Monthly Archives: January 2017

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 14)

Teacher Training (TT) programs often avoid the spiritual aspect of yoga. Just a brief review of some of these schools and seminar offerings will reveal that in many modern yoga teacher training programs, only a small percentage of the curriculum deals with the spiritual aspects of Yoga, and these spiritual aspects are to be the true focus of yoga. Here again we see this modern focus leaning heavily toward the physical aspects of yoga and so limited compared to the authentic yoga of the ancients.

In many of these TT programs one can become a "certified" yoga teacher without having spent a single minute engaging the face-to-face instruction of a teacher studying the traditional yoga texts.

Do you really want to become certified with no face-to-face teaching of authentic yoga? The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Yoga Sutras are two of the most authoritative texts in Yoga. Sadly, as a common example of the current state of modern yoga teacher training, the most well known agency in America (that claims certifying authority for yoga schools) has structured its standards with such a focus on the physical that it is possible for a student to become a certified yoga teacher without having spent a single minute in the face-to-face instruction of a teacher who is well versed in these texts or any of the other traditional Yoga texts.

About yoga in the US: Georg Feurstein, a well recognized scholar and teacher says: "It's a mess"

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 14) 

As if the state of yoga and yoga teacher training here in the west were not already bad enough, there’s an online company that has started to offer a $49.99 online yoga teacher training program. All you have to do is purchase their program via credit card, read their material, and take a written online exam, which consists of multiple choice questions. You can become a "Certified Yoga Instructor" and will also receive an online transcript that mentions your score, which can be used "to prove your certified credentials". Interestingly, their promotional material even explains that the certificate that you will receive does not even mention the word “online.”

When asked by LA Yoga Magazine, “How would you describe Yoga in the US today?” Georg Feurstein elaborates:

“It’s a mess. And you can quote me on that. Anything that comes to America or the West in general, immediately gets individualized and commercialized. There has always been great diversity in traditional Yoga, and this diversity was based on the experience of masters. Today even beginning teachers feel qualified to innovate and create their own trademarked Yoga system.

"So, looking at the Yoga movement today, part of me feels very saddened by it, but then I also see that it contains the seeds of something better. Also, amazingly, Yoga can be beneficial even when it is reduced down to posture practice. But people shortchange themselves when they strip Yoga of its spiritual side."

It’s distressing that there are Asana teachers who say that they do understand the authentic goals of yoga, and would like to share these higher teachings with their students. However, some of them who teach at well known "Yoga Studios" around the country (USA) have privately confided that they have been directly told by studio owners to not teach this, and that if they do, they will no longer be allowed to teach there. This puts these teachers in an awkward position. Even though they understand and seek authentic yoga in their personal lives they’re discouraged (sometimes forbidden) from sharing this with students out of fear for losing students and their payments for classes.

Be positive, there’s a good chance the pendulum will swing back. Although modern yoga teaching may have gone far off track in recent years, there is some movement towards providing training that focuses on the authentic and every yoga teacher should be encouraged to head in that direction. It seems that the pendulum has swung so far away that it might slowly be starting to swing back to the real goals of authentic and traditional yoga.

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 15).” This next blog article will illustrate some modern styles of yoga, their names and how they differ from the four traditional schools of yoga.

Rae Indigo is ERYT 500

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 13)

There are those who turn away from yoga as spiritual pursuit and seek elsewhere for meditation instruction and techniques. Even among some of the teachers, scholars, authors, and publishers who profess to be experts in yoga, more than a few turn away from traditional yoga meditation to “customize” practices of meditation and contemplation and call them their own. It’s almost unbelievable, but it’s not uncommon for so-called yoga teachers to recommend that their students practice yoga solely for the physical body, and instruct them it’s not always necessary to follow practices such as introspection, contemplation and meditation to learn yoga.

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 13)

As a result yoga in the West has only scratched the surface of authentic yoga.

It is true that yoga as a means for spiritual unfoldment is quite compatible with any religious orientation. It is common for people who have pursued the authentic spiritual practices of yoga to report that they become even closer to own their religious roots. Thus there should be absolutely no conflict. Although, the reverse is not necessarily true, not all religions bring their followers closer to the goals of proper yoga practice. 

It would be hard to imagine people walking into a restaurant and ordering a bottle of “Christian Communion” with their meal? Of course not, instead they order a bottle of wine. Otherwise, it would be taken as a joke. Similarly, we wouldn’t call eating bread with your meal “Christian Communion,” we’d simply call it eating bread? But people will walk into a health spa, gym or recreational center and call some of the physical practices people do there “yoga,” completely disregarding its true and full meaning?

