Having spent since 2004 traveling and studying in India let me just point out how extraordinary Indians are and how generous and hospitable they have been to me over the years. Not only opening their wonderful homes and hearts to me but in some cases some even offered me a home! In Krishnagiri my host wanting me to remain there offered me a piece of land to build an ashram and stay there. One of my friends in Mumbai took me to Ramghat famous for its temples and on opening a house to show me inside, he offered me the keys as we went up to sit on the balcony overlooking the ghat and said to me. 'This is your home. You must come and live here. Start teaching. The people will come.'
All over India I have made friends who are still in touch and are like intimate family to me. On the ashrams the swamis kept urging me repeatedly year after year to take the cloth and become a swami. 'Have you talked to Swamiji yet? Have you talked to Swamiji?' asked Swami Atmananda excitedly and repeatedly year after year. 'You must. You must take the cloth now! What is this nonsense!'
I replied 'Atmaji. How must I wear the cloth? In my country people will think I've gone nuts wearing this cloth. How can I walk around in the west wearing the cloth? Anyway I have too much respect for the cloth to wear it.'
'No.' he insisted 'When you go to the west, you put on your jeans, but when you are here in India you wear this cloth. Besides its the best clothing to wear in India, Everyone respects those who wear the cloth.''
On another ashram after one of my many visits the Swami in charge asked 'But why are you leaving. We all thought you were ready for poorna sannyas.' (complete renunciation.) Feeling touched and honored I replied 'Well I feel I am sannyas already. Even living in the world. I am happy in the world ashram. I have no problem living in the world or being in the world ashram.'
The reality is thank goodness for India, and thank goodness India is for Indians. It has little to do with us how they choose to run their affairs. And quite honestly they do a much better job at living than we do. Their sense of family is overwhelming, touching and beautiful. All over India the sense of belonging as family is the same. India no matter how large its population is one small village.
But those people wearing a cloth who want to visit the west should get their house in order first, and should learn how to behave politely and properly.
Let's just point out here its not just the Indians who are in a mess with this stuff. Here in the west the different churches are having their full share of it too. Even in yoga, seeing their yoga teacher as representing some sort of higher calling, students of yoga in the west have also had to shoulder some of this.
Recently in the yoga community in america an american John Friend got himself into all sorts of hot water and has been forced to resign from his Anusara yoga empire amidst allegations of messing with his students, employees, and teachers, as well as messing with the money.
In South Africa a number of years ago a leading figure of South African yoga had a similar skeleton to hide in his closet which unfortunately ended in dire and unhappy circumstances for everyone. A yoga teacher in his late seventies after several affairs with his female students was indirectly the cause of one of his key students, an extremely talented and beautiful young woman and trainee teacher ending her life by jumping off a building. A police case opened against the teacher resulted in him going underground and moving to another country to get away from it all. The result? - His devoted 'flock' went into complete denial about the whole incident and still deny it to this day. This unfortunate incident shows how tragic these situations can get and why the general public should be made more aware of it.
In another encounter closer to home a visiting 'teacher' needed help getting around and sourcing things for his 'ashram'. One of my yoga students eager to help obliged by taking time off from work and driving him around for a few days, and guess what? He couldn't help trying to seduce her at the first opportunity. Dropping the guy off at the airport later I explained to him in no uncertain terms how we really don't need people like him around, and that he should avoid visiting our country in future. He was lucky - he should have been tarred and feathered with shit! Anyone busy searching for solutions finding answers in spirituality and yoga who turns to someone in a monastic order or tradition for help, shouldn't have to worry about being taken advantage of. But the days of these institutions are numbered. Rather than monastic orders they have become monastic disorders.
There is a very fine line that exists between teacher and student. There are so many incidents in the west now of teacher and student becoming lovers and then getting married. Beryl Bender originator of Power yoga ended her one marriage and ended up marrying her student. Rodney Yee a very popular teacher in the US had to bare the brunt of bad publicity when he did the same - ending one marriage so he and his student could be married.
What is the solution? If a person wants to wear the cloth then by all means why not? Try it. My advice then is stay on the ashram. Stay in a suitable environment, like a monastery or ashram where you can remain as far away from the world as possible. There is no way an innocent young boy coming out of a small village in India, can cope with the sophistication of living in modern society, no matter how brilliant his mind is. Living in airports sleeping between international terminals is not their game. Its our game. We're used to it. It means nothing to us. But the kid who has never been let out of the village? How are they equipped to deal with it? A monastery or ashram is where they belong. For what its worth- and I think in the end it stands for a great deal and stands us in good stead- we in the west have been through most things. There's little we havent seen or experienced. At an increasingly early age we in the west are ready to start asking questions. To arrive on an ashram today having successfully built or destroyed your own business, reamed and pillaged by society- having lost every last bit of sentiment and sensitivity - dulled and deadened to the point of unconscious non-existence - seeking knowledge you may just be lucky enough to find the right teacher and upon getting the knowledge may even be able to hang onto it for awhile. But coming at it the other way round hot foot from a small dusty village- forget it!
