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Home , Edwin Bryant (author), Johannes Bronkhorst, Matsyendra, Nath, Rajiv Malhotra, Sutram

Symposium: Fuzzy Studies, Part 6

IS HINDU?

On the Fuzziness of Religious Boundaries

Andrew J. Nicholson

In 2010 an unlikely controversy erupted after an advocacy group for in the United States, the Hindu American Foundation, inaugurated a campaign called “Take Back Yoga.” Aseem Shukla, one of the organization’s cofounders, writing that is “a victim of overt intellectual property theft,” exhorted Hindus to “take back yoga and reclaim the intellectual property of their spiritual heri- tage.”1 For Shukla, the existence of the Yoga , ’s second- century CE text on yoga, is proof that yoga is an essentially Hindu practice. This understanding of yoga found favor not only among Hindus but, perhaps unex- pectedly, also among a segment of Christians. Albert Mohler, a Southern Baptist theologian, extended Shukla’s argument to what may have been its logical conclu- sion by insisting that Christians were flirting with spiritual destruction by taking on such ineluctably non- Christian practices. Although Shukla did not go so far as to argue that yoga’s Hindu character means that members of other religious traditions cannot practice it, other Hindus seconded Mohler’s point, arguing that the that underpins yoga is fundamentally Hindu and fundamentally contrary to Christian dogma and practice.2

1. Aseem Shukla, “The Theft of Yoga,” Washington Post, 2. For instance, see Rajiv Malhotra, “A Hindu View of April 18, 2010, newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith ‘Christian Yoga’,” Huffington Post, November 8, 2010, /panelists/aseem_shukla/2010/04/nearly_twenty_million www.huffingtonpost.com/rajiv- malhotra/hindu- view- of _people_in.html (accessed February 15, 2013). - christian- yoga_b_778501.html (accessed February 15, 2013).

Common Knowledge 19:3 DOI 10.1215/0961754X- 2281792 © 2013 by Duke University Press

490 tion,” “Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s Letter on Medita Christian gymnastics.” Hatha- the of exercises breathing queer [wisdom]. Yoga is scarcely mentioned there. little What there is, is but the [devotion] and ofBhakti land the is Bengal “Our postures: ofphysical mastery kananda’s own intolerance toward , ofthe type yoga that emphasizes kind ofkind open gymnastics,” to all yet devoid of any benefit?spiritual perhaps, following Vivekananda’s line of thought, is postural yoga nothing but “a Or argued? have recently Hindus few a as beliefs, or Jewish Islamic, Christian, their whowouldrenounce those for fitonly practice Hindu fundamentally ita Is maintain? aficionados yoga other many and Chopra Deepak as , all of postural yoga a nonsectarian spiritual practice that bestows its benefits on people Is yoga? practice should Who yoga. surrounding questions the to answers ent that involve “can bodily posture degenerate into a cult of the body.” examined so “as to avoid the danger of intofalling syncretism” and that forms of non- is which that to meditation that Christian stated fuse “to he attempts There, Meditation.” Christian of Aspects Some on “Letter a In are not new, although they are today better publicized than ever before. Books, 4 3 from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. meditational yoga based on his own modern reconstruction of teachings certain Vivekanandachampioned what contrast, he By called “Royal living. a Yoga” make to ( tricks magic and endurance of feats performed popularly considered little more bands of than disreputable who vagrants, (or Hatha era. his of Hindus educated for W.Ninde, X. recorded the in Bishop Methodist the and rememberedVivekananda polemics between the are speechat Parliament the of World’s the Religions Chicago in in his attendedwho those upon madehe impression positive rememberedthe for is Vivekananda, west, the in voice Hindu modern influential most The yoga. and about debates more still find we earlier, century a back from some yogis who saw this as another exampleanger provoked ityoga), of practice not Christian should intolerance. Christians Going that asserts egorically Mohler, letternowhere (unlike tone ofDespiteRatzinger anodyne this cat the value of the Christian and Hindu religions. . .

Philip Goldberg, Goldberg, Philip Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Alberto Bovone, Bovone, Alberto and Ratzinger Cardinal Joseph 1989 Buddhist- Controversiesand disagreements about such these as between boundaries Vivekananda’s attitude toward body- 20 10 , Joseph Ratzinger, Cardinal later to become Pope issued Benedict XVI, ), ), 78 Christian Studies Christian 5 . American Veda 11 ( (New York: Harmony 19 6 It is clear thatdifferent have Hindus given differ 91 DetroitFree Press ): 128

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29 , at Yoga 133 oriented yoga practice was not unusual 4 Even more surprising might be Vive be might surprising more Even - .

— in (Princeton, ed., NJ: PrincetonWhite, David see University practice, Press,tantric 6 Press, Practice Posture of Modern 5

which is nothing but a kind of kind a but nothing is which . .

As quoted in Mark Singleton, Singleton, Mark in quoted As jogis For an earlier understanding of understanding earlier Foran 1894 2010 , in the vernacular) were were vernacular) the in , , concerning the relative ,the concerning ), ), 73 Christian” Christian” should be raja- . yoga 1893 ), a type of of type a ), (New York: Oxford University York: University (New Oxford . Less well. Less : The Origins Origins The YogaBody: raja- - - - 3

