SPECIAL REPORT

Missionary of yoga: The phenomenal Swami Ramdev addresses lakhs during a yoga event

SWAMI RAMDEV’S

DREAM
swami ramdev has a dream. and that is to make yoga with its potential for

perfect physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health accessible to all.

a report on an international conference on yoga for health and social

transformation held by ramdev’s patanjali university at haridwar recently

by Maria Wirth

I t was a grand event. The recep-

tion area of Patanjali Yogpeet
near Hardwar was as busy and
crowded as Mumbai’s Churchgate
station on the cold, misty first
Sunday of the year. Two thou-
sand delegates had arrived for
the first international conference
on ‘Yoga for Health and Social
Transformation’ organised by
the Patanjali University – far more
than expected. The organisers had
run out of the conference manual
introducing the speakers, as only a
thousand had been printed. There
was, however, no lack of accom-
modation on the campus. Over a
thousand clean and comfortable
apartments could house around
8,000 people. I had visited the
area five years ago when it was
under construction and was truly
stunned at the amazing trans-
formation that had happened in
those few years. Evidently, Swami
Ramdev does not think big, he
thinks huge. Little wonder that his
goal, as expressed in the inaugu-
ral session of the conference, was
humungous. “Everyone should
practise yoga – in India and in the
whole world.”
What is yoga?
By yoga, Ramdev means much
more than the asanas and

