July 2026
AI has taken the world by storm, remaining very controversial in its use. It has only been around in it's modern form for a few years, yet already it has had terrible consequences on our environment, economy, schools, and public trust. Yet despite all of these issues AI continues to be used for almost every industry.
With Tech CEO's pushing AI to replace every industry, it's no surprise
they've tried to do the same with yoga. So, should you learn meditation, yoga, or any
other spiritual practice from AI? Setting aside the volatility and instability of AI, there
are many problems with trying to learn your sadhana from any text. Reading is a function of
our intellect. Our thoughts can only recycle the information our senses have already
gathered, and are filtered by our biases.
Our intellect, or logic is but one
aspect of our mind. It is capable of many things, but it cannot help you understand
everything. Your own brain is designed to only process a small portion of your experience
logically. You have whole neurological circuits and systems for understanding the world
emotionally, physically, and even in abstract ways that you cannot articulate. So what sense
is there in trying to understand something that is beyond logical understanding with
reading?
For this reason, while I have been on my own journey under my teacher, I
have largely stayed away from any spiritual texts until recently. If you read something that
is outside of your experience, then you will only misunderstand it or be confused. If it is
already part of your experience, a text can bring some clarity.
For almost every
noteworthy Eastern spiritual practice, it is taught in person or, at a minimum, through a
live online presentation. This is because spiritual techniques are about transforming our
life energies. To transform your life energies, you need a more powerful life energy than
your own. Otherwise, you will stay more or less where you currently are. This is why the
importance of a guru, or a live enlightened teacher, has been emphasized so much in these
traditions.
Now if you try to learn this non logical process from an AI that
hallucinates information and is designed to say anything to appease you, so much so that
doctors are now talking about an "AI psychosis crisis". This will only make you
deeply confused at best, and confidently misinformed at the worst. The best thing is to
learn from a live teacher whom you trust instead.
If you're interested in learning yoga or meditation and need a teacher, consider signing up for one of our classes. Your first class is free.