"Yoga
for the Dot.com Age" International Yoga Symposium - Hilton Hotel Singapore Keynote Presentation
Notes - Michael Lee, M.A. 9.15am-9.45am September 14th, 2001
I am very pleased
to be here and have been very excited about this conference since
its inception. In particular, I love the theme for the conference
- Yoga for the Dot.com Age.
As a pragmatic
yogi, and one whose preference is to use yoga as a tool for being
more IN the world than in retreating from it, this topic fascinates
me and I have very much enjoyed thinking about it in preparation
for this talk.
I also love
the choice of venue for this conference. Singapore is just so appropriate
- a modern Asian city at the crossroads of the world and home to
such diverse cultures and populations - a place that is truly creating
unity in diversity - respecting the ancient world - adapting to
the modern world.
So WHAT
IS THE DOT.COM AGE and what are its characteristics?
Some time ago
in a book called Megatrends, Jon Naisbett suggested that one of
the main trends of this new millennium would be the continuation
of a rapidly increasing rate of change. And how true that has been.
I can recall
my first on-line experience in the mid eighties - less than twenty
years ago - logging on to a little known network called Genie (owned
by the GE Company) and typing away in small text messages to be
sent to one or two other electronic pathfinders of the day at the
impressive rate of 3.5K/sec. There were less than 50,000 people
worldwide using that form of technology. At that time cell phones
were still a long way away. The compact disk had not arrived. Forty-five
rpm disks were still the main form for delivering recorded music
and a long distance phone call to someone in another country was
both expensive and not always reliable and yet the only method for
quick communication to people in distant places.
Sounds like
the dark ages doesn't it? And
it was less than 20 years ago. And these are just a few of the changes
that have impacted our daily lives and that have resulted in the
emergence of a global economy and the makings of a global village.
In considering
what this means for yoga in the dot.com age, it might first be helpful
to consider what impact this rapid rate of change and advancements
in technology are having on our day to day lives.
Firstly many
of the barriers that kept us separate are breaking down. Our cultures
are merging and as a result our beliefs are being challenged. We
are also facing many many more decisions on a daily basis as more
and more choices are presented to us. We live in multiple communities
rather than just one local community. Think about it for yourself
- how many different communities do you belong to - a yoga community
perhaps, a school community, a local town community, a global community
on the Internet related to specific interests that you have, and
so on.
Once upon a
time not so very long ago, you could learn all you needed to know
for life from your parents and your school. Values were clearly
defined and taught and so was your knowledge base. This is no longer
true. No matter how great the school it cannot hope to educate its
students for all they will need in life if it tries. School systems
that have been adequately aware of the changing world, now see that
its more important to teach students how to learn (process oriented
education) than it is to try to define a body of knowledge and teach
to it, as the knowledge one requires to navigate this modern world
becomes obsolete even more rapidly than last years hard drive.
It was much
easier to teach a defined body of knowledge than it is to educate
people how to become independent learners. And it requires not only
new skill sets to become an independent learner it also requires
new 'mind sets'. Such skill sets and mind sets also require a very
healthy and awake organism or body in which to function effectively.
The
time we have available to adapt to change in our dot.com world is
also shrinking rapidly. We have to be able to look at old beliefs
and values and evaluate quickly weather they still serve us or not
and be prepared to change. The same with the foods we eat, the way
we live, where and how we work, how we raise our families, our roles
in various parts of our lives and so on. If we don't adapt quickly
enough we risk 'extinction'.
Not like the
dinosaur but more like extinction from a societal perspective. If
we don't adapt we have to create a small alien enclave with others
who share our old and outdated beliefs and values where we hope
we can hold on for as long as we can and resist that changes occurring
around us - a slow death. We also have to be able to discriminate
carefully between those things that will serve us and those that
won't. And the answers may well be different on different days or
with only slightly changed circumstances.
Distinctions
on which we base our discriminating choices are becoming more subtle
and requiring greater awareness than ever before. The old days of
right/wrong and black or white choices that one could depend on
for life are no more.
So HOW CAN
YOGA HELP US IN THE DOT.COM AGE?
(Each
of these addressed - notes on each not included)
Enhance
AWARENESS
Increase
our RECEPTIVITY
Make us
more FLEXIBLE in body, mind and spirit.
Increase
our capacity to DISCERN and DISCRIMINATE
Make it
easier for us to ADJUST our position on issues, our values, our
beliefs, our thinking.
Help us
TRANSITION more easily
Make it
easier to handle COMPLEXITY including operating in multiple PARADIGMS
Make it
easier to LEARN how to LEARN
Give us
more FREEDOM as a result of more CHOICE so long as we know how
to choose effectively.
How does our
Yoga for the Dot.Com age need to be different?
(Each of these
addressed - notes on each not included)
Broader
MULTICULTURAL focus
Less RIGID
in traditional practice
Less DOGMATIC
and more PRAGMATIC
More INDIVIDUALLY
oriented (what works for the individual - not one size fits all)
Approaches
that EMPOWER the individuals INNER WISDOM
Less emphasis
on DEPENDENCE on the TEACHER
Teachers
who focus on PROCESS rather than PRESCRIPTION
Focus on
being IN the world rather than RETREATING from the world
More compatible
with modern psychology in the realms of ACCEPTANCE, DENIAL, FEELINGS,
TRANSCENDING, LIFE APPLICATION, RELATIONSHIPS, etc.
What a great
opportunity we have to be able to use this age old science of yoga
to help us more effectively navigate life in the 21st Century. Part
of our challenge in doing so is redefining what our yoga is and
how it can serve us and others. And the extent to which it will
or will not serve us will be in large part based on our intent. Do we
see our yoga as a way of helping us to live more fully in our day
to day lives and fully utilize all the wonderful benefits of modern
life that our technology provides. Or do we want to be closet yogis
who would deep down rather be somewhere else than in this body and
in this life. Both can be valid choices. But if our desire is to
have yoga be a tool for a more creative, free, and satisfying life
we first must make the choice so simply expressed by the wonderful
modern day yogi Ram Dass who suggested we might choose to "Be Here
Now!"