yoga Yoga in Practice in Yoga 2012 as a type of type a as ), ), 242

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54 . Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 491 cago: University of Chicago Press, Josephson, Jason For at is not one study, a case see universal. time one only to belong can person a that instance, for tion, The assump languages. Asian in recently relatively only 7 . C O MMON KNOWLED GE 492 The term religion and by absorption in the infinite. second- in intertwined became yogis Hatha the of practices Hindu the which in ways fascinating the discuss will I Second, Hinduism. call now we what shaping in influential were who authors some by millennium first the in expressed yoga Patanjali’s toward hostilities the examine will I First, questions. tangled these answer help to lessons some provide yet may time, our from distant although that there are two fundamental principles: spirit ( spirit principles: fundamental two are there that taught framework. yoga’s his for philosophical philosophy of school the on relied he that was given reason One flawed. deeply were ings ern Baptists. According to other Sanskrit authors of his own era, Patanjali’s teach the most important Hindu . as lackregardhim of modernmention Hindus ofof ofgods any Hinduism, the author.yogadespite his mostimportant Furthermore, Westernthe be to yogis of topic the on reticence Patanjali’s Despite the loss to explain why Patanjali has so little to say about yoga postures, or yoga Patanjali and claim founderas the tural of lineage their are sometimes at a teachingof yoga. Yet yogis who practice one of manyformsof the modern pos tioners have often regarded Patanjali as representing the authoritative “classical” West the late in the in century, nineteenth yoga practi by except text Bhagavad anySanskrit the Gita. than Sincewas popularized text his Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have been translated into English many times, more times Patanjali’s Yoga and Its Early Critics of the permeability, or “fuzziness,” of boundaries between religions. evidence historical is Christianity and , Hinduism, , , as The of way branch yogainterpenetratedIslam. has suchdifferenttraditions cal The Invention of Religion in Japan originated in Europe and was adopted 195 2 2 In In this essay, I will briefly reflect on two periods in the history of yoga that, Still, Still, Patanjali’s yoga has also had its detractors, and not just among South 2 . . .

48 47 46 millennium millennium with the teachings of the Sufis, adherents of the mysti sutras [Such shouldposture be byattained] the relaxation of effort From one this, is not by ofthe afflicted dualities opposites. Posture should be steady and comfortable. that make up Patanjali’s text, only postures: discuss three 2012 ). (Chi - - Press, tion, Translation, and Commentary 8 .

Edwin Bryant, 2009 ), ), 283

– ,consideredhe is still by many

8 The : A New Edi 9 .

purusa ) and material nature nature material and ) (New (New York: North Point 8 7 . Of ------dualist philosophy, which relied on the Samkhya school’s ideaanti- Patanjali’s be of to considered thehe what two in absolute, fault found Sankara Rather, injunctions. Vedic of rejection Patanjali’s not was problem primary the absolute source of all knowledge, similarly attacked Patanjali’s yoga. For Sankara, Veda authorwhothe took the another be to the Sankara, philosopher philosophy, more it than does Buddhism or Hindu Vedanta. the Samkhya- consciousness.pure Interestingly,as form itstrue in nature itselfmaterial from ( “aloneness” is Sutras, principles. The ultimate goal, described both bytwo Samkhya andthese of by Patanjali’sdifference absolute the Yogareveals understanding philosophical true ( Press, History Intellectual Indian in Identity and phy 10 9 circumstance.” or place,time, class, ethical observances and insists that it is a universal value, “not exempted by one’s the of first very the nonviolenceas teaches Patanjali Patanjali’s oflowersyoga. fol the as such renouncers of groups other among also but Jains and Buddhists Yoga Sutras, the teaching of Patanjali’s of date approximate the CE, century second the Yet by Vedic . the of king , as such to cattle and goats, horses, of sacrifice ashighest the authority, set down elaborate an that system includeof the , The revered mostby CE. Hindus ancient the texts millennium first the in religious between division deep a created particular, in sacrifice, mal byMohandastwentiethfamous thecentury Thein question Gandhi. ofani thecentrality of ( are not accepted by those who know the triple Veda.” Yoga, works. .. Buddhist Pasupata, and adoptedbeenPancaratra, Samkhya, in wrote, “The on treatises Kumarila righteousness and unrighteousness that have large. especially loomed Vedas, the of authority absolute the of rejection his extension by and violence, holy of rejection Patanjali’s theorists, ritual Vedic Vedas. the of infallibility absolute than with the exegetical schools of andMimamsa Vedanta, which insisted on the Buddhism with common in more had Samkhya of school affiliated its and phy would eventually land the sacrificer in hell. way, In this Patanjali’s Yoga philoso acts of violence, even the holy violence enjoined by the Vedas, all that caused demeritreaffirming Vedic ofcondemnation the their ritualists, that in explicit quite

. prakrti

. Bryant, Bryant,

Andrew J. Nicholson, Also like the Jains, both the Samkhya and Patanjali’s Samkhya the both Jains, the like Yoga Also school stressed For Kumarila Bhatta (seventh century CE), the most influential of the the of influential most the CE), century (seventh Bhatta Kumarila For

). Unlike later nondualists in India, Samkhya philosophy teaches that that teaches philosophy Samkhya India, in nondualists later Unlike ). Yoga Sutras of Patanjali of Sutras Yoga Yoga ideal of aloneness most closely resembles the teachings of Jain 2010 Unifying Hinduism: Philoso Hinduism: Unifying ), ), , 248 3 . . ), portrayed as each individual spirit separating separating spirit individual each as portrayed ), ahimsa (New York: (New had gained a wide foothold, not only among 9 Commentators on the Yoga Sutras were YogaSutras the on Commentators ), the principle reinterpreted and made made and reinterpreted principle the ), - 10 In the eighth century CE, Vedic - - -

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 493 Vidyabhavana, on mentary 11 core, Kaundinya of hasya 12 . . C O MMON KNOWLED GE 494

