Modern yoga gurus explained

Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern guru-follower relationship is not secretive, not exclusive, and does not necessarily involve a tradition. Many such gurus, but not all, teach a form of yoga as exercise; others teach forms which are more devotional or meditational; many teach a combination. Some have been affected by scandals of various kinds.

Guru-shishya tradition

Before the creation of modern yoga, hatha yoga was practised in secret by solitary, ascetic yogins, learning the tradition as a long-term pupil or shishya apprenticed to their master or guru.[1] [2] [3] The ancient relationship was the primary means by which spirituality was expressed in India.[4] Traditional yoga was often exclusive and secretive: the shishya submitted to and obeyed the guru, understanding that lengthy initiation and training under the guru was essential for progress. So strong was the guru-shishya relationship that Vivekananda stated that "The guru must be worshipped as God. He is God, he is nothing less than that".[4]

Transformed role

The role of the guru in the modern world is radically transformed. Globalisation has extended the guru's reach into environments where they may be a stranger, and where the religion, purpose, and status of the guru is poorly understood. Modern yoga practices are often open to everyone, without any sort of initiation into any organisation or doctrine. The modern guru Jaggi Vasudev explicitly rejected "all that traditional whatever"; all the same, some yoga traditions still emphasise and respect a teacher's lineage (parampara). For example, Gurumayi's Siddha Yoga pays careful attention to her predecessors, Muktananda and Bhagawan Nityananda.[5] Another major change was introduced by Vivekananda; his Ramakrishna Mission set the example of public service in education and medicine, something now practised by many other Indian religious movements. These religions thus shifted from a focus on personal salvation to public altruism.[4]

A further radical shift was from spiritual to physical in yoga as exercise, as pioneered by Yogendra, Kuvalayananda, and Krishnamacharya. The transformed role of the guru can be seen in the case of one of these pioneers, Yogendra, who explicitly rejected the role of traditional guru for a single pupil or shishya. The physical context, too, is transformed along with the nature of the teacher's authority; yoga as exercise is often taught in an urban yoga studio, where the instructor's yoga teacher training stands in for the old guru-shishya relationship. The trend away from authority is continued in post-lineage yoga, which is practised outside any major school or guru's lineage.[6]

The concept of the guru, along with mantra and meditation, reached the West in the 1960s with The Beatles' trip to India, for a Transcendental Meditation training course at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh. Modern gurus since then have used the divine status of the traditional guru to claim that they were gods or goddesses. Some asserted they were avatars, earthly incarnations of a god, fulfilling the prophecy in the Bhagavad Gita that Vishnu would take on earthly form when the world was threatened by evil.[4]

Abuse

The potential for abuse in the transformed guru-follower relationship is large, and there have been multiple instances of apparent or proven sexual, mental, and emotional abuse by gurus.[7] [8] [9] [10] Anthony Storr has documented, for example, the excesses of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh; Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad have examined the betrayal of trust that is involved. Swami Vivekananda said early in the modern era that there are many incompetent gurus, and that a true guru should understand the spirit of the scriptures, have a pure character and be free from sin, and should be selfless, without desire for money and fame.[11] Following the downfalls of several gurus accused of misconduct, practitioners have publicly debated whether gurus are still necessary.[12] As for how gurus can get away with abuse for so long, there is evidence both from research in psychology and from the recollections of former devotees like Daniel Shaw, once a senior member of staff in Gurumayi's Siddha Yoga organisation, that even if a guru is seen to be lying, devotees will ignore the matter and "keep on believing".[13]

Acknowledged gurus

Well-known gurus of modern yoga
Guru Dates Gender Country Lineage (guru) School
or order 		Postures
(Asana) 		Meditation
(Dhyana) 		Devotion
(Bhakti) 		Other
practices 		Scandal
(alleged abuses)
Anandamayi Ma[14] [15] 1896–1982 Female India No Yes
Sri Aurobindo[16] 1872–1950 Male India No Yes
Beryl Bender Birch[17] 1942– Female US Yes No No
1929–2004 Male India Yes Yes Sexual[18] [19]
1944–Male India Yes No No Sexual, assault, racism, homophobia[20] [21]
Amrit Desai[22] [23] 1932–Male India Yes Sexual[24]
1959– Male US Yes Yes No Sexual[25]
Gurmukh[26] [27] 1943– Female US No Yes
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda[28] [29] 1955– Female India No Yes Yes
1918–2014Male India Yes No No
1957–Male India Yes Yes
1915–2009Male India Yes No No Vinyasas Sexual[30]
Krishnamacharya[31] [32] [33] 1888–1989Male India Yes No No Vinyasas
Kriyananda[34] 1926–2013 Male US No Yes Yes Copyright disputes[35] Sexual[36] [37]
1883–1966Male India Paramahamsa Madhavdas Yes
1918–2008Male India No Yes
1894–1969Male India Avatar Meher Baba Trust No
1939– Male Brazil Kailashananda Dharma Yoga Center Yes
Muktananda[38] 1908–1982Male India No Yes Sexual[39]
Nirmala Srivastava
(Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi)[40] 		1923–2011Female India No Yes Kundalini awakening -1921–1990 Male India Ananda Marga Yoga Society Yes Yes Murder, illegal politic -->
1925–1996Male India No Yes Sexual[41]
Ram Dass[42] [43] 1931–2019 Male US No Yes
Baba Ramdev[44] [45] 1965–Male India Yes Yes
1887–1963Male India No Yes
1956–Male India Yes Yes
Satchidananda Saraswati[46] 1914–2002Male India Yes Yes Yes Sexual[47]
Sathya Sai Baba[48] 1926–2011Male India No
Shankarananda[49] [50] 1942– Male US No Yes Sexual
Vishnudevananda Saraswati[51] 1927–1993Male India Yes Yes Sexual
1863–1902Male India No Yes
Paramahansa Yogananda[52] 1893–1952Male India Yes Yes Yes
1897–1989Male India Yes Yes

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bühnemann, Gudrun . Gudrun Bühnemann . Eighty-Four Asanas in Yoga: A Survey of Traditions . 2007 . D. K. Printworld . New Delhi . 978-8124604175 . 20–21.
  2. Book: Mallinson, James . James Mallinson (author) . Haṭha Yoga in the Brill Encyclopedia of Hinduism . 3 . Knut A. Jacobsen . etal . 2011 . Brill Academic . 978-90-04-27128-9 . 770–781.
  3. Web site: Neehan . Jack . Yoga: James Mallinson uncovers the ancient traditions of the great yogis . . 5 March 2019 . 21 March 2017.
  4. Dubey . Rajeev . New Hindu Religious Movements in Contemporary India: A Review of Literature . Sociological Bulletin . 2015 . 64 . 2 . 152–170 . 10.1177/0038022920150202 . 26290776. 157640220 .
  5. Book: Pechilis, Karen . Gurumayi, the Play of Shakti and Guru . The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States . . 2004 . 0-19-514538-0 . 219–243.
  6. Book: Lucia, Amanda J. . White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals . 2020 . . 978-0-520-37695-3 . 75 ff, 136 ff.
  7. News: Horton . Adrian . 'He got away with it': how the founder of Bikram yoga built an empire on abuse . . 20 November 2019.
  8. News: International Yoga Day: 5 yoga gurus who were accused of sexual assault . . 21 June 2018.
  9. Web site: Park . Tosca . Modern Yoga: Turning a Blind Eye on Sexual Abuse Allegations? . