or others who view yoga and/or

associated beliefs or belief systems with suspicion, disdain

or fear? What prompts this is the continual and

seemingly irrational insistence of a very good friend of

mine (I thought) that all yoga communities are

basically cults and that all yoga studios basically are

seeking to bilk their clients. I also have experienced

considerable adverse comments from certain persons in my

family, and others, regarding vegetarianism (but not

about yoga practice per se, interestingly). My

impression is that a lot of people find these subjects

threatening for some reason, but I honestly can't figure out

why.

[Guest guest]

My answer to your questions would be yes, yes and

yes. <br>I have never argued back or let it dissuade

me in any way... just do my practice and keep my

mouth shut. <br>Really, I don't even feel like talking

about it here.

[Guest guest]

Hi there. I am new to the list and thought that I

would have a response to this quandry. Being from

Oklahoma, I am also quite exposed to fear and resistance to

anything outside of the morsols fed to my community by

corporate media. My teacher said to me just yesterday, that

all you can really do is allow the people in your

framework to notice as the changes occuring in you get

deeper and deeper. They can't help but notice. And when

they do the ones who can hear you will approach with

questions. But, until then it is best to engage the practice

and allow the changes to manifest. Those who cannot

hear but relish in a state of retraction will also not

be dissuaded from their perspective. I am also

wondering if this is somehow an inappropriate forum for

such discussions? It seems like this would be one of

the few places where people could share about the

isolation that often occurs when you begin to make drastic

changes in your life and those around you seem frozen

with their fear and insecurities regarding how poorly

they truly see the spirit in themselves - the guilt

for treating themselves without kindness. Thanks for

letting me share. Adellalou

[Guest guest]

Like tiber: yes, yes, and yes. Except that I do

try to argue/discuss/explain with the few people who

venture to express their misgivings. Partly it's my

nature, but also I find that such dialogue mitigates the

concerns of reasonable folks (of whom there are

many).<br><br>Homer

[Guest guest]

My answer to this is we all were raised in and

live in a "cult"ure...What is a cult/culture but a

group of people who buy into a certain belief system.

When I came back to the US from India I really became

hyper aware of the "cult" I've been brought up in and

it amazed me how we all just buy into it without

question. It was a totally mind blowing experience for me.

Who said acquiring more and more material wealth

brings any sort of enlightment? My yoga practice

challenges my "belief" system every day and the more you

practice yoga & meditation the deeper it'll go. IF you are

starting to question certain things like your diet, your

friends, lifestyle, religion that means the yoga is

working. It's revolutionary and absolutely radical. I

think my family would have a lot of problems with the

yoga thing b/c it is not a part of judeo-christianity

although it is completely compatible. This worries me but

I ask myself "is anyone judging this enlightened or

further along the path?" The answer is no. So as far as i

am concerned that gives me the green light to go

forward. Be happy for your uniqueness and open-mindedness.

It's a gift!

[Guest guest]

remember that jesus the yogi was crucified for being a completely liberated

being. People were so threatened by him they had to kill him.

[Guest guest]

also the yoga practice caused me to seriously

reevaluate certain relationships in my life b/c I started to

change and become more conscious. I'd like to hear

others stories about this if you want to share...

[Guest guest]

IMO, we'll never really know if Jesus (or

anybody, for that matter) was a "completely liberated

being." <br><br>But, I think that Jesus's preaching of

liberation from certain cultural religious and political

that lead to his death at the hands of the Romans.

[Guest guest]

I really like your message, and it brings the

freshness of that 'revolutionary' and 'radical' change that

I experienced in my life. Now, possibly I am

'post-Yoga', but I am still positive about it. It has also

helped me value more the aspects of Western culture that

I think are valuable (science, mathematics

biological and medical science etc), and those have also

helped me re-evaluate the Eastern stuff in my

life.<br><br>Everyone is on their own path, whether Yogic or Western

materialist, and we all have to go through a lot of bad stuff.

I was wondering the other day what Slobodan

Milosevic is going through in jail at present, even he is

human, or maybe not. I don't know everything.