Also, it is sad but true that some other teachers of yoga (both from the East and the West), teach in a way that worships teachers,deities, rituals and/or dogmas that are not known to their students, and this even further confuses the issue of what yoga is truly about. This is not to say that teachers should necessarily be forbidden to present their religion. Rather, the point is that by not clearly acknowledging the difference between their religion and authentic yoga, they are setting the stage for confusion about the true nature of yoga.

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 13)

So, is Yoga a religion? Answer: NO!

Yoga is contained within religions. Religions are not contained within yoga. Yoga means union. It is the joining together the aspects of ourselves which (in reality) were never divided in the first place.

Too many teachers and students are being deprived. There are modern yoga teachers who are missing out on authentic, traditional yoga because of their misunderstanding, and as a result, the higher yogic practices are not even followed by them. In other words, they cannot teach or learn the more authentic perspectives of yoga if they do not know about them and they remain deprived of much of the wisdom of the ancient sages.

David Frawley, is quoted in “Yoga Journal” as saying:

Yoga in the West "has only scratched the surface of the greater Yoga tradition," he says. "The Yoga community in the West is currently at a crossroads. Its recent commercial success can be used to build the foundation for a more profound teaching, aimed at changing the consciousness of humanity. Or it can reduce Yoga to a mere business that has lost connection with its spiritual heart. The choice that Yoga teachers make today will determine this future."

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 14).” This next blog article will look at how some yoga teacher training programs are missing the point of true yoga.

Rae Indigo is ERYT 500

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 12)

Yoga as a spiritual tool – For a student longing for spiritual attainment, the path of traditional, authentic yoga may be a perfect fit, including all of the many aspects that it may encompass. However, when an authentic seeker of spiritual truths starts to explore the landscape of paths, yoga is commonly not pursued as a spiritual tool because "everybody knows" (actually they assume – and incorrectly) that yoga is merely a physical exercise program.

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 12)

Of course it’s not true that yoga is a merely physical fitness program, although it appears that way to the majority of people who are reminded of the postures (asanas). Because of these erroneous appearances, many sincere seekers are not finding authentic yoga, which embodies some of the highest teachings and practices known to humanity.

Yoga focuses on the spiritual, right from the very beginning.

By following the path of authentic yoga the student/aspirant not only approaches the attainment of spiritual realization, but also benefits from a host of side-effects which might include physical health, the elimination or reduction of some diseases, and/or promotion of a state of health and well-being. The intent of yoga is to focus on the spiritual, right from the very beginning of practice. By engaging such an authentic orientation of yoga, many fruits will come, including the physical benefits.

The sincere student needs to re-affirm the true nature of authentic yoga. This is not a matter of changing the path of those who practice various “adaptations” of yoga, or small, isolated parts of yoga. They have a perfect right to do as they wish. However, by clearly re-affirming the true nature of authentic yoga and making this available to all true seekers, in a wide array of venues, people are more likely to be attracted. It is fortunate that at least a small percentage of teachers are trying to do this.

The journey of yoga to yoga is a Sacred Pilgrimage.

Imagine taking a sacred pilgrimage (Yatra) to a sacred place high in the Himalayas. During your journey you might fly on an airplane, ride in a car, and do lots of walking. The entire journey is one of a pilgrimage as long as you maintain a heartfelt conviction for the destination you are seeking.

The key that makes all the aspects of your journey; the airplane, the car, and the walking a Yatra is the intentionality in your heart for the destination being sought. It is this intentionality for the goal called yoga that makes the process leading there also called yoga, not merely the actions themselves.

The fact that you move your body this way or that, or do some breathing practices, doesn’t unto itself, constitute yoga. Yoga is the journey (Yatra) towards yoga, which is the union being sought.

If you are not working with relationships in the external world, with your personality, with your body, with your breath, or the levels of your mind with this intentionality towards the destination called yoga, then the process along the way is simply not yoga.

It is not hard to find practitioners and workshop leaders who provide breath training for health reasons, and do so without using the word yoga or making any mention of attaining or realizing the higher union that is at the core of yoga. These trainers are to be admired for not calling their work yoga, even though breath training is a part of yoga. This is as it should be.

So we must call into question those others who teach work with body, breath and mind and call their practices yoga, while completely ignoring the goal or destination of authentic yoga?

The destination of yoga is yoga, period. Any other use of the practices is simply not yoga.

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 13).” This next blog article will continue this discussion about yoga and its use (and/or abuse) as a spiritual tool.

Rae Indigo is ERYT 500

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 11)

In this article we’ll address yoga and the variety of fitness programs available today.