64 life positive february 2011

Ramdev.indd 64 1/24/2011 4:08:37 PM


pranayamas he is known for. To
be a yogi means living in such a
way that one is not only healthy,
happy, peaceful, enthusiastic and
prosperous but also on the road to
self-realisation. Yoga means join-
ing – joining the real Self, joining
the whole world. “You are atman,
and atman is Brahman,” Swami
Ramdev quoted from the Vedas
and added, “Everything is inside
you. The whole universe is inside
you. Atman is inside you. God is
inside you.”
Yoga is for the ‘small’ concerns
in life, such as curing obesity or
diabetes, as well as for the big
picture – how to know the Truth
about oneself and the universe.
“We all know that yoga works,”
a foreign speaker told me, “but
we have to prove it scientifically.
Science is the highest authority in
our world today.”
“And what is science?” I asked.
Though he was a professor, he was
at a loss for words. I wondered
whether science is overvalued. It
is concerned only with what can
be observed, what can be mea-
sured ‘objectively’. If hemoglobin
increases during pranayama, it
is scientific, if the person claims
that he feels much better, it is
unscientific. Science is a work in
progress. Swami Ramdev is aware
of this. He said, “Western medi-
cal science has been around only
for some 200 years. Ayurveda
has been around for thousands
of years and has helped people
without side-effects. In western
medicine, researchers find a new
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Ramdev.indd 65
drug today and after two years it
is banned, because it turns out to
be harmful.” But he made it clear
that he was not against western
medicine. “It definitely can save
lives,” he said. What he objects to
is spending money on drugs for
ailments that yoga and ayurveda
can cure with little or no expense.
“Sixty five per cent of Indians
and a big percentage in the rest of
the world cannot afford Western
“
Sixty five per cent
of Indians and a big
percentage in the rest of
the world cannot afford
Western medicine. I don’t
want anybody to die
“
because he is poor.
-Swami Ramdev
medicine. I don’t want any-
body to die because he is poor,”
said Ramdev rather poignantly.
To achieve this goal, Patanjali
Yogpeeth has embarked on a
challenging mission. “We are
committed to getting yoga accept-
ed internationally as a medical
science,” Acharya Balkrishna, an
expert in ayurveda and Swami
february 2011
SPECIAL REPORT
Ramdev’s gurubhai, stated. To
achieve this, these two disciples
(a speaker called them ‘jewels’)
of guru Acharya Praduman plan
to present scientific evidence
through rigorous clinical trials
with the help of state-of-the- art
technology.
Scientific validity
The duo has established Yoga
Research Foundation at Patanjali
University having the facilities of
a modern lab and a scientist called
Dr Shirley Telles as its director. Dr
Telles started her work with inves-
tigating the physiological and
mental effects of kapalabhati, one
Ramdev’s favourite pranayamas.
The results were encouraging.
Motor skills, perception and
attention improve after kapalab-
hati.
It was she who organised the
present conference to which some
25 scientists had responded, rep-
resenting prestigious institutes
like Harvard Medical School,
Oxford University, and University
of Texas and M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center, which entered
into collaboration with Patanjali
University.
Two things impressed me most.
One, yoga cures even ailments
that one would not expect it to,
and two, yoga is on an amazing
upswing worldwide.
Terrance Ryan, professor
of dermatology from Oxford
University, who has been work-
ing together with Dr SR Narhari
of the Institute of Applied
65
1/24/2011 4:08:42 PM
 SPECIAL REPORT
Dermatology (IAD) in Kerala,
showed that yoga is highly suc-
cessful in treating elephantiasis.
(Profiled in the April 2009 issue
of Life Positive). He illustrated his
talk by juxtaposing two slides: one
showed hugely swollen, unshapely
legs, painful to look at, and the
other, the same legs reduced to
a fraction in size just after a few
months or a year. He has treated
a thousand patients, taught them
pranayama (anulom vilom), how
to massage the leg and how to
move the ankles. It is a cheap,
brief training for the patient and
his family members, yet wonder-
fully effective. The reason is, Dr
Ryan explained, that all lymphatic
systems drain into the upper chest
and as the drainage system of the
skin is very close under the skin,
it is sensitive to movement and
massage. There are 20 million
people suffering from elephantia-
The inaugural lamp was lit by (from left) yogacharya BKS Iyengar, Acharya Balkrishna, Swami
Veda Bharati, Swami Ramdev and Acharya Pradyuman, the guru of Acharya Balkrishna and
Swami Ramdev
66
Ramdev.indd 66
sis in India. Unnecessary suffering
when there is such simple cure.
A global icon
Sat Bir S Kalsa, an American Sikh
from Harvard Medical School,
brought to our notice what amaz-
ing acceptance yoga has gained
in the West. “Yoga Nation” was
how Life magazine dubbed the US
in a cover story. Time magazine
followed with a model in yoga
pose on the cover. The number
of Hollywood stars who practice
and praise yoga is continuously
increasing. On the lawns of the
White House in Washington,
yogasanas were demonstrated
during Easter celebration. “And
you know that yoga has finally
arrived, when McDonald uses it
for ads,” laughed Kalsa. “Yoga is
now part of the US culture but
is practiced mainly by the upper
class and women. It is not univer-
life positive february 2011
sally practiced,” he rued and sug-
gested two avenues to reach the
whole society. “In the US, every-
one visits his doctor and everyone
goes through school. If a doctor
would advise yoga to his patients,
and if we could train every child
in school, yoga would be fully
accepted as a daily routine, as uni-
versal as brushing teeth. Yet both
healthcare and education need
evidence that yoga is worthwhile
and therefore we need research.”
There are already many proj-
ects underway. For example, the
mayor of New York supports
an initiative to teach yoga in 73
public schools. In Germany, yoga
classes in elementary schools
have provenly reduced aggres-
sion among children. “Yoga has
the image of physical exercise in
the West and maybe this is actu-
ally a positive for us,” Sat Bir Kalsa
said. “It scores over meditation, as
youngsters have a lot of energy.”
It was obvious at the conference
that most of the Western speakers
considered yoga a wonderful ‘tool’
to work with, divorced, however,
from its philosophy. Some Indian
delegates considered this a draw-
back or distortion.
“Don’t you feel that by includ-
ing yama and niyama (the virtues
of external and internal purity)
into yoga, the benefits would be
greater?” an Indian delegate asked
John Kepner, one of the founders
of the International Association
of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), who
had just narrated that an US army
officer had called him up asking
1/24/2011 4:08:43 PM
 SPECIAL REPORT

for a qualified yoga teacher for
the armed forces. “I don’t think
the army is interested in the tra-
ditional ways,” Kepner replied
with a tinge of haughtiness. He
may be right, yet the lack of ethi-
‘sex yoga’, etc.”
None of the Western speakers
commented on the issue of pat-
ents. Some 130 patents on yoga
have been taken out in the US
“You in India have yoga gurus
with a long tradition behind them.
We don’t have that,” argued
Leigh Blashki from the Australian
Association of Yoga Therapists.

