In the whirl of modern living, our reactions often run faster than our awareness. A harsh word, an unexpected challenge, a digital distraction—and we react instinctively. Yogacharya Dr Anandaji reminds us that such reactivity belongs to the animal within us, not to the human being we are meant to become. Yoga, he says, is the science of transforming that instinctive reactivity into conscious responsiveness—the true mark of humaneness.
Animals act from the spinal cord; humans are gifted with a higher brain, the neo-cortex, that allows reflection before reaction. Yet this gift lies dormant until cultivated. Yoga offers the tools: the Pancha Yama and Pancha Niyama—moral and personal disciplines that refine behaviour and awaken responsibility. When we pause, breathe, and observe, a small but powerful gap arises between stimulus and response. In that sacred space, called Vairagya—dispassionate awareness—humaneness blossoms.
Attachment, says Dr Anandaji, clouds objectivity. We cling to our likes (rāga) and dislikes (dveṣa), to our own ideas of right and wrong, and lose sight of the larger picture. Vairagya is not cold indifference; it is the clarity that sees things as they are. It is this clarity that allows both the scientist and the yogi to explore truth without distortion.
Echoing Maharishi Patañjali and Yogeshwar Krishna, Dr Anandaji points to the twin pillars of Abhyāsa (steady practice) and Vairāgya (non-attachment) as the way to still the turbulent mind. The Bhagavad Gita warns how obsession with sensory objects leads from desire to anger, delusion, loss of memory, and finally destruction. Yet it also offers the cure: the disciplined yogi, moving among the senses with self-control and freedom from attraction and aversion, finds peace and equanimity.
In the light of this wisdom, humaneness is not sentimental kindness alone—it is conscious living. It is the courage to choose response over reaction, understanding over prejudice, peace over provocation. Each breath becomes an opportunity to rise above the reptilian urge and act from the realm of awareness.
Dr Anandaji’s message is timely: the world does not need more information, but more awakened humans—beings capable of empathy, restraint, and responsibility. Yoga trains this very capacity. Through āsana we harmonize the body; through prāṇāyāma we calm the nervous system; through dhyāna we expand awareness. Gradually, our inner turbulence quietens, and the mind mirrors the stillness of the soul.
To be humane is to be truly yogic. The path is not easy, but it is clear: practice steadily, detach wisely, and live lovingly. In doing so, we reclaim our birthright as conscious beings—no longer slaves to impulse but instruments of awareness.
As he concludes, “The path is clear, but the effort is up to us.”
Let each mindful breath become a step toward that luminous goal—the flowering of our own humaneness through Yoga.
