The credit for the revival of Yoga in India goes mainly to Swami Ramdev. He established at the outskirts of Haridwar the biggest centre for Yoga and Ayurveda worldwide, called Patanjali Yogpeeth. Its size is stunning. It includes a Yoga University, an Ayurvedic hospital, a yoga hall of 25.000 sqm, thousand apartments for guests, conference halls, cafeterias, and several apartment blocks for permanent residents. Ramdev trained numerous yoga teachers there. He also travelled tirelessly through the country for several years teaching yoga and explaining its benefits to millions. Singlehandedly, he changed the negative image of yoga in India.

Further, he connected Patanjali Yogpeeth with the world. An international conference on ‘Yoga for Health and Social Transformation’ was organized by Patanjali Yogpeeth in January 2011 and again in 2013. I attended the first conference and will give some glimpses of it:

Two thousand delegates had come, who were comfortably accommodated on the huge campus. Over a thousand apartments provide place for around 8000 people. Swami Ramdev does not think big, he thinks huge. Huge is also his goal that he formulated at the inauguration with the venerable 93-year-old yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar, who meanwhile passed away, by his side. “Everyone should practice yoga – in India and in the whole world.”

Why should everyone practice yoga?

Because yoga makes you healthy, happy, peaceful, enthusiastic and prosperous and leads to Self- knowledge or Self- realisation. Yoga is not only asanas and pranayama. It is a complete lifestyle. Sri Krishna exhorted Arjuna to be a yogi thousands of years ago. Yoga means joining, union – joining the real Self, joining the whole world. “You are Atman, and Atman is Brahman”, Swami Ramdev quoted from the Vedas and added, “Everything is inside you. The whole universe is inside you. Atman is inside you. God is inside you.”

Yoga is for the ‘small’ concerns in life, for example how to cure obesity or diabetes, and how to be physically and mentally fit. But it is also for the big picture – how to know the Truth about oneself and the universe. Yoga is the practical side of Indian philosophy. Philosophy says that ultimately all is one. Yoga helps to remove the veil that makes us think we are small, separate persons and allows us to realize that we are one with the Whole, like the wave is one with the ocean.

“We all know that yoga works”, a foreign speaker, who has practiced yoga for many years, told me, “but we have to prove it scientifically. Science is the highest authority in our world today.” “And what is science?” I asked. Though a professor, he was at a loss for words. I wondered whether science is overvalued. It is concerned only with what can be measured ‘objectively’. If hemoglobin increases during pranayama, it is scientific. If the person claims that she feels much better, it is unscientific.

Science is a work in progress. Swami Ramdev is aware of this. “Western medical science has been around only for some 200 years. Ayurveda has been around for many thousands of years and has helped people without side effects. In western medicine, researchers find a new drug today and after two years it is banned, because it turns out to be harmful.” But he made it clear that he is not against western medicine. He is however against spending so much money on drugs for ailments, which yoga and Ayurveda can cure with no or little expenses.

“65 percent of Indians and a big percentage in the rest of the world cannot afford western medicine. I don’t want anybody to die because he is poor”, Ramdev said. To achieve this goal, Patanjali Yogpeeth has embarked on a challenging mission. “We are committed to get yoga accepted internationally as a medical science,” Acharya Balkrishna, an Ayurveda expert, who studied with Swami Ramdev in the same gurukul, declared. To achieve this, they have to present scientific evidence through clinical trials with the help of state of art technology.

Both certainly do not lack in enthusiasm and energy. “Enjoying inner peace does not mean you sit around doing nothing. Be fearless. Whenever a good thought enters your mind, follow it immediately,” Ramdev apparently summed up his own approach.

They established a Yoga Research Foundation at Patanjali University with a modern lab. Its work started with investigating the physiological and mental effects of Kapalabhati, one of the favorite pranayamas of Swami Ramdev. The results were encouraging. Motor skills, perception and attention had significantly improved after Kapalabhati.

At the conference, some 25 scientists shared their research on yoga. Prestigious institutes were represented, like Harvard Medical School, Oxford University, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which entered into collaboration with Patanjali University, and several more.

Two things impressed me most. One, yoga cures even ailments that I had not expected it could cure, and two, yoga is on an amazing upswing worldwide.

