Role of
Yoga Teachers in the 21st Century
Swami
Satyananda Saraswati
Today I
will talk to you about the new role of yoga teachers, the role of yoga teachers
in the changed environments of the world.
When, at
the beginning of this century, yoga was revived all over the world, it was very
vaguely understood. Swami Vivekananda brought yoga to the West, but he spoke in
general terms, providing a philosophy of karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga
and raja yoga. He was followed by many yoga teachers. Ram Charak taught hatha
yoga and pranayama. There were people like Yogi Vitthal, Siddha Baba, Dr
Rammurti Mishra. Then came Paramahamsa Yogananda who taught kriya yoga. By then
things became clearer, the science of hatha yoga was accepted by and large in
the world as a science of healing, therapy, physical and mental balance.
Initially,
the yoga teachers only taught hatha yoga. They did not even think of teaching
meditation because it was thought that meditation had more to do with God than
with man, and was not necessary for those concerned only with material life,
not a higher life. As scientific studies were conducted, it was found that
meditation could be a path to higher realization, but that it was more important
and necessary for mind and body balance.
That mode
of thinking is also over now. The idea of importance of meditation in terms of
physical and mental balance and therapy has been transcended. Research and
practical experiments have been conducted on disabled people, mentally
challenged children, drug addicts, prisoners, criminals, etc. and things are
becoming clearer. People are convinced that yoga has some role to play in
effectively dealing with such situations.
New role of
yoga
The
question that the coming generation will ask of yoga teachers is: “How can yoga
transform the quality of human personality?” That will be the most important
and crucial challenge that yoga and yoga teachers will have to meet.
Hatha yoga
and raja yoga will continue to be the science of therapy, concentration,
relaxation and physical health. We are now about to enter the twenty-first
century. The problems are going to be more acute. Governments are well
organized and education systems are in place. We are making law after law to
maintain a balance in society, between society and the human, personal element.
Religions are also being revived in various ways in order to maintain this
relationship: a better relationship between society and the individual. Still,
it is certain that they will not be able to accomplish the task that the next
century will require: a higher quality of human being. Such a quality of human
being cannot be produced unless some metamorphic change takes place within us.
The question that will be asked is, can yoga can help in changing the human
personality?
Yoga
teachers throughout the world have to think about this and adjust their
teachings and knowledge for the fulfilment of this task. Of course, people live
in different countries, have different cultures, food habits, living habits,
social customs and religions. These are different and they should be different.
There cannot be one culture, one civilization, one government or one religion.
It is neither possible nor good. But there are certain basic elements in the
personality of the human being which are the same everywhere. They influence
our judgements, behaviours, passions, ambitions, likes and dislikes. Cultural,
social, religious and other differences have no influence on this structure.
The complexities are the same. And it is in this regard that the science of
yoga has something to contribute.
Beyond
morality and law
In order to
influence the quality of a person, we have all along been trying religious
principles, social laws, ethics and morality. We have gone on the lines of:
“This is bad, do not do it,” “If you do it, you will go to jail,” “It is bad
for health,” “You will be condemned to hell.” These are the methods that have
been adopted so far: the religious and the legal. However, in the twenty-first
century, man is not going to heed to these things. He will become too arrogant
and impatient to do so. The attitude of the coming century is going to be: “I
do not believe that there is anyone who can put me to heel. You may control
innocent children that way, but not me. I can do whatever I like. There is no
one who can punish me.” Therefore, a different approach will have to be found
to influence the human personality.
Tantra
talks about samskaras and karma. This refers to archetypes: the thoughts that
exist within the deepest sphere of our personality, not in the conscious or
unconscious sphere, but even deeper. Those are the seeds from which our
behaviour and attitudes spring, both good and bad. That is the bed, the very
bottom. If you cannot change the bed, but only change the external, socially
imposed behaviour – “I am good because I am taught to be good” – it is of no
use. The base is no good, it is full of things. We may try to be good because
we have been trained, forced or indoctrinated to be good. But when we become
aware of this, we no longer want to be good because we do not care for social
laws. Therefore, we have to send the influence to the basis of human nature,
what yoga calls prakriti, samskaras. The internal range of the human personality
has to be influenced.
Work with
archetypes
Some years
ago, a Swiss teacher, Zoe Durf, experimented with children to improve their
faculties and quality of the mind. He used the methods of yantra and mandala.
And he succeeded. He found that yantras and mandalas are such symbols that have
the capacity to influence the unconscious, the deepest beliefs of man’s nature,
its bottom most layer. The change in the intellectual personality of the
children was clearly evident. Therefore, yoga teachers of the coming century
should equip themselves with knowledge of the human personality. They should
know how to deal with samskaras, archetypes, with the nature of man.
Just as
there is physical disability, there is also mental disability. The billions of
people around us are mentally all the same, more or less. You do not realize
that yet, but by the coming century you will. The thinkers are coming to that
point. We are all ill, physically and mentally. Why do you say that man is a
sinner? Why do you not say that he is sick? It is a better definition of his
personality. If someone is debauched or a criminal, don’t call him a sinner.
Call him sick. That is a much better and truer definition of such a
personality. Just as we have physical sicknesses, the mind is also sick. That
is why we fight and steal. Mental sickness is not merely worry, anxiety or
fear. There are many forms of mental sicknesses and they have to be treated
systematically. It is then that the human personality will become healthy.
In order to
treat the real human sickness, the methods of psychology will not help much. We
have to instead use methods with which we can go deep inside the mind. We have
to teach this to our students. So, alongside the teaching that you provide
according to the rules and regulations of the organization to which you are
affiliated, it will be necessary for you to realize the vital issue, which I
call mental disability, mental illness, and adjust your teachings and
knowledge. Use the methods of yoga that you know to fulfil this aspect of human
life.
Healing the
whole personality
People come
to you now to get relaxation, or they do not get good sleep or have bad
digestion so they come to you. However, a time should come when people come to
you to heal their mind and personality. Someone gets angry and depressed. He
beats his wife and children. What yoga will such a person practise? This is the
question that students will have to ask yoga teachers. Sometimes, they do ask,
but usually they don’t. They feel that yoga teachers are just teaching them a
bit of relaxation and a few other things.
To equip
yourself with the basic knowledge in order to handle the human personality, it
will be necessary for all of you to study tantra and of course, yoga. Tantra
has been misunderstood not only in the West, but everywhere. There are sects
that have related tantra to sexual life. Tantra is not against sexual life, but
to interpret it solely on that line is an insult to the science. Tantra does
not say that you should refrain from the sensual act. It has been very liberal
in this respect, but it does not say that this is the path. There are also
people who practise tantra using human skulls and such things. All these
unnecessary things that have entered into the body of tantra have to be removed
and its basic philosophy of Purusha and Prakriti, matter and consciousness,
Shiva and Shakti, has to be understood. The methods of expanding the mind and
liberating the energy have to be studied. A study into the tantric system will
reveal to us the nature of the man behind the man, the one who is directing all
karmas, all our behaviours. Therefore, I want to tell all teachers all over the
world that they should enlarge the scope of their activities.
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