Yoga and Ecology Ing Outside the Front Doors, the Pahko’Olam Dance Around Kelly, Jane Holden

A sample entry from the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (London & New York: Continuum, 2005) Edited by Bron Taylor © 2005 All Rights Reserved 1782 Yoga and Ecology ing outside the front doors, the pahko’olam dance around Kelly, Jane Holden. Yaqui Women: Contemporary Life His- the flower patio. Simultaneously, the deer dancer is bring- tories. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978. ing his cosmic dimension, the sea ania, into presence. The Maaso, Miki, Felipe Molina and Larry Evers. “The Elders’ sea ania, or flower world, is another realm of the Yoeme Truth: A Yaqui Sermon.” Journal of the Southwest 35:3 cosmos where the deer live, often conceived as under the (1993), 225–317. dawn, and wherever the huya ania (wilderness world) Painter, Muriel Thayer. With Good Heart: Yaqui Beliefs opens up into the blossoms of complete being. Thus, and Ceremonies in Pascua Village. Tucson: University through this ritual sacrifice the various Yoeme dimensions of Arizona Press, 1986. coexist: the pueblo, the church, the huya ania, the sea Shorter, David. “Binary Thinking and the Study of Yoeme ania, and since these latter two are pre-Christian deriva- Indian ‘Lutu’uria/truth.’ ” Anthropological Forum 13:2 tives, they also signify the enchanted world of Yoeme (November 2003). ancestry, the yo ania. Here at the place where these worlds Spicer, Edward H. Pascua: A Yaqui Village in Arizona. come together, the onlookers throw confetti flowers at the Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1984 (1940). attacking soldiers (Fariseos). For what seems like hours, Spicer, Edward H. The Yaquis: A Cultural History. Tucson: the community is showered by multicolored flowers drift- University of Arizona Press, 1980. ing on the wind and upon a sea of swirling being. After the Steward, Julian H. Contemporary Change in Traditional whole community defeats evil, fireworks shoot into the Societies 3: Mexican and Peruvian Communities. sky, heralding Saint Michael’s return to heaven since he Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1967. has collected everyone’s sacrifice in the form of the flower. See also: Castaneda, Carlos; Radical Environmentalism Everyone who has come and given of themselves during (and adjacent, Rodney Coronado and the Animal Liber- the previous season (performers, family members, obser- ation Front). vers) are considered to be sharing in this flower, this grace that originates not from God on high but through collect- ive sacrifice. Yoga and Ecology As other contributors have noted in this volume, the word “nature” has no direct translation in Yoeme; nor can The Yoga tradition originated several thousand years ago we directly translate “religion.” I quickly learned in my in India. Early evidence of Yoga practice can be found in work in Yoeme villages that to talk about religion, I would Indus Valley seals unearthed in Mohenjodaro and other use the word “kohtumbre” (a Spanish loan word for “cus- cities that date from 3500 B.C.E. Textual references to tom” but used also for “society”), which most closely Yoga appear in the middle Upanisads and the Mahab- approximates the idea of religion. To ethnographically harata, dating from about 600 B.C.E. The Buddha and the unpack the concept of “nature” entails the discussion of all Jina (ca. 500 B.C.E.) both taught yogic styles of medita- seven or eight aniam, or possible states of being, which tion. By around 200, Patanjali summarized Yoga practices roughly relate to geographical/cosmological spaces. Per- in a classic text known as the Yoga Sutra. Sanskrit texts haps the best term to draw all this material together is such as the Yogavasistha (ca. 1000) and the Hatha Yoga lutu’uria, which translates as “truth” but entails a socially Pradipika (ca. 1500) describe various forms of Vedantic performative component, a sharing of ritual knowledge. and esoteric Yoga. Haribhadra’s Yogadrstisamuccya (ca. Thus, references to the aniam, as well as experiential 750) and Hemacandra’s Yogasastra (ca. 1250) discuss the knowledge of cultural traditions and religious practices, adaptation of the tradition to the Jaina faith, while the are expressed in performances that socially assert and test later texts of Kabir and Guru Nanak allude to Yoga medita- truth claims. These dances and speeches are religious obli- tion from universalist and Sikh perspectives. Yoga con- gations and ways of representing core aspects of Yoeme tinues to be practiced throughout India and has become identity. Thus, lutu’uria provides a means by which Yoe- increasingly popular worldwide. mem share their sense of the “real” world, namely, In its various manifestations, Yoga includes practices “nature.” and philosophical positions that accord with values espoused by modern ecologists. Unlike many other schools David Shorter of thought in India, Yoga is thoroughly realistic. It builds upon the Samkhya school of philosophy, first espoused by Further Reading a near-mythical sage named Kapila who perhaps lived in Evers, Larry and Felipe Molina. Yaqui Deer Songs, Maso northeastern India around 900 B.C.E. Kapila’s teachings Bwikam. Tucson: Sun Tracks and University of Ari- were later systematized by a philosopher known as Isvar- zona Press, 1987. akrishna, who composed the Samkhya Karika in the early Kaczkurkin, Mini Valenzuela. Yoeme: Lore of the Arizona centuries of the Common Era. In this seminal text, the Yaqui People. