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Religion News Service (http://religionnews.com/2013/10/28/yoga-religious-indian-court-mulls-mandatory-school-exercises/)

October 28, 2013

Beliefs

Is yoga religious? An Indian court mulls mandatory school exercises

By Vishal Arora and Anuradha Sharma | October 28, 2013

Private yoga instructor Shailendra Singh (far right) leads a group of young professionals at The Yoga Guru club in Noida in Delhi's suburbs on Oct. 25, 2013. Photo by Vishal Arora

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(RNS) India’s school policy considers yoga an integral component of physical education. But the court has expressed caution, and is considering arguments that yoga has a religious component.

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Susan

Yoga is spiritual not religious. Hindu lifestyle includes all spiritual and religious paths.
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Swami Param

Is yoga religious? Is the Pope Catholic? Of course, real Yoga is all about the Hindu religion. Phony yoga, on the other hand, is well…phony.
philipine234

Problem is not Yoga but the “Organised Religions”. Is science Christian? Just because it is advanced from Western (Christian) Countries, it can’t be assumed to be Christian, despite some leanings towards Christian beliefs at places due to the books written are by Westerners…
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John

Yoga is a physical, spiritual and religious package you cannot divide it.
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P.Radhakrishnan

Even before Yoga was popularized in the West by selfish gurus, the medieval monks of Europe had specialized in genuine meditation. They left the gaudy life in medieval towns and retired in the monasteries and spent their time in meditation and hard labor in farms. They equated sanctity with escape from the contamination of the world. Thousands of monks like Anthony, Benedict and others lived alone in small groups, spending their time in meditation and solitude. Disciplined concentration, balanced posture while reciting prayers helped the medieval monks of monasteries perform miracles. On the other hand, Yogis attract western clients with the false claim that they could transform themselves into soaring birds, leaping beasts and invisible spirits. They also attract clients by claiming that ‘mind- spirits’ are capable of instant transmission from planet earth to remote planetary bodies throughout the universe. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi cheated the world by advertising in the papers that Yoga would help people fly in the air. Why Yoga guru flying in the air has not been photographed till now? Why there is no video evidence for such feats? It is all to fool people by high sounding phrases like mind power, soul power, quantum physics and all such nonsense are advertised by yoga gurus. If yoga can arrest aging, as claimed by gurus, why the average age of Indians is shorter than Americans? Yoga is a religious feat in Hinduism, to meditate in different postures (asanas) their mythological gods and goddesses. It is not secular.
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vivekananda

First Of All there is no religion called Hindu.Its just religion created for the original Indians by the British. In that case which religion will you attribute Yoga to?
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Swami Param

Come on, use some discrimination Vivek. Look in any book on comparative religions and you will find the religion of Hinduism and its various Yogas.
Swami Param

The new-age cliché “spiritual but not religious” makes no sense. “Spiritual” means “incorporeal.” The various religions provide the specific links (“religio”) to find one’s Spirit or Soul which is beyond the body. All religions, like the Hindu/Yogic religion, are lifestyles. Hinduism is not Christianity, for example, so Susan’s second sentence is more than ridiculous.