The celebration of the first International Yoga Day has positioned India as the spiritual capital of the world. The world responded positively and massively to prime minister Narendra Modi’s impassioned appeal on yoga, while addressing the UN General Assembly last year. Altogether, 192 of the 193 member-nations of the UN celebrated the day. In a statement UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon said, “By proclaiming June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, the General Assembly has recognised the holistic benefits of this timeless practice and its inherent compatibility with the principles and values of the UN.” The declaration is the culmination of a process initiated by Swami Vivekananda when he addressed the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.
The Swami gave the world a peep into the rich cultural and religious heritage of India, which is rooted in the concept of vasudaiva kudumbakam, i.e., the whole world is one family. He wanted Indians to become messengers of peace and harmony, not yoga evangelists. History bears proof that India never sought to conquer lands or minds, either through sword or propaganda blitz. The deep respect the Tibetans, the Thais, the Indonesians and the Japanese, cutting across religious identities, have for Indian religious practices and traditions is because nobody tried to propagate them in an aggressive manner. India believed respect could not be obtained through force. Yoga is just one aspect of India’s rich heritage. In fact, it is the path to the inner reaches of India’s spiritualism. The UN’s endorsement of yoga as based on scientific principles is bound to attract people worldwide to this ancient form of exercise.
The beauty of yoga is that it appeals to people in different ways. If it was just an exotic regimen of physical exercises for a few people outside of India, today millions all over the world know it as something unique, something spiritual. For the beginner it is just a physical exercise that will keep his body in good shape. In his pursuit of the best in yoga, he will realise, sooner than later, that it also kindles in him the desire to attain spiritual heights with the potential to achieve the ultimate—merger of the body and the mind in the infinite. It is like an ocean from which the seeker can get water or salt or Amrit. Yoga is thus something to everyone and everything to some.
