The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 3 December 1994 and has instructed us to state that there is no objection to your continuing to be a tutor of yoga, which is understood to consist of mostly physical exercises.
However, at the present stage of the development of the Faith, while it is still comparatively unknown, the Bahá’ís must take care not to confuse the public as to its true nature by associating it with activities and programmes which, even though they may be admirable in themselves, are not a part of Bahá’í Teachings. As you may be aware, there is no reference to yoga in the Bahá’í Writings nor are there any specific forms of meditation enjoined on Bahá’ís, as can be seen from the following extract from a letter written on behalf of the beloved Guardian, which bears on this point:
There are no set forms of meditation prescribed in the teachings, no plan, as such, for inner development. The friends are urged — nay enjoined — to pray, and they also should meditate, but the manner of doing the latter is left entirely to the individual. You are therefore urged to be vigilant in this regard by ensuring that you neither introduce yoga to your students as being in any way associated with the Bahá’í Teachings, nor do anything which might give them the erroneous impression that the Faith is a mystical Indian movement.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 21 February 1995 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; a compilation prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, January 1, 2015)