cal grounding which yamas and
niyamas would inculcate, could
be behind the legion of present-
day yoga teachers for whom it is
only a lucrative profession. IAYT
is now developing education stan-
dards for yoga therapists to follow.
Hopefully, those who develop
those standards would at least be
grounded in yama and niyama
After John Kepner finished his
talk, Swami Ramdev spontane-
ously declared, “We will found an
‘Association for Yoga Therapists’
in India, as well.”
“It is okay to take up yoga as a
profession, but it is a crime to pat-
ent it,” stated he added, thereby
touching a sore point between
India and the west. “Our ancient
rishis have given this wonderful
knowledge free to everyone to
become peaceful, energetic, suc-
cessful and balanced. Now in the
West, they talk of ‘power yoga’,
“
The Indian revival
It is true, though, that yoga has
become only recently popular in
India too. “In the 1930s, yoga was
Two things impressed not respected,” BKS Iyengar nar-
rated. “I feel that only after yoga
me most. One, yoga had taken roots in the West, have
Indians opened up to it.”
cures even ailments that Unarguably, Swami Ramdev
one would not expect it is largely responsible for yoga’s
popularity in India. Swami
to, and two, yoga is on Chidananda of Parmarth Ashram
in Rishikesh remembered that in
an amazing upswing
“
worldwide.
1995, he sent a reporter to Swami
Ramdev who was teaching yoga
to a group in a small hall in
Haridwar. “The reporter came
back saying that it was not news-
worthy. Today, Swami Ramdev is
THE news!” he exclaimed.
alone. When I asked one of them It is natural that Swami Ramdev
regarding this issue, she went on has his share of detractors as well.
the defensive. “Some people claim Many feel that his claim that
that Hinduism owns yoga. We yoga can cure 99 per cent of all
resist that.” diseases is preposterous. Swami

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Ramdev.indd 67 1/24/2011 4:08:44 PM

 SPECIAL REPORT
Thinking big: The sprawling campus of Patanjali Yogpeeth
Ramdev counters, “The Rg Veda
considers oxygen to be the ulti-
mate medicine. It is not only the
ultimate medicine. It is fire and
fire is a synonym for knowledge,
brightness, and light. Pran Tatva is
almighty, it is energy, it is the life
force, it is God! Disease will enter
if the life force is weak. Make yoga
your life partner and there won’t
be lifestyle diseases.”
Swami Ramdev’s life partner
is certainly yoga. Even his critics
won’t deny his yoga expertise.
He is the proverbial yogi, fully
in control of his body and mind.
Early morning, at a temperature
of 5 degree Celsius, he was teach-
ing yoga in the imposing 250,000
sq feet huge Yog Bhavan to the
delegates with only a cotton cloth
wrapped around his hips, while
I was packed in several layers
of woolens and still felt cold.
68
Ramdev.indd 68
“Whatever I have achieved has
been given to me by kapalabhati
and anulom vilom pranayam,” he
claims. “Partially, I have been able
to attain that extraordinary power
and that extraordinary knowledge
that is within each one of us. I have
felt what is eternal and real. Sages
before me, too, have felt it. And I
don’t say this to praise myself, but
to give you an example.”
“There are four types of lives:
miserable, ordinary, successful
and ideal. Most of you have a
successful life. Become a yogi and
make it an ideal life,” he exhorts.
The conference teemed with
those who had followed his advice.
Rohini from South Africa had
fibroids in the uterus two years
ago and was asked to undergo a
surgery. She refused and came
to Patanjali Yogpeeth instead. At
first, she had great difficulty in
life positive february 2011
practicing yoga, but through per-
sistence she reached a stage where
back in South Africa, she woke
regularly at 3 am to practice for
full three hours. After six weeks,
the fibroids disappeared. Now she
is back in Haridwar to become a
yoga teacher.
Will Swami Ramdev succeed
in disseminating yoga across
the world? Judging by his track
record, why not? What he has
achieved in only 15 years is
mind-boggling. Extraordinary
power and knowledge are at work
through this slender frame whose
parents were illiterate farmers and
who attended school only till Std
VIII. He has become a modern
rishi who, in tune with the times,
spreads his knowledge through
satellite TV and reaches millions
all over the world. Tremendous
adoration and love flow to him.
One wonders if he will succeed in
staying balanced.
The chances are he will. When
he was asked whether Patanjali in
his sutras had claimed that a yogi
can fly in the sky and become very
small or very big at will, he replied.
“I have flown in the sky, but in
an airplane. I have become very
big because of good deeds and I
have become very small because
of my humility.”
If he can stay humble and allow
that what is true and eternal to
flow through him, he will surely
continue to be a boon for India
and the world. ☯
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1/24/2011 4:08:44 PM