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I am always on the lookout for yoga-related news. I just found this one on an offensive ad done in Spain. There is action against yogis in Malaysia and big-shot yogis buying islands in Britain... have a look!
Burger King Creates Offensive Ads in Spain
A US-based Hindu advocacy group has asked American fast food chain Burger King to immediately remove an advertisement campaign featuring goddess Lakshmi, which it says is "offensive" to the people of the faith.
Washington-based Hindu American Foundation said Burger King is running a print advertisement in Spain that depicts an image of the goddess seated atop a meat sandwich and other foodstuffs with the catch phrase, "A snack that's sacred," in Spanish.
In the letter written to the company, the HAF has also sought an apology from it for demonstrating lack of cultural and religious sensitivity in this case.
"An advertisement knowingly and intentionally using sacred symbols, especially those of another religious tradition for purely commercial purposes can be offensive in and of itself," said Suhag Shukla, managing director and legal counsel for the Foundation.
(Hindus are often vegetarians, and when they do eat meat, it is almost never cow. Most Burger King meat sandwiches are probably made of beef, or perhaps horse or donkey, which might be only slightly less offensive.)
The island will be the guru’s base overseas. It’s nothing quite like the buyout of Anglo firms by the Tatas, but iconic yoga guru ‘Swami’ Ramdev has acquired a Scottish isle for about £2 million to set up a wellness retreat. The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the guru’s base overseas, where his teachings of yoga as a means to cleanse the body and mind are gaining popularity. The acquisition itself was carried out by a Scottish couple of Indian origin, Sam and Sunita Poddar, who saw recession and the resultant fall in property prices as an opportunity to expand the base of Patanjali Yogpeeth — the institution founded by Ramdev for scientific research and treatment in yog, spiritualism and ayurveda. The island property inaugurated today with a ‘hawan’, a Hindu fire ritual, will be administered by the Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust. “The island base is not about property as much as it is about spreading Indian values,” Ramdev said to a question if he saw any likeness between his acquisition and those carried out by the Tata Group, which has lapped up British brands Tetley, Corus and Jaguar-Land Rover over the last few years. “My aim is to turn this island into a peace haven,” said Ramdev, who joins a handful of gurus to have set up international bases. One of them was the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who shot to fame because of his association with The Beatles. He had shifted from Rishikesh to Vlodrop in Netherlands. Swami Ramdev will not move in here just yet. “Swamiji (Ramdev) will naturally become a frequent visitor to this island,” one of his associates said, when asked if he would spend less time in his Haridwar ashram. The conch-shaped island, spread over 1.25 sq km and home to a 13th century castle, was put on the block, according to a source familiar with the deal, by its previous owner due to developments related to the credit crunch. Local media reports on the buyout were rife with taunts on Ramdev’s move to set up the health retreat and rechristen it as ‘peace island’. The Guardian reported that “a nun known as Saint Veya set up a religious sanctuary on Little Cumbrae in the seventh century, the ruins of which can still be seen today. Whether she too claimed that her breathing exercises could cure cancer is sadly unknown.” The Telegraph’s report on the peace island described Ramdev as “India’s most controversial television lifestyle gurus, who claims homosexuality can be ‘cured’ by yoga.” Residents of Largs, the nearest fishing town that has of-late reinvented itself as a tourist destination, said they couldn’t care less about such controversies. “Thank God for these small mercies (the retreat and investments into it)... In these times of credit crunch, any money people will spend here is good,” said a local, who wished not to be named as he has found work with the project. About 1,000 people, mostly disciples of Ramdev and media persons, descended on the island for its inauguration today. Over the next 18 months, Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust plans to create a world-class health and wellness facility on the Little Cumbrae, island that derives its name from the Gaelic word for shelter or refuge. “The first five-star Pranayam Yog and Ayurved medicine retreat for international visitors, global peace and harmony office, research centre for rare flora and fauna, technology mission for popular and useful herbs will be opened in 18 months,” the institution’s spokesman S K Tijarawala said. Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust trustee Sunita Poddar hoped that once the retreat was in place, people would prefer vedic teachings to rock bands. Ramdev’s close associate Acharya Balkrishna put it like this: “There are many ways for people to go astray in the West and there is need for a facility right here in the West to get them back on track.” Asked about the rationale behind locating the retreat in Scotland, while options were dime a dozen in India, Balkrishna said the Scottish centre would help in reaching out to the youth, “especially the people of Indian origin who have lost touch with their values.” “Our aim is to make ...Cumbrae a worldwide destination with something for the whole family to enjoy,” said Poddar, who founded Lambhill Court Ltd, a care home business. |
Malaysian Islamic body bans yoga for Muslims
The Associated Press
Published: November 22, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia's top Islamic body fresh from banning tomboys issued an edict Saturday that prohibits Muslims from practicing yoga, saying that elements of Hinduism in the ancient Indian exercise could corrupt them.