Terrance Ryan, professor of dermatology from Oxford University, who has been working together with Dr. S.R. Narhari of the Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD) in Kerala, showed that yoga is highly successful in treating elephantiasis. He illustrated his talk by juxtaposing two slides: one showed hugely swollen, unshapely legs, painful to look at, and the other, the same legs reduced to a fraction in size just after a few months or a year. He has treated a thousand patients, taught them pranayama (Anulom Vilom), how to massage the leg and how to move the ankles. It is a cheap, brief training for the patient and his family members, yet wonderfully effective. The reason is, Dr. Ryan explained, that all lymphatic systems drain into the upper chest and as the drainage system is very close under the skin, it is sensitive to movement and massage. There are 20 million people suffering from elephantiasis in India. Unnecessary suffering when there is such simple cure.

Sat Bir S. Kalsa, an American Sikh from Harvard Medical School, brought to our notice what amazing acceptance yoga has gained in the west. “Yoga Nation” was the title on the cover of Life magazine, referring to USA. Times magazine followed suit with a cover story. The number of Hollywood stars who practice and praise yoga is continuously increasing. On the lawns of the White House in Washington, yogasanas were demonstrated. “And you know that yoga has finally arrived, when Mc Donald uses it for ads”, laughed Kalsa.

“Yoga is now part of the US culture but is practiced mainly by the upper class and women”, he rued and suggested two avenues to reach the whole society. “In the US, everyone visits his doctor and everyone goes through school. If the doctor would advise yoga to his patients and if we could train every child in school, yoga would be fully accepted as a daily routine, as is brushing teeth. Yet both, healthcare and education, need evidence that yoga is worthwhile and therefore we need research.”

Kalsa painted a grim picture of the state of teenagers in the US – violence, problems with social skills, bullying, attention deficit, binge drinking and suicide attempts are wide spread. “They require assistance”, he claimed. Yoga in schools is the solution, Kalsa felt.

Will India wait for foreigners to take the lead in putting yoga into the school curriculum?

It was obvious that most western speakers considered yoga a wonderful ‘tool’ to work with – divorced, however, from its philosophy and yoga’s ultimate goal – to merge the small, temporary wave consciously into the big, eternal ocean. Some Indian delegates considered this a drawback or distortion.

“Don’t you feel that by including yama and niyama (the virtues of external and internal purity) into yoga, the benefits would be greater?” an Indian delegate asked John Kepner, one of the founders of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), who had just narrated that an US army officer had called him up, asking for qualified yoga teachers for the Armed Forces. “I don’t think the US army is interested in the traditional ways”, Kepner replied with a tinge of haughtiness.

The lack of ethical grounding may be the reason behind the legion of yoga teachers for whom yoga is mainly a lucrative profession. IAYT has developed education standards for Yoga therapists to follow. Yet IAYT, too, may not have the right motivation: they demand a costly affiliation from yoga centres if their students want to have the chance to become “certified” Yoga Therapists.

Swami Ramdev was stern when he said, “It is okay to earn a living by teaching yoga, but it is a crime to patent it”. He touched a sore point between India and the west. “Our ancient Rishis have given this wonderful knowledge free to everyone. Now in the west, they patent it and talk of ‘power yoga’, ‘sex yoga’, etc. Through yoga, the sex drive decreases, but the love between husband and wife increases”, he said to clapping from the audience. “From lust, you cannot produce a healthy baby. If the sex drive decreases, it does not mean one becomes impotent. See, my hand is functioning”, and he stretched out his arm. “It can slap, but it does not slap.”

None of the western speakers touched on the issue of patents. Some 130 patents on yoga have been taken out in the US alone. When I asked one of the founders of IAYT regarding this issue, she stiffened and went on the defensive. “Some people claim that Hinduism owns yoga. We resist that.”

So far, the west had a free run to appropriate Indian knowledge as India did not lay claim to it. In fact, India did not value it. “In the 1930s, under the British, yoga was not respected”, B.K.S. Iyengar narrated. “I feel that only after yoga took roots in the west, Indians also opened up it,” he added.

No doubt, Swami Ramdev is largely responsible for giving a tremendous boost to yoga in India. Swami Chidananda of Parmarth Ashram in Rishikesh remembered that in 1995, he sent a reporter to Swami Ramdev who at that time was teaching yoga in a small hall in Haridwar. “The reporter came back saying, that this was not newsworthy. Today, Swami Ramdev is THE news!” Swami Chidananda exclaimed.

Swami Ramdev has his share of detractors as well. Many feel that his claim that yoga can cure 99 percent of all diseases is preposterous. “Big educated persons say, ‘Baba Ramdev is bad for people. He is misleading them.’ But what I say is the truth. I know it. I don’t tell lies. Those people are intelligent, but their mind is fixed.” Swami Ramdev looked like a small boy who is at a loss to understand how intelligent people are so confident in pronouncing judgment on something they have not experimented upon.