Going onto an ashram today the guys wearing the cloth are the ones wearing the latest Ray Bans, sporting the latest iPhones, and cameras having procured these on numerous trips abroad either as gifts or through the use of ashram funds given as donations. Sitting next to a guy while he shows you his brand new shiny laptop you cant help wincing at the irony. There you are having survived and succeeded in leaving all this crap behind having to fein interest. This is exactly why you are on an ashram - there TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS GARBAGE AS POSSIBLE AND GET BACK TO SOME SORT OF REALITY. You are not interested but you go along and enjoy the ride anyway! Join any conversation with Swamis today and what do you hear? Discussions on Sastra- sutras and Upanishadic wisdom? Forget it. All talk about their programs abroad, how many camps (retreats) they did, what countries they visited and will be visiting in future, and how many attendees they had - exaggerated to the max of course!
Traveling India today you find spiritual tourists walking around in all the hot tourist destinations (normally associated with some saint who lived there once who has since died so they cant give you anything) with glazed looks on their faces that say -'This is amazing- but I don't what the fuck is going on here.'
And sure as nuts you don't. Who does? For most watching the swami on an ashram teaching about the truth is like watching Niagara falls. Like anything in nature, you haven't a clue how it got there or what it all means. Its just like - 'Wow so this is what its like on an ashram and this is a swami, and these are all his students. But what on earth is he talking about!''
How anyone walking around in this culture that flourished 5000 years ago can know whats going on is difficult. Imagine visiting a Holiday Inn 5000 thousand years from now. We don't know what life was like 5000 years ago. The Indians themselves don't know and have little means left of knowing, because traditions in India are all dying so fast. Having been indoctrinated with religious ideology for thousands of years they're just as stuck and ritualistic in thier beliefs as we are. The government of India by controlling all the temples controls the whole nation. While the devout flock in their millions to give their hard earned cash daily as offerings to the priests and their gods, the government takes their cut putting it in their pockets. Any possibility of gaining an insight or understanding of the tradition and knowledge of the culture of India as a westerner is drowned by the noise of the loudspeakers around the temples, and the gallons of mineral water you have to drink to avoid the heat. Slouched in internet cafes, 2AC compartments on trains as you join India in drinking hot chai, you are left with no alternative but to photograph and post it all for your friends on Face Book, while texting madly on your mobile phone. To be continued . . . . . . . . .
All over India I have made friends who are still in touch and are like intimate family to me. On the ashrams the swamis kept urging me repeatedly year after year to take the cloth and become a swami. 'Have you talked to Swamiji yet? Have you talked to Swamiji?' asked Swami Atmananda excitedly and repeatedly year after year. 'You must. You must take the cloth now! What is this nonsense!'
I replied 'Atmaji. How must I wear the cloth? In my country people will think I've gone nuts wearing this cloth. How can I walk around in the west wearing the cloth? Anyway I have too much respect for the cloth to wear it.'
'No.' he insisted 'When you go to the west, you put on your jeans, but when you are here in India you wear this cloth. Besides its the best clothing to wear in India, Everyone respects those who wear the cloth.''
On another ashram after one of my many visits the Swami in charge asked 'But why are you leaving. We all thought you were ready for poorna sannyas.' (complete renunciation.) Feeling touched and honored I replied 'Well I feel I am sannyas already. Even living in the world. I am happy in the world ashram. I have no problem living in the world or being in the world ashram.'
The reality is thank goodness for India, and thank goodness India is for Indians. It has little to do with us how they choose to run their affairs. And quite honestly they do a much better job at living than we do. Their sense of family is overwhelming, touching and beautiful. All over India the sense of belonging as family is the same. India no matter how large its population is one small village.
But those people wearing a cloth who want to visit the west should get their house in order first, and should learn how to behave politely and properly.
Let's just point out here its not just the Indians who are in a mess with this stuff. Here in the west the different churches are having their full share of it too. Even in yoga, seeing their yoga teacher as representing some sort of higher calling, students of yoga in the west have also had to shoulder some of this.
Recently in the yoga community in america an american John Friend got himself into all sorts of hot water and has been forced to resign from his Anusara yoga empire amidst allegations of messing with his students, employees, and teachers, as well as messing with the money.
