http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:58:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26376/yoga-poses-can%e2%80%99t-be-copyrighted-u-s-regulator-says http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26376/yoga-poses-can%e2%80%99t-be-copyrighted-u-s-regulator-says#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:39:48 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26376 The U.S. Copyright Office previously permitted yoga poses and their sequences to be registered, even if those exercises were in the public domain, Laura Lee Fischer, acting chief of the office’s Performing Arts Division, said in response to an inquiry by an attorney involved in lawsuits the founder of Bikram Yoga filed against three yoga studios.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26376/yoga-poses-can%e2%80%99t-be-copyrighted-u-s-regulator-says/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26379/lawsuit-pits-bikram-choudhury-and-yoga-to-the-people http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26379/lawsuit-pits-bikram-choudhury-and-yoga-to-the-people#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:15:03 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26379 Bikram Choudhury, the millionaire founder of Bikram Yoga, believes his kind of yoga belongs to him -- he has even copyrighted it.

Now, he has sued Yoga to the People for copyright infringement, seeking monetary damages and asking a federal judge to block Yoga to the People from offering its hot yoga class.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26379/lawsuit-pits-bikram-choudhury-and-yoga-to-the-people/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25438/hindu-group-stirs-a-debate-over-yoga%e2%80%99s-soul http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25438/hindu-group-stirs-a-debate-over-yoga%e2%80%99s-soul#comments Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:47:27 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25438 A group of Indian-Americans has ignited a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of Yoga by mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25438/hindu-group-stirs-a-debate-over-yoga%e2%80%99s-soul/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24821/the-yoga-mogul-john-friend-founder-of-anusara http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24821/the-yoga-mogul-john-friend-founder-of-anusara#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:28:56 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24821 John Friend talked about the freedom of Anusara; it’s nothing like the more rigid schools that demand students repeat the same poses in the same way at every single class, nor is it the kind of practice in which teachers withhold praise, lest students become too egocentric. “Anusara is positive,” Friend said, resting his head on the back of his chair and absently caressing one of many highly polished orbs on an adjacent table. “It’s accessible. Easily applicable. And yet it has depth and sophistication.”

Consider those religions that focus on sin and damnation, on discipline instead of joy. “Fundamentally they say no,” he told me. “While Anusara is a yes.”]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24821/the-yoga-mogul-john-friend-founder-of-anusara/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23866/hindus-yoga-teachers-question-us-sales-tax http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23866/hindus-yoga-teachers-question-us-sales-tax#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:38:08 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23866 Yoga practitioners are criticizing a Missouri sales tax that applies to yoga classes, claiming they should be exempt because the lessons include spiritual elements.

Some practitioners think such a tax is unconstitutional. They argue that yoga, with roots in ancient Indian meditation, is as much a spiritual practice as an exercise routine and should be exempt from taxation.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23866/hindus-yoga-teachers-question-us-sales-tax/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23603/ramdev-island http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23603/ramdev-island#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:59:48 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23603 One of India's most controversial television lifestyle gurus, Swami "Baba" Ramdev, who claims homosexuality can be "cured" by yoga, plans to transform a remote Scottish Island, Little Cumbrae, into a yoga and traditional teaching centre.

His claims that yoga can treat cancer and HIV have been blasted as "quackery of the highest order" and he has been slammed for giving "false hope to ill people".]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23603/ramdev-island/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23597/bikram-yogas-new-twists http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23597/bikram-yogas-new-twists#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:35:58 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23597 Bikram Choudhury's sweaty techniques are a hit with yoga studios. Now he wants his cut, writes Forbes.

Yoga is big business, racking up $5.7 billion in sales last year, and Choudhury has built a cultlike following.

Recent training costs: $10,500 per session, including $3,000 for room and board in Palm Desert, Calif. At two sessions a year, each of which draw about 325 trainees, that's $4.9 million in annual revenue. To that add 15 speaking engagements, generating about $20,000 each in ticket sales, plus another few bucks from books and dvds. "I'm a yogi, not a businessman," Choudhury demurs.

Now he wants another revenue stream: franchising fees paid by studios that use his name.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23597/bikram-yogas-new-twists/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23521/religion-news-roundup-dahn-yoga-virgin-mary-exorcism http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23521/religion-news-roundup-dahn-yoga-virgin-mary-exorcism#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:53:54 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23521 Today's RNB Religion News Roundup includes pagan police officers, and offensive garden gnome, and the Virgin Mary as an exorcist.

Then there are 'White Sikhs,' Freemasons, and a Muslim wannabe suicide bomber.

Also: a look a expensive yoga retreats, and a study that shows the downsides of positive thinking.

Plus lots of other religion and ethics-related stuff...]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23521/religion-news-roundup-dahn-yoga-virgin-mary-exorcism/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:47:33 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23199 Officially secular, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, accounting for roughly 85 percent of the country's 226 million people. Most follow a moderate form of Islam, although there is vocal radical fringe.

About 700 people, including Muslim clerics and theological experts, are due in West Sumatra for the National Edict Commission meeting, which has the power to issue fatwas.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:43:41 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23084 So far, 130 healers, including Fadkin, have passed the service's voluntary testing program, which promoters in the government say can determine whether someone has the inherent ability to cure. The program is limited to Moscow, but a Russian lawmaker is pushing to extend it nationwide and make it mandatory.

Skeptics scoff at the notion that such testing is meaningful and criticize the government for lending credibility to people who claim paranormal powers.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23084/russia-new-age-quackery/feed 0