Moral Superiority in Yoga Culture

I might as well start my blogging career with a little bit of controversy. Yoga, oddly enough, drums up quite a bit of controversy.

What is it I am giving my hot take on today? Well, if you know me at all, I can get pretty fired up. I’m Pitta AF, as the Ayurvedic kids say these days. And today I want to take on the moral superiority of the yoga culture. UGH, I know you know what I am talking about.

I am speaking about the yogis that look down on you for eating meat. Or for not knowing all the yoga sutras by heart. (Wait, what’s a ‘sutra’ even?) Or for not “oming” in class. Or for not recycling. Or for liking potato chips. Or for wearing clothes you bought from Target…I think we all know I could go on.

So, maybe some of you are familiar with the Eight Limbs of Yoga, and if you’re not, let me start by saying THAT’S TOTALLY OK. It doesn’t make you or anyone else a bad yogi. I, myself, have barely scratched the surface of yogic philosophy. There so much out there. Yoga has so much history, much of it recorded in written form far later than it was thought to be conceived. As a result, there is much discussion and interpretation when it comes to things like sutras, the yamas and niyamas, or even asana. The way I see it, those yogis with a superiority complex, quote these ancient ideas much as a christian extremist might pick and choose quotes from the Bible without any respect or thought to context.

Image from Art of Living

To be very clear, I respect anyone’s right to their own beliefs. I think having conviction is a wonderful thing when it comes to what you truly believe in. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to have that same conviction…being that their experience of life may be a slightly or drastically different from yours. And the lack of appreciation for that fact is where that beast called moral superiority comes in and acts like a total dick to everyone around them.

Let’s talk about one of the hottest points of contention within the broader yoga community: veganism. It is definitely one of the things I get the most fired up about. So, can you be a true yogi and eat meat at the same time? I would personally say abso-fucking-lutely. Many would say no. Why? Ahimsa. What the hell is that? Ahimsa is one of the ‘yamas’ found in the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Eight Limbs are the components to the classical tradition of the yoga practice as prescribed by the Hindu sage, Patanjali. The ‘yamas’ are one of these eight limbs, listing some of the societal restraints a yogi is meant to practice. These are behaviors off and on the mat. The first and often considered, most important of the yamas, is ahimsa. Ahimsa means “non-violence” against all living beings. The reason that many yogis, and a large portion of those practicing Hinduism, don’t eat meat is because they believe it perpetuates violence against a living creature.

I’m not saying they are wrong. However, in this day and age, many of us are living so differently than the humans of the past. We have new diseases, we have new environments, new types of stress, technology and other new forms of energy, varying genetics…one size does NOT fit all. Ahimsa mean non-violence against all living beings, and that includes yourself. Some people rely on meat for their constitution, and it may be doing harm to their own body by abstaining from consuming meat. And that’s just on the more biologic and physiologic note. What about the people that just enjoy meat? It makes some happy to go out and get a burger or wings every now and then. I would consider that a form of self-care…doing something that makes you happy or joyful? DO IT. We don’t do enough of it!

A handsome man enjoys yoga AND a juicy burger…the horror!

But let’s just talk about the yogi who has a commitment to their practice, goes out into the world and is a good person, helps others, lives in service to themselves and the people around them, tries to better themselves and others…BUT STILL EATS MEAT? Seriously? Are you going to tell me that person is a bad yogi? Listen, there’s a lot of stuff out in this world that we get to interact with. And we, inherently I believe, try to make the right choices as often as possible. But it’s very seldom black and white. Eating meat isn’t black and white…the clothing you choose to wear isn’t black and white, the job you have, the family you belong to, the people you love…it’s not black and white. Because people are more complex than that, and for you, as a yogi, to claim some sort of superiority over anyone is contradictory of your own path.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love the show The Good Place. They are constantly questioning morals and ethics and how we think about them. For example…doing good deeds doesn’t necessarily make you a good person. One of the characters of the show, Tahani, spends much of her life being a ‘philanthropist’ and going to charity events and fundraisers. Sure, on paper, seems like pretty good stuff, but it turns out her intention in doing all of these things is to gain attention and recognition…she’s just stroking her own ego. Another episode breaks down how on Earth, every action taken by a human yields positive points, or negative points…and you need a super high number of points to get into the Good Place. The action of buying a tomato gets you a positive amount of points (hooray healthy choices!) , but because the tomato wasn’t organic and the farm where it grew exploited its laborers or didn’t pay the right amount of taxes last year or whatever, the person now accrues even more negative points. Of course this scene is meant to be humorous to demonstrate how complex all of our choices are on Earth, but I think the point comes across. Things aren’t black and white, and those yogis who try to make it that way, are either very privileged or just completely naive to anyone’s way of life that doesn’t match their own.

The Good Place on NBC

So then back to the whole, good deeds don’t necessarily make you a good person thing. Many of these vegan yogis…yes perhaps don’t cause harm to any animals, but perhaps they once lied to their parents about being able to come home for some holiday because they were sick…well that’s a violation of “satya,” which is another one of the yamas, meaning truthfulness. Or maybe they have a tattoo of the “om” symbol on their body…seems like a form of violence against a living being if you ask me. (Ps. I love tattoos and have a ton of them) Maybe at some time, this particular yogi asked their parents or a friend for money…and then continued to do it because they knew their parents/friend would have a hard time saying no…well that is in contradiction to “asteya” or non-stealing and not taking advantage of others. This particular yogi could have at one point gone out with friends and drank excessively….a form of self-harm as well as an example of excessiveness, which is the opposite of “brahmacharya” or moderation in action. And when they were drinking, maybe they drank beer from a can which then ended up in a landfill instead of recycled. These are just several examples of ways in which not just a yogi, but any person can do things that might be considered by some to be morally out of line. I myself am not making judgments on any of the above actions, I am simply pointing out how yogic principles could be as easily applied in these circumstances…demonstrating that that morally superior vegan yogi, is not completely in line with tradition either.

If it’s your jam to try and embody every single one of the limbs of yoga….that’s awesome and I respect you for that. What I don’t respect is the assumption that everyone must be on that same path. We all have very different paths and different calls to action. Each individual person has their dharma and they must embody that and journey in the way that is right for them. If you are called to recycle, but eat meat….hell yeah. Way to go helping the planet. If you are called to eat a vegan diet but you drive a car instead of biking…hell yes…way to go on being peaceful towards all life forms. If you are physically able and spiritually/mentally called to bike everywhere but you still drink almond milk (it uses a lot of water and energy) then hell yes…way to go on reducing those carbon emissions. But don’t for a second think you are doing something so much better than someone else, that they deserve to be berated by you or intimidated or called names. As a civilization, we need everyone to live their dharma and embody their passions to make a difference.

And NEWS FLASH:

No one is giving you a trophy for doing any of those things. So if that’s what you expect…you’re not doing it for the right reasons anyways.

Live your truth and stand by what you believe in…but you’re it’s not your place to choose for everyone else. Step outside of yourself and meet people where they are. You really have no idea where they are on their journey or why they’ve made the choices they have made. Just be a good person. Be a compassionate person. Be open and welcoming, because everything you do isn’t 100% perfect all of the time either. Continue to arrive on your mat each practice with an open mind and open heart, and allow yourself and others to walk their path.