I had- the privilege of meeting Yoga teachers and students in France and West Germany during the year 1972 when I was on a official visit to Czechoslovakia as a medical expert in Yoga. The following questions were very often put to me during discussions:
"We don't get any experiences or results as mentioned in Yogic literature and as claimed by Yoga teachers even after 7 to 8 years of practice'. "Therefore 1. Are our Yoga techniques wrong?" Is our teaching, learning or practice at fault? or What is mentioned in Yogic literature is based on imagination or hallucinations having no rational basis at all ?"
Since then I have been thinking over these questions seriously and decided to get guided by the scriptures rather than what is being taught or written presently. I also stopped looking at Yoga through my educational back ground of modern medicine and started an effort to understand what the scriptures want to communicate under the guidance of my spiritual teacher and our Director of Research, Swami Digambarji. This brought about a change in the nature of my research work and during the course of time I realised that I must base my training and research programmes on various Yogic concepts in order to understand the significance and importance of different Yoga techniques in the light of modern education system. 1 would like to share with you my feelings on this important occasion
This article is the Presidential Address for Yoga session at the First World Congress held at San-Marino, Italy from 8th to 11th June 1985.
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About Author: Joint Director of Research, Kaivalyadhama S. M. Y. M. Samiti.
Article was first published in Yoga-Mimamsa. YM, the quarterly publication of Kaivalyadhama (www.kdham.com), is the oldest (since 1924) peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary research journal on yoga.Yoga Mīmāṃsā (YM), the quarterly publication of Kaivalyadhama (www.kdham.com), is the oldest (since 1924) peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary research journal on yoga. Visit their site www.kdham.com
Article is courtesy and copyright Kaivalyadhama Lonavala, Maharashtra, India.