battlestar galactica
August 2008 
Rationalizing Battlestar Galatica as Yoga Homework
Posted on Aug 9th, 2007
by 
Penelope
Penelope
This is a huge stretch, but yoga makes my mind pretty flexible too. I don't really like TV. I don't have cable. I hate commericials. But, I have a big, old television that weighs a ton. I inherited it from my dear friend's mom. I think she bought it during the Bush the elder admininstration. I watch movies and my yoga DVDs. Iyengar Intensive is totally worth it.
Back in the day, I loved science fiction. We watched Star Trek and all the spin offs. (Next logical question - Captain Picard for sure. I have deep respect for the prime directive and Kirk was always blowing it off). Anyway - friends were talking about Battlestar Galactica so we rented it. Well, we were completely and immediately hooked. Like sci-fi crack.
We were watching it one night after I'd returned from yoga camp, my brain still teeming with sanskrit, and I heard something familiar. During the opening theme song, I distinctly heard Svaha - which kind of means amen in sanskrit. Then I recognized more words from a prayer my teacher Kitty used to sing it to us during Savasana.
Turns out (according to wiki): "the Season 2 opening theme song is a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are "OM bhûr bhuvah svah tat savitur varçnyam bhargô dçvasya dhîmahi dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers".
Ok - so like maybe 1 minute of the show is yoga homework. And I guess the cylons do get reincarnated and are beginning to want to put an end to rebirth as it's so traumatic for them. HHmmm... I also think the Matrix is a primer for Buddhism, but what do I know.
Back in the day, I loved science fiction. We watched Star Trek and all the spin offs. (Next logical question - Captain Picard for sure. I have deep respect for the prime directive and Kirk was always blowing it off). Anyway - friends were talking about Battlestar Galactica so we rented it. Well, we were completely and immediately hooked. Like sci-fi crack.
We were watching it one night after I'd returned from yoga camp, my brain still teeming with sanskrit, and I heard something familiar. During the opening theme song, I distinctly heard Svaha - which kind of means amen in sanskrit. Then I recognized more words from a prayer my teacher Kitty used to sing it to us during Savasana.
Turns out (according to wiki): "the Season 2 opening theme song is a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are "OM bhûr bhuvah svah tat savitur varçnyam bhargô dçvasya dhîmahi dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers".
Ok - so like maybe 1 minute of the show is yoga homework. And I guess the cylons do get reincarnated and are beginning to want to put an end to rebirth as it's so traumatic for them. HHmmm... I also think the Matrix is a primer for Buddhism, but what do I know.
Access: Public
Fascinating.
Your discovery kind of rings true to something my wife has just been talking about in her blog.
You should stop by and have a look for yourself.
As for the 'Matrix' being a primer for Buddhism, I agree in many ways. It is something I looked at in the past, actually writing an essay on the movie in light of both Zen and Gnosticism. I should look it out.
Thanks!
I did read her post. It's interesting that only recently have those of us non-fundamentalists have started to become comfortable discussing our faith publicly. I have aethetist friends that think religion is either quaint, foolish or the tool of the oppressive, misogynist patriarchy. But some religious friends who had been silent on the issue have started to engage. Maybe it's the yoga working as so many of us got into yoga for health reasons and now we're having an awakening? Now we're seeing spirituality everywhere!
I just heard something interesting in a lecture that religion and yoga come from roots meaning the same thing. Religion from a latin word meaning to bind and yoga from a sanskrit work meaning to yolk. Svaha!