The King who taxed breath

Once upon a time there was a selfish king ruling his big territory. One day the King issued an order to all the citizens. The order was as follows:

" Dear Citizens,

From today onwards all of you are required to breath using the following technique:

Take air in with your nostrils...

Fill the lungs with the air that you just inhaled...

Let blood absorb the rich oxygen content from the air...

Do not strain or force during this activity...let the body work on its own...

Now throw the air out...

The air will consist of Carbon Dioxide and few other impurities...

Keep repeating this process throughout the day and night...

The royal family is keen on maintaining all of you in healthy condition and believes that this breathing technique will help you all. In return all are required to submit a small percentage of their earnings as a tax for using this breathing technique."

Looking at this notice the citizens were very happy. They appreciated their king to be so kind and conscious about their well-being. They happily started paying the extra tax.

Years passed by...

One day an old man called his grandson and said - "Look. You are mature now. You should now start breathing as per the technique mentioned by the king and don't forget to pay the tax."

The young boy laughed and said - "Grandpa. This is funny! How do you think we breath otherwise. The King is fooling you. He is asking you to do something which you all are doing for years."

Suddenly the old man realized the truth. He conveyed the message to all the citizens and that day onwards they refused to pay the tax.

The story sounds funny but unfortunately same thing is happening with Yoga too. With Yoga becoming a billion dolor industry self proclaimed Experts, Gurus and Masters are on the rise. There are people who are twisting original Yogic techniques and are calling them as their own and in the process they are using the ancient heritage of Yoga with selfish motives (Of course there are also people who sincerely spread the message of Yoga). I can understand making money by teaching Yoga but I fail to understand money making by claiming ancient Yogic techniques as their "own inventions". The ancient Indian Yogis and Rishis invented the science of Yoga for all. They never had a narrow minded and selfish approach while spreading Yoga. It is painful to see people using it purely for money making and selfish motives. As a sincere Yoga practitioner I pray to the Lord - "Please do not let these Kings succeed in their selfish objectives."