In South Africa a number of years ago a leading figure of South African yoga had a similar skeleton to hide in his closet which unfortunately ended in dire and unhappy circumstances for everyone. A yoga teacher in his late seventies after several affairs with his female students was indirectly the cause of one of his key students, an extremely talented and beautiful young woman and trainee teacher ending her life by jumping off a building. A police case opened against the teacher resulted in him going underground and moving to another country to get away from it all. The result? - His devoted 'flock' went into complete denial about the whole incident and still deny it to this day. This unfortunate incident shows how tragic these situations can get and why the general public should be made more aware of it.
In another encounter closer to home a visiting 'teacher' needed help getting around and sourcing things for his 'ashram'. One of my yoga students eager to help obliged by taking time off from work and driving him around for a few days, and guess what? He couldn't help trying to seduce her at the first opportunity. Dropping the guy off at the airport later I explained to him in no uncertain terms how we really don't need people like him around, and that he should avoid visiting our country in future. He was lucky - he should have been tarred and feathered with shit! Anyone busy searching for solutions finding answers in spirituality and yoga who turns to someone in a monastic order or tradition for help, shouldn't have to worry about being taken advantage of. But the days of these institutions are numbered. Rather than monastic orders they have become monastic disorders.
There is a very fine line that exists between teacher and student. There are so many incidents in the west now of teacher and student becoming lovers and then getting married. Beryl Bender originator of Power yoga ended her one marriage and ended up marrying her student. Rodney Yee a very popular teacher in the US had to bare the brunt of bad publicity when he did the same - ending one marriage so he and his student could be married.
What is the solution? If a person wants to wear the cloth then by all means why not? Try it. My advice then is stay on the ashram. Stay in a suitable environment, like a monastery or ashram where you can remain as far away from the world as possible. There is no way an innocent young boy coming out of a small village in India, can cope with the sophistication of living in modern society, no matter how brilliant his mind is. Living in airports sleeping between international terminals is not their game. Its our game. We're used to it. It means nothing to us. But the kid who has never been let out of the village? How are they equipped to deal with it? A monastery or ashram is where they belong. For what its worth- and I think in the end it stands for a great deal and stands us in good stead- we in the west have been through most things. There's little we havent seen or experienced. At an increasingly early age we in the west are ready to start asking questions. To arrive on an ashram today having successfully built or destroyed your own business, reamed and pillaged by society- having lost every last bit of sentiment and sensitivity - dulled and deadened to the point of unconscious non-existence - seeking knowledge you may just be lucky enough to find the right teacher and upon getting the knowledge may even be able to hang onto it for awhile. But coming at it the other way round hot foot from a small dusty village- forget it!
Going onto an ashram today the guys wearing the cloth are the ones wearing the latest Ray Bans, sporting the latest iPhones, and cameras having procured these on numerous trips abroad either as gifts or through the use of ashram funds given as donations. Sitting next to a guy while he shows you his brand new shiny laptop you cant help wincing at the irony. There you are having survived and succeeded in leaving all this crap behind having to fein interest. This is exactly why you are on an ashram - there TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS GARBAGE AS POSSIBLE AND GET BACK TO SOME SORT OF REALITY. You are not interested but you go along and enjoy the ride anyway! Join any conversation with Swamis today and what do you hear? Discussions on Sastra- sutras and Upanishadic wisdom? Forget it. All talk about their programs abroad, how many camps (retreats) they did, what countries they visited and will be visiting in future, and how many attendees they had - exaggerated to the max of course!
Traveling India today you find spiritual tourists walking around in all the hot tourist destinations (normally associated with some saint who lived there once who has since died so they cant give you anything) with glazed looks on their faces that say -'This is amazing- but I don't what the fuck is going on here.'
And sure as nuts you don't. Who does? For most watching the swami on an ashram teaching about the truth is like watching Niagara falls. Like anything in nature, you haven't a clue how it got there or what it all means. Its just like - 'Wow so this is what its like on an ashram and this is a swami, and these are all his students. But what on earth is he talking about!''
How anyone walking around in this culture that flourished 5000 years ago can know whats going on is difficult. Imagine visiting a Holiday Inn 5000 thousand years from now. We don't know what life was like 5000 years ago. The Indians themselves don't know and have little means left of knowing, because traditions in India are all dying so fast. Having been indoctrinated with religious ideology for thousands of years they're just as stuck and ritualistic in thier beliefs as we are. The government of India by controlling all the temples controls the whole nation. While the devout flock in their millions to give their hard earned cash daily as offerings to the priests and their gods, the government takes their cut putting it in their pockets. Any possibility of gaining an insight or understanding of the tradition and knowledge of the culture of India as a westerner is drowned by the noise of the loudspeakers around the temples, and the gallons of mineral water you have to drink to avoid the heat. Slouched in internet cafes, 2AC compartments on trains as you join India in drinking hot chai, you are left with no alternative but to photograph and post it all for your friends on Face Book, while texting madly on your mobile phone. To be continued . . . . . . . . .
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