Bikram, the guy that tells us that we dont know anything about yoga in the West, while parading his rolex and showing off his rolls royces.
The unexplainable anger this guy awakes in me was brought back to the front page of my mind recently by means of a fellow blogger, YogaDork, whom I mentioned in my last blogwatch, and I could not but start thinking about WHY? What is this feeling of anger, why do I hate him?, and is "hate" really the word?
So I came up with some deep breathing and watched some of his interviews and looked at his page, writtings about him, and even talked to some of his students. I wanted to get to the bottom of what is it that I feel.
The truth is, he is right in some instances. When he says "America is not ready for meditation, they must enter through the body", he is quite right, I mean, what do I, let alone anyone else, know about discipline?. As much as it pains me, the "get on the mat" and "do your practice as you are told", is kind of necessary, at least for me (a typical westerner), to come back to some sense of discipline, to establish a routine, to get some benefit from regular practice.
The thing that I don't like about Bikram, is his "tone", "the way in which he says things", his arrogance, and his total conviction that he is the only one who holds the truth of anything.
When he says that all yoga teachers are "clowns", he is implying that he is the only one who knows how to be a yoga teacher. I mean come on!, he even scorns Iyengar (props that look like a sex shop) and Guruji when he says that Ashtanga yoga is not real yoga (and yes, I am paraphrasing).
He might have healed people, and I know lots of people who swear by his practice, and I think this is good, yoga is a way to spirit, and I am all for whatever works.
I guess I am glad to be able to identify what it is I "dislike" about Bikram, and that is, his extended ego. Now this is not to say I will hate him, no need, that takes too much energy, I am just contented in my understanding that all we need is to take the delusion out, not his sequences, not whatever it is that heals people, just the attitude.
yeah, bikram is a hard one to deal with, but those simple classes with the heat do amazing things for those trying to heal through injuries and such. I still take a class from time to time, especially when traveling as a bikram studio is like Macdonalds--they are absolutely everywhere. in comparison to ashtanga i find the series usually taught in a regular open class rather boring but its simple which can be nice . I hate the teaching style though and have had to hold my tongue more than once when a bikram teacher would yell at me from across the room about leaning towards a more ashtanga looking posture....
ReplyDeleteYes I can see how a lot of people really enjoy taking it once in a while and the convenience of the Mc Donnald effect... I only took the class a couple of times and could not really deal with it. Also I guess cause I am a pitta type, the heat effect does not help me...
ReplyDeleteI share your sentiments about this particular yoga style. I even blogged about it in the past. Won't add to what you've already said :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Melanie, wish there was a search this blog area in your blog, I would love to read it, or if you care to leave the link... :) Otherwise dont worry, will try to find it
ReplyDeleteI can tell you what I don't like about the classes - the scripted patter. The instructors have all been trained to find out who the new students are an insert your name into the piddle in regular intervals. I find that nothing short of nauseating.
ReplyDeleteI don't care how much experience or happy followers he has. If he can't control his ego, he has not mastered the basic yamas and niyamas and is no better than a brand-new practitioner. And a brand-new practioner doesn't think she knows it all, so she's actually better. That's what I dislike, his assumed superiority.
ReplyDeleteBrenda I am totally with you.
ReplyDeleteBoodiba, I did not know that part of it... that is quite unsettling.