Hi Reader,

I think you need the equivalent of a degree in High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy to drive safely in India. If you can imagine something between a three-ring circus and NASCAR with stops and starts and constant horn-honking, that's what vehicular traffic in an Indian city is like.

Which is why you'll never see me behind the wheel of a car (or a tuk-tuk) in Mumbai, but I'm happy to report that I've successfully crossed the street there a few times.

The first time I visited Mumbai, I was with a group of yogis who were traveling with me on a pilgrimage to India. We stayed at a small hotel a short distance from a beautiful Krishna temple where we were going to participate in an annual Flower Festival.

We were only a few blocks from the temple, but to get there, we had to cross a crazy intersection that had five different streets feeding into it from an assortment of curving angles, so it was really hard to see what was coming or how fast it was moving.

And, as if the angles of the intersection weren't tricky enough to navigate, the Indian rules of the road are that everyone drives on the left side of the road instead of the right—a lasting remnant of British colonialism—so the traffic comes from the opposite direction than what visitors from the U.S. are accustomed to.

I had a responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone who was traveling with me. Getting to the far side of the intersection seemed like an inherently unsafe project.

Fortunately, I had a monk from the temple who was acting as our tour guide. He met us at the hotel to escort us to the temple.

As we approached the corner, I asked him, "How do you cross the street in Mumbai without getting run over?"

He had a very practical answer: "First you look right. Then you look left. Then you look right and left and right and left . . ."

Years later, I'm here writing this email, so his technique clearly worked.

As difficult as that intersection was to navigate, yoga history, culture, and philosophy present us with another intersection that's not as physically dangerous, but just as hard to navigate.

Yoga teachers and practitioners ask me about it all the time. The question is always some version of, "How do I navigate the intersection of yoga and religion?"

It’s an important question.

Modern yoga culture leans heavily on universal language: inner peace, higher purpose, mindful living. These are beautiful aspirations, and they’re all part of the yoga tradition.

But the deeper you go into the traditional literature of yoga philosophy—the Yoga-sūtra, the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad-gītā—the harder it becomes to avoid an unmistakable truth: yoga has a sophisticated theological worldview.

Not dogmatic. Not sectarian. But undeniably theological.

Yoga asks us to inquire into the nature of consciousness, the source of all energies, and the origin of meaning itself. And it does so with the rigor of philosophy, the structure of a science, and the heart of a spiritual tradition.

For many practitioners, this raises more questions than answers:

• How do I honor yoga’s spiritual lineage without feeling like I’m crossing into religion?
• How does yoga’s understanding of Īśvara fit into a universal practice?
• And for teachers—how can I speak clearly about yoga’s heritage without alienating students who identify as “spiritual but not religious”?

These are important questions. They deserve thoughtful, informed, and nuanced answers.

Which is why I’m hosting a live online workshop this Sunday where we’ll take this topic head-on:

Navigating the Intersection of Yoga and Religion

Live on Zoom Sunday, December 14th @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

This workshop will be recorded – replay available anytime

Tuition: $27

In this session, we’ll explore the ways yoga philosophy approaches divinity—and how its approach differs from Western religious frameworks. We’ll also look at how the tradition understands unity and difference, the Gītā's presentation of a personal form of Ultimate Reality, and how all of this can be communicated respectfully in a modern, non-sectarian context.

You’ll come away with:

• A clearer understanding of yoga’s theological themes
• Insight into how faith and knowledge work together in the yoga tradition
• Tools to talk about these ideas without dogma or discomfort in classes, workshops, and trainings

If you’ve ever sensed that yoga’s spiritual depth extends far beyond “mindfulness,” this workshop will give you the framework to understand—and share—why.

I hope you’ll join me for this important conversation.

Wishing you all good fortune,

- Hari-k
P.S.: This workshop is registered with Yoga Alliance and offers 1.5 hours of CE credit. It’s ideal for dedicated practitioners, yoga teachers, and anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the theological elements of yoga philosophy.