“In the Rig Veda is written that oxygen is the ultimate medicine”, he says. “It is not only the ultimate medicine, it is fire and fire is a synonym for knowledge, brightness, and light. Pran Tatva is almighty, it is energy, it is the life force, it is God!” and he added, “disease will enter if the life force is weak. Make yoga your life partner and there won’t be life style diseases.” With amazing ease he quoted numerous Sanskrit shlokas to support whatever he claimed in his talks.

Swami Ramdev has made yoga his life partner. He is an expert. Even his critics won’t deny this. Early in the morning, at a temperature of 5 degree Celsius, he taught yoga in the imposing 250.000 sq feet Yog Bhavan to the delegates with only a cotton cloth wrapped around his hips. I was packed in several layers of woolens and still felt cold.

“Whatever I have achieved has been given to me by Kapalabhati and Anulom Vilom pranayam”, he claimed. “Partially, I have been able to attain that extraordinary power and that extraordinary knowledge that is within each one of us. I have felt what is eternal and real. Sages before me, too, have felt it. And I don’t say this to praise myself, but to give you an example.

“There are four types of lives”, he continued. “1. miserable life, 2. ordinary life, 3. successful life and 4. ideal life. You here all have a successful life. Become a yogi and make it an ideal life.”

What Swami Ramdev has achieved in only 15 years – not only regarding yoga but also regarding a wide range of healthy swadeshi products – is mind-boggling. No doubt, extraordinary power and knowledge are at work through his person whose parents were illiterate farmers and who attended western type education only till 8th grade. In tune with the times, he spreads his knowledge through satellite TV and reaches millions all over the world.

He never forgets to remind his audience that there is more to yoga than asanas and pranayama. Devotion and surrender to that great power within us (bhakti yog) are most important for a yogic life. Devotion is the greatest unifier and the goal of yoga is union with that all-pervading divine Presence. Yet to be able to feel devotion one needs to learn and reflect on that great Presence (jnana yog) and dedicate one’s actions to it (karma yog). This combination of knowledge, love and action is the yoga that Sri Krishna taught Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita 5000 years ago. Asanas and pranayama are helpful to purify and fine-tune the body and mind to become more transparent for the inner light.

The west tends to ignore jnana, bhakti and karma yoga and focuses on becoming physically and mentally fit. This means, it may miss out on the great potential of yoga: to realize what we truly are.

Swami Ramdev set the lively discussion on the flawed western view of yoga at rest: ‘even if you do only asanas and pranayama, you will slowly become a better human being’, he felt.

Still, the motivation behind any activity has undoubtedly great influence on the outcome. If someone does yoga only to become fitter and more attractive to have a better chance to fulfill his egoistic desires, it would be an insult to the Indian rishis. And it would not deserve the name “yoga” or “yog” as Swami Ramdev calls it.

(reposted from https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/a-yogi-revives-yoga-in-india/)

The post A Yogi revives Yoga in India appeared first on Dharma Today.

In contrast, the rich USA with an area three times the size and only a quarter of India’s population allowed only in 1991 one thousand Tibetan families to enter.

Indians never hesitated to accept those who were in trouble and who wanted to preserve their faith because they did not distinguish between human beings on religious lines. Their attitude was that all belong to one big human family and all have the same divine essence in them. For them “religion” was not an identity but a natural, ideal way of life.

So what happened that nowadays there is a lot of talk that Christians are under attack in India? Have Hindus become intolerant?

No. Hindus have not changed. All the so called attacks on churches which were hyped up recently on many TV channels turned out to have been minor crimes unconnected with “Hindu extremists”. In other countries they would hardly find space in the local paper. Why were they flogged for days on TV channels? Why were Christian spokesmen given plenty of airtime to falsely blame the “Hindu right” and claim that Christians are under attack? There seems to be an agenda by the Churches and it would need to be investigated why so many TV channels obliged.

A smashed glass pane outside one church, a fire due to short circuit in another church, a theft of 8000 Rupees in a convent school, stones thrown by a mixed group of Hindus and Muslim surely don’t warrant hours of hyped coverage.

Yes, there was also the break-in into a convent school in West Bengal, where not only 1,2 million Rupees were stolen but a 72 year old nun was allegedly gang raped.

This was shameful no doubt and this news reached in no time all corners of the world. It fitted well into the image that had already been crafted over the last 2 years – of India as a rapists’ nation. The Vatican radio spoke of India’s shame which went viral on the internet.

