Guest guest Posted August 30, 2000 Report Share Posted August 30, 2000 oh go on then, stick me down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2001 Report Share Posted May 18, 2001 please add yourself for the following crimes:<br><br>1. insulting guruji's judgement by accusing a teacher who he has authorized to teach (swenson) of being a criminal.<br><br>2. repeatedly violating the principles of ahimsa and satya in guruji's name without his permission.<br><br>3. having become boring and predictable.<br><br>love,<br>yomama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2001 Report Share Posted May 18, 2001 Will this list be something a wandering sadhu should carry to make certain when visiting the local ashram that none of the above are present? <br><br>Will the criminals have any distinctive markings so that they are readily apparent to the uninitiated? <br><br>"I learn that many propagators of Yoga say some asanas like Purnamatsyendra Asana [sic] will give rise to Hernia and other diseases... But I think such people do not know the A B C D of Yoga. Hernia and other diseases may be caused if the concerned Asanas are done incorrectly; but not otherwise"<br><br>from a 1975 yoga seminar by the Guru, speaking on Yoga Criminals to come...<br><br>Yours in Yoga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2001 Report Share Posted May 18, 2001 "Hernia and other diseases may be caused if the concerned Asanas are done incorrectly; but not otherwise."<br><br>Such as extreme backbends, which have caused some astanga yogis to suffer hernia. <br><br>Who knows what is incorrect and what is correct? Believe me, the best authority for what's correct you for is YOU...and no one else -- not even Certified 5 star teachers, who may coax you to do more and more, and then lay the blame on you when you get injured. I speak from experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 It is unfortunate that any teacher would induce you to injure yourself. However, only the truly weak would then blame the student, hopefully you've healed. You are correct in accepting responsibilty for your practice.<br><br>The above quote was only to illustrate Senor's point of the unqualified claiming they are, truly a criminal act.<br><br>Yours in Yoga, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 If there was any misunderstanding, it was on my end. Hope that you and the other longtime practioners keep posting here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 "1. insulting guruji's judgement by accusing a teacher who he has authorized to teach (swenson) of being a criminal."<br><br>The above statement is false. Believe it or not, Swenson is not authorized by guruji. IMHO, he is a fine teacher worth learning from anyhow. There are tons of great unauthorized teachers out there. If one is completely anal about this impossible "authorization," than one should just go straight to guruji and live there for 3-10 years to get the authorization themselves. You can count the "authorized" teachers in this world on 2 hands. Good luck finding them and staying with them for any length of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 "Believe it or not, Swenson is not authorized by guruji."<br><br>But why then is David Swenson listed in the "classes" section of Betty Lai's Ashtanga.com site? As far as I know, only "authorized" teachers have the chance of getting a place on Betty's list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 Who authorizes? What is the criterion for the authorization? Is it mere attending the class like a sheep and get authorized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 Didn't you tell us in an earlier post that Sri Jois is your uncle? I guess you should know better, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 There's an informative thread on this topic on ezboard:<br><br><a href=http://pub42.ezboard.com/fyoga84291frm5.showMessage?topicID=11.topic target=new>http://pub42.ezboard.com/fyoga84291frm5.showMessage?topicID=11.topic<\ /a><br><br>Senor, why do you consider David Swenson to be a criminal? What are your criteria for criminality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 shining_skull think for once. Even though you have almost zero experience with ashtanga yoga even you should know better than to post such dumb messages.<br>Do you never learn from your past experiences ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2001 Report Share Posted May 19, 2001 ....and why does John Scott, one of the leading advocates for the only-those-sanctioned-by-Guruji should-teach, list It's Yoga in the back of his book? I forget who else he lists there, I only just saw the book for the 1st time today and didn't buy it.