Chapter Two: The Yogis’ Regard for the Physical Body

Main Idea & Concepts

Yogi’s believe the body is the “temple for the spirit” – they physical body is not in fact the “real man” – but rather a house that the spirit occupies and uses. In addition the development and care of this body is of utter importance. The development is ultimately regarded as coupled with the development of the mind. A strong mind needs a physically strong body and vise versa.

• A yogi would insist the body be brought under perfect control of the mind – the instrument is finely tuned to be responsive by the mater; the spirit.
• When the body is cared for and properly nourished only then can it undergo its highest form of transformation and development – its responsiveness flourishes.
• A yogi tries to attain control over the voluntary and involuntary parts of the body to breed mastery – every muscle, cell, organ is important
• To attain this control and mastery over the body is the ultimate goal – comparable to a master violinist’s conquering of famous compositions.

Interesting Concept:

A mastery over anything is an ultimate goal when practicing at something. It is the ability to achieve the highest possible connection to that feat with ease; because at the point of mastery it has become second nature. This concept when applied to the maintenance and development of the mind and body is an umbrella or starting point to achieving all the other imaginable goals. Master the mind and body – master the self and nothing is impossible anymore.

Questions:

Can we quantify the results – should such studies be conducted? Measuring for example the monetary success of those who practice yoga on a regular basis (living the hatha yoga philosophies) against those who do not?

Is it important to measure the benefits of yoga in such a way? Who is to determine this?

If research results with a higher number of person’s practicing on a regular basis achieve larger monetary success – is it ethical to use these facts and directly link them in marketing campaigns to sell “yoga for increased income”