A Spiritual Exercise

I have a book in my office titled Was Hinduism Invented?  I love that title.  It is so provocative.  The author, Brian K. Pennington, is challenging the very notion of religion as a category.  In the 1800’s, when the British entered India, they discovered a variety of practices that were based upon a set of texts: the Vedas and the Upanishads.  These texts and practices, together, qualified Hinduism to be identified as a religion.

This also occurred with Buddhism.  It is also a set of practices with a well-defined set of texts.  Again, Buddhism looked like a religion to the British.  So for better or for worse, the British also identified Buddhism as a member of this growing category of Great World Religions.  However, today scholars see “Buddhism” as a term for a very general umbrella of related practices rather than a codified set of religious teachings.

It is also interesting that this is how the British saw Yoga; as a set of practices even though it is also based upon a collection of texts called the Pantanjali sutras.  But perhaps this wasn’t as apparent as in the case of Hinduism and Buddhism.  Thus, Yoga was not considered a World Religion. 

In America, these trends have continued.  We think of Buddhism as a religion and Yoga as an exercise.  In India, these were not thought of as two different practices but they have been in the West.  I think this is why I often get “Why” and “What” questions while my wife Linda, a yoga instructor, gets “How” questions.  I am asked “What” are we doing and “Why” are we doing it while Linda is asked “How” do we do this pose.  I need to be asked “How” and Linda needs to be asked “Why” and “What”.

When Buddhism is conceptualized as a religion then we tend to appreciate it as a set of doctrines and philosophies that need to be understood and believed in.  I rarely get “How” questions even though these are very important concerns when bowing, chanting and even listening. Without knowing the “How” then we can often miss the importance of Buddhist practice.

But this isn’t all bad.  Being considered a religion also means that people are seeking something spiritual.  They come to Buddhism with the ultimate concerns of life.  They are looking for something that transcends our normal way of thinking.  They want to find authentic meaning and happiness in their everyday lives – here and now.  There is an urgency to their practice which is very valuable.  I wouldn’t want to give this up.  It is a real benefit of being thought of as a religion.

Yoga has the opposite problems and benefits since it is seen as an exercise.  The main problem is students don’t seek the “Why” and “What” of their practice.  They tend to focus on the physical changes rather than the psychological ones.  For example, Yoga is a deep spiritual practice where the body and mind become united.  It is meditation through sound and movement.  You should think of each yoga pose as a full body mudra. 

When we focus on the physical, we worry only about how flexible we are and what poses we can achieve.  Which is the opposite of what is really important.  We actually get more out of Yoga when we are not naturally limber.  It takes no focus, breathing or concentration for a contortionist to touch their toes.  It is for the person who is tight that really develops an awareness of their mind and body.  They must hold in their mind the current position of their bodies.  They must stop thinking and be totally immersed.

But the benefit of being seen as exercise is that Linda never has to bring out a whiteboard with schematics that illustrate the intellectual justification for a Yoga practice.  Her students are motivated and trust both the tradition and teacher as beneficial to their lives.

I have really learned a lot about Buddhism by practicing Yoga.  Yoga is not really Hindu either.  It predates both Hinduism and Buddhism by thousands of years.  It is likely that the Buddha practiced some form of Yoga during his six years of practice before realizing awakening. 

When I first began Yoga, I competed with those around me.  It was not only exercise for me but also a sport; one in which I had to win.  This is one of the reasons there are so few men in Yoga.  There are several essays on the internet asking “Where Are All the Men?”  We are not there because it does not come natural to us and we have not yet realized that it is a real advantage for our practice. 

I didn’t begin to make progress in Yoga until after I had given up trying.  I just relax now into the poses and let them do the work.  This is Other-Power Yoga.  I no longer compete or calculate.  I am no longer chasing a pose.  This was the lightbulb that went off for me one night and it has carried over into my practice of Buddhism.  I no longer try and I no longer try to engage with it as a teaching in the academic sense. 

Now I listen and chant and bow as if in Yoga.  I let it work on me rather than trying to understand it and grasp it as a creed or doctrine.  Buddhism and Yoga are both profound spiritual practices that are transformative.  In the West, I am not sure we know to call that.  Perhaps we just don’t have a category for them yet. 

In gassho, Rev Jon Turner