Yoga Inc, Neti Neti Neti

Today while reviewing blogs I came across a post from yogadork that linked to the movie "Yoga Inc" a film by John Philip which you can also watch for free here.

At 58 minutes in length, its premise is: "The documentary that asks whether yoga can survive Big Business with its good karma intact".


However, after watching, it seemed to me to be more about weather it can survive Bikram, as most of the focus was directed at the man...  I suppose it makes sense.

I am fascinated by the way in which we all (me being the first) want yoga to be "something",  to be a way to spirit, not a way to get fit, a way to live well, not a showcase for an egomaniac.  In any case, it is about control, and the discomfort I (at least) get when I see yoga being manipulated in ways that do not seem yogic, to me...  which also makes me feel safely and in control about me knowing what yoga is.   I don't, I can only follow what the masters have left as clues.

Yesterday while reading Paul Dallaghan's "In loving memory of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, "Guruji"" I followed his linking to Alex Medin detailed biographi of Jois, and what surprised me -again- is being reminded that this man wrote ONE book (and a half if we count the Surya Namaskar).

He did not want to talk too much about yoga because he thought it is a very long term experience, which we may only "get" (if that is the word) after a while, and by a while he means a lifetime (over 30/40 years of serious practice).

Back to the movie,  I did not know that we are up the third yearly yoga competition, I also did not know (but should have) that Bikram is the force behidn it... (dah!), or that after being touched by the Los Angeles courts on accounts on safety issues on his studio he is now planning to move the headquarters to Hawaii... my guess is that Bikram is kind of asking for a major problem to come his way, playing with karma, then again, who am I to know better?

I get such strong reactions to this,  sometimes I want to run away and be in a cave, like one of the women in the movie actually does, sometimes I feel like commercializing the hell out of everything, like the "fuck yoga" guy does in the movie (he is coming from anger and from the fact that his wife was doing a little too much yoga instead of playing with him).

I suppose the answer is not there, and not there, and not even in the middle path.  Neti neti neti.

The only statement that resonates true comes at the end by a YogaWorks instructor who says, and I paraphrase "the universe is exactly as it should be right now"...  which puts yoga in the perfect context, and I agree with this.   The fact that these questions and sensations are with me right now are the exact thing we all need, or maybe I need,  these questions, these reactions, even the boiling anger that some of these topics bring about.  It is all good.

I've shared my feelings about Bikram before too.