Yoga, Nazis and Good Intentions

Workout notes Nothing yet; probably a few yards in the pool and some running and walking miles just a bit later.

Headline What in the world do the words in this title have to do with one another? Nothing. But these are topics on my mind.

Good Intentions The Peoria Pundit (a local blogger, and yes, I like him) says:

Speaking of the m*********ing Chinese, they don’t have to worry about tree-hugging Sierra Club envirowackoes polluting the electoratal process, thus screwing up the decision-making by their leaders. Therefore, they base their decisions on reason, science and their stated desire to dominate the world. Therefore, the are going to be investing heavily in pebble-bed nuclear power reactors. So while we are sucking the fumes from coal, China will be enjoying plentiful and pollution free power. Hat tip, Knowledge is Power.

Hmmm, ok, I agree that some enviromental activists don’t understand science, and some who do don’t know how to balance the issues (example, see Different River’s post about DDT which argues that being unreasonable about tiny amounts of DDT could have well HURT a population). And I agree that pebble bed nuclear reactors represent an interesting approach to nuclear power; possbily one that has promise (but is hardly problem free). These reactors produce lower temperatures, less radioactive waste, and don’t have the problem of potential steam ruptures. But accidents can still happen (though not meltdowns) and there is the possiblity of a graphite fire (you’ve heard that before: Chernobyl, though there wouldn’t be a catastrophic explosion)

But those “tree-hugging Sierra Club envirowackoes” serve as a nice counterweight to “profit above all else” coroporate types. This is China today:

(this last photo is of a river!)

I wonder if Bill wants to live in such a place?

More on China’s environment:

The degradation of China’s environment is reaching a critical point where health and social stability are under threat, China’s top government official on the environment has said.

Rubbish floats on a river crossing the city of Hefei, east China’s Anhui province, November 9, 2006. China’s pollution problems have damaged 10 million hectares, or one tenth, of the country’s arable land, said the environment watchdog Tuesday as it called for expanding grass- roots monitoring staff in the rural areas, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“In some places, environmental problems have affected people’s health and social stability, and damaged our international image,” Zhou Shengxian was quoted as saying in Monday’s China Daily.

Rapid industrialisation over the past two decades had transformed China into one of the world’s most polluted countries, with local governments and industries shunning ecological protection in the pursuit of short-term gains.

Zhou, the head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), noted half the country’s rivers were severely polluted and a third of its territory was damaged by acid rain in an address to the annual meeting of China’s top environmental thinktank.

Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said China was not doing enough to combat the problem.

It recommended the government spend more on environmental solutions, that local officials be made more accountable, and that SEPA be ugraded from an agency to a full government ministry.

The thinktank, the China Council for International Cooperation of Environment and Development, said China lagged behind developed countries in spending to protect the environment.

In 2005, China spent 838.8 billion yuan (104.85 billion dollars), equivalent to 1.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By comparison, developed countries invested more than two percent of GDP, the council said.

However, Thinktank experts also said the positive role China was playing for the outside world had been neglected.

China has been the workshop of the world for the past two decades, importing raw materials and exporting finished goods, while the pollution generated by production remained in China.

The problems for China were worsening as heavy industry factories moved from Europe, the United States and Japan to China, the report said.

Nazis

Speaking of Mr. Bill Dennis, in the past he had some unwelcome attention from Neo-Nazi type groups. Recently, me too. I even got a telephone call from one of them.

Today’s Nazi groups remind me of a discount version of the old Brown Shirts; those were the largerly undereducated goons that Hitler tolerated as long as they were useful; when they became too much trouble he ended getting rid of many of their leaders during the Night of the Long Knives.

That’s what is really ironic about these clowns; they might have seen Hitler’s Germany as a good thing, but in fact, even though I would have been considered an untermenchen, I might have had a slightly longer lifespan under those conditions.

But this perked my interest a bit and so I went to you-tube and found some videos.

Hitler youth (10 minutes)

anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda video; it is amazing to me that they chased people like Einstein out of their country.

How it ended for them (the Nazis); funny how the biggest bullies are the ones that cry the loudest when they get what they have given to so many.

(Taxi challenge: who is more likely to get a cab; a big black guy with gold chains or a skinny white Nazi guy? Best of 7…)

Yoga

Do yoga and atheism mix? I posed this question on the yoga.com message boards, and I snooped around the internet a bit. Here is was I found:

Yes:

Yoga

By
Sri Swami Sivananda

[...]
Yoga is Universal

Yoga is for all. Yoga is universal. It is not a sectarian affair. It is a way to God and not a creed.

The practice of Yoga is not opposed to any religion or any sacred Church. It is purely spiritual and universal. It does not contradict anyone’s sincere faith.

Yoga is not a religion, but an aid to the practice of the basic spiritual truths in all religions. Yoga can be practised by a Christian or a Buddhist, a Parsee, a Muslim, a Sufi or an atheist.

To be a Yogi means to abide continuously in God and to live at peace with men. Yoga is union with God. Yoga is union with all. God dwells in all. [....]

Hmmm, what doesn’t exist dwells in all?

No, though yoga isn’t on the atheistm/theism continuum:

Theism, Atheism, Yoga and Fear

by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati
Home

This article is written expressly for the benefit of
Yogis, Yoginis, or Mystics — seekers of direct experience –
who find themselves at odds with either (or both) of the
two polarities of conservative religionists
or purely materialistic atheists.

Fear is defined as a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. Though there may be many sources and effects of fear, there is a particular fear related specifically to practitioners of Yoga meditation, as well as other meditative and contemplative practices or traditions. Many sincere seekers of direct experience of subtler realities seem to have a pervasive fear stemming from the negative influences of two polar opposites: the Theists and Religionists, and the Atheists and Secularists.

In America, some Theists or Religionists view Yoga (as well as Mysticism and Gnosis) as being in opposition to their individual form of Theism, and hence, see it as in alignment with Atheism. Some Secular Atheists view the Yoga practices of meditation and contemplation as being part of Theism or Religion. At the same time, however, practitioners of authentic, traditional Yoga usually view both Theism and Atheism as separate from the direct experience sought through these practices. [...]

Maybe?

According to a new reader, Rob Smith, I do. When people don’t have good arguments they have to dig really deep to come up with something, even if it is ignorant and nonsensical. Here is an example:

Very interesting that although you claim to be agnostic you practice yoga. You would think that such a strong self-avowed aggy would not be “saluting” and aknowledging the sun as her god. Do a little research, yoga is inseperable from the hindu religion which has a pantheon of gods. Why does every pose have the name of a prayer .Double standards people!! At least just call it stretching if you want to retain your cred.

We’ll pray for you…

Whether you like it or not.

Rob, how sad that you feel you must exclude something healthy from your life just because it’s originators wrapped it in religious hindu beliefs. I do not believe the hindu gods exist. But I can recognize the physical benefits of the exercise. When I do sun salutations I am greeting my morning and welcoming a new day. The “prayer” is symbolism and nothing more.

And why would I “just call it stretching” when it is more than that? The difference between you and me, Rob, is that you feel a need to run away from other gods and hide from them. I suppose you fear them. The gods mean nothing to me. I can enjoy my yoga and have no worries about accidentally praying to them because they’re not there.

This lady and her husband are agnostics (who go to the UCC church; ok I sometimes go to the UU church when the walking/clycling weather is bad ) but she seems to have the same point of view that I do.