Yoga in a World on Fire
(A Personal Reflection for Our Fractured Times)
by Prasad Kaipa, Ph. D. Institute of Indic Wisdom and Yoga Bharati
Happy International Yoga Day.
I find myself conflicted. Not because I question Yoga’s value. But because I question how we talk about it. So much of what’s shared today—on social media, in corporate campaigns, even in schools—feels airbrushed, performative, convenient. And the world, as it stands, is anything but.
We live in a time of escalating war. Bombs are falling in Israel and Iran. Drones darken the skies over Ukraine and Russia. The tension between Russia and NATO pulses with the threat of escalation. And the undercurrent of conflict is no less fierce in the U.S., where cultural, political, and ideological wars are splintering society.
But these are only the visible wars.
Beneath them lie quieter, more dangerous ones:
Inside homes—between generations
Between speed and stillness, anxiety and attention
Between presence and distraction
Between the mind that knows and the heart that aches
In identities—between who we are and who we pretend to be
The war within—not just inside you, but inside me
Two years ago, I set out to reach Everest Base Camp. Just ten kilometers from the goal, my breath collapsed under the weight of thin air. I had to be airlifted out. That moment—suspended between sky and earth—forced me to confront a deeper question: What was I really climbing toward?
And in the silence that followed, I realized: I had reached the summit of striving, but not the stillness of surrender.
I had scaled ambition, performance, achievement. But had I touched the ground of being?
It was Yoga—not the kind that looks good on a mat, but the kind that asks hard questions in silence—that began to offer me a way back to wholeness.
yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.
— Patañjali Yoga Sūtra 1.2
This verse doesn’t demand control. It invites clarity.
It doesn’t ask us to suppress thoughts. It asks us to see them for what they are: waves on the ocean of consciousness.
This sūtra has been chanted in countless classes. But few pause to ask: What is the mind doing when it’s not still?
It is identifying. Dividing. Defending. Comparing. Consuming.
In short—it is warring.
Yoga, in its authentic sense, is not a pose. It is a posture of the soul.
It’s not escape—it’s engagement. A rigorous inquiry into: Where is my awareness right now? And who is holding it hostage?
Today, I see a new kind of war looming—not just over land or power, but over consciousness itself.
Yoga in the Age of AI and Attention Collapse
A different war is now being waged—on our attention.
We live in a time when artificial intelligence shapes what we see, how we think, even how we feel.
Our thoughts are no longer private. Our identities are no longer whole.
We are optimized, monetized, and subtly manipulated—every second.
Just this morning, Pope Leo met with global tech leaders at the Vatican.
His message was piercingly clear:
“Without ethical boundaries and spiritual depth, artificial intelligence risks becoming artificial domination.”
He called for consciousness, not just intelligence.
Compassion, not just computation.
Dharma, not just data.
So what does Yoga mean in the age of AI and attention collapse?
It means reclaiming our most sacred resource: attention.
It means protecting the sanctity of the inner sky—from algorithms that monetize distraction, and narratives that fragment the soul.
It means cultivating what we at the Institute of Indic Wisdom call Inner Presence—a steady witness that watches thoughts come and go without becoming them.
A Sākṣitva—a witnessing self—who can engage without being entangled.
“Uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet.”
“Lift yourself by yourself. Do not let yourself sink.”
— Bhagavad Gītā 6.5
This is not motivational fluff.
It is an existential responsibility.
Because if we do not lift ourselves—our awareness, our ethics, our compassion—who will?
The world does not need more Yoga influencers.
It needs more Yogis of Integrity—those who can stay rooted in stillness while standing in the fire.
Let us not merely perform Yoga tomorrow.
Let us practice it in the truest sense:
As union, not branding
As inquiry, not instruction
As transformation, not transaction
Because Yoga, in the age of AI, is not a luxury.
It is the last defense of what it means to be human.
In a world accelerating toward artificial cognition, we must return to authentic awareness.
Yoga is that return.
Centuries ago, the sages of India spoke with equal urgency:
satyam jñānam anantam brahma
Truth, knowledge, and infinity—that is Brahman.
— Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1
Brahman is not just intelligence. It is truthful awareness that holds all contradictions.
Without this grounding, intelligence becomes imitation.
Speed becomes frenzy.
And Yoga becomes performance.
What Yoga Must Become Again
As we say in Yogabharati, we must reclaim Yoga as a path to coherence, not just convenience.
Yoga was never meant to be a shortcut to calm. It is a discipline of integration—of body, breath, mind, and soul.
Yoga, rightly practiced, gives us the strength to face truth without collapse.
To feel grief without despair.
To act without fear.
A Way Forward
Tomorrow, let’s not just post selfies in tree pose.
Let’s pause and ask:
Where have I outsourced my awareness?
What part of me is still at war?
And what would union—Yoga—really mean, in this moment?
Because Yoga, at its heart, is not about flexibility.
It’s about liberation.
Not from others—but from the habits, fears, and identities that keep us reactive, distracted, and divided.
Postscript: If You’re Beginning Anew
If you feel overwhelmed by the world—or by your own mind—start here:
Close your eyes.
Take three breaths.
Ask yourself: “What am I truly paying attention to?”
Then ask: “Who is watching that?”
That watcher—the silent, spacious self—that is Yoga.
That is where peace begins.
And from that peace, action can arise—not from fear or compulsion, but from presence.
References
Pope Leo. (2025, June 20). Remarks to Tech Leaders on the Ethical Boundaries of AI. Vatican Communications Office.
Patañjali Yoga Sūtra 1.2: yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Bhagavad Gītā 6.5: uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1: satyam jñānam anantam brahma (Advaita Ashrama edition, trans. Swami Gambhirananda)
Prasad Kaipa, Ph.D. is a physicist, professor and a Vedantin. He is co-founder of Institute of Indic Wisdom and a board member of Yoga Bharati. Formerly an Apple University Fellow and innovation/leadership coach to Fortune 200 CEOs, Prasad bridges ancient Indian wisdom with neuroscience, management, and technology to foster flourishing leadership and purposeful living in the age of AI.