Is it okay to do yoga if you are a Buddhist?
THE CARPENTER WORKS THE WOOD
THE ARCHER BENDS THE BOW
THE WISE MAN SHAPES HIMSELF
- BUDDHA -
Again and again I hear questions such as, "as a Buddhist, is it allowed to do this or that?"
My answer is always: as a Buddhist you are allowed to do everything!
If you believe in karma, everything is already written anyway.
It is written whether I cause an accident tomorrow, whether a person gets hurt in the process. Everything is written, no matter how we try, our destiny will come to us exactly as it should.
The teachings of Buddha tell us how we should behave in principle, that is undisputed. Am I a bad Buddhist just because I sometimes don't follow them? Or because I try, sincerely try, to be a good person, but sometimes fail at it?
The answer is NO!
Buddha taught not to judge, not to judge. Not even about myself.
In other faiths there are priests who tell followers what to do. My mother always says:
"I THINK THE CONCEPT OF GOD IS GREAT, IT'S JUST HIS PERSONALITY THAT BOTHERS ME".
Buddhism is about striving for "enlightenment", for the very individual form of the highest knowledge. We have to reach this state on our own, a teacher can show us the way, we have to walk it ourselves.
As a Buddhist you have a good inner feeling what you should do, what you are allowed to do, small setbacks in life are part of it, on the journey to enlightenment not everything always goes smoothly.
You should not feel guilty then, just do it better on the next occasion, that's already a lot achieved.
Buddhism is not guilt-ridden, the path to the goal is the journey, and this journey is about appreciating the beauty of the path, not immediately demanding success and perfection. And not hating yourself for making mistakes.
When my body wants to do yoga, that sensation belongs to me, I have to pursue it to feel it, to experience it.
I do yoga almost an hour every day, and I feel infinite happiness doing it.
As I have understood the words of Buddha, there is no "good" and no "bad", no "form" and no "emptiness".
So there is no yoga either!
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