Letters from Readers
Yoga is also about inclusiveness
One important aspect of classical yoga (as opposed to just the physical yoga that is prevalent today)—which is not covered in this editorial [“Demystifying Yoga,” July issue]—is about inclusiveness. Since the very meaning and goal of yoga is to yoke or be in union with existence, you quickly realize that you are inept to achieve this goal the way most of us are made, with several resistances that we harbor within ourselves. Resistance to people who look different, talk different, think different, more importantly, to those born to a different race, color, religion, caste, language and the many other things with which we identify ourselves.
In my experience with yoga for the past 7 years, a huge change I have noticed is that my awareness of these resistances within me has increased. With awareness, the grip of these resistances starts to loosen. On some of them that are too deep rooted, you do have to consciously engineer changes within yourself and some of the energy practices or kriyas that I got initiated into are proving to be a huge support.
This is also where yoga most prominently differs from typical religious observance where people unfortunately use religious teachings less towards spirituality and more towards group identity. Yoga practice requires you to unravel these identifications, and be more inclusive not only with other humans but with all of life. Unless you open your heart out to all of existence, it seems logical that experiencing oneness with it would be a remote possibility. And consciously opening your heart out to beings and things you resisted all along is an experience in itself!
JS
online comment
Evolution, not bastardization
[Re: “Anxieties about English,” August issue] Every language has a culture, and when it is adopted on foreign soil there are chances of being victim of hybridization. Puritans are few today. That’s what happened to English in India after the Brits and Americans came along. And much earlier, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek had the same fate. Same thing is happening to Hindi and other languages. It is not bastardization, but a kind of evolution. Good article indeed.
Arun Croy
online comment
Racial dilemma or culture clash?
Vinay Harpalani [“Commentary: Black? White? Asian? Asian-Indian?” June issue] asked the question “exactly what race are Indian-Americans?” before acknowledging that race is a purely social and/or political construct. If race has no basis in science, then what makes race important to anyone other than those with an ulterior agenda, or those who find it more comforting to stick their head in the sand to avoid a bad case of culture clash?
Emil Walcek
online comment
Loved reading the article here [“Jews of Two Worlds: Indians in Israel,” January 2013] of people active in all the three major Jewish communities of India. I am an active person in the Bene Israeli community in northern part of Israel and also in an Amuta in Haifa. At present busy with the Rav Dori project, which is a program where two generations are linked via high tech and history. Students are paired with Jewish seniors for mutually beneficial learning. Together they enrich their Jewish identity, history, collective memory and technical skills. The program is run by the Israeli Ministry of Education, Ministry of Senior Citizens and Beit Hatfutsot—The Museum of the Jewish People.
Joel Malkar
online comment
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