My translation from the Sanskrit of Sankara’s com Sankara’s of Sanskrit the from translation My R. A. Sastri, ed., R. Sastri, A. 1940 , ed. S. A. Kaundinnyayana (: Caukhamba , ed.Caukhamba (Varanasi: S. A. Kaundinnyayana ), ), 5 ; my translation. ; my 2002 trio of alliterative words alliterative of trio in the Vedas nor among the people.” primordial nature is independentan cause . . . even though is taught this neither rejected. That is because tocontrary revealed the texts, Yoga school teaches that Vedic: “By the rejection of the Samkhya tradition, the Yoga tradition too were yogaschoolshas showedand non- both that beenSamkhya of the dualism the that irreducible entities, spirit and nature. Sankara, committed to , argued to Pasupatas, a According ofwentconcepts theological that sects. on toinfluenceother Hindu althoughit statement,Ita theological indeedis also is that. areference toa trio toare the consideredanimals, ‘beasts.’ Samkhya- release through Kaundinya criticized Patanjali’s yoga, saying that “those who have won supposed commentator Pasuapata the that reason Patanjali’s this forYoga in It is Sutras. ( Most important, they taught that yoga in its highest form consisted of the union of Hindu devotionalism that became more and more prominent in later centuries. Their involved and praise in dancing singing of , anticipating styles post- the of gods major the ofone Siva, of worship the of importance the discuss explicitly they for Patanjali, instance, Unlike Hindu. typically consider nowwe practices and symbols the to connection more have also Yoga.They Hatha of movement medieval later the of forefathers the are who Patanjali, not they, is it today, obscure relatively While CE. millennium absolute, universal evil, the Pasupatas stand out as the most influential in the first join the ranks of the liberated beings. liberated the of ranks the join grace, and not the individual efforts of the yogi, that allows the individual self to god’s is it Hindus, of groups later other and Pasupatas the for power, yet own Lord Siva who removes their fetters. For Patanjali, liberation is by means of one’s by Lord Siva that beings are bound to the cycle of suffering and ; it is also liberation. The third concept is the protector of all beings, and it is he who is ultimately responsible for bondage and ter,” refers to Lord who Siva is “master himself, of ( beasts” cattle herder. sam- (Trivandrum: University of Travan of University (Trivandrum: ), ), The Pasupata Sutras with Pancarthab 54 yoga Among groups of yogis who did agree with Patanjali that violence was an violence an that Patanjali was with ofwho groups agree yogis did Among This is not just an example of yogic trash talk from the sixth century CE, CE, century issixth not the from exampleThis justan of talk yogic trash 0

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42 ) of the yogi the highest with god, understandingan nowhere reflected 2 . . 1 . 3 , in in , pasu, pasu, Brahmamimamsa or

“beast,” is a being not yet liberated. The word

— Yoga, indeed all creatures from the god Brahma down

pasu, pati, pasa pati, pasu, - - - - , Banarsidass, Motilal Dasgupta, 13 pasa 11 .

13 For a summary of Pasupata , see Surendra see theology, Pasupata of Forsummary a

” The playful image invoked The playful through this , “fetter.” It is through the fetters created 12

—

is the nomadic life of the pastoral pastoral the of life nomadic the is A History of 1955 ), ), Vedic Hindu pantheon. pantheon. VedicHindu 130

–

pasu-

49 . pati ). Siva is the ,

pati vol. 5 , “mas

(Delhi: (Delhi: - -

The isfirst considered the yoga Yoga tois known be of kinds. two In that text, Lord Siva says: evenhandedassessment of and weaknesses Patanjali’s of strengths the approach. Siva” of Lord ( “Song the text, Pasupata eighth-century University University of New York Press, forthcoming). Nicholson 14 is the opposite: it is the “disunion” ( Patanjali’sof yoga goal ultimate the Indeed, term. the nothowunderstands he of Patanjali’s One unite. of peculiarities the Yoga however, Sutras, is this isthat The word the “great yoga,” understood as the to nature higher the knowledge unionof self’s the oneness That God. with job to falls of the selfmaterial from difference ( self’s the of discernment dualistic this from yogi the subject to change, a preparatory practice for liberation. But it is powerless to move a means to betweendiscriminate the true, eternal self and the egoistic self that is nonbeing does not, however, reveal the self’s Lordwith unity Siva. It is as useful ( nature material from free self eternal pure, a oftence reality. orSuch deity ultimate enableyogasexis the practitioner to discern the li’s that do not understand the ultimate state of liberation as union with a supreme The “yoga of non- the great yoga of the supreme Lord. andme with united is called free from blemish, blissful, as eternally The yoga non- of isappearances, false named the yoga is toknown be empty, free from The yoga great yoga, the best very of . all non- of Samkhya- Hindu, rather Buddhist, than Jain, or Islamic: unambiguously are yoga’s roots that proof is text Patanjali’s that implies tion, understandit today? AseemShukla,cofounder of Founda theHindu American we as Hinduism to (Songconnection Siva), ofLordGita his what is Isvara and ) (SongLordof Gita Bhagavad the as such texts in presented god with .

Translation of Isvara Gita Gita Isvara of Translation Is there any good that may come of following Patanjali’s teachings? An An teachings? Patanjali’s following of come may that good any there Is In light of Patanjali’s uneasy relationship to the yoga traditions of union union of traditions yoga the to relationship Patanjali’suneasy of light In being. Through it, one sees the self. being. The other is the , Lord Siva’s Song: The Isvara Gita , Lord Siva’s Gita The Isvara Song:

in in which one the self discerns in which one’s own essence Yoga philosophy, yoga itself comes from the Sanskrit verbal itself root comes Sanskrit the from being” described here refers to cessative yogas such as Patanja 11 . purusa 6

–

7 , from Andrew J. J. Andrew from , 14 (Albany: (Albany: State and and vi- yoga prakrti ) of the principlesfundamental two of . atman isvara- yuj

prakrti ) and the Lord ( ,

meaning tomeaning join or gita

). This yoga of yoga This ). ), gives a more isvara ). - - -

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 495 ian who composed the the whocomposed ian the of Yoga author Sutrasthe that was thetheory same the person accept to as the grammarappears Shukla 16 15 today believe that there were two different authors named Most in approximatelyBCE. scholars the second century . .

