October 2024 | Technology

Our gurus felt that yoga was something that had the potential to unite the world. They emphasised ‘unity in diversity’ as the essence of yoga and realising that more connects us than divides us. The internet also was imagined as something that could unite the world, opening the world to remote places and people. Instead, however it also seems to have created divisions. Online, the lack of physical connection causes many to be unkind. Technology seems to be at a frontier where it is now re-bordering and re-dividing our world.

It seems clear that to navigate these borders we need the influence of the authentic, and the desire to know ourselves. Technology is advancing so rapidly and disorienting entire mediums, blurring the lines between human-created and AI-generated work to a point where we don’t know what’s real or to what degree it’s real. The effect of this is a devaluation of what is human created. The value of yoga is like the value of art. We know when we are within its authentic presence. It is real and it challenges us to be better.

How long before we can’t distinguish between the words of spiritual masters and AI-generated platitudes? Is it possible to find AI-generated teachings of spiritual benefit? How long before we manufacture teachers and teachings artificially? Do we have to demonstrate our own authenticity? Share our processes? Thoughtful consideration is required with respect to our digital practices, what we share, and how it was created.

Technology also presents many possibilities for connection and community which are of great benefit to yoga. Community can now be created in many different ways than it used to happen when our gurus were alive. Online teaching can be a wonderful way to share unique and traditional teachings across borders of various kinds.

According to AI, a yoga class in the future might look like this:

Participants would wear VR headsets to enter a more calming virtual environment. The headset would enable real-time alignment guidance, so that postures could be perfected. The students would practice on Smart Mats with embedded sensors to offer feedback on alignment and displacement of weight. Students would wear Biofeedback devices to monitor heart rate, breathing and even brainwaves. A teacher could then better personalise instructions for each student. An AI Assistant could provide separate real-time guidance and encouragement to each student. A Master teacher could be present in holographic form so that the students could have a lifelike experience of their presence and gestures. Sound and light therapy could deepen relaxation.

Many of these technologies already exist and some are already commonly used in yoga classes. How would you feel about participating in such a yoga class? Let us know what you think.

In this issue of Yoga Sandesha we consider the intersections of yoga and technology. We hear Swami Sivananda’s words on ‘reality’ and compare that with AI generated text in the voice of Swami Sivananda, we look at the digitisation of temples in India, explore a Tech Diet, and learn to support the Shoulderstand if we’re feeling uncomfortable. We’d love to hear your thoughts on AI and yogic teachings and where technology is taking us. Thank you for taking the time to read Sivananda Yoga Sandesha. We are an AI-free newsletter (except for the experiments presented here) where we attempt to add value to our yoga practice by exploring ideas, sadhana, and the traditional teachings. We hope you enjoy the newsletter and take time to reflect on your practice.

As always, we hope to provide some inspiration and food for thought in the practice. Thank you for taking the time to read Sivananda Yoga Sandesha. We hope you enjoy the newsletter and take time to reflect on your practice.

Please feel free to reach out to us with your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

After spending many years training with his guru, Swami Sivananda, our teacher Swami Vishnudevananda discovered that the yoga he had learned in the Himalayas could not be taught in the west. Carefully observing the lifestyle and the stress that comes with the fast paced life of the west, Swamiji decided to give the most authentic teachings without compromising the ancient scriptures.

Swamiji was always the first person to embrace any new technology available in order to further his mission to propagate the ancient teachings of yoga and meditation. A few of the technologies which Swamiji adopted in their infancy were: in 1980 he installed solar panels in his cave in Gangotri, Himalayas as well in the main Ashram in Neyyar Dam, south India. Swamiji made us use early versions of Macs and PCs running with the DOS prompt and email service which came first with the CompuServe modem. Satellite phones were used by him to keep up communication with the various centres and ashrams around the world.

Swamiji’s successors also became early adopters of websites, email servers, and other communication platforms when they became available. Swamiji also used Apache and ultralight planes for his peace missions, adopting the unique communication potential of these technologies. We are grateful for Swamiji’s vision and for always being open to try any new technology which may support the further reach of the teachings to into people’s lives.

On carefully scrutinising the waking, the dreaming and the deep sleep states, it is observed that the Self is different from the physical body, the psychological organs and ignorance which are respectively manifested in externality, internality and nihility of consciousness. Further, consciousness must necessarily be an essential constituent of the Self, for without consciousness existence itself is valueless. This at first leads us to conclude that the Self must be a conscious witness of the physical, the psychological and the ignorant conditions. But being a witness means existing as an unconcerned observer of certain phenomena which exist apart from oneself. This compels us to make the Self an individual perceiver with its rival, the percept.

