Dan, I fully agree with you. The point is that people love gurus. They listen to them blindly, idolize and deify them. As Krishnamurti put it, gurus and disciples exploit each other… It is so easier to choose a guru that will incarnate the knowledge and the truth than to stand alone, make the effort to get conscious and make your road by yourself…

Most frequently gurus are gurus in dollars… The Mysore Ashtanga yoga institute is not an exception by any mean. It has been a tremendous cash machine for such a long time! Where is all this money going to? So much money is not spirituality but pure business.

PS: my comment is an answer to Dan, not to Alice!

Alice, I fully agree with you. The point is that people love gurus. They listen to them blindly, idolize and deify them. As Krishnamurti put it, gurus and disciples exploit each other… It is so easier to choose a guru that will incarnate the knowledge and the truth than to stand alone, make the effort to get conscious and make your road by yourself…

Most frequently gurus are gurus in dollars… The Mysore Ashtanga yoga institute is not an exception by any mean. It has been a tremendous cash machine for such a long time! Where is all this money going to? So much money is not spirituality but pure business.

I fully agree with you. The point is that people love gurus. They listen to them blindly, idolize and deify them. As Krishnamurti put it, gurus and disciples exploit each other… It is so easier to choose a guru that will incarnate the knowledge and the truth than to stand alone, make the effort to get conscious and make your road by yourself…

Most frequently gurus are gurus in dollars… The Mysore Ashtanga yoga institute is not an exception by any mean. It has been a tremendous cash machine for such a long time! Where is all this money going to? So much money is not spirituality but pure business.

Hi Sukant.

Thanks for your comment. The best way to proceed would be to seek a qualified Ashtanga teacher in order to teach you the primary series. This teacher will be able to observe your practice and judge what degree of “mastery” is necessary in order for you to move on and learn more of the series. Step by step, under the guidance of a good teacher will be the best way to proceed.

Iain’s blog essay on the practice is very interesting to me. It’s fascinating to read about how a very experienced student interprets their own experience in a manner that conveys both the Jois lineage of Ashtanga Yoga and its systemic governing principles. And I’ve never seen anyone confront the means teacher’s use to establish themselves, which I appreciate. Iain, I believe you could flesh out this idea more critically; for example, you could as Canadian Matthew Remski (not an Ashtanga practitioner at all) does. He addresses how the economies of scale involved in the mass popularization of Yoga using a top-down, gym-like model for business. Maybe add more about the industry in the parts of the world where you live and teach. That said. I agree with Dan, too. To my ear, your statements about Sharath rang a wee bit false, and definitely felt like PR. Although as I compose my thoughts–I wonder–if this rhetoric is, quite simply, your own bow to the weight of your guru. Anyone who has your track record of practice (4th series with Rolf) has perhaps got to have the gift of a devotion that does not need to integrate critical thinking paradigms from the West. I applaud your journey, and thank you for sharing your experiences. You write about your journey with a generous breath of breadth and clarity!

@vieze you are a keyboard ninja, a true internet warrior…Wasn’t it you I saw at the Crispy Duck diner in ubud working furiously on your computer spewing out your venomous message here?