C O MMON KNOWLED GE 496

Shukla, “Theft of“Theft Shukla, Yoga.” By referring to Patanjali as a“commentator,” as Patanjali to Aseem Byreferring Pasupata author the problem Kaundinya, is that Patanjali is not theistic enough. non- as presents Patanjali that philosophy dualistic the describes celebratedkara, by many as Hindus the greatest their religion’s in mind history, Vedas. the San enjoinedin are they as doneexactly be must sacrifices, animal jali comes dangerously close to the Buddhists in denying that all rituals, including Kumarila, whose entire project was the systematic defense of Vedic ritual, Patan Sankara, and Kaundinya point out, in other ways the text falls short. AccordingKumarila, “.”toYetcritics Patanjali’s is as Lord this designating syllable the “contemplationyogais Lord” of ( the of stages preliminary oneof the that state they forinstance, text; “Hindu” ofa practice practice today. . . . composer of the and commentator BCE century second the Patanjali, of inspiration spiritual the than more ascetics wandering harrowing and colorful of that God may and manifest be worshiped in ways;infinite as a tradition of tradition Hindu of divinity unity the gods rather than of warring isidentified holy more parlance common cowsin than with Hinduism between the second and fourth centuries CE, not second century BCE). century second not CE, centuries fourth and second the between Patanjali of Yoga Sutras the date scholars (most dates of confusion a as well as in part because of confusion surrounding the use of the words that earlyof Hindus some era made own. their sure, soon we readwill as to how and , reincarnation may as well too! Hindus can only sadly shake their heads, as by this mea deniers seem to posit that Hinduism appropriated yoga so other religions Sutras is now yoga? youngera What than ludicrous contention when the after Patanjali. Hindu Patanjali’s Is India. in CE It Hindu? toishard say, text millennium word the as exemplifies the ambiguity of the very notion of “Hinduism” as applied to the first However, far from being proof of Hindu nature theof true yoga, Patanjali’s text Shukla rightly acknowledges, Patanjali was a relative latecomer to the yogic scene. the very foundations of So Hinduism, the religion that has no known origins or beginnings The thread of Shukla’s argument is slightly todifficult grasp here, perhaps Mahabhasya weren’t even composed until the the until composed weren’teven was not regularly spoken in any Indian language until fifteen centuries centuries fifteen until language Indian any in spoken regularly not was , the notoriously arduous twisting posture; with millions millions with posture; notoriously twisting , arduous the 17 Yoga Sutras Yoga ( In some In ways, it seems Yoga the Sutras have characteristics the Great Commentary , that form the philosophical basis of Yoga basis philosophical the form ,that - ) 17 later.years hundred six to hundred four Yoga Sutras the wrote who the wrote who one Patanjali, Nicholson, 2 . nd Century BCE [ BCE Century nd

isvara-

— On early uses of the terms

are only ancient only are precepts 15 Unifying Hinduism Unifying pranidhana sic ). Patanjali also says that that says ).also Patanjali ]. These ].These Mahabhasya , Yoga 196 Hindu

— — Hinduism -

–

201 and Vedic.For the . , and the other other the and , Hinduism and and 16 yoga , see see , As As - - , the Indus Valley civilization it of in aboutmoredoes yogis us existence tell aboutthe than modern longings “Lord” ( ofone eight of Patanjaliofnowhere his yoga. Furthermore, limbs identifies the Patanjalipresents “contemplation apart practice, ofLord” the apreliminary as York: Cambridge University Press, see Samuel,Geoffrey “proto- the surrounding arguments recent of Press, University Columbia 18 millennium BCE millennium in South Asia. The development of these exercises was not the breath control, mental concentration, and seatedof developed postures, methods in the first including yoga, as together categorize now we exercises spiritual ontopast.” the . . . constructions modernist temptationof projecting the resist must yogis and remarks, “Anyone seeking to reconstruct the history of yogabetween these geographically and temporally representations.distant artistic As connection a make to seeks who person the on be must here proof of burden later? Surely, only the coming Sivaof depictions with yogis, Jain and Buddhist CE? why And did first- these century the first until years, thousand two for depictionalmost ofdisappear yogis artistic why the did seals, Valley Indus the on depicted yogis indeed were these if scholars: by expressed scholarly consensus has shifted away from this interpretation. Among the doubts years thirty past However,the in Asia. South in yogis by worshipped was Siva would establish that thousands of years before Patanjali and the Pasupata Sutras, archaeologist Sir John Marshall as a “proto- was interpreted byBritish stonethe particular in One yogatantalizing posture. a in seated figures showhumanoid to seemed seals, clay stamping for designed stones, Valley, carved River whereIndus small the in sites archaeological from dom , such as ’s pathbreaking of history the on books many century, twentieth the In Foundationproclaim? American Hindu the and Shukla Aseem as Hindu unambiguously as sources in the first millennium CE, Patanjali’s teachings were defective. to Siva- many according that, is know confidently we What era. his in notexist did that “Hinduism” of hereis not Patanjali’s. It is problemour toattempting applyin a concept to him Krishna, Patanjali’s Sutras themselves are mute on this question. But the problem theon. Though some have tried to argue that Patanjali’s god was Siva, , or .

David Gordon White, White, Gordon David ,traced yoga’s to origin between A more sober reading of the historical record suggests that the types of types the that suggests record historical the of reading sober more A If Patanjali was indeed drawing upon earlier yogic sources, were those those were sources, yogic earlier upon drawing indeed was Patanjali If isvara ) that heof speaks as any onegods of of the pan Hindu the familiar 18 Like a Rorschach blot, the Indus Valley “proto- The Origins of Yoga and Sinister Yogis Sinister 2009 worshippers as well as to the upholders of Vedic authority ), ), 2008 4 4 , 8 000 . For a summary summary a For . ), ), 3

– years ago. years (New York: York: (New

8 . Siva” seal, seal, Siva” 2600 (New (New and Siva” doing figure yoga. this If true, 1900 BCE. Their BCE. evidence came Yoga: Immortality and Free and Immortality Yoga: century century artworks depict Siva” may seal - -

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 497 Yoga and Tantra, and Yoga 19

