Do Yoga classes indoctrinate Hindu beliefs?

Some parents in the US have organised opposition to yoga classes because they fear Hindu
indoctrination through yoga classes. They are apparently concerned about the roots of yoga in Hindu
rituals, traditions and beliefs. The question in their minds is: has yoga been sufficiently separated
from these roots to be taught in secular schools?
We Indians are ourselves divided about the answer because, as with almost everything else in
relation to our country, no single answer is possible.
Some of us are happy about (and encourage!) the separation of yoga from Hindu rituals, traditions
and beliefs, while others of us merely tolerate the connection, and yet others among us are very
unhappy about the separation and would like to bring yoga back within some Hindu fold or other.
This range of opinions is partly because there are so many sorts of yoga now, with many different
gurus promoting their own variety of yoga.
Just as few of us know anything about the history of Hindu thought, rituals and practices, so it is that
few of us (and few of those teaching yoga in the US or elsewhere!) know anything about the history
of the development of the different types of yoga, including the fact that yoga has been influenced
by Western exercises!.
The great advantage of oral traditions is that one can invent something new and pretend that it has
existed for hundreds or thousands of years, just as one can stop (or change) something that was in
fact going on for thousands of years and no one (at least among the followers) will necessarily be
wise to what has happened.
In any case, some Indians practice yoga entirely shorn of religious, philosophical or explanatory
content, simply for its physical benefits. Others of us practise some version of yoga primarily for its
psychological benefits. Yet others of us focus on some variety of yoga or other that brings us in
touch with supernatural powers, whether from outside ourselves or, supposedly, from within
ourselves (kundalini).
The reason for all these difference among Hindus is that we have no central authority and no agreed
criteria (for establishing what is true or false, acceptable or unacceptable) that are valid for all of us
and long may it remain so.
However, the disadvantage is that simple Californian parents (and government and educational
authorities) are rightly perplexed about whether to support or oppose yoga classes for their
children.
I therefore propose the following tests for Americans to judge the suitability of particular brands
of yoga for their secular schools:
1. Does the variety of yoga to be taught have a specific name (other than merely yoga), a
clear originator for that brand of yoga, a central authority that regulates that brand of
yoga, and a set of documents that puts down the practices and tests that any potential
instructor must go through in order to become a certified instructor of that brand of yoga?
If the answer to the question is Yes, then it might well be suitable for secular schools. But
if the answer to the question is No, it is unlikely that that brand of yoga will be suitable
for secular schools (most yoga in the West is taught in slipshod and lackadaisical ways)

2. What system of inspection or control does the central authority of that brand of yoga have
for ensuring that its certified teachers are in fact continuing to teach in the authorised
manner, and not bringing in some innovation, good or bad? People are of course free to
innovate, but are any such innovations checked, tested and approved by the central
authority of that brand of yoga before they are allowed to be taught? It is only proper
that a certified teacher (of yoga, or anything else) should not teach something other than
what they claim to be authorised to teach.

3. Is any religious ritual involved (e.g. bowing to an image or using a particular verbal formula
or mantra) for its blessing, vibrations, or anything of that sort? If any religious ritual is
involved, then that form of yoga is clearly unsuitable for secular schools.

4. Does any explanation, that is offered for what happens during a particular yogic posture or
exercise or its benefits, appeal to any Hindu tradition or belief? If so, that brand of yoga is
unlikely to be suitable for secular schools. The case is rather more complicated for forms of
yoga that appeal to scientific or pseudo-scientific theories, including experiments currently
in progress: some expert judgement has to be made by scientific experts regarding the
scientific validity of such theories and/ or experiments.
Conclusion: The four simple tests above cover such things as branding, inspection, control, religious
ritual, and theory. If the brand of yoga being advocated passes these tests, it is clearly being offered
simply as a form of exercise for its physical benefits, much like any other physical activity (walking or
running or calisthenics or sports). Clearly, there can be no objection to such an activity.
ENDS
A version of the above piece was published in the Opinion column of IndiaWest newspaper
(California). That version was adapted from an article by Professor Guptara originally published in
Forward Press Magazine (New Delhi).
Prabhu Guptara is co-author of Yoga: A Christian Option? (1987), and author Indian Spirituality
(1984) and various books since then.
He is currently researching a history of Indian Philanthropy from earliest times to the present.