Our first day in Kolkata began at 1am when we arrived at the airport. We waited a little while to take a taxi into the city around dawn, asking the cab driver to stop at Yogananda's house and the Ghosh Yoga College before taking us to the hotel.
After a stroll through the neighborhood to get our bearings, we have breakfast at the hotel at about 8am. Already we feel exhausted and disoriented but the day is just beginning. We meet with Chitralekha and Pavitra. Chitralekha was married to Buddha Bose's oldest son Ashok. She also taught yoga to the women at Yoga Cure for awhile in the 70s. Pavitra is her son, one of the grandsons of Buddha Bose. We discuss many things. At one point Chitralekha says "Ghosh didn't do yoga." He focused solely on bodybuilding. When elaborating what she thought about the surfacing of Bose's complete album and the potential of more people knowing about his yoga, she said that above anything else Bose was "gentle." He rarely touched or adjusted anyone. We head over to the Indian National Library where we locate a copy of Bose's book Holy Kailas. He wrote it about his journeys through the holy mountains of India. In the introduction he talks about his plane crash, the subsequent back brace he was required to wear, and his surrender to God. The day ends with a trip to Yoga Cure. We hope to meet and discuss the album with Rooma De, Bose's daughter who currently runs the school and carries the torch for Bose yoga. We are met at the gate by Avrakesh, her son, a grandson of Buddha. He wastes very little time in telling us that they are not interested in the album and swiftly brushes us from the premesis. Jerome asks "So you don't want to see Buddha Bose's album?" Avrakesh replies, "It is not up to me, but we have no interest in it at this time." We leave, baffled.
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In a few minutes I will set out for Kolkata, India, the birthplace of Ghosh Yoga. It is where Bishnu Charan Ghosh lived for much of his life and where he founded his yoga school.
A lot of change happened in yoga and physical culture in India in the 1930s. On this trip we hope to unravel some of the threads that have led us to where we are now. I will try to update here as much as I can, but I don't know what to expect from our experiences or internet availability. Needless to say when I return I will post a lot of information about the trip. I came to this yoga at a great time. It was five years ago, amidst all of the controversy about copyright. Bikram (Choudhury) was suing many studios to prevent them from offering his brand of yoga. He claimed that he owned the series of 26 postures known as "Bikram Yoga" and no one else could teach it without his permission and control.
"HOT" YOGA The studio that I practiced at is a "Hot Yoga" studio. It offers the 26 postures in a heated room, just like Bikram teaches. But there is no mention of Bikram. Quite the contrary. They don't say the name Bikram and pretend that he doesn't exist. This has turned out to be a huge blessing for me. I got all the benefits of the yoga - the postures, the discipline, the sequencing, the therapy, the will-power - without the cultish worship of the man who it came from. HELL-BENT & TONY SANCHEZ With the publishing of Benjamin Lorr's Hell-Bent in 2012, Tony Sanchez entered into the popular consciousness. Sanchez was a student of Bikram in the 70s, long before the Bikram Yoga empire became what it is today. Sanchez is now about 60 years old and maintains a daily practice. He offers training in Ghosh Lineage Yoga including all of the postures and exercises that Bikram excludes. He also teaches from an opposing viewpoint to Bikram's - non-possessive, patient, compassionate and peaceful. And un-heated. Ghosh yoga suddenly has two senior teachers instead of one. LAWSUITS Now, as the intensity of sexual assault lawsuits against Bikram grows, many yogis are breaking ranks. They are taking his name off of their studios and even making changes in the yoga itself. USA YOGA USA Yoga, a newish organization trying to nurture yoga competition, has its eyes on getting yoga into the olympics. Founded by Bikram's wife Rajashree, it started as an extension of Bikram Yoga but is steadily moving away. USA Yoga is still firmly rooted in the Ghosh tradition, using mainly the postures taught by Ghosh, but it is trying to open the participation to yogis of other traditions. BUDDHA BOSE In June of this year, we will be publishing the lost manuscript of Buddha Bose, one of Ghosh's star pupils in the 30s, long before Bikram came along. Bose's presentation of the yoga is enlightening in both its similarities and its differences to Bikram's yoga. Slowly but surely, the tentacles of Ghosh's yoga are spreading. More senior teachers and more historical references are available. Bikram's monopoly on the yoga is crumbling, making way for more individuality, exploration and development in the tradition. This is a great time for Ghosh Yoga. I have never been a fan of the Sun Salute, Surya Namaskara (blasphemy, I know!), what many consider to be a foundational element to modern yoga. I have never felt particularly comfortable or profound when practicing it, even when I could execute it proficiently. I have always felt like it was a bit athletic, an idea that was reinforced when I read that it was an exercise in the early 1900s practiced by wrestlers and adopted later by yogis (Yoga Body by Mark Singleton). It seems more like a wrestling exercise than a yogic one.
