'Gong Bath™' trademarked!?

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam! It's a sometime bizarre world out there.........

 

Is there anybody reading this email who can remember when, where and

from whom they first heard the term Gong Bath?

Did anybody know Don Conreaux (affectionately called Baba Don) when he

was in Phoenix in the 70's, before he become the most visible gong guy

 

I heard about this last fall and was somewhat incensed..., like "what

do you mean?"! Yogi Bhajan was the first the bring the Gong,

and.......well, you read on.......

 

Here are a couple of snippets from the Paiste Gong ad Cymbal Forum -

http://www.paiste-only.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1 & p=76102

Note: You are free to join(easy) the Forum and be part of the

discussion )

 

"Richard Rudis has trade marked the term Gong Bath

in the States. There are a lot of us not too happy about that. We all

felt it was in the public domain, and besides, Richard didn't come up

with the term"

"........Mr. Rudis has been very

aggressive in protecting his trademark, sending letters to Yoga

Studios, etc. advertising Gong Baths,

that they can't use the term. There are others associated with him

using the term (with the ™ designation) in relationship to their work

who I assume are paying him a licensing fee of some sort. So you can

become official., but only

through him. It's all rather silly…(BTW, I am in the process of

trademarking Ride Cymbal, so

you guys all owe me some money…

) "

-Michael Bettine

 

 

Mr. Rudis/Sonam Dorje's response

 

Now, now perhaps you should get the story correct before

you cast dispersions.

I

trademarked the term 'Gong Bath' only after, over the years, it became

apparent that not all Gong Bath concerts are of equal quality and some

actually harmful. I began my research into sacred sound healing

techniques in 1988 and believed, when applying for the trademark, that

the ‘Gong Bath’ term was of my creation.

I realize this action to

be a bit proprietary however to avoid any confusion, especially in

areas that I regularly perform, I insist on the term’s exclusivity. The

only exception is Don Conreaux and his certified students.

I do

not question the quality of any particular concert. I do not sell use

rights - my only motivation to to separate my sound healing concerts

from others.

Frankly I do not see a problem. There are many other

creative terms to advertise a Gong concert - unless of-course someone

is looking to capitalize on another’s reputation.

 

Sincerely and Namaste, Richard Rudis

 

 

Micheal's response

First, I stand corrected Mr. Rudis. Thank you for your

input. From my

knowledge the term has been used by many people around the globe for

many years, becoming sort of a generic term for a sound healing Gong event.

You state, "I…believed when applying for the trademark, that the ‘Gong

Bath’ term was of my creation. " While I respect your art and mission,

my only question would be when did you first use the term, Gong Bath™???

In

my case, I have had others call my event's Gong Baths™, even though I

did not use the term, or that those people had no prior knowledge of

Mr. Rudis and his events. So perhaps they just made it up, or heard

someone else use the term before, as it had taken on a generic sort of

life, much like "rock concert" or "Birthday party."

Yes, there

are an unlimited number of terms one could possibly use to designate

their Gong event, and there is no need to hitch a ride on your train

without your approval. My interest was just to warn others who may have

been, and still are using the term, Gong Bath™, that you have legally

reserved it for yourself and people who's work you approve of.

As

for proving who invented the term, well, that's a slippery slope to

climb and most likely a costly venture not worth the outcome.

In any case, I was just looking to inform,

not to inflame or cast dispersions.

 

 

Mr. Rudis/Sonam Dorje's response

I mean no malaise but only to define my work from others. I

have been

using the term for nearly 20 years and when I learned that Don Conreaux

had coined the term before me I added the exception.

I did not

trademark the term to cast judgment on other’s work. Yet it is apparent

that some folks using the term ‘Gong Bath’ are creating problems,

without intention I am certain.

I bow and honor all of you however

this is a powerful, transformative and direct healing modality. Maybe

it is not so bad to set standards.

 

 

 

Paul Ford - (Soulrevival)'s  input

Gongman (Michael), thanks for the info, and yes its good to

talk....

Trademarked 'gongbath'??, meaning then its only his title to

use?(correct me if im wrong please).

I'd best not voice my thoughts on that though then had i..............

A shame really that something cannot be 'shared' together in a world

where spirituality is meant to be just that.

