I sort of laugh when I see this argument because I wonder where was that written down, is it in the Vedas? or Maybe in some secret manual I never heard of that was eaten by ants and then buried under a palm tree of the Mysore Palace? Would the world be a better place if it was called "Jois"?
I Was just reading this resurfacing argument that Ashtanga should not be called Ashtanga and blah blah. The Confluence Countdown blog treats the issue with grace in this post (as they do with all their articles).
In case you are new to Ashtanga and are as surprised as me that there should be a discussion as this, the term Ashtanga appears in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (one of the bibles of yoga we all go by). It appears in chapter two cause chapter one is pretty much out of reach for most of us and is only for the advanced yogi.
So it appears in chapter two AND ONLY AFTER the aspirant yogi has cleared his mind/body and life enough that he has attained a certain level of peace....
Then and only then is he ready for Ashtanga Yoga, for the 8 steps (that is what Ashtanga means) which is for the "serious" aspirant. You can see here a no-b/s approach to what the 8 limbs are in this link.
I believe Pattabhi Jois was a genius in both:
a) taking a risk and not calling the system by his name (which is what Iyengar or Bikram did) and
b) choosing the word Ashtanga.
That was a marketing strike of colossal discernment, not heard of since the Buddha gave us the best marketing line in history: "Do not believe anything I say, experience it by yourself and see".
Yes it is also common knowledge that we "should" (a word that is increasingly disappearing from my vocabulary) all really call it "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in the tradition of Jois".
But as far as I know the Institute in India is still called "Ashtanga Yoga Nilaya" which I assume means research institute, and they do that pretty well. Research. With hundreds of students coming in, something must be working. Their issue: they grew too fast, again! Something must be working.
I also know for a fact, after reading the Guruji book that Jois attempted to teach not just asana but also pranayama until perhaps he got bored of trying to teach meditation (and called it "mad-attention") to our flickering westerner minds. That was in the early years, when he had groups of people no greater than, say, 12 or 20.
The institute is beginning to teach pranayama -as I have heard- correct me if I am wrong, and they also teach the yoga sutras as well as chanting. Not only that but Sharath talks about the first four limbs of yoga in every other conference he gives on Sundays while in Mysore.
So not all the limbs are being taught there yet, OK, however, as you read this the Institute is building a new house where the family will relocate so that the current institute will have more space for classrooms? maybe meditation rooms? altars? I don't know, things are changing, I trust the process.
I confess that it was the name Ashtanga that was my first hint at the fact that there was something deeper to the system, something that may have not happened if it was called simply "Mysore Yoga" or whatever else.
And I think that sometimes having the goal in sight, as in calling the style Ashtanga is the way to go... You set your goal name as Ashtanga, then you do your practice and all is coming.
I am not ranting, I hate rantings, please don't take it the wrong way, all I am saying i that I am very happy that it is called Ashtanga Yoga, and I feel it only hurts those who take offense in the name, but for me it has been a great help in every way. Also, I don't mind how people call it, as long as the system stays. I have felt the benefits in my body and mind and spirit.
And after all, I could also be wrong. Who says what is proper and what is not? Who has such authority?
Side note: When I was six my father gave me a book titled "Proper Ways of Eating Elegantly" (I'm translating from Spanish it was something like that), he pointed to the page with the title "How to Eat an Orange", it included never touching the orange and peeling it first using a fork and a knife.
As soon as my father left the room I went with what my grandmother had taught me, cut the top of that little fruit and sucked the living juice out of it getting my mouth completely dirty all the way to my hair and ears and my hands all sticky in the process. Life was good.
Enjoy the Moon Day of Ashtanga Yoga today!
I Was just reading this resurfacing argument that Ashtanga should not be called Ashtanga and blah blah. The Confluence Countdown blog treats the issue with grace in this post (as they do with all their articles).
In case you are new to Ashtanga and are as surprised as me that there should be a discussion as this, the term Ashtanga appears in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (one of the bibles of yoga we all go by). It appears in chapter two cause chapter one is pretty much out of reach for most of us and is only for the advanced yogi.
 |
| What's in a name? |
So it appears in chapter two AND ONLY AFTER the aspirant yogi has cleared his mind/body and life enough that he has attained a certain level of peace....