It doesn't help that my tradition, Ghosh, doesn't really incorporate the Sun Salute. So I have never practiced it with much devotion, and I have never been taught it with any precision or inspiration. I have practiced it thousands of times, been guided through it (with questionable guidance) on many occasions, but still can't find its resonance. It's hard to deny that the Sun Salute is an important part of modern yoga. As far as I know, it dates to Krishnamacharya in the 1930s, trickling down to us (alongside the idea of vinyasa) through his students Pattabhi Jois, Iyengar and Desikachar. Now it is the backbone of every "power flow" class that draws its inspiration from Jois' Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (AVY), and that is most of them. I am curious about it now, though. My respect for Krishnamacharya's teachings has grown tremendously in the past year, and I am beginning to see great depth in Jois' system of AVY. So there must be something to this Sun Salute thing. I am going to study Krishnamacharya's writings and descriptions of the purpose and execution of the Sun Salute alongside the writings of Pattabhi Jois and some of his senior students (namely Gregor Maehle, Richard Freeman, David Swenson and Kino MacGregor). I will also look into Iyengar's writings and Desikachar's. Same for Srivatsa Ramaswami, one of Krishnamacharya's longest standing students. I will post my findings and comparisons, trying to shake out the source and purpose of this commonplace exercise. Oh, and I will practice Sun Salutes with devotion as I try to understand them. "In good yoga in general, we are working asana in direct relationship to balancing and cleansing of the nadis, the proper practice of bhanda, mudra and pranayama. More and more practice reveals that these things are the purpose and primary focus of asana, and when done well lead directly into Raja yoga and deep contemplative practice."
From Richard Freeman's response to a question on yogaworkshop.com "There is no violent yogi. Nor is there one who utters falsehood. Bandit yogis are nonexistent. Philandering and yoga do not mix. Avarice also is not a yogic trait. Yogis have clean minds and bodies. Contentment is the hallmark of a yogi. Moderation is a yogic virtue. A yogi is a scholar as well. All that a yogi does, he does so with a sense of loving offering to God."
From Yoga Beneath the Surface by Srivatsa Ramaswami and David Hurwitz. My interest has been renewed in studying the ancient texts of yoga. In addition to the Yoga Sutras there are texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Jogapradipika, the Bhagavad Gita, expositions by various masters like Vashista, Matsyendra and Gheranda. Plus thousands or tens of thousands of other shastras written anonymously.
I ask myself, "do I know more than these yogis?" If I disagree with something they have written, do I have the authority to disregard it and do my own thing? Why would I take their advice in some aspects but not in others? Like many other modern yogis, I have instincts and opinions about what is "right" in yoga and what is "best." Not to mention the powerful pull of capitalism that seems destined to drag yoga into the world of physical fitness. Who am I to say what yoga is or is not? Especially when there is documentation from yogis far greater than me. At this point, I feel the need to be humble. Practice, be focused and studious. Read what these yogis wrote that has lasted thousands of years. Develop my own relationship with this powerful force we call yoga. I have been deepening my study and practice of Pranayama, the often misunderstood and ignored practice of 'life-force extension'. Many practitioners simplify this to mean 'breathing exercises,' but Pranayama can't be reduced to breathing exercises any more than Asana (Postures) can be reduced to 'stretching.' Like all of yoga, intention, focus and dedication are vital to the practice of Pranayama.
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes Pranayama as the lengthening and smoothing of the inhale and exhale, but he is almost alone in that description. Most of the other ancient texts define Pranayama as primarily or entirely Kumbhaka, breath retention. To them, Pranayama is synonymous with holding the breath. It is within these periods of held breath that the life force of the body, the prana, is controlled, extended, slowed and eventually even halted altogether. This stillness, when even the most basic functions of the body are ceased, is where the consciousness reveals its true nature - the formless, the absolute. Pranayama is described by many of the texts as the most important element of a yogic practice. It is through this control that higher stages of self-integration are realized and that karmic demerit, the junk we carry with us from our current and previous lives, is removed. For the past few months Ida and I have been working alongside fellow yogi and all-around beautiful guy Jerome Armstrong on an exciting project. We discovered the lost manuscript of Buddha Bose, written in 1938 but never published, in which he describes and demonstrates the complete 84 asanas in the Ghosh Lineage. The book contains 84 asanas and 10 mudras, with more than 90 photos. It will contain a new introduction by Bose's grandson Pavitra Shekhar Bose. Everyone that has practiced the Bikram sequences, both his 26+2 and the 84 advanced sequence, will see familiar postures and also new postures and instruction from Bose. The album is presented in sequential sets of Padmasana, Sitting, Lying Down, Standing, and an advanced Kurmasana set, plus 10 Mudras. "Key to the Kingdom of Health: The Buddha Bose Collection of 84 Asanas" is set to be published and made available to all yoga scholars and practitioners in June 2015. Sign up for updates or contact for more information at www.buddhabose.com. Happy New Year! I want to start this year with focus and simplicity. What better way than to ponder the wisdom of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad? It spells out the value of right action, a moral code that can be found at the root of almost all spiritual traditions.
"As a person acts, so he becomes in life. Those who do good become good; those who do harm become bad. Good deeds make one pure; bad deeds make one impure. You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny." From the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. |
This journal honors my ongoing experience with the practice, study and teaching of yoga.
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