It turned out that Bangladeshi Muslims, probably encouraged by the Pakistani secret service, were behind it.

Typically, the media fell silent. The BBC ran a scroll that an arrest has been made in the nun gang rape in India. They didn’t mention that he was a Bangladeshi Muslim. Neither the Vatican, nor the cardinal or the bishop apologized for their wrong, greatly publicized pre-judgment of the case that it was connected with the Hindu re-conversion drive of RSS and VHP.

The campaign of media and Christian representatives against “Hindu extremists” is not likely to end soon. New incidents will come up and the Christian spokesmen will again peddle the “truth” that under Narendra Modi as Prime Minister the Hindus are emboldened to “attack” Christians in hate crimes and that Christians feel helpless and insecure. The TV anchors will continue to prod them: “Do you feel unsafe in India?” and all Christian spokesmen will again reply “Yes” and claim that hate crimes have increased since Modi came to power.

There are other voices, too, who do not take part in this back stabbing of their Hindu brothers and, probably closer to the truth, blame the Christian clergy for trying to sow discord between communities. Yet those Christians, like Robert Rosario or Hilda Raja, are not likely to get an invitation to represent the Christian side, because they wouldn’t further the agenda to portray Hindus in poor light.

Mainstream media has tremendous power to shape opinions. Churches have tremendous financial and political clout. Both obviously cooperate to portray Hindus as intolerant and hateful of other religions – contrary to facts. There is a third power that wants India to get a bad image the world over, at least as bad as its own image is. It is Pakistan. The Sunday Guardian of 21th March exposed that the Pakistani secret service increased its budget six-fold to achieve the goal that India is put into the same bracket with Pakistan on human rights issues and downgraded by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

This goal has already been achieved in regard to projecting India as a rapist country. In the west, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are now seen as being on the same level. In fact, India stands out negatively: it is openly thrashed for its ‘anti-women attitude’, while it is politically incorrect to thrash Muslim countries. The German professor who quoted India’s rape culture as reason to reject an Indian shows the huge damage that this false portrayal of India has done.

Unfortunately, India did nothing to put the issue into perspective when the maligning campaign started, and it seems that India again does nothing to prevent an equally damaging, also false perception that Hindus are prone to hate crimes against Christians. Sometimes I wonder whether Indians are even aware how detrimental to India’s image abroad the media campaign has already been.

At least the government, if not the public at large, would know that India is neither in the top league of rape countries, nor are Hindus known for hate crimes and discrimination against members of other religions.

They would know that India has presently a population of 1270 million, and that it is unfair to compare absolute numbers of crimes with other countries. If the crimes that happen in the USA, Canada, in all European countries including Russia plus Australia were added up, then they could be compared with the number of crimes that happen in India. Can the media be made to give a balanced reporting on the issues it takes up? Does anyone remember the hype that media created about AIDS some 20 years ago? “India second only to South Africa” they screamed. Nobody mentioned that India had 1000 and South Africa 50 million inhabitants.

If the media were fair, they would discern that the charge of 160 hate crimes against Christians in the last 10 months, especially when those include theft and a stone thrown by a drunkard, is no reason to shout “Christians don’t feel safe in India”? Why do they play into the hands of the west which will be pleased to get a stick to beat India with?

In England, there were over 1,000 hate crimes only against Jews in the last year. This would equal over 20,000 hate crimes in India if it is put in proportion to the population. In USA, several Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims were killed only because they were Sikhs, Hindus or Muslims. Should the USCIRF not put the US and Europe on its watch list, before it even thinks of condemning India?

There are several indicators that clearly show that Christians are not persecuted in India and are even pampered:

The percentage of Christians keeps increasing. Their places of worship multiply manifold and are free from government interference, unlike Hindu temples. Many Christians are in high positions. Missionaries have the guts to openly declare that they want to plant hundred thousand churches in India and “evangelize the whole country in this generation” (from a Christian youth magazine called “Blessings”). Christians and other minorities are privileged and get special benefits like scholarships, etc. Christians can teach the catechism in their schools to Christian students, while ethic teachers in those schools must not mention Sri Krishna, or Hindu philosophy to Hindu students. Compare this with the situation in Pakistan and it becomes evident that the “operation equal blame” depends entirely on spreading falsehood and manipulating the world opinion.

