Mitch Blum

One of the things that I’ve always hated is when people – non-yogis especially – expect a certain type of behavior when they find out that someone is a practicing Yogi. Stereotypical images are conjured up and people assume us to be soft-spoken and humorless while chanting om through a thick cloud of incense smoke. We never anger or raise our voices. We are supposed to be monks with abs of steel. We subsist on a diet of ether and self-satisfaction.

Of course, these images are largely based on ignorance. People have a tendency to confuse Yoga with new age-ism and are misled by the images used in the media and advertising.

To me, people that adopt that “yogic” persona are merely trading an old face for a new one. Yoga is about finding the true self, not embracing another false self – even if that false self builds credibility in the eyes of outsiders.

There’s nothing wrong with being a Yogi who likes to party, who engages in seemingly non-Yogic activities. Yoga is an internal process of self-discovery. It is the process and the result. When the mind-stuff has settled, or at least has slowed down, then we are Yogis using Yoga to reach Yoga.

So, case closed. Do whatever you want. It’s all good, right?

Well, not exactly. You see, those of us that adhere to the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as taught in the tradition of Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois of Mysore are practicing Patanjali Yoga. There is no debate over that fact. The boss says so, therefore it is true.

{Once upon a time, I desired evidence for the connection between Patanjali and AVY; now I see that evidence is totally unnecessary. SKPJ makes no claim that Patanjali practiced Vinyasa Yoga, just that his Vinyasa Yoga is a proven approach to Patanjali Yoga. Same difference!}

So what does our old friend Patanjali say about right behavior? Let’s pick a few choice aphorisms. As always these are from our beloved SwamiJ:

1.33 In relationships, the mind becomes purified by cultivating feelings of friendliness towards those who are happy, compassion for those who are suffering, goodwill towards those who are virtuous, and indifference or neutrality towards those we perceive as wicked or evil.(maitri aruna mudita upekshanam sukha duhka punya apunya vishayanam bhavanatah chitta prasadanam)
2.30 Non-injury or non-harming (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), abstention from stealing (asteya), walking in awareness of the highest reality (brahmacharya), and non-possessiveness or non-grasping with the senses (aparigraha) are the five yamas, or codes of self-regulation or restraint, and are the first of the eight steps of Yoga.(ahimsa satya asteya brahmacharya aparigraha yama)

2.33 When these codes of self-regulation or restraint (yamas) and observances or practices of self-training (niyamas) are inhibited from being practiced due to perverse, unwholesome, troublesome, or deviant thoughts, principles in the opposite direction, or contrary thought should be cultivated.(vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam)

2.34 Actions arising out of such negative thoughts are performed directly by oneself, caused to be done through others, or approved of when done by others. All of these may be preceded by, or performed through anger, greed or delusion, and can be mild, moderate or intense in nature. To remind oneself that these negative thoughts and actions are the causes of unending misery and ignorance is the contrary thought, or principle in the opposite direction that was recommended in the previous sutra.(vitarkah himsadayah krita karita anumoditah lobha krodha moha purvakah mridu madhya adhimatrah dukha ajnana ananta phala iti pratipaksha
bhavanam)

Well, now, haven’t we stumbled upon quite a conundrum? On the one hand, hatha yoga is a tantric practice, and the tantric attitude of “Everything (with full awareness and right intention) Goes” is clearly counteracted by Patanjali’s irrefutable directions towards right behavior, as outlined above. What’s a Yogi to do?

I guess that’s up to each of us to cultivate the self-awareness and the honesty to decide how to properly act with our families, our friends, our co-workers or even amongst an internet community. We have to determine when we are being compassionate, when we are practicing ahimsa and when we are acting with proper intentions in a manner that befits this magnificent spiritual practice.

I will confess that humor comes easy to me. It always has. And unfortunately I have, on way too many occasions in the past, used humor at the expense of others to amuse or elevate myself. It’s very easy to mock someone. It’s easy to parody them. It’s easy to humiliate someone. I’m trying to not do that anymore, as best as I can, because it’s cruel, it’s cheap, it’s violent and it’s mean. It’s full of himsa, it’s completely unnecessary and it’s counterproductive to Yoga.

And while I would love to cast judgment on those who are guilty of such actions, it is not my place to do so. We’ve discussed karma in the past and the conditioning of one’s mind and the colored perspective one views the world with. And I suspect that those individuals who have it in them to be so callous, so cruel and so heartless are dealing with a deep well of misery and suffering that causes them to act as they do. Hopefully a sustained Yoga practice will help to ease their suffering.

It reminds me of the religious phonies that are so righteous on the weekends and so hypocritical during the week, as if the hour absolves them.

The good news is that another one of SKPJ’s teaching has been illuminated for me. Remember that line in Yoga Mala about avoiding vulgar company? Now I get it.