In our days, future Yoga practitioners are attracted to unscrupulous people who are self-proclaimed "Yoga masters". In our modern society, in our times, those looking for Yoga are attracted not by the authentic teaching of this discipline based on sacred texts, not by the teaching of Patanjali, Sankara, Shivananda, Vivekananda or Babaji, they are not attracted with the almost incredible asceticism of Milarepa, he is not attracted by the imposing and vast yogic culture.
Those who look for a way to improve themselves in Yoga are attracted with tempting and light proposals, with dazzling and forced smiles, almost stupid, they are attracted with soft and colorful mats, with infusions and tea to be enjoyed in soft lighting during the so-called lessons . Yoga is illustrated in a very diplomatic, almost political way, without ever emphasizing the need for a constant and persevering practice on the part of the practitioner himself, but highlighting only the benefits that the latter can obtain. The neophyte is made to believe that he doesn't have to do almost anything, he is made to believe that everything will happen by himself or through the "grace" of the people who welcome him. Just think of the commercials of certain "schools" characterized by often sloppy slogans such as: "Come and see us, we'll take care of the rest" or "comfortable clothes, leave your shoes at the entrance and once inside we will make you relax". Here Yoga is presented in the least ascetic way possible and thus transforms itself from a spiritual path and an arduous path that allows the improvement of oneself and the development of consciousness through a sustained practice, in a banal pastime, in an evening of relaxation softened by fragrant sticks and colored lights. Of course we must consider that this type of offer exists only in response to a huge similar request and, like everything else, even Yoga does not escape those people with an entrepreneurial spirit who, in order to make a profit, do not hesitate to transform a thousand-year science like Yoga in a bizarre and ridiculous custom-made practice.
Yoga, in our day, is no longer learned with devotion from a realized Master, but it is simply bought as a product and it is therefore normal that the buyer also relates to it as he would with any other product, that is looking for the most tempting offer. It is the consequence of the laziness of people who think they can get the maximum yield with the least effort, ignoring that in Yoga, as in any other authentic spiritual path, the results are always directly proportional to the practice and that the whole universe is governed by precise laws, based on balance. Try to tell people that the results in Yoga come only through an intense and persevering personal practice, only through hard work on themselves, only through the correction of some wrong attitudes, only through the sustained study of the sacred texts, only through a adequate diet, only through an inner verticality in thinking and acting and you will see how they escape even before starting the practice. They tend to run away because they are lazy, capricious and driven by painful spiritual expectations. But if we want to talk about real Yoga, we must be sincere and call things by their name. First of all, the yogic tradition says that Yoga is only for the elect, therefore not for everyone. Yoga can be understood and valued only by people who have a refined intellect and a pure heart. Yoga is not for dull people, for arrogant people, for proud, vain people and with a great ego (not by chance it is said that when Yoga enters, ego comes out and when ego enters, Yoga comes out) . Today we are witnessing what can be defined as a process of devaluation of Yoga. Currently, when we talk about this discipline, we generally think of two things: 1) sitting cross-legged, closing our eyes and dreaming of some beautiful green and fragrant landscape and 2) being able to put ourselves in very strange, almost acrobatic positions. But how many people have ever thought that Yoga means arriving at a state of perfect control over one's potential, one's thoughts, one's ways of acting? How many people know that the true practice of Yoga can and must have as its objective only the attainment of perfection through the suppression of mental fluctuations and therefore communion with the Absolute? In reality, when you approach some Yoga classes, you think of everything except this one, especially if the teachers themselves don't even talk about it. We have reached a state of cultural and moral degradation so profound that we do not know the true meaning of words and their meaning. Thus, nowadays, the term "Yoga" no longer designates a millennial scientific system of spiritual evolution, but a whole series of banal and sometimes gruesome activities to which the name Yoga has been given only for advertising and economic purposes. We thus find deviant systems to make money to which the name "Yoga" is associated. For example, in the vast range of aberrations we find the "Acro-Yoga", the "Gym-Yoga", the "Fit-Yoga", the "Yoga in flight" and many others. Well, Yoga has its own tradition which I invite you to study carefully and then tell me in which traditional yogic treatise there is at least a reference to the above listed "forms of Yoga". I already know that some voices will be raised to support the possibility of devising other Yoga methods too, but this is false: what was to be discovered in Yoga has already been discovered and revealed.