Then and only then is he ready for Ashtanga Yoga, for the 8 steps (that is what Ashtanga means) which is for the "serious" aspirant. You can see here a no-b/s approach to what the 8 limbs are in this link.
I believe Pattabhi Jois was a genius in both:
a) taking a risk and not calling the system by his name (which is what Iyengar or Bikram did) and
b) choosing the word Ashtanga.
That was a marketing strike of colossal discernment, not heard of since the Buddha gave us the best marketing line in history: "Do not believe anything I say, experience it by yourself and see".
Yes it is also common knowledge that we "should" (a word that is increasingly disappearing from my vocabulary) all really call it "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in the tradition of Jois".
But as far as I know the Institute in India is still called "Ashtanga Yoga Nilaya" which I assume means research institute, and they do that pretty well. Research. With hundreds of students coming in, something must be working. Their issue: they grew too fast, again! Something must be working.
The institute is beginning to teach pranayama -as I have heard- correct me if I am wrong, and they also teach the yoga sutras as well as chanting. Not only that but Sharath talks about the first four limbs of yoga in every other conference he gives on Sundays while in Mysore.
So not all the limbs are being taught there yet, OK, however, as you read this the Institute is building a new house where the family will relocate so that the current institute will have more space for classrooms? maybe meditation rooms? altars? I don't know, things are changing, I trust the process.
I confess that it was the name Ashtanga that was my first hint at the fact that there was something deeper to the system, something that may have not happened if it was called simply "Mysore Yoga" or whatever else.
And I think that sometimes having the goal in sight, as in calling the style Ashtanga is the way to go... You set your goal name as Ashtanga, then you do your practice and all is coming.
I am not ranting, I hate rantings, please don't take it the wrong way, all I am saying i that I am very happy that it is called Ashtanga Yoga, and I feel it only hurts those who take offense in the name, but for me it has been a great help in every way. Also, I don't mind how people call it, as long as the system stays. I have felt the benefits in my body and mind and spirit.
And after all, I could also be wrong. Who says what is proper and what is not? Who has such authority?
As soon as my father left the room I went with what my grandmother had taught me, cut the top of that little fruit and sucked the living juice out of it getting my mouth completely dirty all the way to my hair and ears and my hands all sticky in the process. Life was good.
Enjoy the Moon Day of Ashtanga Yoga today!
Wonderful post! Hope your day is filled with light!
ReplyDelete~hugs~
yoga Kitty, thank you :-)
ReplyDeleteQuentin, yes he was.
nice post. i don't practice ashtanga much now - but when i did, i felt a strength i hadn't really experienced in years. looking forward to getting back.
ReplyDeleteHey, Claudia - please get well soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for helping me - I've now decided on the title for my forthcoming yoga book and school.
I'm gonna finalize a few sequences of poses stolen from Bi... - er, borrowed from Open Source Yoga Unity - and open a school with my relatives. I'll promote the heck out of the book and accompanying DVDs, do some international retreats, seduce a rich student or three or thirteen, campaign for a Yoga Journal Conference gig...aah, the good life.
And the title will be "99% Practice Yoga".
What do you think? Better than "Alex Yoga", right? ;-)
Claudia
ReplyDeleteAshtanga Vinyasa Yoga of Joise never grew too fast .If at all it grew too fast it was only in the last 10 years .Guruji was teaching dedicatedly from 1970 onwards and all the crowds that you are now seeing in Mysore is only after later 90s . People forgot how much hard work , effort and dedication put by Guruji in keeping this spirit of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga without diluting it too much ( I do agree that some amount of dilution has now come as they have to accomodate an increasing number of new students ) .
By the way hope you are recovering slowly from your ailment ? Take Care .
Anon, I would love to hear when you get back, I am feeling it right now as I attempt to come back after six weeks of illness... Interesting journey.... Wish your return is smooth :-)
ReplyDeleteAlex, I love it! 99% practice yoga is inclusive of ALL of yoga and thAt sounds good to me! Good luck on the school, DVD, book etc, let me know!
Krishna
Maybe 20 yeArs I would say, it hS been growing steady.... And maybe some may have forgotten br simply did not know, that's why the book Guruji was such a blessing, an eye opener.... And I actually think that it will get more to the point of ashtanga with more room for it, but we shall see, I a, an optimist. Thanks for the good wishes, this decease is hard to kick!
'Nilaya' translates to 'house'.
ReplyDelete