How to counter this mischievous agenda? Certainly not by going on the defensive and giving special attention to Christians. “Justice for all, appeasement for none” is the way to go. The nun gang rape has been carried to the eight corners of the world as a ‘communal crime’ because the victim was a Christian. How would the kin of a Hindu girl feel who has been raped and maybe even killed by Muslims or Christians, yet neither the media nor even the police take any interest in the case, because it is not communal enough when Hindus are at the receiving end? Crimes need to be treated as crimes and religion should be out of consideration.

Hindus have no reason to be defensive. Spokesmen are dishonest when they claim that Christian are unsafe in India. It will be difficult to find any other country where Christians in minority are as safe and pampered, as among Hindus. If someone needs to be on the defensive, it is the Christian clergy and they may know it. Maybe that is the reason why they act as bullies in tune with the dictum ‘attack is the best defense’. They will stop playing the bully only when they perceive their opponent as strong.

Strength here doesn’t mean to bully back. It simply means to be clear, stick to truth and stick to dharma. It also means not to be afraid to point out the adharmic, divisive aspects in Christianity.

We live in the 21st century when science has discovered that there are different levels to reality. The apparent variety in this universe is based on uniform oneness. Our deepest essence is made of the same stuff, as it were. The Indian rishis knew this, ages ago. Where then is there place for a huge fire where billions or maybe trillions of heathens will burn for eternity after the Day of Judgment?

What is more of a hate crime: when a stone is thrown at a church by a drunkard or when respected clergy declare without any proof that Hindus are damned to eternal hellfire if they don’t become a member of the Church, and when they brainwash Christian children to believe this? Will TV anchors be outraged at such discriminatory, baseless allegation which can lead to real hate crimes? Will Hindus (and other heathen like Buddhists, atheists, etc.) demand an answer from the Churches?

Christians who originally came as refugees, and later went berserk during the Goan Inquisition, are now on a well-planned mission with huge funds from the west to change the broad-minded attitude of Hindus from “We revere ALSO Jesus” to a narrow-minded “We revere ONLY Jesus”?

Contempt and intolerance for other religions is inbuilt in Christianity. Its goal is clear: all must follow Christ. Hinduism must disappear. If they say something else in Interfaith Dialogues, it is deception. The spread of Christianity is not in India’s interest. It is not in humanity’s interest either.

Hinduism unlike Christianity and Islam, has no agenda and never had an agenda to wipe out other religions. In India, there always were innumerable paths to the one truth. It is India’s job not only to honour their valuable heritage and educate their own people and the world about it, but also prevent their people from being deceived, threatened or allured by unfair means to a divisive ideology.

The Churches don’t succeed anymore to enforce belief in unreasonable dogmas among Christians in the west, yet their financial and political power is mind boggling. They have plenty of funds to defame Hindus and Hinduism the world over. India is no equal in this fight, as most of her own media seems to have switched sides.

Maybe the Prime Minister himself needs to point out on his visit to Europe that Christian Churches are on a massive conversion spree in India because they have this strange and baseless notion that otherwise Hindus go to hell. They should relax. Hindus won’t go to hell. Most Europeans will agree with him.

However, I don’t know how much damage the media campaign “Christians are under attack” has already done. I just checked with a cousin in Germany. Yes, he heard already that there were attacks on Christians in India…

(reposted from https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/christians-are-not-under-attack-in-india/)

The post Christians are not under attack in India appeared first on Dharma Today.

Indian psychology has been invisible as a subject in Indian academia. But exist it does, preserved in ancient texts and scriptures. A conference of professors and students of psychology decided to unearth and verify this “sophisticated, rich and practical” body of India’s wisdom that concerns the human being and the enormous potential it encompasses.

When two German magazines Yoga Aktuell and Advaita Journal, expressed interest in a report on a conference on Indian psychology, I was convinced of the demand for Indian psychology in the West. Off I went to Pondicherry, to attend the conference on ‘Yoga and Indian approaches to Psychology’ held a month ago.

Pondicherry was home to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother who left behind a huge body of work on yoga and psychology. Sri Aurobindo had stated: “Yoga is nothing but practical psychology.” His vision of an impending change in the consciousness of humankind prompted the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology to ask Dr. Matthijs Cornelissen from the Netherlands to organise this conference. The doctor has lived in the Ashram for almost 30 years and values the Indian tradition. During his lectures on Sri Aurobindo’s vision of psychology in America and Europe, he noticed that there is a big demand for teachers of Indian psychology in the West.

The many conference sponsors included the Indian Council of Philosophical Research and, the Infinity Foundation of USA. It drew 160 delegates from different universities and institutes from India and abroad, and over 80 papers were presented.