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, author exerts great care to articulate the existence and 1977. importance of the natural world. He posits that the world Yoga and Ecology 1783 is known to us through its effects, and the effects stem The Bhagavadgita comes to describe the Yogi as one who from a common cause, prakriti, a term that many scholars comprehends the relationship between the “field” or choose to translated as “nature.” Nature provides experi- nature (prakriti) and the “knower of the field” or spirit ence and liberation for her silent observer, the spiritual (purusa). Within the body of Krishna, the entire world, in consciousness or purusa. According to the Samkhya its splendor and terror, can be seen, appreciated, and Karika, all things exist for the purpose of serving and lib- embraced. The metaphor of the human body becomes erating this consciousness. Through understanding the extended in the Gita to include all aspects of the universe. nature of the creative force known as nature, one The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali outlines an eightfold prac- advances toward a state of freedom. To understand the tice to ascend toward the state of self-realization through structures and purposes of things one is able to cultivate a which one realizes one’s connection with the universe. The state of nonattachment that, from the perspective of this underlying philosophy of Yoga places great value on feel- philosophy, entails a state of appreciation and respect, not ing the connection between one’s self and the larger world disdain and abnegation for nature. of nature. This continuity becomes celebrated in the term The earliest depictions of Yoga, found on sculptures samadhi, the goal of Yoga, which describes an experience that date from 5500 years ago, show persons imitating of non-difference between oneself, one’s sensory and various aspects of the animal domain. An early statue mental processes, and the world. As described by Patanjali, from Mohenjadaro shows a man with his jaw wide open the practitioner of Yoga becomes like a clear jewel, with and his eyes bulging, approximating the roar of a lion. “unity among grasper, grasping, and grasped” (Yoga Sutra This pose later earns the name of simhasana, lion’s pose. A I: 41). This state of consciousness allows one to melt into tableau first found in Indus Valley steatite seals and then one’s surrounding and in the process diminish and even- repeated thousands of years later etched into the pillars of tually reverse past tendencies (samskara) bringing one to a countless temples, shows a meditating deity, now known state of clarity and immediacy. as Pasupati or Lord of the Animals. This imposing figure The eight practices identified by Patanjali can be seen sits cross-legged and austere, surrounded by devoted and in light of environmental ethics. The beginning stage of attentive animals such as goats, cattle, and what today Yoga includes five ethical practices (yama), held in com- seem to be make-believe creatures. This genre of represen- mon with the Jain tradition. First and foremost, Patanjali tation exudes a sense of being in harmony and perhaps discusses nonviolence (ahimsa), which entails not harm- communion with the animal realm, and convey a sense of ing any living being by thought, action, or assent to harm- comfort in the company of nonhuman realities. fulness. This precept advocates the protection of all forms In the middle, Upanisadic period of Yoga, we find of life, and certainly can be applied to cultivating an atti- speculative discourses and dialogues about the nature and tude of respect toward individual creatures as well as eco- function of the human body and mind. By reflecting on systems. To support this discipline, Patanjali includes four the functions of the body, particularly the breath, and by additional vows. Truthfulness (satya) can be used to seeking to still the mind, the Upanisads state that one can inspire acknowledgement of wrongdoing to the living establish a connection with one’s inner self or Atman, realm. Not stealing (asteya) can be applied to remedy the often translated as soul. Passages from the early Upanisads imbalance of resource consumption in modern times. Sex- such as the Chandogya and Brhadaranyaka Upanisads ual restraint (brahamacarya) can be used as a corrective to emphasize the primacy of breath and the relationship the crass commercialization of sex as well for population between the microphase and the macrophase aspects of control. Non-possession (aparigraha) allows one to mini- reality.

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