Yoga in the Age of Kali Yuga

"As Yoga enters the 21st century the basic meaning of Union—Oneness—is obscured"- Param Pujya Ammaji in her History of Yoga-Vol 2

As Yoga enters the 21st century, the basic meaning of Union—Oneness is obscured, a house divided with as many meanings as there are seekers on its path. One hesitates to utter the word, for no one knows what association the other will have with the term.

Despite all the International Conferences, Associations, Meetings and Training Courses, there is little amity or agreement amongst Yoga practitioners. As in any other field of human activity, there is a jousting for space at the top.

"The key to success in the Yoga field (read: money, fame and properties) lies in the clever manipulation of the Guru-teacher's public image."

The celebrity culture has hit Yoga. The most well-known Gurus have efficient publicity departments. Mass media has morphed Yoga into a commodity, obtained with coin of the realm. It is a big supermarket out there in the Yoga world and, like deodorant, the aspirant has a wide range of products to choose from. Most of them are very attractively packaged.

Yoga teachers are a dime a dozen and there is a Yoga school on every corner. Huge businesses promote a wide variety of Yoga products: sexy leotards, fluffy Yoga pillows, attractive Yoga mats, Yoga kits and Yoga props.

"The West has made Yoga in its own consumer image, cutting Yoga's feet to make it fit the bed."

Every third person proclaims themselves a Yoga teacher (especially in India). Yoga training is costly and is often conducted in a five-star hotel ambience. Yoga postures are used in advertisements to project products as diverse as underwear, refrigerators and automobiles.

"Gone are the days of the caves, austere small huts, the edge of holy rivers."

Yoga poses are performed in the full glare of cinema and television cameras.

"Yoga has been taken to pieces. Who can put it back together again?" 

Modern man is touchy and does not allow criticism. Yoga teachers are politically correct in their relationship with students. Gurus keep a safe distance from their disciples behind a public relations barrier.

"The Guru-Chela bond is now a producer-consumer interchange."

Complete with money-back guarantees and often lawsuits, Yoga teachers even need insurance coverage in case students decide to sue them for any real or imagined lapse.

So many Yoga stars adorn the modern firmament—mostly media creations.

"The modern Guru must be good looking, flexible, slim, well spoken, non-controversial and charismatic with an efficient public relations department."

Yoga teachers rise to the top, suffer scandals and fall to the bottom with astounding regularity. Various Yoga systems emerge as fads, become widely popular for a time and then fade away.

Some Yoga centres, schools, Ashrams and institutes, however, have endured the test of time and built on strong foundations, carrying on generation after generation.

"Mostly Yoga has become a product, not a process."

"The Hindu roots of the science have been carefully dug out and discarded." 

It helps to remember, in an over-simplified form, the Hindu idea of the four Yugas—the four great cycles of time.

• Sat Yuga was the age of Truth, Harmony and Purity. Humanity was completely righteous, and Yogic Siddhis were natural.

• Treta Yuga, the age of Lord Rama, saw humanity lose one-quarter of its noble qualities, yet Dharma remained the guiding force.

• Dwapara Yuga, the age of Lord Krishna, witnessed an equal struggle between good and evil.

Now humanity has descended into Kali Yuga.

"Men are 75% evil and 25% good. Evil (ignorance) has the upper hand and is more powerful than good (wisdom)."

Battles between ignorance and consciousness are fierce, with ignorance often the victor.

"Yoga is now a much sullied word. Yoga is no longer a lifestyle; it is a consumer product."

"Global Yoga is influenced by American cultural ideals: achievement, worldly success, glamorous show, body beautiful, material wealth, luxury Yoga studios and celebrity status—a far cry from Himalayan caves!" 

Yet some Yogis in the twenty-first century are voices crying in the wilderness, conveying their message to those with ears to hear.

"Spiritual liberation (Moksha), the Ultimate Goal of all Yoga, is said to be easier in Kali Yuga because to the evolved soul the world is so gross it has little appeal."

Hence, it is much easier to renounce attachment to it.

"Yoga in the twenty-first century is 'The flight of the alone to the Alone!'"

There are lights on the path. There are Gurus. There are guides who illumine the way.

"But that high Yoga path is, has been, and will forever be, a path one must walk alone. And it is a razor's edge!" 

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