In his keynote address, Prof. Ramakrishna Rao, President of the Institute of Human Science in Vishakapatnam and former Vice Chancellor of Andhra University said: “Isn’t it an irony that there is no Indian psychology in any of our great universities?” He pointed out that out of the 1,000 colleges in Andhra Pradesh only 20 teach psychology. He asked why psychology was in such a pitiful state and answered the question himself “because psychology as it is taught now appears irrelevant in the Indian condition”.

It slowly dawned on me that Indian psychology is hardly taught in India, at least not at her colleges and universities. It amazed me. Psychology in India is completely ignoring the Indian tradition in spite of the great treasures hidden in its ancient scriptures. The textbooks here are written by western authors and many teachers are trained abroad. Prof. Girishwar Misra from Delhi University put it bluntly: “If you mention Freud, nobody asks questions. If you mention samadhi, everyone does.”

Prof Anand Paranjpe, who retired from Simon Frazer University in Vancouver, said he smuggled some Indian thought into his regular courses. These, he said, were tolerated and even appreciated in the west, yet not in India. Thirty years ago, when he suggested including Indian thought into the curriculum, nobody supported his idea.

For him, the conference in Pondicherry was like a dream come true. Finally, professors, lecturers and students from all over India appreciate the profundity of Indian tradition and realise that it is possible to develop a scientific psychology based on this tradition, which goes far beyond western psychology. About time, because the West has already discovered the immense potential of Indian traditions and techniques like yoga. Yoga and pranayama which concern the well-being and growth of human beings, are no doubt aspects of psychology. Westerners have also taken concepts from India’s ancient scriptures, and used them to go beyond behavioural and humanistic psychology to what is termed ‘transpersonal’ psychology and ‘transpersonal’ psychotherapy. This new movement began in the 1970s and even made inroads into the curricula of western universities.

The Indian tradition, according to Prof Anand Prakash from Delhi University, is a powerful, robust and encompassing system. Its emphasis on consciousness as the primary reality is a sound foundation. It offers invaluable tools for psychotherapy, education, management and social work. Prof Rao stressed that it has global relevance and can reduce the glaring and unhealthy asymmetry between outer and inner science.

Western psychology is still groping in the dark over the most important questions of humanity and prefers not to pose these questions. There is a huge body of psychological research, but most of it is either irrelevant or obvious. This is because western psychology tries hard to be an objective ‘science’ and relies mainly on observation that lies outside and not on experience that is inside, thus missing what is truly relevant for a human being. It chooses to ignore consciousness or rather it has no idea that consciousness is the basis and beyond the mind.

Some delegates had delved deep into the concepts of science, enabling them to counter those who demand ‘scientific’ research based on observation. They concluded that there is no such thing as ‘absolute truth’ in science. All findings that the mind and intellect can arrive at are relative, claims modern physics. Indian tradition claimed long ago that mind and intellect cannot know the truth, yet truth can be realised as one’s own being because it is one’s being.

Several students expressed their disappointment with the present curriculum of psychology. They chose psychology as their subject of study, because they wanted to find answers to the basic questions of humanity and these questions just did not figure in the curriculum. The disappointment was probably most acute for those who practise their tradition, because they know for sure that Indian tradition is valid. Dr Suneet Verma, a lecturer in Delhi University, for example, wanted to write his first thesis on ‘personal growth in the Indian tradition’. His professor told him that ‘personal growth’ is okay, but he should leave out ‘Indian tradition’.

This was in the 1980s, when the convergence between ancient Indian wisdom and modern science was the subject of conferences all over the world. One of those conferences organised by the International Transpersonal Association took place in Bombay in 1982, where a new paradigm that assumes the whole universe is an interconnected whole that ‘most probably is conscious’ (as Fritjof Capra put it) was adopted. The Indian image of Nataraj was used to illustrate this new paradigm. The Indian rishis of old knew that the world is maya, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is an appearance of the one true consciousness. Modern science recently confirmed their vision. That should be reason enough for psychologists to study and prove their vision of the human being and its potential for liberation.

Though yoga and Indian psychology were the subject of the conference, most presentations started by quoting western scholars. “Do we have to deconstruct western psychology first to construct Indian psychology?” a student questioned. “We cannot ignore history,” replied the lecturer. “In that case let us go back to the Vedas”, the student countered and certainly had a point.

Now what actually is Indian psychology?

