Comments on: Warrior pose, corpse pose

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:18:48 +0000

The Art of Living/Sri Sri is not teaching asanas in Iraq except as part of a larger program. There are many relief groups in Iraq, but Art of Living is offering trauma relief. THey studied the effect of the programs when they were given to tsunami survivors and found relief from PTSD in as a few days. Same with Vietnam veterans. The National Veterans FOundation gave Art of Living an award for the benefit that Iraq veterans have received. Most of these programs are offered for free. Because of the huge widowhood problem in Iraq there has been a focus on women, giving them not only trauma relief techniques but also skills and community training. Sri Sri went to Iraq last spring and met with its leaders. He was asked to bring his programs into the Iraqi prisons and the government sent about 50 young adults to India for training. Sri Sri also went into the Red Zone, with the sound of gunfire and smoke around and talked to the people there. Last month an NGO meeting that included media representatives voted the Art of Living among the top 25 most beneficial NGOs in Iraq, of about 2,000 that are there. They are still in Kosovo, where the mental health department has seen tremendous benefit for the last several years for people who have taken the programs since the war. In New Orleans,the people who felt relief from the programs were not only Katrina survivors but about 500 people from other relief groups. This organization is doing great things around the world.

By: P.G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:48:30 +0000

"Then this might explain why it appears Hindu groups don't do as much "charity" type work in India as non-Hindu groups"

You are on a slippery slope here. Combining religion with charity is only marginally better than combining religion with politics---this is the criticism levelled at evangelists.

By: Akash

Akash — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:57:34 +0000

Law and order is a state subject. Stating that the GOI is doing Hindus a favour by making sure of law and order is silly. Coming to logistics- how many Hindu temples across India have the GOI on their board, with a more secular than thee babu on the board deciding where the funds go? Compare that to whats spent on these jamborees and it becomes obvious, that the dice are loaded. My dad, FYI, was a major rep from the civil admin during one of the Melas from the GOI side- simple point is that the admin does what it does not out of some sense of responsibility, but because it doesnt want the elections to be affected. Similarly, the Haj, the quotas are all directed towards votebanks. All these days in the BIMARU states, the Muslim community, the SC/STs and the Evangelical orgs voted as distinct groups. Hence they were targetted. When i refer to SC/STs – I mean the arbitrary divisions created by the Brits and followed by the GOI. When the BJP/RSS started playing the same game and targetting the tribals, it was deemed communal. But till then, if any evangelical Dayal type openly supported “secular forces”- euphemism for the Congress, hey thems the good things folks! The funny thing is that all this blatant opportunism directed against the majority community- telling them that they arent a majority but “castes”, by playing 1 group against the other, is merely causing a revival of religious based identification amongst hitherto liberal hindus. Good job GOI.

By: Naiverealist

Naiverealist — Sun, 27 May 2007 15:12:08 +0000

(cf. staggering amounts spent on logistics and housing for sadhus and security for Kumbh Melas).

The Uttar Pradesh government spent Rs. 170 crores for the `Ardh Kumbh Mela' at Prayag in January 2007 (it was started by King Harshavardhana of Ujjain). Number of people attended: more than 1 crore. The stagggering amount spent per person: Rs. 170 crore/ 1 crore = Rs. 170 [Link]
Amount spent by Indian government on Haj pilgrims: Rs. 300 crore for 1 lakh Hajis. Miniscule amount spent per person: Rs. 300 crore/ 1 lakh = Rs. 30,000 [Link]

There are two solutions:

To be at par, lower the denominator in 1 (not only from the sample going to these Melas, but from the entire population)

For the miniscule amount spent in 2 to match the staggering amount spent in 1, increase the denominator in 2 (not only for the sample going for Haj, but for the entire population)

These Hindutva people at BJP, talking of Uniform Civil Code, are the culprits.