 

The term 'Gong Bath' yes may of been 'coined' many years ago. And yes

there are hundreds if not soon to be thousands of people out there

using the title to describe their work.To speak of people creating

damage using the title for thier work though is debatable.Unless you

mean by that, people offering a less than satisfactory service, poorly

trained maybe, using the wrong techniques, not trained by the correct

people.

When we speak of a Gong Bath, can one truly define what is

correct and not?. If we are taught through a school, or by an

individual

of noted wisdom then the teaching is delivered, and the individual then

goes out there and the like a robot maybe delivers the same routine in

a the same way perhaps. The beauty of healing is individuality, and

therefore the Gong Bath is as individual as the person delivering the

composition. It would be wrong to say that one persons 'Gong Bath' is

poor in comparision to anothers, or because Mr Such and Such did not

educate the individual, teach them his ways which are deemed the 'only

way' to give a Gong Bath.

 

To put it simply, whoever did think of

the term 'Gong Bath' should be humble in their thoughts, and be

thankful for having the inspiration for such.Sharing is a tool which we

as humans find hard to work with...

 

 

Merry Christmas

Paul Ford

[Guest guest]

Yes, it's definitely a bizarre world out there. I was in receipt of one of those

complaints--apparently I used the term " gong bath " in a press release that got

published in a local paper. Which tells me there is a lot of effort or

watchfulness going into the maintenance of this trademark. The owner of the

healing center where my friend and I were holding occasional yoga and gong

events asked me to please stop using that term in any promotions. She said the

man was very nice about it.

 

I have no problem with not using " gong bath " in fliers or promotions, although

it's kind of fun right now to write it: Gong Bath, Gong Bath, Gong Bath! There,

I said it! It does seem a funny thing to trademark, but apparently this person

feels strongly about setting himself apart.

 

I have to admit, I get a little uncomfortable when I'm in a Hatha Yoga class and

the teacher decides " We're going to do a little Kundalini, " and I feel it's not

the " real " thing as taught by Yogi Bhajan, but maybe just one or two exercises.

Still, are the participants going to suffer? Maybe they will derive something

beneficial and seek more Kundalini in the form of actual classes taught by a

certified teacher.

 

Sort of off the track, but ... I think that anyone who experiences the healing

sounds of the gong as played by a dedicated, seasoned and reverential " gonger "

will have a good experience whether the event is called a " Gong Bath " or not.

[Guest guest]

The Yoga studio I attend also recieved an email about not using the words " Gong

Bath " in press releases. I was curious what words you used instead or could

suggest as a replacement so not to infringe on the " Gong Bath " trademark.

 

Blessings

 

Morwren

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam,

Try " Gong Immersion " - acting as " SevaPlace dot com " I just registered it under

a creative commons license (at http://creativecommons.org)category of " share and

share alike " in the United States. If you live in another country, you can do

the same for where you are.

 

If you feel prima donna " ownership " or proprietary greed, then take steps to

place good ideas, terms, artwork, teachings, etc. into a creative commons, " open

source " form of commonwealth sharing open to all. you can stipulate other terms

of use as you like.

 

If this issue disturbs you, take action. In the spirit of Abbie Hoffman, you

can " Steal This Book " (at least, " with the author's permission " ) because that's

the book title he chose.

 

Or, rather than use " Gong Immersion " create another name as a service mark, and

register it in creative commons, and be a humanitarian benefactor, rather than

an excluding toll gate keeper. Self less or self-ish? that is the question.

 

Krishna Singh

 

Kundalini-Yoga , " morwren " <kckfarms wrote:

>

>

>

> The Yoga studio I attend also recieved an email about not using the words

" Gong Bath " in press releases. I was curious what words you used instead or

could suggest as a replacement so not to infringe on the " Gong Bath " trademark.

>

> Blessings

>

> Morwren

>

[Guest guest]

I just called it gong immersion or gong relaxation. The title of the event was

" Yoga and Triple Gong Meditation " (because there were three gongs). Really,

" immersion " might be an even better word than " bath. " Or you could even say

" cleansing gong immersion. " There are probably lots of other possibilities as

well.

 

Sat Nam,

Ananda

[Guest guest]

How about " gong shower " ?

 

GuruBandhu

 

Kundalini-Yoga , " morwren " <kckfarms wrote:

>

>

>

> The Yoga studio I attend also recieved an email about not using the words

" Gong Bath " in press releases. I was curious what words you used instead or

could suggest as a replacement so not to infringe on the " Gong Bath " trademark.

>

> Blessings

>

> Morwren

>