Yog means union with the divine within us, the divine within Nature and the perception and realisation of the essential oneness of all of phenomena. In a wider sense yog may also be extended in scope to mean unity of spirit of the diverse peoples that inhabit this planet. The culture of yog is, thus, an effective means of promoting harmony among the diverse cultures of the world and this is perhaps the objective behind the celebration of the International Yoga Day under the auspices of the United Nations Organisation. Physical fitness is but a minor derivative of yog. The larger purpose is the spiritual unfolding of humanity which is the end of evolution as well. Aasan (practice of bodily postures) and pranayam (breathing exercises) form but the third and the fourth levels of the Patanjali Ashtanga Yog and are in no way the gamut of the yogic discipline. Thus, other than avoiding the mispronouncing and misspelling the word YOG as YOGA, we have to take care as a nation that we do not export this ancient Hindu tradition as the Indian version of certain gymnastics exercises and that we represent it as the comprehensive spiritual culture of the Hindus wherein are included the grand paths of Raj Yog, Karm Yog, Bhakti Yog and Jnan Yog as well. Our thankfulness to our Prime Minister for having taken the initiative to getting Yog official U.N. sanction for its celebration annually by member nations on 21 June. This is but the first step towards popularising liberal and scientific Hindu traditions in the strife-torn modern world which has lost direction amidst the conflict of material cultures often masquerading as religious traditions. Om!
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