“It is an art and science for healthy living. The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning ‘to join’, ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite.’ According to Yogic scriptures, the practise of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with universal consciousness. According to modern scientists, everything in the universe is just a manifestation of the same quantum firmament. One who experiences this oneness of existence is said to be ‘in Yoga’ and is termed as a yogi who has attained a state of freedom, referred to as mukti, nirvāna, kaivalya or Moksha.” This quote is taken from the document on yoga by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush). Here yoga is not only a path of healthy living but also a religious way to Moksha. But the Prime Minister Modi has kept religion out of his yoga discourse and capitalized on the global yoga boom and popularity. Modi claimed that yoga was India’s gift to the world, that it lead to a peaceful harmony of the body and the mind and helps to “discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.” This clearly indicates the mounting pressure from Hindutva groups to add a religious touch to yoga or to “take back” yoga which would undermine New Delhi’s appropriation of yoga as a soft power tool. Modi projects himself as a vishwa guru, not only to give new direction to the world, but also to protect our own heritage. Another major facet of Modi’s cultural diplomacy is yoga. Soft power have three main sources: “its culture, its political values, and its foreign policies, when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority.” The fact that fundamentalist groups use yoga as a cultural tool of their ideology does not deny the value of yoga as an ancient tool of health and wellbeing. It is an art and science for healthy living. And there are Christians and other religious believers who practise yoga not as Moksha marga but as a way to health of mind and body. But, in spite its great cultural power, Modi’s rule is fraught with internal tensions such as religious conflicts, gender based violence, poverty, ethnic violence among others. The so called great spiritual heritage does not help its poverty, intolerance, violence against weaker sections.

There are two documents that deal with yoga as far as the Catholic Church is concerned. They are from the Congregation for Doctrine of Faith. The first one is Some Aspects of Christian Prayer of 1989 and the second A Christian reflection on the “New Age” of 2004.The first document on prayer does not refer explicitly to Yoga but it deals with position and demeanour of the body. Although it categorically states “Genuine Christian mysticism has nothing to do with technique,” it is positive about proper bodily positions which “have their influence on the recollection and dispositions of the spirit. This is a fact to which some eastern and western Christian spiritual writers have directed their attention.” The body should take up the position most suited to recollection. Such a position can in a symbolic way express prayer itself, depending on cultures and personal sensibilities. In some aspects, Christians are today becoming “more conscious of how one’s bodily posture can aid prayer.” I admit that “Some physical exercises automatically produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing sensations,” but it warns, “to take such feelings for the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the spiritual life.” However, it must be remembered that habitual union with God is not any pleasant feeling but an attitude of interior vigilance and appeal to the divine assistance which never is solipsistic. The so called ‘continuous prayer,’ is to serve one’s brothers for the greater glory of God.

The document on “New Age” explicitly speaks of Yoga but speaks more of the New Age’s idea of theosis, becoming divine. But the document is positive and clearly expresses the Christian understanding of divinisation. It “comes about not through our own efforts alone, but with the assistance of God’s grace working in and through us.” What the Greek Fathers called the divinization of man is rightly understood as man being essentially considered a creature. As Teresa of Avila wrote, “Soul, you must seek yourself in Me, and Me you must seek in yourself.” But this is no private affair for “any form of clinging to one’s ego deprives one of the freedom to listen to God in the present moment,” as Meister Eckhart wrote. Finding Him in me must overflow to finding his face in the other before me.