한국에서 하타요가(Haṭha-yoga)의 변용과 전망

Abstract

This paper is to suggest the prospect of haṭha-yoga in Korea. For this purpose, I investigated the introduction and distortion of yoga in Korea briefly. Yoga has become very common now since its introduction to Korea in the 1960's when it was popularized by Beatles Guitarist George Harrison in the West on the one hand and Oki Masahiro in Japan on the other. Korean yoga was much influenced by Oki Yoga especially in its early stages. Among practical Indian yoga systems of modern times, firstly those of Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda landed in Korea, but they were not so much influential to the main stream of Korean yoga. Since the latter part of the 1990's, the demand of yoga practice has been increased rapidly and we have seen the mushroom-like growth of yoga centers all over Korea. Also, during this period, yoga was distorted seriously in Korea. Several problems were produced in the course of the introduction and transformation of yoga in Korea, and they are as follows. 1) Yoga was introduced into Korea not from India directly, but from Japan and Western countries in a roundabout way. In other words, it was an interpreted yoga by the eyesight of Japanese or Westerners that became the foundation of Korean yoga. 2) Originally, haṭha-yoga was developed centering on prāṇāyama and āsana of which the former was more important than the latter. But in Korea, the practice of haṭha-yoga was restricted exclusively to āsana. 3) With rapid increasing of the demand of yoga practice, lots of unqualified yoga teachers were produced by several incorporated bodies of Korea. 4) Yoga, āyurveda and tantra are sister sciences that developed together and repeatedly influenced each other throughout history. Nevertheless, yoga has not been studied and exercised with reference to āyurveda and tantra in Korea. 5) In the future, it is requested to study on the changes and adaptation of yoga in accord with bodily shape of Korean peoples and natural features of Korea.