S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 5 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 9 3 7 Sama Fabian With the flooding of Yoga applications on the internet we are led to believe that Yoga is part of this objective set of tools that bring comfort and convenience to our lives. This obviously misses the point and insidiously plays into the consumerist ideology, which, as we all know, produces enormous amounts of toxicity on many levels. One must observe carefully what our mind set is when we reach for the computer screen to get into our practice and what is the difference when we sit or lay down with the intention of internalizing our attention making ourselves receptive to the tides, waves, vibrations, undulations, beats and rhythms that our nervous system, our fluid body our mind register and translate as the inner life. The internal ecosystem of our embodied being. But we are told that we can do whatever we want whenever we want. And only be concerned about fitting in a cool workout in the midst of our busy lives. Contemporary neuroscience has been researching the relationship between the human brain and current technology prompting us to take perspective and question the notions of “knowing” and “not knowing”. Is not-knowing bad in itself or is not wanting to know that we don’t know where the problem might lie? As Yoga has now fully become a consumer’s product, peddled by teachers who have unknowingly also become products, our communities have to increase their vigilance. Yoga apps want to reassure their users that yoga demands no effort on their part. All we have to do is choose, with the click of a button or the swipe of a finger. We can ask what has multiple choice got to do with the freedom that Yoga promises? The underlying concept here is freedom for the self as opposed to freedom from the self, Yoga. The practitioner is reduced to a mere consumer and the teacher to a mere executor of a service. The provider of course, is the one that picks up the cash, the application. If Yoga is to be guided from within and trusting one’s own reference system, how does this work in front of a screen, which demands an externalization of our awareness? We can ask ourselves what is our action in the world, both individually and collectively and does that give us the measure of what Yoga is? The narcissistic culture, in which we practice and teach is now given full rein to dictate what constitutes good Yoga and how it should be delivered according to a set of values rooted in a particular ideology. To conclude I would like to suggest that we need to question this ideology for it is toxic and can render us sterile. Let’s not allow Yoga practitioners and teachers to become technological sheep. We need to THINK. We might believe we think too much, while in truth, what passes for thinking is mere rehashing, repeating, memorizing, remembering, sorting our immediate needs, easing anxieties and negotiating fears. Thinking is a creative effort, it is not a calculation. It is the ability to change direction, to shift. To think intelligently is to liberate ourselves from automatic responses dictated by the ‘free market’ so that we may be able to create new models. My question is: As a community are we up to the task of producing potent thoughts, thoughts that can generate powerful action and bring about the changes that are so desperately needed? References Aurobindo. 1939–40. The Divine Life. First Indian Edition. Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press. Ravinda, Ravi. 2017. The Bhagavad Gita. Boulder, CO: Shambhala. Ravinda, Ravi. 2009. The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Morning Light Press. Schmidt, Victoria Lynn. 2014. How to Choose a Yoga Teacher. Accessed March 2, 2019. www.gaia.com. Stiegler, Bernard. 2004. Mécréance et Discrédit 1. Accessed March 2, 2019. www.editions-galilee.fr.
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