Yoga Ban

So screams the headline on today’s newspaper.

The National Fatwa Council of Malaysia has declared yoga haram for Muslims on the basis that its roots in Hindusim threaten their faith. The Muslim yoga practitioners have separated themselves into two camps – those who have maintained that yoga is just a form of exercise and those who have decided to adhere to the edict.

Those who know me well enough would know my stand on this matter, but it is not my place to question another’s religion, so I will just be content with bits from Thomas Moore’s book Dark Nights of The Soul:

“Religion easily becomes a defense and avoidance. Of course, this is not the real purpose of religion, and the religious traditions of the world, full of beautifully stated wisdom, are your bets source of guidance in the dark. But there is real religion and there is the empty shell of religion. Know the difference. Your life is at stake. You have to use your intelligence every step of the way.”