Deliberations With Devdutt Is Yoga About Achievement Or Awareness?

One of the key differences that one finds between the yoga that is popular in the West and that which is taught by traditionally trained Indian Gurus of India is the idea of achievement.

- Devdutt Pattanaik

In the West, yoga is marketed as an achievement: the achievement of a particular body posture and a body type, which demands constant measurement and monitoring. But the traditional yoga Guru is not interested in achievement. He is more interested in awareness, in using the body, the breath and the mind as tools to make one self-aware of not just the body, breath and mind, but things within and without. Achievement versus awareness is the fundamental difference between western and Indian thought.

When we use the word western, what do we actually mean? We mean management of the body using Greek principles. In Greek mythology, people are always shown as athletic.