Yoga -- FAQ

I’m not the right person to reply all the queries related to yoga. But I’m overwhelmed with the kind of interest that the blog has generated. Here I make a valiant attempt to answer few selected queries received from my readers in the form of comments and mails.

Q1. Categorically please tell me if Yoga can cure a disease.

Reply: My experience is limited to cancer patients. And I believe that yoga can’t cure cancer. It doesn’t mean that one should stop practicing yoga because yoga may improve the quality of life and help to gain some kind of spiritual peace in mind. This remark is purely based on my experiences.

Q2. Why are you against of yoga system? Can you prove that yoga system doesn’t work?

Reply: I’m not against of yoga system. I’m against of using yoga to gain popularity and earn money with an assurance (yet to be proved authentic) of getting fully cured. One shouldn’t depend on yoga because such assurance and deny traditional medical treatment. Yes, medication too, in most of cases, can’t cure.

I have lost my wife and I have seen a good number of cancer patients to die of cancer – all of them were doing yoga sincerely. I’m not propagating any theory nor denouncing any theory. I’ve just mentioned what I observed. So better rely on your inner strength, not on testimonials of others.

Q3. In your posts you discussed about positive effects and next the negative effects of yoga. Isn’t it contradictory?

Reply: Yoga has an effect on body and mind. But there are certain rules like who’ll practice and what type of yoga he’ll practice. Here comes the analysis of physical and mental condition of the subject. Yoga should be practiced according to psychological and physical condition of the subject. Generalization of yoga and teaching the methods within a month or so, results in severe negative impacts in the long run.

The Father of yoga, Patanjali categorically mentioned that yoga was a method to bring our senses under control and to make mind look inwards to feel the oneness with the supreme energy. This is what ‘brain during meditation’ post of this blog establishes scientifically by discussing the cases of monks and nuns.

Swami Vivekananda emphasized that yoga should be taught by a saint like person who had attained equanimity. Well, it’s really difficult to find a yoga master who has attained calmness between joy and sorrow, adulation and criticism. So while doing yoga, be a good observer to watch every change occurs in your mind and body.

The last two paragraphs summarizes what I want to highlight. 1st para talks about the reason to use yoga and 2nd para defines the quality of the yoga master who is capable of deciding who will do which yoga.