A Yoga of Both Inner & Societal Transformation

Ricardo D. Stanton-Salazar, Ph.D., RYT-200

October 20, 2011
The Vedantic system of yoga has a rich tradition going back 5,000 years ago in India. From
its inception through yogas formalization by Patanjali 150 BCE, yogic philosophy is
grounded in the idea that our principal spiritual purpose and challenge is to transform our
base human nature into the divine that is within us. In other words, the individual must reach
the deeper strata of his/her being, wherein lies his unity with all mankind. The Vedanta can
help us to contact and live that truth which unfolds our real nature the divinity lying
hidden in man.[1] For thousands of years, yoga offered a window into the nature of
suffering, healing, and transformation. However, the window it offered was one way, the
process of human transformation did not provide a social science into how human alienation
and suffering was rooted in how the outer world was socially and politically organized.
The perspective offered here speaks directly to the system of racism, a system that not only
was an essential part of the historical beginnings of our nation, but also a system that
became planted in Indian soil about 1,500BCEthrough the establishment of the Caste
system; because the blossoming of the yogic path during this time--and even through
Patanjali formidable scholarship--did not develop a social science of human suffering and
of liberation, the caste system sunk its roots deep into Indian society, persisting in Hindu
society throughout the twentieth century. Thus, the yogic system, through its critical stages
of development over hundreds and thousands of years, offered a wondrous process of
human transformation, but it was a process that never formally took a moral stand against
the Varna system nor the Jti system in Indiasystems which rigidly stratified and
segregated people, and stigmatized many, based on birth and genealogy. Master yoga
teachers maintain their silence about the evolution of yoga and the caste system when
teaching yoga philosophy, spirituality, & history. No books on the shelf at any yoga studio
exposure students to this deplorable contradiction. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sought the
wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi on the principal of Ahimsa (non-violence), but I dont believe,
Dr. King was fully aware of the contradiction of seeking wisdom from a guru who himself
was quite conflicted about the Varna system in IndiaDr. King, who at any moment was
ready to give his life to end racial segregation in the United States.

The hour has arrived, the silence must end. The wondrous spirituality and the connection
with God, inherent in yoga practice, must be pure. The process of personal spiritual
transformation through yoga and yogic mediation and prayer can not occur while our sister
or brother lies next to us suffering with pangs of hunger and with a blood wound waiting to
be cleansed, medicine applied, and wrapped with clean gauze. Swami Vivekananda opened
the door to a new and glorious yoga; how many yoga masters stepped through this door?
--Racism (including any 'caste system') dehumanizes both the oppressed and
the oppressor, while keeping those on the sidelines from any authentic spiritual
development.
We need a system of yoga thats founded upon an intellectual base, a social
psychology, a spirituality, and political philosophy that speaks directly to the
needs of people of color in the U.S. (and globally as well), that directly
addresses the historical and current forms of racial oppression and the effects
of that oppression on our psyches, on physical bodies (as disease), on our
children, and on our communities. Such a 'yogic system' must embrace all
people who suffer from a dominant form of social oppression (e.g., women),
and embrace all who those who profess their complete alliance with the
oppressed.
I speak of system of yoga that integrates every form of empowerment, both
individual and collective, at every stage of the life cycle. The fruits of Eastern,
mystical and physical yoga are many, and we should harvest and nurture those
fruits that directly address our needs, but the tree of yoga is not petrified,
but 'living,' and at this point in history, this wondrous tree, with its roots in
ancient India, is already being cultivated here in this land, and new branches
are growing that re-train our eyes to see human suffering as socially
organized, and that also permit us to see our healing, our empowerment, our
authentic spiritual development, and the transformation of our society as
within our power as a collectivity.
[1] http://www.spiritualworld.org/perspectives/vedantic.htm
http://adaniel.tripod.com/origin.htm

Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2011 Mar 1.

Association between perceived racism and physiological stress indices in Native Hawaiians.
Kaholokula JK, Grandinetti A, Keller S, Nacapoy AH, Kingi TK, Mau MK.
Abstract: The association between racism and the physical health of native U.S. populations has yet
to be examined despite their high risk for stress-related disorders and a history of discrimination
toward them. .. Racism appears to be a chronic stressor that can "get under the skin" of Native
Hawaiians by affecting their physical health and risk for stress-related diseases, possibly, through
mechanisms of cortisol dysregulation.

Frantz Fanon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNnHrdqHMMA

Fanon (July 20, 1925 December 6, 1961) was a French psychiatrist, philosopher,
revolutionary and writer whose work is influential in the fields of post-colonial
studies, critical theory and Marxism. Fanon is known as a radical existential
humanist[1] thinker on the issue of decolonization and the psychopathology of
colonization. Fanon supported the Algerian struggle for independence and became a
member of the Algerian National Liberation Front. His life and works have incited
and inspired anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades.

HEALING FROM RACISM THRU YOGA: (Racism wounds both non-whites

& whites, both communities need healing & transformation to co-create a new
world)
We are constructing a system of yoga thats founded upon an intellectual base, a
social psychology, a spirituality, and political philosophy that speaks directly to the
needs of people of color in the U.S. (and globally as well), that directly addresses
the historical and current forms of racial oppression and the effects of that
oppression on our psyches, on physical bodies (as disease), on our children, and on
our communities. Such a 'yogic system' must embrace all people who suffer from a
dominant form of social oppression (e.g., women), and embrace all who those who
profess their complete alliance with the oppressed.
I speak of system of yoga that integrates every form of empowerment, both
individual and collective, at every stage of the life cycle. The fruits of Eastern,
mystical and physical yoga are many, and we should harvest and nurture those
fruits that directly address our needs, but the tree of yoga is not petrified, but
'living,' and at this point in history, this wondrous tree, with its roots in ancient
India, is already being cultivated here in this land, and new branches are growing
that re-train our eyes to see human suffering as socially organized, and that also
permit us to see our healing, our empowerment, our authentic spiritual
development, and the transformation of our society as within our power as a
collectivity.
Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 4 July 1902) (Kolkata, West Bengal
India): "Karma Yoga"
"Service to humanity is the highest form of worship."
"So Long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor, who,
having been educated at their expense, pays not the Least heed to them."
"The goal of mankind is knowledge."

Yeshua, of Nazareth, Galilee (Northern Israel, Palestine), Rabbi, Master Teacher (the
Christ)
Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my
Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of
the world. .
37

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite
you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go
to visit you?
40

The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
My Teachers
Megha (Nancy) Buttenheim, (Kripalu); Krishna Kaur (Kundalini, Kripalu &
Los Angeles); Maya Breuer (Kripalu); Amy Weintraub (Austin, TX,
Kripalu); Naader Shagagi (Yoga Kingdom Sanctuary, Pasadena); Sabina
Weber (Yoga House, Pasadena); Mara Mazzi (Svaroopa Yoga, San Diego)
Beautiful Young Black Man on Cover of Yoga Magazine (Great!!!!) ("Program
catalog" for Popular Retreat Center (Kriplau); marketing gimmick? or
authentic commitment to attract & serve the special needs of Black people coming
from Albany, New York, Boston, Springfield, & New Haven? ....I pray with all my
heart that it is the latter; please Kripalu, calm my heart. )
http://issuu.com/kripalu/docs/cat84_loressingle?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2
F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true

Ricardo D. Stanton-Salazar, Ph.D., RYT-200

Photographer: Olivia Puentes-Reynolds