It easy to see there has been a commingling of methods here. As mentioned in previous blogs the word yoga has really come into popularity lately. There are many other styles of exercise, ranging from aerobics to calisthenics to jazzercise to kick boxing and quite a few of these have come to be associated with yoga (As odd as it may seem, somebody has even come up with yoga for dogs!).

There are two main results that have come from this commingling of methods:

  • Participants come to believe that these other forms of exercise are a part of yoga, which they are not.
  • Because of this authentic yoga is left even further out of view and true yoga practice is becoming unavailable in some circumstances.

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 11)

Let’s admire those who keep the names separate. Some providers of exercise programs have integrated yoga postures into their teachings, and have resisted using the word yoga. These people are to be admired for having the wisdom to not misrepresent yoga by presenting commingled or watered-down versions under the name yoga. By presenting their programs in this way, their students are getting some of the benefits of this small physical part of yoga, while at the same time not distorting authentic yoga in the eyes of their students.

Functional training is a good example of types of programs integrating yoga principles, but without hijacking the name yoga. Leaving its higher goals to qualified yoga teachers is the correct approach towards functional training or functional exercise. From this perspective, some of the postures of hatha yoga are understood as only a part of this broader physical fitness perspective. The increasing use of terms like “functional” is very good news for traditional, authentic yoga, in that it more accurately states what is actually being done, instead of deceptively (or by omission) calling the practices yoga.

Bikram Choudhury, when interviewed by CBS in 2005 said in regard to yoga being what the interviewer referred to as ‘meditative,’ Bikram responded, "No, that's the biggest problem in America. That's the Yoga introduced to America. Yoga means sit and close your eyes and you look at the lamp, or look at the crystal. Absolutely not; absolutely you are not ready for that kind of Yoga.

"You use the body as a medium to bring the mind back to the brain. Perfect marriage between body and mind. Then, you can reach and knock the door to the spirit.

"Yoga is free. It belongs to the earth. It's a god.

"The philosophy of human life: Who you are? Human. Why you came to this earth as a human? What ultimate destination of your life? To understand all these things you have to study Yoga."

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 12).” This next blog article will discuss yoga and its use (and/or abuse) as a spiritual tool.

Rae Indigo is ERYT 500

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 10)

Yoga and money – Is it wrong to use the subtle methods and powers of yoga as a money making technique?

We don’t have to look far to find a seminar about making money with Yoga. If calling yoga a fitness program, physical therapy or medical treatment isn’t already over the top, it has now also become common to promote yoga seminars and books in respect to yoga being a money making technique, especially here in the West. These so-called “yoga” promoters oftentimes don't openly proclaim their instructions as a means for making money, but instead, they commonly use the terms like prosperity, success, abundance or affluence. They insinuate that with their guidance the student or practitioner will attract those attributes to themselves.

This isn’t referring to teachers that charge money for training students and teaching classes. That is an entirely different matter. This is talking about intentionally using the subtle methods and powers of yoga to generate monetary wealth or to cause riches to come their way. The fruits of practicing yoga come naturally to sincere students as a byproduct of yoga. However, to conduct seminars on how to channel genuine convictions and practices into producing financial wealth is contrary to the ultimate goals of true yoga practice.

Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 10)

It has been said (Joseph Goebbels), “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

Be careful what you choose to believe!

"Yoga is a moneymaking technique.”

It doesn't take a great amount of reflection to see that this statement is a reframing of attachment, hedonism and/or greed, which yoga would have us see as being obstacles to spiritual practice, rather than goals to be attained.

There is a commonly accepted assertion that teachers must meet students where they are. Proper instruction is the epitome of that process, while on the other hand; greedy teachers provide well packaged and marketed seminars to greedy students. They promote the use of “yoga” as a vehicle to make money. By doing this, the seekers are misled, receiving a form of pseudo-validation for their inner (or subconscious) longings for external pleasure. This is not to suggest that yoga should have absolutely nothing to do with any acceptable moneymaking propositions or that aspiring yogis should live in abject poverty. It is simply a result of confusing goals and methods.

Yoga is not a moneymaking technique, nor was it ever meant to be. Any use of yoga for such a purpose is a corruption of true yoga practice and devolution of authentic yoga.

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, the head of the Himalayan Institute of the USA writes in an article entitled “Real Yoga” that:

"Yoga has become the health and fitness system of choice. This is odd because it is the mind – not the body – that is the main target of all genuine Yoga practices …. To regard Yoga primarily as a set of practices for increasing strength and flexibility while calming the nervous system is to mistake the husk for the kernel.”

Stay tuned, this series will continue – coming up next; “Approaches to the True Goal of Yoga (Part 11).” This next blog article will discuss the commingling of yoga and fitness programs and the resulting consequences.

Rae Indigo is ERYT 500