Hindus are upset at what they call the "sexploitation" of yoga. Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, issued a press release recently condemning the "mercantile greed" that is flooding the marketplace with "books, magazines, DVDs and other media showing yoga as some kind of potion to enhance sex life."
"Yoga is a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman)," Zed said, adding that what we are seeing now is "simply misuse of age old and revered system of yoga."
To illustrate his point, Zed listed some of the popular book titles being sold today: "Better Sex Through Yoga: Easy Routines to Boost Your Sex Drive, Enhance Physical Pleasure, and Spice Up Your Bedroom Life," by Jacquie Noel Greaux and Jennifer Langheld; "Sexy Yoga: 40 Poses for Mindblowing Sex and Greater Intimacy," by Ellen Barrett; and "Intimate Yoga for Couples" by Mishabae.
Zed also provided a sampling of titles from articles in well-known magazines: "Yoga Positions for Better Sex" (Prevention), "Want Better Sex? Do Yoga" (Psychology Today), "Workout: Yoga for Hotter, Better Sex" (Men's Health), "Yoga for Better Sex" (Women's Health Magazine), and "The Great Sex Yoga Workout" (Fitness Magazine).
"Even the Harvard Health publication of Harvard Medical School gave 'Examples of yoga poses to enhance sexual function,' " Zed noted. According to Zed, it is inappropriate to portray yoga as erotica.
"Yoga is referred to in Hinduism as 'a living fossil,' " Zed said. "It is one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy, and is highly revered in Hinduism.""Some sages have described yoga as the silencing of all mental transformations, which leads to the total realization of the Supreme Self," Zed explained.
"Some have used yoga attempting to gain liberation by removing all sensory barriers. According to Patanjali, author of 'The Yoga Sutra,' yoga is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical."
Zed argued that companies and individuals "should not attempt to distort the esteemed ancient yoga tradition."Hinduism, which introduced yoga, is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1 billion adherents around the world.