Metaphysically, individuality is the opposite of eternity, for, eternity means changeless self-existence which is synonymous with completeness and infinitude. Nothing that is dependent is eternal and nothing that is finite or individualised is independent. The subject cannot hope to exist eternally and at the same time be a relative of some external existence. To be eternal, the subject must be absolute, which is the fusion of the totality of existence in the subject or the Self. In order that it should be Real, the subject must at the same time become all objects, the entire existence, in which case the subjectness of the subject is sacrificed to or rather swallowed by a larger infinity of being where the subject and the object are not separated even in the least. Hence, if the Self is eternal it cannot be something existing apart from the three empirical bodies which are objects of the witness-Self. And, the Self must be eternal, for, at no time is it possible to deny the existence of the conscious Self.

Now we are led to a twofold quandary. The Self cannot be called a differentiated witness of the three bodies, for objective consciousness and individuality vitiate self- existence and eternity. At the same time, the three bodies cannot be included in the Self itself, because they disclose their character of being devoid of consciousness and also being absent at some period of time. Reality is that which exists without break in time and space. This test rejects the three objective conditions of waking, dreaming and deep sleep from inclusion in the Self.

This philosophical difficulty has resulted in the different realistic doctrines which posit the existence of a cosmic eternal Prakriti, a Sakti or Power of Consciousness, a world of material creation, a body of God, a Maya! But the problem ever remains unsolved. A Purusha or an Isvara who is different from Prakriti, a Paramatman who is the possessor of an objectified Sakti, a Creator who projects out an external world, a God who transforms himself into a universe, a Brahman who gives rise to a real Maya of objective unconscious existence, are all simply the magnified conceptions of the same Self which is cut off as a separated being from the three bodies and states. All these theories unconsciously make their conscious reality a transient being by distinguishing it from some external existence. Either philosophy has to admit its failure in its attempt to determine the nature of Truth or close its eyes to the stern appearance of the unconscious body and the world and boldly assert the sole existence of an infinite objectless Consciousness. The word ‘Maya’ does not suggest the existence of some eternal material being, but only indicates the inexplicability of the relation of Reality to appearance.

The following text is NOT written by Swami Sivananda but generated by AI in the voice of Swami Sivananda. Swami Sivananda didn’t write about technology or the spiritual potential of technology. ‘AI Swami Sivananda’ is responding to a prompt to discuss human anxieties around technological advances. I’d encourage you to read it and to see how it feels compared to the authentic text above and consider whether there is any meaning to be found in it. Does it inspire? Does it feel hollow? Words just for the sake of words? How long might it be before we are no longer able to differentiate between authentic teachings and those generated by AI? On the spiritual path authenticity seems to be what we aspire to, our very breath and life blood, and what sets this path apart from other aspirations in life.

Human anxieties around technological advances arise from a deep-seated fear of losing control, of being overwhelmed by the very creations of our own intellect. When the mind is clouded by attachment to the material and the fleeting, it becomes restless and agitated. Technology, being an external manifestation of the mind, can easily become a source of distraction and agitation if not guided by higher wisdom. The rapid pace of technological change unsettles the mind, for it is ever in search of stability and peace, which it mistakenly seeks in the impermanent and ever-changing world of gadgets and machines. True peace cannot be found in these external advancements, but only within the unchanging Self.

Moreover, technology often raises fears of disconnection from our natural state of being and from one another. As we immerse ourselves in virtual worlds and automated systems, there arises an unease that we are losing touch with our inner life, with our capacity for deep contemplation and authentic human connection. The fear that technology may replace the essence of human experience, making us more mechanical and less soulful, stems from an ignorance of the eternal truth that no machine can ever replace the power of consciousness. Technology may aid us in our external pursuits, but it cannot touch the innermost sanctum of the spirit, which alone is the source of true connection and unity.

The key to overcoming these anxieties lies in recognizing the right relationship between humanity and technology. When we see technology as a tool to serve the higher good, rather than as a force that controls or defines us, we dispel our fears. Just as a knife in the hands of a surgeon can heal, but in the hands of the ignorant can harm, so too can technology either be a source of liberation or a cause of bondage. It is not the advancement of technology that is to be feared, but the ignorance of the Self that leads to its misuse. Grounded in spiritual knowledge, we can move forward with confidence, knowing that no matter how the world around us changes, the eternal Self remains the guiding light.

The image included here was AI generated, based on a prompt to create an image of Swami Sivananda teaching a yoga class in the future. AI was further prompted to make him a hologram and to make him have a bald head. The image may seem amusing, however, if our gurus and teachers are reduced to mere representations, they too ring hollow. AI imagines that in the yoga class of the future, we can have the holographic image of a ‘famous’ teacher with us in class. That teacher can gesture and speak and it could perhaps feel like an authentic experience of learning from a master. There’s much to consider about what makes the experience of yoga and learning and teaching valuable and how to safeguard its value.