Greetings Reader,

You may have seen the recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court against the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Venezuelan migrants without giving them the opportunity to challenge the grounds of their deportation.

It was a decision that affirmed the right to due process, a fundamental principle of fairness in legal proceedings and government actions.

And thank goodness it did, given that such deportations are intended to be irreversible and condemn those migrants to indefinite detention in a hellish prison.

On the one hand, I find it shocking that the Supreme Court had to intervene, having grown up in this country believing that such fundamental rights were precisely what made America great.

On the other hand, I shouldn’t be surprised because traditional yoga wisdom tells us that this sort of thing is to be expected.

In fact, the wisdom texts of yoga philosophy have a lot to say about justice and morality.

But here’s the real question: should yoga teachers share what yoga wisdom has to say about events like these in their classes?

As a matter of principle, the answer is, “yes.”

Why? Because yoga teachers are representatives of the yoga tradition, proponents of yoga culture, defenders of yoga’s values, and educators who have a responsibility to teach students about yoga philosophy and its relevance to our lived experiences.

As a practical matter, however, it may not be that simple: there may be some risk involved, your teaching environment may not support it, or you may not know enough about yoga philosophy to connect it to current events.

For some teachers, it may be the right thing to do. Others may have to weigh their circumstances a little more carefully. For myself, it's standard operating procedure.

Here's how I would share what yoga wisdom has to say about this Supreme Court ruling:

The wisdom texts of the yoga tradition speak of this season of time, known as Kali-yuga, as the age of industrialization, exploitation, irrational violence, and corruption.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa describes it as a time when justice will bend to power, and a person’s worth will be measured only by their financial status, regardless of their knowledge, culture and behavior.

Sound familiar?

But yoga is not a philosophy of pure pessimism; It’s a tradition rooted in the eternal principles of dharma: respect for the rights of all beings to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Justice in accordance with the principles of dharma—universal harmony—is glorious, full of mercy, equitable, and free from duplicity.

Similarly, yoga wisdom measures a person’s worth by their behavior. If someone’s activities are dedicated to promoting the happiness of all beings, it’s an indication of their advancement in spiritual knowledge.

Every living being is originally happy, because in all living bodies there is an eternal spiritual spark that partakes of the divine conscious nature of the Absolute Truth. When our original spiritual awareness is revived, our natural condition of knowledge and peace is revived with it.

This is what motivates me in my personal practice. And with this understanding, we can all endeavor to revive our own spiritual nature and help others experience the same sublime consciousness.

If you want to hear more about why a yoga teacher can and, if possible, should talk about current events in asana classes, and how to make the connections between current events and yoga philosophy, then check out my conversation with Francesca Cervero on her fantastic Mentor Sessions Podcast. We had a great time exploring these questions together.

In fact, we were on such a role that we had to record two episodes. ​CLICK HERE​ to listen to Part 1 of our conversation:
After you listen, please let me know what your thoughts are about talking about current events in a yoga class, as a teacher and as a practitioner.

Wishing you all good fortune,

- Hari-k

P.S.: Please join me for my next live online workshop: How to Read Yoga Wisdom Texts—This workshop is for yoga teachers and enthusiasts who want to learn techniques that will enable you to develop a deep and authentic relationship with the traditional teachings of yoga, the ability to hear what the traditional literature is really saying, clarity about why the traditional teachings still matter, enthusiasm for reading the traditional texts, and confidence that what you’re sharing in your classes is both accurate and authentic

You’ll come away from this workshop with time-honored tools for getting past the obstacles to understanding traditional yoga wisdom texts. ​CLICK HERE​ to register.​