“In India a great authority, a high reverence even is ordinarily attached to the written or traditional teaching. All the lines of the Yoga are supposed to be fixed and the Teacher who has received the Shastra by tradition and realised it in practice guides the disciple along the immemorial tracks. One often even hears the objection urged against a new practice, a new Yogic teaching, the adoption of a new formula, “It is not according to the Shastra.” But neither in fact nor in the actual practice of the Yogins is there really any such entire rigidity of an iron door shut against new truth, fresh revelation, widened experience”. – Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, VOL 23 and 24, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry, 1999, p. 56
The Yoga movement has travelled a long way since the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. Since then, not just the Yoga demonstrations at public places feature every year on the designated day, but there has also been a growing awareness about the Yogic practices in everyday life. Yoga has acquired a celebratory mode world over and it is a matter of pride. At the same time, there is an attempt to misappropriate and misrepresent Yoga for the commercial purpose, as witnessed in the Western world. Some are even disregarding it by cutting it from the roots of Sanatan Dharma of Bharat without which Yogic wisdom is incomplete. Hence there is a need to go beyond the celebration of Yoga just as a healthcare practice and integrate it in our daily lifestyle.
Education is the best platform that can impart yogic wisdom to the next generation. It does not mean merely introducing Yoga classes or bringing in more Yoga teachers through proper training but integrating Yogic vision in the teaching learning process. For instance, the experiments in quantum physics also made it evident that material knowledge is incomplete without understanding its correlation with energy and consciousness. The evolution of individual consciousness to the universal one is the ultimate objective of individual life. The question that needs to be asked is do we bring in this approach while teaching social sciences and literature?
Globally when we are facing many challenges such as conflicts, economic instability and environmental degradation, Yogic vision has a potential to provide insights and solutions with the principles of universal harmony and unity. Are we ready to take up the responsibility as the inheritors of that Rishi Parampara where personal experiences are translated into social traditions?
Yoga is universal but its foundations are Dharmic. Any attempt of commercialisation and patenting that knowledge will lead to reductionist material approach by missing the spiritual dimension of it. While expanding the scope of Yogic vision to different aspect of life, beyond healthcare, resisting any attempt to disconnect Yoga from its roots is also our moral and civilisational responsibility.
Investigate, Not Speculate
The tragic plane crash of Air India flight AI-171 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Airport, Ahmedabad shocked the world. The inbound Boeing 787 dreamliner crashed soon after take-off due to some technical issue, resulting into the deaths of most of the passengers and crew members. Collision with adjoining students hostel of BJ Medical College worsened the fatalities. Authorities, common people and voluntary organisations, including RSS Swayamsevaks have shown remarkable composure and patience while handling the situation. Unfortunately, few media and social media handles have yet again exhibited impatience and insensitivity while reporting the tragic incident.
As promised by the authorities thorough investigation will be undertaken. Being an international flight with many foreign nationals among the victims, many international agencies will also join the investigation. Instead of getting into wild speculations, we should wait and support the inquiry from multiple angles. The video footage available, flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data are the best sources to understand the sequence of events. The malfunction and subsequently the fuelled aircraft resulting into explosion is the prima-facie reason. Was there any sabotage angle, involving either the ground staff or technical support company? Is the company casual in addressing the notices from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as claimed by some people? Boeing aircrafts are under scrutiny in many countries and questioned by the companies employees and that angle cannot be ignored as Air India is planning to buy more aircrafts from the same company. If there was a frantic Mayday call signalling emergency and distress to air traffic control, why response was missing from the other side? The take-off failure was noticed in the cockpit and still the landing gear was down is the puzzle most of the experts are not able to solve.
There are many tragic stories associated with the incident. Demise of a leader like Vijay Rupani is a national loss. We should be sensitive to the families of the deceased and respect their privacy in the times of shock and grief as they have to bear such an irrepaerable loss. We must come forward for medical, financial and human aid to help the injured. The accident should not be meant to look for breaking news and earning few followers on social media with speculative assertions. It is time to pray for the Sadgati of the departed souls and stand by their family members with sense of responsibility. Om Shanti!
