Seeing American entertainer Britney Spears' keen interest in yoga for staying in shape, Hindus have urged her to explore the rich philosophical thought of Hinduism, which introduced and nourished yoga. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that in addition to yoga and meditation, Hinduism was a superabundant storehouse of wisdom going back to ancient times. He or other Hindu scholars would be glad to help in her spiritual exploration if asked. According to reports, singer/star Britney Jean Spears, 31, one of the highest paid female musicians, is doing three-hours of yoga per week for staying in top form for her high-energy upcoming two-years worth of shows in Las Vegas, slated to open this fall. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Spears that after the physical benefits of yoga, it was time now to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga because actually yoga was a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman). As yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy, it would be further enlightening to take a look at the rest of the five schools also, Zed added. Rajan Zed further said that yoga was referred as “a living fossil" whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. About 20-million Americans practice yoga and about $11-billion goes into yoga gear and classes annually, reports suggest. According to National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. BN