By: SP

SP — Sun, 27 May 2007 08:33:27 +0000

If you want to learn about why large Hindu temples (note: the large ones, not all, as the us-poor-Hindus-oppressed-in-our-own-land crowd would have you believe) come under government supervision, read Donald E. Smith's India as a Secular State. The general idea is that many of these temples were seen to have a public role, which is why people would donate to them and local bigwigs and rajas would serve as their patrons, so when there were complaints of mismanagement or graft, people would approach the local ruler, and then later colonial government and law enforcement to mediate; the British colonial administration took over many of the responsibilities of rulers for large festivals and processions and temples, and the Indian state has continued this to some extent (cf. staggering amounts spent on logistics and housing for sadhus and security for Kumbh Melas). There were also some celebrated cases triggered by the denial of entry into temples for lower caste folks, which led to the passage of the Temple Entry Laws. It's a subject of endless debate, this question of whether the state has a responsibility to treat religious institutions that frame the lives of its citizens in very important ways as "public interest" spheres and therefore liable to state intervention. And of course, the large pots of money available in the large temples are very tempting indeed for our dear babus.

By: sloppyjoe

sloppyjoe — Sun, 27 May 2007 04:53:34 +0000

"When one is surrounded by death and suffering on a daily basis, being equipped with a sound philosophical detachment from it all can bring a sense of neutral peace."

PG: You know this how ? We're talking about mothers in war zones concerned about the welfare of their babies, not samurai or old school Malayalee chaver squads

I think the Lebanese effort by the Indian peace keepers makes sense, it does not appear as if the class is at the expense of something else. Furthermore the participants seem to enjoy it. AoL in Iraq on the other hand....hospitals in the US Red States must recast their yoga/meditation into "mindfulness" or insight practices to avoid offending the religious sensibilities of the local populations and these dudes thought it would be well received in IRAQ ?! Sometimes well intentioned people project their need hierarchy on others. I have volunteered with food kitchens where the other volunteers were hung up on "organic" vegetables

By: PG

PG — Sun, 27 May 2007 03:58:50 +0000

If the fundamental concepts of yoga are taught – transcendence beyond the body and samsara chakra, then that could help people in war zones immensely. To develop a sort of detachment from one’s body, ego, and ego affiliations such as family, country, culture, etc. When one is surrounded by death and suffering on a daily basis, being equipped with a sound philosophical detachment from it all can bring a sense of neutral peace.

By: Naiverealist

Naiverealist — Sun, 27 May 2007 03:38:45 +0000

Kiran Bedi had introduced Vipassana in Tihar Jail with success. The word means 'insight'. Reconviction rates of prisoners in many countries is proof enough that however much discipline is imposed by the state - Bentham's panopticon, or Foucault's surveillance - reformation has to be from within. Another of those weird mystic solutions. I don't get it.

By: Dhyana

Dhyana — Sun, 27 May 2007 03:23:53 +0000

Ravishankar's org does Sudarshan Kriya, which is a modified form of Pranayama developed by Ravishankar. The technique seems to be pretty effective in relieving stress (just like any version of Pranayama) and is much more compact and easy to use for busy people in the modern world. Their organization is very publicity oriented and seems to promote Sri Sri's personality more than would be considered appropriate. One way they promote themselves is by going into conflict areas and promoting Sudarshan Kriya and this Iraq thing is no exception.

I don't know who came up first with the phrase 'art of living', but if you need a more profound, self-less, less pushy, non-personality oriented and more demanding Art of Living, then check out Vipassana. Unlike Sri Sri's Kriya this is more demanding and not for everyone as they require a 10 days course for starters, without asking for money up front and is free if you choose not to give anything. This is a powerful technique and would recommend it to anyone with the time and inclination.

By: circus in jungle

circus in jungle — Sun, 27 May 2007 00:32:58 +0000

Why can't Hindu orgs be simply left alone much like Christian or Muslim orgs?

Protection of minorities?

Some historical perspective. Most of the temples were given large lands by the local kings/zamindars long before 1947. So a clique of Brahmins/Pujaris had the power to spend the revenue generated from these lands. Congress party decided that these Brahmins/Pujaris shouldn't have this control as they are likely to abuse it for their own caste. Also there was the issue of not admitting lower castes into the temples. So govt and politicians wanted control over the temples to solve these issues and not to let one caste to control access to temples. Minority organizations didn't have these problems as they are more homogeneous than the Hindus.

Whom should the govt give control of TTD to if they decide not to meddle with the temples? There will be 100s of factions claiming the right to control the temples and it will be a major mess than it is right now.

But such laws shouldn't have been applied to modern Hindu orgs but once politicians get control of something they are not going let it go. Govt only expands never contracts unless there is some crisis (such as 90s Balance of Payments crisis resulting in liberalization).