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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am Hindu and must say I am a bit baffled by the OP and the subsequent agreeing posters.  I have always been taught at home that Hinduism comes in many many different flavored and that there is good reason that the practices of my family of origin have little resemblance to my husband's family of origin (our family histories are from different geographic regions of India).  [b]And yet we both claim the title of "Hindu" for our traditions. Yes, we acknowledge both the universal God and the polytheistic pantheon without seeing any contradictions.[/b]  But while you can reach moksha through learning and parsing out the meaning of things in this very brahman-y way, the act of practice or devotion also leads to the divine.  Totally ok for someone to practice yoga without believing/caring about Hindu philosophies. If they are rigorous in their practice, they will become more divine-like.  It might look different than an Indian yogi, but is no less true.  And cultural appropriation?  Totally the way of the world.  I don't think Hinduism is being diluted even a little bit by Christians or Muslims practicing yoga - what an odd thought.

I do agree with you about those that try to patent tumeric, neem, or yoga poses.  Weird, unproductive, and ned to be shut down.[/quote]

OP here. I've highlighted the most important sentences in your post. The point is you associate yoga with the Divine in whatever form, and you consciously self-identify as a Hindu, again through whatever form. [/quote]

I do self identify as Hindu but primarily for cultural reasons.  I am not at all sure about the nature of the Divine and many days I lean toward atheism.   Meditation is very powerful and can bring you to clarity but that can be a religious/spiritual experience or a new-Agey clearing of the mind.  But one thing I do know - you don't get approval authority on my statement "I am a Hindu"[/quote]

1. Meditation by itself isn't part of my argument. Yoga incorporates meditation, but the act of meditating alone isn't exclusively Hindu. The ancient Norse were very adept at meditating, and so were other cultures. So if you are arguing about your decision to meditate as an agnostic, then I don't disagree. If you want to use the term "yoga" to describe an atheist or agnostic practice, then we come to a disagreement.

2. Should a cultural Christian decide to take communion at church and then encourage all his non-Christian friends to take communion because it's going to really beneficial for their digestive system, whether they believe in God or not? That would be disrespectful to the religious purpose of taking communion, so no, I'm going to say that if you consider yourself culturally affiliated with a given religion and yet you don't think it's disrespectful to disassociate religious purpose from religious practice, I disagree with you. Can I handcuff you to prove my "approval authority" over your decision? No. [i]Nobody in the entire world, from any religion, not even the Pope,[/i] has "approval authority" over an individual's religious identification (because the Pope can't stop non-Catholic Christians from identifying as Christian). But I can advocate for my beliefs, as HAF does.

3. Also, the yoga studios and the majority of the people who attend them [i]do not[/i] either acknowledge that it's a Hindu religious practice or self-identify as Hindu.

[quote]OP - I don't know about all that, but I do know that I look HOT because of yoga.[/quote]

This isn't depressing at all.[/quote]

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