The Yoga system represents such a vast area that one life would not be enough for us to be able to study everything: how could we conceive anything else? It should also be considered that Yoga is a precise and practical philosophical system, studied in detail and revealed to humanity in a perfect form which, if modified as desired, distorts itself and can only do harm to these conditions. Yoga postures are not mere proposed and arbitrarily practiced positions only to stretch the body. In Yoga every single posture acts on multiple levels, which is why it must be carried out exactly as it has been handed down by the millennial tradition and only in this way acts simultaneously on muscles, bones, joints, lymphatic circulation, blood circulation, energy circulation, glandular activity, organic activity, cellular activity, mental activity, psychic and spiritual activity of the individual. A properly implemented Yoga posture offers the practitioner a whole range of benefits but if it is altered or a similar one is "conceived", the results will be different, and for different I do not mean just different but also harmful. If for example we take a traditional Yoga posture whose effects on the thyroid are mentioned in the texts and we modify it, those effects can turn into exactly the opposite of what we expect. I repeat: the wise men of Yoga have studied this system down to the smallest detail and have already revealed it to be perfect and the sages always admonish us about a chaotic practice, lacking a competent guide emphasizing that Yoga must be practiced under the teaching of a Guru , that is a master prepared and realized. In no passage of Yoga literature we find references to the idea of devising "new systems". Instead we find the lines and systems of traditional Yoga clearly defined. We know precisely how many types of Yoga exist and how they should be practiced.
We find the fact that Yoga has been revealed to humanity by Shiva - the Supreme Divine Consciousness - through the clairvoyant Sages. In authentic Yoga, everything is clear, everything is explained in detail, nothing is left to chance, there is no room for improvisation and there are no approximations, just that improvisation and those approximations that abound at Yoga merchants where more sometimes you will hear yourself repeating exhortations like: "It's okay in whatever way you do it, as long as you feel comfortable." The demands of the Yoga tradition are great, real and well defined. If one continues to soften the Yoga, one does nothing but destroy it. We think by analogy to the fresh milk of the cow that grazes in the Alps and to the processed, pasteurized milk of the cow that lives in a cage and is fed with hormones.
If you want to savor the taste of real milk you have to drink that of the cow that grazes freely in the Alps, the other is just a surrogate and as such it only hurts. The same goes for traditional Yoga and the various New Age-style "Yoga". If you want to do Yoga and get the effects it offers, then you must practice traditional Yoga, as it was revealed to humanity thousands of years ago. To conclude, I would like to stress the fact that nothing that is really beautiful and good can easily, free of charge and without doing anything.
Those who look for a way to improve themselves in Yoga are attracted with tempting and light proposals, with dazzling and forced smiles, almost stupid, they are attracted with soft and colorful mats, with infusions and tea to be enjoyed in soft lighting during the so-called lessons . Yoga is illustrated in a very diplomatic, almost political way, without ever emphasizing the need for a constant and persevering practice on the part of the practitioner himself, but highlighting only the benefits that the latter can obtain. The neophyte is made to believe that he doesn't have to do almost anything, he is made to believe that everything will happen by himself or through the "grace" of the people who welcome him. Just think of the commercials of certain "schools" characterized by often sloppy slogans such as: "Come and see us, we'll take care of the rest" or "comfortable clothes, leave your shoes at the entrance and once inside we will make you relax". Here Yoga is presented in the least ascetic way possible and thus transforms itself from a spiritual path and an arduous path that allows the improvement of oneself and the development of consciousness through a sustained practice, in a banal pastime, in an evening of relaxation softened by fragrant sticks and colored lights. Of course we must consider that this type of offer exists only in response to a huge similar request and, like everything else, even Yoga does not escape those people with an entrepreneurial spirit who, in order to make a profit, do not hesitate to transform a thousand-year science like Yoga in a bizarre and ridiculous custom-made practice.
