A new documentary on the practice of yoga around the world titled “Yoga: An Ancient Vision of Life” is set to be released in December 2014. Produced by Countrywide Projects Pvt Ltd. and scripted and directed by filmmaker and art historian Binoy K Behl, the 55-minute film has been shot in India, United States and Germany.
The film is especially notable for having filmed one of BKS Iyengar’s last interviews, where he says, “For me it means everything from childhood to death, how life moves so yoga guides me to move. It’s a friend for me, it’s a guide and it is a philosophy.”
The film also features various aspects of Indian philosophy, such as the Advaita and Vedanta systems, and has a brief explanation of the works of Adi Shanakaracharya and Patanajali. The film also explores how Indian philosophy differs in its understanding of what the ego and mind is, from Western psychology put forth by Freud and Jung, which talks of superego and id.
Speaking about the movie Behl said: “Mr. Iyengar spoke in greater depth and clarity about the philosophical basis of yoga. He went to the heart of the matter and explained the reason and meaning of yoga, which is an inherent part of Indian philosophy.”
The film also features various yoga schools and interviews with practitioners of yoga, and how the process has become part of their life.“The spiritual part of yoga cannot be disassociated from it; but spiritualism has nothing to with religion, which is a western concept. Yoga is also not a physical exercise,” says Behl. “It is after all the Indian vision that permeates everything in life. It began a few thousand years ago and intellectuals in our country decided that the external world did not lead to happiness and they turned to look inside,” explained Mr. Behl.