Indian psychology encompasses the vast body of India’s wisdom that concerns the human being. Indian philosophy and Indian psychology share a framework and believe the human has enormous potential hidden in its being. Indian psychology also has the ‘technology’ to raise the consciousness of a human being to a higher level. It is “sophisticated, rich and practical”, Prof Rao pointed out, and deals with the most basic human questions, for example: Who or what is a human being? What is the purpose and goal of life? Who is an ideal human being? How can one live a happy and peaceful life? What is the cause of suffering? What is death? Has every person his own ‘battery’ or is she connected with an all-pervading power? Is there free will? And so on.

The Indian tradition gives profound and intuitive insight into the human condition. It also gives practical methods to find peace, joy and love, which, it claims, are inside everyone. These qualities are aspects of one’s true self– of pure consciousness. In the Indian tradition, a person is not a separate fragment but on a deeper level one with all–a claim that is in tune with the findings of modern physics. To find one’s true self, and thereby disidentify from the ego, which one mistook for one’s self, is the goal of life and is mukti–liberation. It is a change in consciousness that has vast implication for society as well.

The Indian tradition not only goes beyond but is often diametrically opposed to the view held by mainstream western psychology. For example, it says that one’s inner state determines the outer, whereas western psychology believes the outer circumstances determine one’s inner state. Indian tradition says that the fulfilment of desires would give short-term happiness, until a new desire springs up. Lasting fulfilment and joy are found by stilling the mind and diving deep within–to pure, thought-free consciousness. Western psychology believes that a human being is his body and mind. It does not even consider the existence of pure consciousness.

There is every possibility that the vision of the Indian tradition is valid and will be confirmed if proper research is done. At present, Indian psychology lies scattered as it were in the ancient scriptures. At the conference, papers mainly discussed the view of the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali’s yoga sutras. However, there is much more. For example, Kashmir Shaivism is a goldmine for psychologists. Buddhist and Sufi texts also give extraordinary insights. It is a challenge to dive deeply into the Indian tradition and come up with relevant and helpful insights for the human being and society. Further, it is necessary to find ways to prove the validity of those insights.

Some students rued the fact that there are no textbooks ready on Indian psychology. However, Dr Cornelissen assured: “A lot is ready. Everyone has to work and find out for himself.” Prof Rao warned: “If we do not do it, westerners will do it. And they will do it badly.”

Westerners may do it badly, but Indians also may do it badly–if they do not practise what they read and preach. The psychologist has to be a mystic, Kundan Singh, a Ph.D. scholar from San Francisco, postulated. Prof V. George Mathew, director of the Integrative Psychology Institute in Thiruvananthapuram, suggested an aptitude test for psychology students, because they require a high degree of sattva. Moreover, he suggested an evaluation of their personal growth instead of exams.

If a psychologist talks about sthithaprajna as an ideal, he needs to have some idea of what equanimity under all circumstances means. If he stresses the great power of pure consciousness, he needs to be convinced of it and be able to tap it. “Psychology is not a theory, or an intellectual gimmick. It is a verifiable truth–verifiable in oneself,” stressed Kittu Reddy, who grew up in the Aurobindo Ashram and worked as a psychologist with the army. “It is based on fundamental laws. Yet these laws have to be grasped at a deeper level than merely by intellectual understanding. One has to follow a certain set of practices which will help intuition and self grow strong and one will be truly self-ruled,” he said.

The fact that several delegates, among the younger generation as well, had an inner experience of the Indian tradition, gives rise to hope. However, to assume that every psychologist will be a mystic in near future would be naive. The delegates were aware that given the politics in academia, it would not be easy to introduce Indian psychology into the universities’ curricula. The ego still rules where ideally the Indian psychologist should not be ruled by his ego.

Change may be slow, but it certainly is approaching. “In ten years, when Indian psychology is taught in the universities, the number of psychology students will skyrocket,” Dr Cornelissen predicted.

A ‘Pondicherry Declaration’ was passed and a committee was formed with Prof Rao, Prof Janak Pandey, head of the department of psychology of Allahabad University, Dr Cornelissen and Prof Misra on the board. It was high time Indian psychology was given its rightful place in the colleges and universities, to consider, study and verify the views of the Indian tradition.

Suppose psychological research reveals that persons who identify with their ego (the prevalent state of being today) live a life of far inferior quality than persons who truly feel the oneness of all and are not concerned with ego gratification. Suppose the latter feel not just inner peace and joy, but their lives also flow with ease and their needs are met in an astonishing way. Suppose research confirms Krishna’s assurance that he really looks after those who surrender to him… Would it not motivate people to forsake the ego and its false promises of happiness and discover the deeper realm of their being that truly liberates?