. C O MMON KNOWLED GE 498

See White, White, See

humorous “Dialogue between Hindu and Turk”and humorousHindu between “Dialogue ( period. religiouslate waythe in medieval unmistakably an in used sometimes was term that recent accounts some to contrary Furthermore, themselves. describe to use to beginning were Buddhists and Jains. and Buddhists ahead approximately fourteen fourteen approximately ahead indeterminaterealm of“neither Hindu nor not- movements that we today consider Hindu, in other ways his text falls in the fuzzy, languages of Patanjali’s time. While his text shares certain features with religious word the since problem of anachronism, The issue of whether determining Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is “Hindu” is largely a Sufis and Yogis in the Mid-Second Millennium authors, all competing to come up thewith best version for liberation. was like open- Pasupatas suggested that yoga belonged only to one group. Yoga in classical India in the vernacular language of Marathi: in northern India tion ( references to“yoga” medita unambiguous and first the BCE, millennium first ofthe secondhalf the in wefind, Thus lost. been largely have teachings whose “Buddhist,”and“Jain,” “Fatalists” suchthe as (Ajivikas), other along sects, with project shared among diverse groups that we may retrospectively label “Hindu,” a was it Rather, religion. or single any of property” “intellectual exclusive You don’t know your scriptures, you fool. you Whyscriptures, do youyour quarrelknow with don’t us? You book. this read have You FatherHindu: and Adam Eve made a pair. “Om” your Vedas, Are all evilyour tricks . . . Sastras, Your The Vedas he preaches are all false. Turk: Your laid Brahma daughter.his depending on circumstances.” the depending , of variety a with connected get not, may,may but or system, cal philosophi any to belong not does yoga discipline spiritual “The us, reminds Sinister Yogis, Yogis, Sinister 133

–

40 dhyana We find one remarkable example in the sixteenth- the in example remarkable one find We . 38 ) in certain late sections of the Vedas, along with the early texts of the

– source software. It was distributed freely and modified by different

39 ; Samuel, Samuel, ;

— 19 Hindu

“Hindu” was an epithet that speakers of Indian languages languages Indian of speakers that epithet an was “Hindu” As the influential historian usefully Johannesinfluential the historian Bronkhorst As usefully Origins of of Origins merely had geographical or ethnic connotations, this

hundred years hundred 20 Journal of Journal Indian Philosophy 20 Neither Patanjali, nor the Buddhists, nor the .

Johannes Bronkhorst, “Yoga and Sesvara Samkhya,” Samkhya,” “Yoga Sesvara and Bronkhorst, Johannes Hindu

— was not used in any of the Indian

to the mid-second millennium millennium mid-second the to Hindu- Hindu.” However, jumping jumping However, Hindu.” 9 ( Turk Samvad Turk century poet ’s Eknath’s poet century 19 81 ): 317 . ), written ),written - -

surmises wassurmises originally a text called the recensionsare not so much of are as they transcreations translations what Ernst cent. the number of Muslim yogis counted in the census than more had fallen to less than “Muhammadan Jogis” (yogis) were enumerated in the province of alone; for instance, under the heading “miscellaneous and disreputable vagrants,” India continued well in intoyoga practicing the Muslims of periodphenomenon The orders. ofShattari and BritishChishti rule. In the British census of Hatha with Yoga as known the Nath Yogis, and among Muslims, by Sufis of the associated group a by side, Hindu the on sides: both from boundary this verse tra to impetus been have to appears There Sufis. the of practices Islamic the with yoga” mixed “Hindu of as of what wenow forms wethink find frequently the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries in northern India, it is remarkable how of Islam. practices had at wasborna , least Hindu a basic of understanding tenets the and documented various recensions in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, recensions in documentedvarious Urdu. and has Ernst, Carl ofSufism, but scholar a original, orHindi Sanskrit its in exists the called text a a for well- evidence more actually was official geographic identity but also refers to modes of and practice that we would word the period, same the of works other in and Here yourself! of fool a make and speak, Adam. You as name your give You men! of world the came that From Adam and Eve enjoyed each other: 21. religious. as to refer nowadays One anonymous Arabic translator, perhaps in the fifteenth century, incorporated navagupta. Yet the and the tantric tradition madeYogis famous Nath by philosopher the Kashmiri the Abhi both of influences the of traces contained have to seems text 23 22 Publications, gion and Historical Process in South Asia 38 Ireland and Britain of Great Society Asiatic Royal . . .

As As translated in Fred Clothey, ed., Carl Ernst, “Situating Sufism and Yoga,” See Nicholson, 23 However, when we look at the ways that yoga was described in texts between The most notable record of Sufi adoption of yoga practices comes from from comes practices yoga of adoption Sufi of record notable most The What at first glance may have seemed a typographical error bya British glanceatmay have seemedfirst What atypographical 1982 17 percent of yogis countedthe were census the in By Muslim. ), ), Unifying Hinduism Unifying 180 Pool of Nectar Nectar of Pool

– Pool of Nectar of Pool

81 . Images of Man: Reli 22 , (Madras: New Era (Madras: 196 (in Sanskrit, Sanskrit, (in It is also clear that authors whosuch as Eknath, had an influence far beyond its origins in India.

– 21

201 Journal Journal of the 15 . ( 2005 ): - established Islamic branch of yogis. Amrtakunda Verses of Kamakhya of Verses Amrtakunda Amrtakunda 24 2 ety of Great Britain and Ireland 5 . .

Ernst, Ernst, “Islamization of Yoga,” Carl Ernst, “The Islamization of Yoga in the the in Yoga of Islamization “The Ernst, Carl Hindu ). This text no longer longer no text This ). Translations,” not only denotes a . 25 This earlier Journal Journal of the Royal Asiatic Soci 24 13 These These ( 38 5 2003 1891 1921 206 per , 137 . ): - - - , , 202

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3 .

- Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 499 Yoga,” Yoga,” 27 26 . . C O MMON KNOWLED GE 500

Ernst, Ernst, “Situating Sufism and Yoga,” Translation adapted from Ernst, “Islamization of of “Islamization Ernst, from adapted Translation 208 . control of breath: the complete prophets, concerning asection Islamic equated in Nath,also are with Gorakh disciple his and Fishes”), the of (“Lord Nath founder, cal respectively. Three major figures of the Nath Yoga tradition, including its mythi for instance, the gods Brahma and Visnu are equated and Abraham with Moses, So, holyAsia. and men of gods South forthe equivalents Eastern Near finding sixty- as ated of the cults tantric by the to have inspired been ( phonetically spelled Sanskrit including elaborate, more much actually are text this in correspondences The Bookof Genesis. the of exegesis his in respectively, moon, and sun to corresponding channels, poratedyoga itsabout tantric teachings breathsthe of right-the up in the hands of the fifteenth- the Gnostic toback traced be can that versiontext of his intothe narrative introductory an 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Location gies of Islam and Christianity make those religionsmake incompatible giesof and Islam Christianity yoga, with the is associated onewith of the Arabic . Each of the seven centers, which are among the most common features of yogatantric physiology. makesense to a Muslim audience is its adaptation of the seven the contrary. dispersion and popularity of the translations of the called eachofseven the Venus,Moon).Mercury, and Perhaps most provocative for amonotheistic text, hansamansa . Brain . Seat . Throat . Navel . Genitals . Eyebrows . Heart Also employed in the One example of the way that the the that way the of example One

) and the names of astrological bodies (Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Sun, Jupiter, Sun, Mars, (Saturn, bodies astrological of names the and ) Acts of Thomas ofThomas Acts four, along with seven mother called called seven mother four,goddesses along with (“female yogis”), which include Sarasvati and . include Sarasvati which yogis”), (“female “O Lifegiver” “O Knowing” “O Controller” “O Generous” “O Creator” One” “O Mighty “O Lord” address of Form 26 cakras cakras, Although modern Hindu nationalists argue that the theolo the that argue modern Although nationalists Hindu 32 .

also corresponds also nametoof the one of seven goddesses beginning with the rootthe with beginning

in Syriac or Greek. Another Arabic recensionorSyriac Arabic in Greek. Another ended

Pool of Nectar Nectar of Pool

century Yemeni century Jewish scholar Alu’el, who incor 29 2 ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (Name of God, in Arabic) ya muhyi ya ‘alim ya musakhkhir ya ya karim ya khaliq quadir ya rabb ya 8 . .

Ernst, Ernst, “Islamization of Yoga,” Ernst, Ernst, “Islamization of Yoga,” hum Pool of Nectar Nectar of Pool ) ) is a technique of “translating gods,” “translating of technique a is ) ) ) ) , 27 aum yoginis ) , hrim cakra Pool of Pool Nectar , who are usually enumer usually , who are adapts yogic teachings to to teachings yogic adapts , located at the perineum, brinsrin 208 219 28 seem to indicate cakras , This list seems bray

– .

and left-

20 . . 29 , orpower, , yum hand hand ,

and and - - - - is Shaykh Minanath [Matsyendranath], who is Jonah, and the tree is is tree the and Jonah, is who [Matsyendranath], Minanath Shaykh is ( whoKhidr is Gorakh, Sheikh is embryo The heights. it its reach to causes and veins its water in howit attracts it; enternot does water the water, and the in breathes respire; not does womb mother’s its though centa, discrimination: and thought with becomes things three condition examine closely you, of this and characteristic station, this reached have you When 30 Eden. from he expelled was after of Lanka island Sri on the to earth Antiquities In a similar spirit, an eighteenth- the belly of a fish overheard Siva’s teaching of yoga at the bottom of the ocean. biblical Jonah with Matsyendranath, the first Nath Yoga patriarch, who while in scapewonder-andreplete with andmaterial benefits hope they Such forto also iscase attain. the tombs the (or an abstract gesture of interreligious understanding, but for the very real spiritual age not only for Muslims but also for Sikhs and Hindus, who visit his tomb not as where is in buried Ajmer,Moinuddin Chishti is a India, sitenorthern of pilgrim wonder- and holiness their of accounts from famous are who established the Chishti Sufi order in India, possess miraculous powers (they Chishti, Moinuddin as such saints, charismatic that accepted have Asia South and Persia in Muslims most historically Islam, as such religion monotheistic a and so forth. gods, was understood to be Zeus; Apollo was identified thewith godsun Horus, authors in terms of their Hellenistic equivalents. So Amun, chief of the Egyptian the Egyptologist Jan in Assmann, which gods Egyptian were identified by Greek by described gods” “translating of method the to resemblance strong has here shown gods and yogis Indian for equivalents Islamic finding of technique The reached the water of life. Shaykh Chaurangi, who is Ilyas [Elijah], and they are the ones who have (Stanford, CA: (Stanford, Stanford University Press, CA: Cultures of ability in (Un)Translatability,” Cultural ofFactor 31 . .

See Jan Assmann, “Translating Gods: Religion as a as Religion Gods: “Translating Assmann, Jan See Ernst, Ernst, “Islamization of Yoga,” While “translating gods” may appear to be a technique inappropriatefor technique a be to appear may gods” “translating While ) where major saints of the Nath Yoga tradition are buried. In a land a In buried. are Yoga Nath tradition the of saints major where ) , describes India as a holy land because it was the site of Adam’s descent 31 , ed. Sanford Budick and Wolfgang Iser Iser Wolfgang and Budick Sanford ed. , 1 ) the embryo, how it breathes while it is in the pla the in is it while breathes it how embryo, the ) 30

211 . century Islamic text, text, Islamic century 1996 The Translat The ), ),

peace be upon him), the fish fish the uponhim), be peace workers, it is little problem to equate the the problemequate to little it is workers, 25

–

36 . - 2 ) the fish, how it how fish, the ) 1996 AlchemicalBody 32 33 NJ: NJ: Princeton University Press, Religions of India in Practice 3 . . ) and the tree, tree, the and )

See Carl Ernst, “India as a Sacred Islamic Land,” in in Land,” Islamic Sacred a as “India Ernst, Carl See On Matsyendranath, see David Gordon White, White, Gordon David see Matsyendranath, On ), ), 222 TheCoral of Rosary Indian

–

29 working). The shrine shrine The working). . (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Press, Chicago of University (Chicago: - 33 , ed. Donald Lopez 1994 ), ), 32 556 - -

–

63

(Princeton, (Princeton, . The The

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 501 ( 34 35 1902 .