Yoga, in our day, is no longer learned with devotion from a realized Master, but it is simply bought as a product and it is therefore normal that the buyer also relates to it as he would with any other product, that is looking for the most tempting offer. It is the consequence of the laziness of people who think they can get the maximum yield with the least effort, ignoring that in Yoga, as in any other authentic spiritual path, the results are always directly proportional to the practice and that the whole universe is governed by precise laws, based on balance. Try to tell people that the results in Yoga come only through an intense and persevering personal practice, only through hard work on themselves, only through the correction of some wrong attitudes, only through the sustained study of the sacred texts, only through a adequate diet, only through an inner verticality in thinking and acting and you will see how they escape even before starting the practice. They tend to run away because they are lazy, capricious and driven by painful spiritual expectations. But if we want to talk about real Yoga, we must be sincere and call things by their name. First of all, the yogic tradition says that Yoga is only for the elect, therefore not for everyone. Yoga can be understood and valued only by people who have a refined intellect and a pure heart. Yoga is not for dull people, for arrogant people, for proud, vain people and with a great ego (not by chance it is said that when Yoga enters, ego comes out and when ego enters, Yoga comes out) . Today we are witnessing what can be defined as a process of devaluation of Yoga. Currently, when we talk about this discipline, we generally think of two things: 1) sitting cross-legged, closing our eyes and dreaming of some beautiful green and fragrant landscape and 2) being able to put ourselves in very strange, almost acrobatic positions. But how many people have ever thought that Yoga means arriving at a state of perfect control over one's potential, one's thoughts, one's ways of acting? How many people know that the true practice of Yoga can and must have as its objective only the attainment of perfection through the suppression of mental fluctuations and therefore communion with the Absolute? In reality, when you approach some Yoga classes, you think of everything except this one, especially if the teachers themselves don't even talk about it. We have reached a state of cultural and moral degradation so profound that we do not know the true meaning of words and their meaning. Thus, nowadays, the term "Yoga" no longer designates a millennial scientific system of spiritual evolution, but a whole series of banal and sometimes gruesome activities to which the name Yoga has been given only for advertising and economic purposes. We thus find deviant systems to make money to which the name "Yoga" is associated. For example, in the vast range of aberrations we find the "Acro-Yoga", the "Gym-Yoga", the "Fit-Yoga", the "Yoga in flight" and many others. Well, Yoga has its own tradition which I invite you to study carefully and then tell me in which traditional yogic treatise there is at least a reference to the above listed "forms of Yoga". I already know that some voices will be raised to support the possibility of devising other Yoga methods too, but this is false: what was to be discovered in Yoga has already been discovered and revealed.
The Yoga system represents such a vast area that one life would not be enough for us to be able to study everything: how could we conceive anything else? It should also be considered that Yoga is a precise and practical philosophical system, studied in detail and revealed to humanity in a perfect form which, if modified as desired, distorts itself and can only do harm to these conditions. Yoga postures are not mere proposed and arbitrarily practiced positions only to stretch the body. In Yoga every single posture acts on multiple levels, which is why it must be carried out exactly as it has been handed down by the millennial tradition and only in this way acts simultaneously on muscles, bones, joints, lymphatic circulation, blood circulation, energy circulation, glandular activity, organic activity, cellular activity, mental activity, psychic and spiritual activity of the individual. A properly implemented Yoga posture offers the practitioner a whole range of benefits but if it is altered or a similar one is "conceived", the results will be different, and for different I do not mean just different but also harmful. If for example we take a traditional Yoga posture whose effects on the thyroid are mentioned in the texts and we modify it, those effects can turn into exactly the opposite of what we expect. I repeat: the wise men of Yoga have studied this system down to the smallest detail and have already revealed it to be perfect and the sages always admonish us about a chaotic practice, lacking a competent guide emphasizing that Yoga must be practiced under the teaching of a Guru , that is a master prepared and realized. In no passage of Yoga literature we find references to the idea of devising "new systems". Instead we find the lines and systems of traditional Yoga clearly defined. We know precisely how many types of Yoga exist and how they should be practiced.
We find the fact that Yoga has been revealed to humanity by Shiva - the Supreme Divine Consciousness - through the clairvoyant Sages. In authentic Yoga, everything is clear, everything is explained in detail, nothing is left to chance, there is no room for improvisation and there are no approximations, just that improvisation and those approximations that abound at Yoga merchants where more sometimes you will hear yourself repeating exhortations like: "It's okay in whatever way you do it, as long as you feel comfortable." The demands of the Yoga tradition are great, real and well defined. If one continues to soften the Yoga, one does nothing but destroy it. We think by analogy to the fresh milk of the cow that grazes in the Alps and to the processed, pasteurized milk of the cow that lives in a cage and is fed with hormones.
If you want to savor the taste of real milk you have to drink that of the cow that grazes freely in the Alps, the other is just a surrogate and as such it only hurts. The same goes for traditional Yoga and the various New Age-style "Yoga". If you want to do Yoga and get the effects it offers, then you must practice traditional Yoga, as it was revealed to humanity thousands of years ago. To conclude, I would like to stress the fact that nothing that is really beautiful and good can easily, free of charge and without doing anything.