<br><br>Scott's book is very good I think, but I couldn't help but notice that his way is somewhat different from what other Certified teachers are teaching. I don't know of any 2 who present 1st series in exactly the same way. <br><br>Swenson is as good a teacher as most any who are Certified. The same can be said of many astanga teachers in SoCal, practicing 3rd series and beyond, that I've never seen on anyone's list.<br><br>I also know of longtime astangis teachers who have great practices, but in either adjustments or leading classes, their teaching skills leave something to be desired.<br><br>Well, such is life! Even in the FBI and the CIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2001 Report Share Posted May 20, 2001 Just because someone is listed does not mean they are certified by Guruji. There are 8 from the US on the list who are certified. Here's the criteria:<br><br><a href=http://ashtanga.com/criteria.html target=new>http://ashtanga.com/criteria.html</a><br><br>I know a few teachers who are "blessed" to teach first series and the criteria for that is pretty intense. They are all fine teachers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2001 Report Share Posted May 20, 2001 Hey Pinchey, what about Baron Baptiste ? I recall that you once said that this man was a yoga criminal but I see that he is no longer on your list. Does this mean that it is safe to go along to his classes ?<br>mc brahma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2001 Report Share Posted May 20, 2001 I noticed in the most recent yoga journal that Baron Baptiste is advertising heavily: multiple full-page ads. Has anyone here gone on one of his junkets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2001 Report Share Posted May 21, 2001 Let us call them yoga-based con men and women, and petition Congress to pass laws protecting poor unsuspecting spinal columns from their evil scams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2001 Report Share Posted May 21, 2001 Georgiayogi - aren't you confusing "authorized" with "certified"?<br><br>David Swenson is not certified - not because he isn't worth it, but because I think he simply doesn't care about being certified. But certainly, contrary to what you stated in the post I replied to, DS *is* authorized from Guruji to teach, isn't he? That was my point.<br><br>(Oh and I apologise to Spokeymonkey in advance for posting my dumb message. I guess not everyone here is such an experienced astanga yogi as you obviously are.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2001 Report Share Posted May 21, 2001 Please add my name to the list.<br><br>Anonymous posting has its advantages - it allows some people to reveal personal experiences that for varying reasons they might want to hide from the general public.<br><br>Unfortunately, it also gives cowards and chickenshits a forum to slander others in an unaccountable fashion.<br><br>It is rather bewildering, given SPW's obvious experience with Ashtanga.<br>Given a choice between the company of "Yoga criminals" and the kind of people who debase the discourse, slander others, and abuse the anonymous posting option on these lists, I'll take the "yoga criminals" any day of the week.<br><br>Alan Little's comment - ie. why didn't SPW voice his opinion to Swenson directly? (7931) - can be appreciated - the answer, obviously, is that SPW hasn't the courage of his convictions.<br><br>After a long absence, you've decided to grace us with your presence and lower the discourse on this list another notch. <br><br>What a bore.<br><br>Cheers,<br><br>DAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2001 Report Share Posted May 21, 2001 Oops, the self-proclaimed astanga genius I was addressing in brackets in my last post was yogapunk from Switzerland of course, not "Spokeymonkey". Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2001 Report Share Posted May 22, 2001 Well Senor <br><br>Having just got back after a National Holiday weekend, I see that your post has generated a lot of comment. But I have two questions:<br><br>First, I may be a liitle dense or maybe suffering from sunstroke after a glorious weekend out-of-doors, but I cannot see that connection between your list of "Yoga Criminals" and the post of mine that you responded to. Would you be so kind as to explain the connection? Thanks.<br><br>Second, the idea of yoga criminals and authorization, implies ownership. Surely, no one is claiming ownership here. It was bad enough to usurp the name 'astanga yoga' from Patanjali. (But then again all forms of hatha yoga are astanga yoga.) Is the next move, an attempt to patent and trademark the asanas and a particular sequence of postures? Would it not be ironic if one of your 'Yoga Criminals' did the patenting and trademarking, then you would be the 'Yoga Criminal'.<br><br>Looking forward to your response.<br><br>Omprem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2001 Report Share Posted May 22, 2001 tell us again how you rose to the top of the sivananda organization practicing only twelve asanas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.