Round Two: International Yoga Day, Pride Month, and the Truth

Truth is one, love is love and preferences are for neophytes.

June 24, 2025

Round Two: International Yoga Day, Pride Month, and the Truth

Once again, the theme for International Yoga Day, as it was in 2023, is a verse from the Maha Upanishad, Chapter 6, verse 71-73: Vasudhaiva kutumbakam. Translated from Sanskrit: "The Earth is one family."

The literal breakdown, since Sanskrit can provide multiple meanings for one word:

Vasudha = the Earth / the world

Eva/Iva = indeed / truly

Kutumbakam = family

Why this verse again? It's an important moral concept in Indian ethical philosophy; a core belief so valued that it’s inscribed at the entrance to the Parliament of India. The full verse in translation:

"One is a relative, another is a stranger," says the small-minded. For the magnanimous, the world is one family." 

Similar, in some ways, to the idea expressed in the United States' Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (too bad they didn’t use “people”) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Both are noble sentiments. Worthy and just goals for any nation to uphold. And yet, sadly, both have been utterly discarded by both nations, and indeed, many others, long before today—but especially, glaringly, and obviously so today. These statements speak to inclusion, not just in the past, but most definitely, most urgently, now.

I call this Round Two with Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam because I dissected it in 2023 as well. Then, I was more interested in parsing it in a wider context of the Maha Upanishad and humanity’s lack of respect and care for the planet. This time, it hit on a more micro, more interpersonal level.

I was contracted by my corporate yoga employer to lead a mediation for Pride month. Employees on both coasts would gather via Zoom to participate in a psychotherapist-facilitated session on themes of reflection, reconnection, and rising together. It sounded so hopeful, positive, and uplifting. I was delighted to accept, and I crafted an inspiring and serene meditation script.

They asked me to join them for the last half hour; the meditation was scheduled for the last 15 minutes of the session. I joined and saw a little less than a dozen faces, all of which wore sad, pensive, or outright angry expressions. They talked about being afraid, rather than joyously celebrating identity, equality, and the freedom to simply be. Afraid to go certain places, do certain things, hold hands with their partners in public, wear certain items, even to simply speak in public.

Though they agreed they were safer than most LGBTQ+ people who didn’t live in large metropolitan areas, they recounted worry for friends who and family who didn’t, as well as memories of leaving other parts of the country to come to bigger cities where demographics are more diverse. Worst of all, and the part that made me just want to cry, was acknowledgment of grief for the loss of ground gained in the fight for equality over the last 50 years.

I ditched my pretty script. Clearly, this was going to be about easing symptoms of trauma, fear, and anger that live in the body, in the mind, using breath work and incremental relaxation of the body. This was no big deal; it happens all the time in yoga: you teach who is in front of you, and sometimes that means transforming or removing a planned sequence on the spot. It’s not about what you planned for them to achieve, it’s about what is practical, realistic, and appropriate.

I did okay, but this isn’t about my performance. A few days later, I learned the theme for International Yoga Day. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. The Earth is one family. Again. Still inappropriate. Still the complete polar opposite of reality. Same phrase, just a variation on a theme choking on its own hypocrisy.

Let's get it together, shall we?

I get it, in one sense. The United Nations, which began this tradition of honoring yoga 14 years ago with the first International Yoga Day, is trying to be hopeful, to send a message of inclusivity. Commendable in spirit, but misguided in practical application. So much of Modern Postural Yoga, the Westernized version of classical yoga that is fairly divorced from the philosophical components, is just so full of happy-clappy bullshit: Overly enthusiastic newly-certified yoga teachers running around in lycra spouting “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam! We’re all one family in yoga!” My entire upper body caved in on itself remembering those faces the Zoom call. I prayed that none of them would be subjected such spiritually bypassing hogwash if they practiced yoga, but chances are they very well might have been.

One of the great and terrifying things about practicing yoga with devotion is that it makes one feel more—not just in the body, but everywhere: mind, heart, spirit. This is both pleasant and uncomfortable. And, if you’re very lucky and have a teacher who knows this, you will find it quite difficult to evade objective reality and infallible truths—truths such as: the Earth is indeed one family if you’ve practiced yoga or meditation, and studied enlightened texts that bring you nose to nose with that Truth (yes, with a capital “T” because it’s a goddam spiritual reality that is being imparted, not a fucking opinion), which will help you to become “magnanimous,” —generous, broad-minded, and inclusive—allowing you to accept others’ differences, not just tolerate them. Why bother? Why should one have to accept anything or anyone one doesn’t agree with or like? Because we are all human, and there is no denying that we have more in common that can unify us than we have differences that can differentiate and divide us. And also: because everything and everyone you disagree with still exists regardless of your preferences.

As my crazy guru used to say: “Yoga will teach you, quickly and in no uncertain terms, that preferences are for neophytes.”

If only we could just slow down, breathe deeply, and relax long enough to see allowing others their full existence and rights as humans on Earth doesn’t mean that we lose anything we value. In fact, the opposite is true: beauty, knowledge, peace, and abundance may be gained when acceptance is implicit.

The best part of the Pride meditation, besides being invited to do it, was that everyone agreed they had not given up hope things could change, and that ground lost could be regained. This a week after that ridiculous, egregiously expensive, and boring as hell military parade on Flag Day. The same day as the nationwide No Kings protest marches. It was satisfying to see attendance at the marches dwarfed that of the Flag Day event.

Truth these days is open to interpretation. Apparently, even spiritual truths that transcend debate, or should. Sometimes they just need a skillful interpretation, more context, or a qualifying addition. From the Rg Veda, 1.164.46, the oldest known sacred text in the Hinduism, and one of the oldest -circa 1500 BCE- texts in any human language:

Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti

“Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.”

While it is fair to point out that in context this verse is referring to specific Hindu dieties, in Sanskrit, often called the language of the gods, each word is able to hold multiple meanings. And so we have:

Ekam = One

Sat = Truth, Being, Existence

Viprah = The wise, seers, sages

Bahudha = in many ways, variously

Vadanti = Speak, say, call

Perhaps this can be the theme for International Yoga Day in 2026, or for every day. We are all humans, after all. Love is love, and it exists in various forms, regardless of anyone’s preferences. So, enough with the scarcity mindset, already. Go read the Vedas, breathe, do some yoga. Be an ally, fly a rainbow Pride flag, fly a trans Pride flag. Let’s get it together, shall we?

xo

L