. C O MMON KNOWLED GE 502

As quoted in Ernst, “Islamization ofquotedAs Yoga,” “Islamization in Ernst, WilliamJames, ; repr. Rockville, MD: Arc Manor Press, Press, Manor Arc MD: ; repr. Rockville, thinking of his era when he wrote: even when stripped of outward all signs of religion, a debate is currently under Christian. Based on this understanding of yoga postures as fundamentally Hindu, a form of thatsyncretism threatens the possibility of salvation for a God- foreign ideas are mixed. By some Christian accounts, even one “Sun Salutation” the which into religion the is taints orirrevocably weakens that something is ing religion. of make syncretism essentially useless as an categoryanalytical for the critical study phenomena of cross-religious different application toundifferentiated avariety and sense pejorative Its sects. Christian beyond mixing religious illicit passes encom now it though unchanged, largely remained has word’smeaning The sects. among Christian practices and of merging incompatible afalse doctrines with beginning the Protestant Reformation, was the word The Varieties of ars of Sufism sought to find evidence of its non- and figures did not conform to Western stereotypes of Islam,Perhaps manybecause Sufism’searlier openness scholto and acceptance of other religions’ practices The Future of yoga. cross- religious explain to scholars, and the situation has not much improved. ideas about cross- century twentieth- early and nineteenth-, late that show assumptions outlandish Such who in Sachau, Eduard was Sufism of nature Hindu the suggested who those Among Sufism must have been intoinoculated byIslam influences. Hindu hot and rigid monotheism of itmind, the Arab has been suggested that from the earliest times, and as their is so at variance with the the possessors of the mystical tradition. The Sufis have existed in Persia In the Mohammedan world the Sufi sect and various bodies dervish are differences to form a sacred alliance in order in to adifferences formsacred to alliance repel invaders. the faceda foreign with Crete’s threat, inhabitants would When put aside intramural their Crete. of island the on custom a to rather but mixing religious to not As Assmann has noted, the Greek term The Varieties of Religious Experience Experience Religious of Varieties The 36 Implicit in this pejorative Implicitthis in sense of In particular, the language of “syncretism” is still often invoked in order in invoked often still is “syncretism” of language the particular, In The term 1888 wrote that “in the Arabian Sufism the Indian Vedanta reappears.” Indian the Sufism Arabian the “in that wrote syncretism 2008 200 religious influence were quite simplistic even among among even simplistic were quite influence religious influence, as in Cardinal Ratzinger’s warning about warning Ratzinger’s Cardinal in as influence, ), ), . itself has had a complicated cross- 294 . ( 1902 36 37 Meditation,” Letter on Christian . .

Assmann, “Translating Gods,” Ratzinger and Bovone, “Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s Ratzinger’s and Bovone, “Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger synkretismos ), was merely recording the conventional syncretism Islamic origins. , in is idea the that religious mix was used by Plutarch to refer syncretism 34 128 3 cultural history. history. cultural 4 . . 37 redefined as Only later, Only fearing fearing 35 - - - -

Similarly, the impossible goal of secularism implicit in the “wall ofseparation” “wall the in implicit ofsecularism impossiblegoal the Similarly, therefore,ing Christian, is to keep her religion free of non- into contact, like a sewer contaminating a pristine brook. Thewhichit of comeswith that foreign compromises religious purity substance the goal of the practic metaphor the In of contamination underlying most of debates, these a drop of a societies. pluralistic in course of matter a as oneanother interpenetrate beliefs and practices religious that way the of understanding impoverished an reflects yoga”tian and about the practice of yoga in secular spaces such as public schools ported to by efforts allowChristians in public schools. sup frequently has oftemplestate, and separation the to threat a as schools in of yoga and that the National Center for Law and Policy, although opposing yoga debate isfurther that Jois frequently in his stressedwritings the spiritual benefits most robust theological Christian traditions today this (and an influence on the in canonized heOf went be to on course, predecessors. Aquinas’s of theology Christian pure the to Aristotle from archbishop of Paris and by the so- about adulteration swirled around Thomas Aquinas, who was condemned by the pre- of God from Platonism and Stoicism: those concepts were absent in the Semitic, theology at its very root borrowed concepts of the immortal and the infinity been strengthened by, the intrusion times atof and foreign, absorbed, un- has Christianity which in way the from different tally in premodernterminacy South whileAsia, seemingly exotic, are not fundamen tions of private religion into the erup publicof all free her keep must school principal school public the is that metaphor sphere. for yoga in schools is funded partially by the Jois Foundation, which is associated program Encinitas’s perform. they postures physical the of names English the even orknow Sanskrit in chant themselves students ornotapplieswhether the stricture The . god sun ofworshipHindu form ofaneopagan is the class argued that performance of a yogic Sun Salutation in an elementaryhas schoolgroup, gym advocacy Christian a Policy, and Law for Center National the by way in a school district in Encinitas, California. There, a group of parents backed 38 twentieth- the in figures of the with family the recently deceased Shri PattabhiK. Jois, one of the central 2003 Study,” Bible Welcoming _study/ (accessed_study/ February /protesting_yoga_in_schools__but_welcoming_bible .

