"... Teachers will be barred from saying the traditional salutation 'namaste' and using Sanskrit names for poses.
Chanting is forbidden.... Some conservative groups had called for the prohibition to be preserved, contending that the practice of yoga is inseparable from Hinduism and Buddhism and amounted to a religious activity.... [Amendments added to the bill] require parents to sign a permission slip for students to practice yoga. They also bar school personnel from using 'hypnosis, the induction of a dissociative mental state, guided imagery, meditation or any aspect of Eastern philosophy.'... The [1993] ban was enacted after parents in the state raised concerns not only about yoga, but also about hypnotism and 'psychotherapeutic techniques.'... [O]ne mother in Birmingham said her child had brought a relaxation tape home from school that made a boy 'visibly high'...."
The NYT reports.
I've told you my opinion before. Back in 2016, I had a post, "WaPo seems surprised that people regard yoga in school as an Establishment Clause problem":
The headline is: "Ga. parents, offended by the ‘Far East religion’ of yoga, get ‘Namaste’ banned from school."
In my opinion, it's cultural appropriation and otherizing not to perceive that this is religion.
Commenters [at WaPo] pick up the cue and say things like "Georgia hicks object to 'mindfulness.' Why am I not surprised?"/"They opt for 'mindlessness.'"
Wow. Double otherizing.
Posts
6 comments:
ALP writes
“ If you are, like me, a completely non-spiritual, atheist type - it is hard to find a yoga class without annoying "New Agey BS" (my personal term). I find it off putting which is why I will only work from yoga books that allow me to ignore all that and focus on the physical. I can only imagine how a deeply religious person might feel, although I think parents get too worked up thinking their children will latch onto every new idea that comes their way. But what do I know, I don't have kids.”
Bart writes:
The prohibition of Sanskrit names for assorted poses is quite silly. Sanskrit is a classic Indo-European language, distantly related to English. As just two examples, the poses 'go-mukta' [cow's face, but think "cow's MUG", like a 'mug shot'] or 'birk-asana' ['birch pose' or 'tree pose'].
Let's carry this farther. The Roman Catholic church used Latin for centuries. Often still does. So should we therefor prohibit 'ad hoc'', 'ad hominem' and the rest from courses in logical thinking? Oh, silly me ... nobody teaches that in school any more, and it shows.
"Guided Meditation" is of much greater legitimate concern. As a student in the '50s, "guided meditation" was a solid whack on the ass from teacher's thick yardstick, then having to sit in a corner to "think about things" for 15 minutes.
The aversion to the foreign language makes them seem xenophobic... and ignorant. But I do think some of it is a justified fear of the hocus-pocus of religion. Think about why Catholics used Latin for so long — the special sounds makes things seem elevated and unworldly, and it reaches you beyond reason (perhaps).
Caroline writes:
With regard to yoga, 99% of people laugh at you when you say that it’s new age, but I steer well clear of it. Not only do I maintain vigilance because of what I read from Catholic resources—quick example— US dioceses can’t seem to find enough priests trained in the rite of exorcism to keep up with the rising demand for their services. While yoga is just one of many new age practices that can open an individual to demonic influences, I read an article not long ago by the famous Father Amorth who cited specifically the explosive growth of yoga as one of the driving forces.
I mean, it’s all fun and games until somebody needs an exorcism.
Over and above that, I have had to listen to more than my fair share of harmless, anodyne yoga exercise videos as my husband and daughter’s workout of choice during last year’s lockdown. The subtle, insipid commentary that seems to be baked into the practice— “now release your energy, bow to the earth, know that your destiny is in your hands” type of stuff that— okay harmless, right? But it is a belief in Self as divine. It is totally devoted to the self…for that reason, it is a false religion. We are made for relationship, not self actualisation.
At its most harmless, it is full of new age psychobabble that would form a definite impression on young skulls of mush. At its worst, yoga poses are prayer poses to Hindu deities — Christians call them demons— that can open the door to exploration into the occult, and in many cases leads to various forms of demon possession or vexation.
Of course, when you abandon faith in God, the devil takes his place.
Bart writes: "It derives from Hoc est corpus meum ... "This is my body" from the RC mass."
According to Wikipedia:
"According to the Oxford University Press, the term originates from hax pax max Deus adimax, a pseudo-Latin phrase used in the early 17th century as a magical formula by conjurors.
"Some believe it originates from a corruption or parody of the Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, which contains the phrase "Hoc est enim corpus meum", meaning This is my body.This explanation goes at least as far back as a 1694 speculation by the Anglican prelate John Tillotson: 'In all probability those common juggling words of hocus pocus are nothing else but a corruption of hoc est corpus, by way of ridiculous imitation of the priests of the Church of Rome in their trick of Transubstantiation.'
"This claim is substantiated by the fact that in the Netherlands, the words Hocus pocus are usually accompanied by the additional words pilatus pas, and this is said to be based on a post-Reformation parody of the traditional Catholic rite of transubstantiation during Mass, being a Dutch corruption of the Latin words "Hoc est corpus meum" and the credo, which reads in part, "sub Pontio Pilato passus et sepultus est", meaning under Pontius Pilate he suffered and was buried.
"In a similar way the phrase is in Scandinavia usually accompanied by filiokus, a corruption of the term filioque,[citation needed] from the Latin version of the Nicene Creed, meaning “and from the Son”. The variant spelling filipokus is common in Russia, a predominantly Eastern Orthodox nation, as well as certain other post-Soviet states.[citation needed] Additionally, the word for "stage trick" in Russian, fokus, is derived from hocus pocus."
The OED says "hocus pocus"
"Appears early in 17th cent., as the appellation of a juggler (and, apparently, as the assumed name of a particular conjuror) derived from the sham Latin formula employed by him: see below, and compare Grimm, Hokuspokus.
"The notion that hocus pocus was a parody of the Latin words used in the Eucharist, rests merely on a conjecture thrown out by Tillotson...."
Post a Comment