Perhaps Dr. Cornelissen referred to this when he said: “Indian psychology is a living force for the future.”

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Where is the Cultural Identity

First, these people have a problem only with ‘Hindu’ India, but not with ‘Muslim’ or ‘Christian’ countries. Germany for example, is a secular country and 59 percent of the population are registered with the Protestant and Catholic Churches. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, recently stressed the Christian roots of Germany and urged the population ‘to go back to Christian values’ Two major political parties, including Angela Merkel’s ruling party, carry ‘Christian’ in their name. Government agencies collect Church tax (8% of the income tax) and pass it on to Churches.

Germans are not agitated that Germany is called a Christian country, though I actually would understand if they were. After all, the history of the Church is appalling. The so-called success story of Christianity depended greatly on tyranny.

“Convert or die”, were the options given to the indigenous population of America some 500 years ago. In Germany, 1200 years ago, Emperor Karl the Great decreed death for refusal of baptism in his newly conquered realms. Heresy was put down with an iron hand. In the Nuremberg castle prison, one can see the torture instruments and chamber that were used during the inquisition.

Second, Hinduism is in a different category from the Abrahamic religions. Compared to Christianity and Islam, its history is undoubtedly the least violent as it spread by convincing arguments and not force. Hinduism is not a system that demands blind belief in dogmas and the suspension of one’s intelligence, but encourages using one’s intelligence to the hilt. Ancient rishis enquired into truth, discovered universal laws and showed how to live life in an ideal way. Hinduism comprises a huge body of ancient literature, covering Dharma and philosophy, music, architecture, dance, science, astronomy, economics, politics, among others. If any other western country had this kind of literary treasure, they would have proudly highlighted its greatness at every opportunity!

We Germans have to be content with one ‘ancient’ epic “Nibelungenlied’ which was written around the13th century and probably refers to incidents around 400 AD. That is how far back ‘antiquity’ reaches in Europe. Naturally Westerners consider the existence of Sri Krishna and Sri Rama as myths. How could they acknowledge a civilization much more ancient and refined than their own?

Is Indian Tradition any inferior?

Inexplicably, Indians cater to western arrogance and ignorance by downplaying and even denying their tradition. There is a “Copernicus Marg’ in New Delhi but Indian children are not taught in school that thousands of years before Westerners ‘discovered’ it, the Rg Veda mentions that the earth is round and goes around the sun . (Rg 10.22.14)

When I read some Upanishads, I was stunned at the profundity. Brahman is not partial; it is the invisible, indivisible essence in everything. Everyone repeatedly gets the opportunity to discover the ultimate truth and is free to choose his way back to it. Methods are given but not imposed!  In my early days in India, I thought that every Indian knew and valued his tradition. Soon I realized that I was wrong!

A western colonized mindset

The British colonial masters have been successful in not only weaning away many of the elite from their ancient tradition but also making them despise it. That the ‘educated’ class could no longer read the original Sanskrit texts and believed what the British told them helped. This lack of knowledge and the brainwashing by the British education system is the reason why many ‘modern’ Indians are against anything ‘Hindu’. They don’t realize the difference between western religions that have to be believed (or at least professed) blindly, and which discourage, if not forbid, their adherents to think on their own and the multi-layered Hindu Dharma which gives freedom and encourages using one’s intelligence.

Most do not realize that on one hand, Westerners, especially those who dream to impose their own religion on this vast country, will applaud them for denigrating Hindu Dharma, because this helps western universalism to spread in India. On the other hand, many Westerners, including Church people, know the real value and surreptitiously appropriate insights from the vast Indian knowledge system, drop the original source and present it either as their own or make it look as if these insights had been known in the west.

If missionaries denigrated Hindu Dharma, it would not be so bad, as they clearly have an agenda. But sadly, many Indians assist them because they wrongly believe that Hinduism is inferior to western religions. They belittle everything Hindu instead of getting thorough knowledge. As a rule, they know little about their tradition except what the British told them, i.e. the major features are caste system and idol worship. They don’t realize that India would gain, not lose, if they solidly backed its profound and all inclusive Hindu tradition.

Hindu civilization is gradually being depleted of its valuable, exclusive assets. The Dalai Lama said that as a youth in Lhasa, he had been deeply impressed by the richness of Indian thought. “India has great potential to help the world,” he added.

Now then the question arises- When will the westernized Indian elite realize it?

(reposted from https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/when-germany-is-christian-is-india-hindu/)

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