Katherine Stewart, “Protesting Yoga but Schools, in “Protesting Stewart, Katherine , www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/ , Hellenized form of Christianity. Again, in the thirteenth century, debates century, thirteenth the in Again, ofChristianity. form Hellenized The confusion surrounding these debates about the possibility of “Chris The examples I have provided here of and religious religious inde mixing Religion Dispatches 28 , century invention century of yoga. postural 2013 ). , February , February called Augustinians for introducing conceptsfor introducing Augustinians called 1323 6843 18 , and Thomism remains among the the among remains Thomism and , ,

Christian Christian elements. Christian Christian influences. Christian 38 Complicating this ------

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 503 39 delphia: John Benjamins, Claudia Lange, agentivity.”guage For see English, examples from Indian “source language agentivity,” as opposed to “recipient lan 40 losophy . . C O MMON KNOWLED GE 504

As As quoted in Jacques Maritain, This deeper type of linguistic influence is known as as known is influence oflinguistic type deeper This ( 1931 ; repr., New York: Continuum, ; repr., York: New Continuum, The Syntax of Spoken Indian English might look to the relatively young discipline of contactto add linguistics nuance in Christianity, but also in modern Islamist and Hindu nationalist discourses, we non- possible for Christians today to acknowledge the potential value of infusions from holy the no Spirit,”whoit,from ismatter utters it then should “everytruth, be wrote, Aquinas indeed, as If thoughtof Popes XVI). Benedict and John Paul II Hindu practices. the most successful and “secularized” of types meditation derived from medieval example, a Protestant Christian who practices Transcendental Meditation, one of for take, contact, religious contact and language Tobetween analogy the make English. Indian on languages regional India’s of influence the with case the is as syntax, alters and level deeper a at function does contact language some the plural is which (in language ofHindi the ofdoesnot speaker English rules reverttothe To of language. English morphology the or syntax of a plural make or ( English words into foreign of introduction the like mixing, language of cross-religious influence. one the On examplesare hand toof different types shipand belief. The second, however, is a profound imposition of “ritual Hindu modes adopted or of islittle nothing to wor displace Hinduism from Christian hypothetical cases are examples of “religious mixing.” In the first example, there ( of viewing” “auspicious practice Moreover, god. from the appliesshe separation oflove and for tropes religious saints, ofAlvar the herhymns from devotionalin songs Tamil native take, that sings woman Christian The . Hindu ofthe worship ofthe reminiscent tices of a South womanIndian Christian who venerates the in Mary Virgin ways of safekeeping herfor the sondaughter. and practice prevent her from attending church with her family or from praying there World.” the of herTM “Mistress Nor does the Bhuvanesvari, goddess mother yogis toof worship “seedmedieval tantric the liturgies ”the wasusedin this that noSheidea, has forinstance, that. but not much more than language, syllable the on focusing pajama Christian Christian sources. In In lieu of the contamination model of religious mixing so common, not only On the other hand, another type of religious mixing takes place in the prac 2012 from Spanish and Hindi, respectively) that have no influence on the the on influence nohave that respectively) Hindi, and Spanish from ). pajame An Introduction Anto Introduction Phi 41 She sits in a comfortable chair for twenty minutes twice a day, ) but, instead, adds “s.” the English suffix On the other hand, 2005 39 hrim ), ), 53 (Phila . . She knows this syllable comes from the Sanskrit Sanskrit the from comes syllable this She. knows - - - darsan 41 New York University Press, Inspired Meditation as Movements New Religion .

See Lola Williamson, ) to an image of the Virgin. Both of these Transcendent in America: Hindu- America: in Transcendent 2010 ), ), 80

–

105 . pajama (New York:(New mosquito , the ,the 40 - -

poured into pure water. in the dangers of blind syncretism. However, of dangers the blindsyncretism. in number the of of this translations different recensions of tenet “theretheir butthat is no lating God God.” widely across northern India, without any apparent concernevenBuddhism, premodern the and in Jainism, period. practiced yoga thatMuslims they were vio Hinduism, of traditions Indic the to exclusive been not has yoga that showed CE millennium mid-second the Yogis in Nath and Sufis between interchange would better regard it as a promising new confluence ( confluence new it a promising as regard better would Yuga, or ofendwe the ofKali yoga” the ofapocalypse, asign the as “Christian seeing than rather that propose I Christianity. within contemplativetraditions Main, have seen the potential of Hindu and to help revivify John Benedictine the as such recently,Morecontemplation.Christians, God and control breath of practices Sufi to complementary as there described text and their wide diffusion suggest that many audiences welcomed the practices scholars of religion and theologians working within specific religious traditions specificreligious scholarstraditions of religion within working andtheologians secular Both ways. important in different are mixing of examples religious two a secular theorist of ritual theory, is it also potentially much more exciting. These gions. However, the latter example should be much more troubling to them. For reli between borders the at walls erecting is concern main whose Hindus and Christians modern by syncretism mere as dismissed be might Both name. but all goddessin aHindu as here Mary, reconceptualized onto Virgin the syntax” 242 Upanisads 42 ( union eventual the for material nature and spirit, were theorized by the Pasupatas as merely preparatory sented as bringing about aloneness ( repre Patanjali that practices forreligions; schoolsinstance, and philosophical Patanjali’s in Yoga yoga’s illustrated Sutras to beadapted flexibility for different presented as yoga “classical” the of example first The India. premodern from differences. such to describe help them will that a to need develop new vocabulary .

. Katha Upanisad In this article, I have offered two examples of religious indeterminacy indeterminacy religious of examples two offered have I article, this In (New York: Oxford University Press, 4 . 15 , translated in Patrick Olivelle Patrick in translated , The Pool of Nectar ” 4 sam- 2 yoga ) of the yogi and Lord . The example of example The Shiva. Lord and yogi the of ) kaivalya may seem a case study in contamination, 1995 ), the absolute disjunction ( disjunction absolute the ), ), ), , To some observers,many the samgama ), like “pure water vi- yoga ) of - - -

Nicholson s Fuzzy Studies: Part 6 505