Judging a book - Screwgee

[Guest guest]

"He who practises the head stand for 3 hours

daily, conquers time." - Yoga Tattva

Upanisad.<br><br>Now don't excpect me ever to have read the Yoga

Tattva Upanisad myself - I found the quotation in the

German edition of a bestseller on yoga, "The Sivananda

Companion to Yoga" by Swami Vishnu-Devananda and Lucy

Lidell (you can look it up yourself there, in the

chapter on the head stand).<br><br>Quite obviously, the

notion that Sirsasana should be held for long hours is

an old one, that can be found not just in Yoga Mala,

but in the ancient texts on hatha yoga too. So I must

suppose that the ancient texts should be re-written too,

as they contain recommendations American and

European doctors would disapprove of?<br><br>It should

also be plain that Sri Jois wrote Yoga Mala in

accordance with what he found stated in the ancient texts.

Why should he have taken into consideration what we

Westerners think? He is the Guru, after all - not we!

<br><br>I'm sure that some yogis in India do in fact practise

the head stand for several hours. Astanga Yoga

especially is not for everyone. This is not the Red Cross.

For all I know, many doctors from the medical

profession are also dead against practising Sarvangasana and

Halasana the way we do, because in their medical opinion

it exerts too much direct pressure on the neck.

That's also why Iyengarites put all those blankets under

their neck when they do the shoulder stand. (Besides,

it's understood that you should never attempt to do

head stand for a very long time yourself, if you are

not under the supervision of a qualified

teacher.)<br><br>Yoga Mala is NOT an artifact. Most of its teachings

are useful, valid, and can be put into practice here

and now. Yoga Mala is not just a document on how

Astanga yoga was 50 years ago either - most importantly,

it's a practical text.<br><br>You see, today I found

in a bookshop in my town yet another of those books

on yoga currently inundating us here, completely

superfluous as well as misleading: "Yoga for wimps" from USA!

(The German title is aptly translated as "Yoga für

Schlappschwänze", which could also have the meaning: "Yoga for

impotent men".) There truly you'll find not one posture a

medical doctor from a western background would take

offence at - the postures are all simplified and

homogenised for the average Joe. Quite plainly, it's for

wimps. But "YOGA": is it that - really?

[Guest guest]

"Quite obviously, the notion that Sirsasana

should be held for long hours is an old one, that can be

found not just in Yoga Mala, but in the ancient texts

on hatha yoga too. So I must suppose that the

ancient texts should be re-written too, as they contain

recommendations American and European doctors would disapprove

of?"<br><br>The authors of these ancient scripture are dead, so

there's no way these scriptures can be

re-written.<br><br>But the author of YOGA MALA, KPJ, is alive, and he

recommends the practice of long headstands in YOGA MALA. He

even goes so far as to riducule yoga teachers who

don't recommend the hours-long

headstands.<br><br>Clearly, Guruji is wrong on this point, and he should do

the right thing by rewritting YOGA MALA, or at least

issuing a correction.

[Guest guest]

"Yoga Mala is NOT an artifact. Most of its

teachings are useful, valid, and can be put into practice

here and now. Yoga Mala is not just a document on how

Astanga yoga was 50 years ago either - most importantly,

it's a practical text."<br><br>MOST of its teachings

are useful and valid?<br><br>That's the very point

I'm making here.<br><br>Not ALL of its teachings are

useful and valid.<br><br>Note that in MALA, Guruji

doesn't cite his personal experience in speaking of the

alleged benefits of extremely long headstands. But he

touts this method nonetheless, and even harshly

ridicules those who don't hold his views on the

subject.<br><br>In other words, he's merely giving out an argument

from authority. At least Iyengar experiemented with

long headstands.<br><br>The fact is, hours-long

headstands are not beneficial, and people have HARMED

THEMSELVES SIGNIFICANTLY by following the recommendations

for hours-long headstands given by yoga teachers and

yoga scriptures.<br><br>One such being PKJ and his

book YOGA MALA.<br><br>As long as this book is touted

here as a guidebook for yoga practice, I think it's

fair for others to point out the flaws in the advice

given the "The Guru."