NEW YORK (Diya TV) “We must understand that yoga is not an Indian (thing). If you want to call yoga Indian, then you must call gravity European”, said Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on the eve of International Yoga Day at the United Nations on 22nd June, 2016
“Yes, Yoga originated in India and being Indians we are proud of it, but that does not mean it belongs to the country. The very fact that the UN has declared an International Yoga Day means that India has gifted it to the world. It does not belong to India anymore”, added Sadhguru Jaggi.
Sadhguru, the founder of Isha Foundation focused on yoga as a science and technology for human betterment because “one does not have to believe in yoga, they just have to learn to use it like any other technology. If one learns how to use it, it works for them”, he said.
The path to achieving those goals starts with the individual, he said. “You cannot transform the world without changing the individual. The world is a larger manifestation of who we are.”
Sadhguru said that, most people assign specific timings to perform their daily yoga but he does is it all day. To popularize yoga, Vasudev said, begin with ‘upayoga’ for those who are not ready to deal with the spirituality of it. Upayoga starts with the physical and psychological aspects. Those who are ready to delve into their own spirituality and widen their understanding of matters of faith and the heart may want to listen to this podcast here, especially if you’re looking to move towards a more full life and are ready to explore the possibilities of freeing oneself from a prison of our own thoughts.
Also recently at the Joint session of Congress with the US Diplomats, “India’s Ancient heritage of yoga has over 30 million practitioners in the US. it is estimated that U.S. people bend more for yoga than throwing a curveball- which shows the cultural connections between Indians and the Americans”,said Narendra Modi.
“However attached they may be to those cultural elements, they should keep that aside and teach yoga as a science and as a technology. This is most important because only then will it be internationally relevant,” he said.
The meeting was an attempt to “delve into this intellectual side of yoga and to relate it to the political vision we have collectively set ourselves in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”, he concluded.
Also, at the United Nations, various yoga poses were projected on a side wall on the U.N. headquarters building to highlight the role yoga can play in helping the U.N. achieve its SDG’s.
Sadhguru Vasudev tweeted to Prime Minister Modi saying
Adiyogi intended yoga should touch the entire world. Our PM @narendramodi and the @UN have now facilitated that. -Sg #YogaDay #YogaTools
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) June 21, 2016
On the other hand, Prime Minister Modi participated in the Mass Yoga session among 30,000 children in the city of Chandigarh performing some complex yoga positions and spreading the joy of celebrating International Yoga Day and he tweeted saying
I urge citizens of the world to continue practicing Yoga regularly & make Yoga an integral part of your lives. The benefits are many.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2016