This article was published in the journal Tarka. It includes some excerpts from my book, The Truth of Yoga. The theme of the issue is death, and I explore its connections to yoga philosophy – from transcending the mind and the body to attaining liberation. Here's how it starts: "Death plays a pivotal role in the history of yoga—the original objective of practice was ending rebirth…” While practices have changed in the intervening centuries, one constant remains: “Whatever the framework behind liberation, it depends on reappraising the meaning of death.”

On the occasion of International Yoga Day 2021, I’m sharing some excerpts from The Truth of Yoga. Their focus is yoga and politics. Whatever the merits of acknowledging yoga as India's gift to the world, this message has political objectives. That's increasingly common in globalised yoga, with various agendas now at play. Some of these issues are discussed in The Truth of Yoga, from campaigns against injustice to questions of cultural appropriation and decolonisation. One of those chapters is entitled “Power Yoga” and included here…

The best-known parts of the yogic body are often the most misunderstood. Chakras have become a general shorthand for subtle anatomy, transcending distinctions between the mental and physical realms. One of the biggest contributions of Tantra to physical yoga is to channel awareness for transformation. Regardless of whether chakras exist in a dissected corpse, they are brought into being through visualization. As a result, they have powerful effects, but this is not quite the same as the logic of workshops that teach how to “cleanse” them…