The National Fatwa Council's chairman, Abdul Shukor Husin, said many Muslims fail to understand that yoga's ultimate aim is to be one with a god of a different religion — an explanation disputed by many practitioners who say yoga need not have a religious element.
"We are of the view that yoga, which originates from Hinduism, combines physical exercise, religious elements, chanting and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be one with god," Abdul Shukor said.
News of the yoga ban prompted activist Marina Mahathir to wonder what the council will ban next: "What next? Gyms? Most gyms have men and women together. Will that not be allowed any more?"
The edict reflects the growing influence of conservative Islam in Malaysia, a multiethnic country of 27 million people where the majority Muslim Malays lost seats in March elections and where minority ethnic Chinese and mostly Hindu ethnic Indians have been clamoring for more rights.
Recently, the council said girls who act like boys violate Islam's tenets. The government has also occasionally made similar conservative moves, banning the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims earlier this year, saying it would confuse Muslims.
Analysts say the fatwa could be the result of insecurity among Malay Muslims after their party — in power since 1957 — saw its parliamentary majority greatly reduced in elections because of gains by multiracial opposition parties.
Malay Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's 27 million people. About 25 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese and 8 percent is ethnic Indian, most of whom are Hindu.
"They are making a stand. They are saying 'we will not give way,'" said Ooi Kee Beng, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Decisions by Malaysia's Fatwa Council are not legally binding on the country's Muslims, however, unless they also become enshrined in national or Shariah laws. But many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference, but some, like Putri Rahim, plan not to follow the latest fatwa.
"I am mad! Maybe they have it in mind that Islam is under threat. To come out with a fatwa is an insult to intelligent Muslims. It's an insult to my belief," said Putri, a Muslim who has practiced yoga for 10 years.
In recent years, yoga — a collection of spiritual and physical practices, aimed at integrating mind, body and spirit — has been increasingly practiced in gyms and dedicated yoga centers around the world.
There are no figures for how many Muslims practice yoga in Malaysia, but many yoga classes have Muslims attending.
In the United States, where it has become so popular that many public schools began offering it in gym classes, yoga has also come under fire.
Some Christian fundamentalists and even secular parents have argued that yoga's Hindu roots conflict with Christian teachings and that using it in school might violate the separation of church and state. Egypt's highest theological body also banned yoga for Muslims in 2004.
Yoga drew the attention of the Fatwa Council last month when an Islamic scholar said that it was un-Islamic.
A top yoga practitioner in India, Mani Chaitanya, said the Malaysian clerics seem to have "misunderstood the whole thing." Chanting during yoga is to calm the mind and "elevate our consciousness," said Chaitanya, the director of the Sivananda Ashram in New Delhi.
"It is not worship. It's not religious at all. Yoga is universal. All religions can practice yoga. You can practice yoga and still be a good Christian or a good Muslim," he said.
Malaysian yoga teacher Suleiha Merican, 56, who has been practicing yoga for 40 years, also denied there is any Hindu spiritual element to it. "It's a great health science that is scientifically proven and many countries have accepted it" as alternative therapy, said Merican, a Muslim.
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Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi contributed to this report.