Review Article
Year: 2017 | Month: December | Volume: 7 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 247-255
Role of Yoga Practices in the Protection of Human Rights
Chintaharan Betal
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Yoga (Chauras Campus), HNB Garhwal Central University,
Srinagar Garhwal, UttarkhandABSTRACT
Human Rights are the moral and ethical principles which ascertain certain standards of human behaviour in the society. These are the basic rights of an individual by virtue of which one can develop one’s personal as well as family life and in addition to these, one’s every social and national transaction and interaction reach to the optimum level of their saturation and realization. But today, various forms of cruelty and inhumanity frequently destruct and demolish the very norms and foundation of human rights. Now torture, brainwashing, imprisonment, rape, theft, murder, forced labour, slander, economic deprivation etc have become common and day- to-day features of human society. Today’s developed science and technology have also accelerated this process by providing a mechanized method of human torture and thus gives the unfair advantages to criminals and violators to demolish the very foundation of human rights i.e., justice, tolerance, co-existence, mutual respect of human dignity etc. Since last centuries, many national and international institutions and many independent organizations like UN committees, Amnesty International, International Federation of Human Rights Watch, World Organization against Torture and Freedom House have been trying to protect and monitor the violation of human rights but no effective remedy has been evolved so far. In fact, the success in the protection and monitoring of human rights lies in the root of attitudinal change and behavioural modifications of a person. An individual must be free from greed, vanity, violence and thirst for self satisfaction and over consumption. Until these deep rooted negative traits of personality are replaced by positive ones, mere legal aspects, intellect building education, awareness programs will not be evolved as an ideal solution to the protection of human rights. Yogic practices along with inculcation of Yogic ethical values can only guide an individual by changing the core of his personality. Yoga practices directly regulate and control the functions of ‘body-mind equipment’. Through Yogic practices, flow of bio-energy and body fluids of a practitioner become smooth and normal and his mind becomes tranquil and steady. Consequently, individual achieves a good understanding and sound judgement capacity by which one can acts rightly and becomes luminous. Under luminosity, individual develops total awareness of the very core of his being and achieves the state of “Unified consciousness”. Individual feels that all human beings and even the inanimate objects around him are one and they are meant for making destruction and violence. Therefore, Yoga practices can be suggested as a very congenial model for the protection of human rights.
Key words: Human rights, Yoga practice, body-mind equipment, unified consciousness