YREC's Yoga News 2002 (Part 2)

Japan to Give $87 Million for Ajanta Caves
The Japanese government has voted to donate $87 million for the ongoing restoration of the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra. The Buddhist murals and frescos of Ajanta are dated back to the second century B.C., but during the Gupta era more caves and paintings were added. First mentioned in the travelogues of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, who visited India between 629 and 645 A.D., the Ajanta caves have longbeen a major tourist attraction and are badly in need of restoration.

Swami Hariharananda Giri Has Shed His Mortal Coil
On December 3, 2002, Swami Hariharananda Giri, the last direct disciple of the famous Sri Yukteswar, passed away at the age of 94. Born on May 27, 1908, Paramahamsa was initiated into Kriya Yoga by Sri Yukteswar, the guru of the famous Paramahansa Yogananda, in 1932. He came to the U.S.A. in 1975 to spread the teachings of Babaji's Kriya Yoga and settled in Florida five years ago.

The Commodification of Yoga
According to an article by Adam Skolnick in LA Yoga Magazine, Nov/Dec 2002 (http://www.layogapages.com/issue2/feature/feature.htm), "Yoga images have been used to peddle shoes, cars, insurance, skin products and banks . . . Searches on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database uncovered 484 trademarks filed by businesses using the term 'yoga.' 'Om' is utilized by 217 and 'stretch' is used by a whopping 730 businesses. Even saints, and Hindu gods and goddesses are not immune. 'Buddha' has been co-opted by 103 companies; 'Shiva' is employed by 37; there are 31 records of 'Kali'; 23 of 'Krishna'; and even two of the relatively underemployed deity, 'Ganesha.'" From YREC's archives, we can add the following products to Skolnick's list: pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, toilet seats, underwear, eyeglasses, food products, alcoholic beverages, a law firm, weight-loss products, a department store's wares, a hair dryer, travel destinations, software, websites, cell phone and regular phone services, Disney sleepwear with Pooh doing yoga, a temporary help corporation, perfume, a book club, and concrete. Yoga has definitely entered mainstream America!

New Evidence for the Vedic Sarasvati River
Geologists in India have found an elephant fossil from the middle Holocene era in a village of the Nagaur district, some 185 miles from the state capital of Jaipur. This find supports an earlier theory that the vast Thar Desert of Rajasthan was once a fertile area. According to senior geologist Prof. B. S. Paliwal, the fossil is a "mammoth discovery for the scientific fraternity." He added: "It proves again that there were once rivers like Sarasvati." The Sarasvati River, which long ago wound from the Himalayas down to the Indian Ocean, is described in the ancient Rig-Veda as the mightiest of India's streams. Along its banks flourished the Vedic civilization some 5,000 years ago. For more information, see Georg Feuerstein et al., In Search of the Cradle of Civilization (Quest Books). See also the news item "Sarasvati Resuscitated?" below.

An Android Yoga Teacher?
The quest for artificial intelligence has been on since the 1940s, though the word "robot" goes back to 1917 (Czech playwright Karel Capek). An android is an anthropomorphic robot capable of independent movement and thought. Extrapolating from the current progress in the area of artificial intelligence and robotics, some experts think that we will see the first functional androids within twenty years. The Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT) in Massachusetts employs over 200 researchers to make it happen. So do many other corporations (like Honda, Sony, and Toyota) and universities around the world, especially in Japan. It is doubtful that, in the foreseeable future, researchers will be able to construct an android Yoga teacher who can demonstrate the postures, make adjustments in students, speak inspiringly, and meditate. But one thing is certain, the presence of androids in our human world will radically alter our culture and future.

Let's Face It
British surgeons recently announced that it will soon be possible to give a person an entirely new face. This possibility will no doubt prove a blessing for accident or cancer victims whose face is badly disfigured. It may also come in handy for criminals wanting a completely new look. Our era is into body modification, and this latest medical procedure is the most radical yet. Let's face it, in the face of this development, we'll no longer be able to tell for sure who's behind a smile or a raised brow. As we all know, a face can serve as a mask, and someone else's face replacing our own has a good chance of being just that.

A Decade of Hinduism Today Goes Online
On May 18, 2002, Hinduism Today announced the addition of ten years of back issues to its online archives, covering the years from 1979 through 1989. This excellent magazine plans to complete its archives, which currently have a gap from 1990 to 1993, within a few months.

Georg Feuerstein Writes for Yoga International
At the invitation of Deborah Willoughby, editor-in-chief of Yoga International, YREC's founder-president has started to contribute a regular column to this bimonthly publication. "I was happy to oblige," said Feuerstein, "because I consider Yoga International the best magazine in this part of the world for all those students who wish to deepen their study of Yoga."

Bhutan Stands for Happiness
Bhutan is the last Himalayan kingdom. After two centuries of civil war, the people opted to create the world's only democratic monarchy in the world in 1907. The present king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, succeeded his father in 1972 and since then has made every effort to preserve Bhutan's extraordinary environmental and spiritual legacy. He considers happiness of the people as important as the gross national product. How long will this stronghold of Buddhism be able to stem the tide of modern materialism?

Rama's Bridge Discovered?
Recently, NASA released images taken from space that show a mysterious 18-mile-long bridge in the Palk Strait between India and the island of Sri Lanka. One writer has claimed that the bridge appears "man-made," but no reasons were given for this opinion. According to the Râmâyana, one of India's two great epics (the other being the Mahâbhârata), the God-man Râma built a bridge to Lanka. In our revised chronology, Râma would have lived about 2000 B.C., though Indian traditionalists place him many millennia earlier. The photo's ID number in NASA's JSC Digital Image Collection is 10153278.jpg. Even a sandbank, which is what the structure is, can serve as a bridge at low ocean levels.

Support for the Panchen Lama
On October 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by unanimous consent resolution 410, which was introduced by Congressman Christopher Smith. The resolution calls for the release of the young Panchen Lama, who has been held incommunicado by Chinese authorities since 1995. This strong congressional support for Tibet is a welcome and significant gesture from the American government.

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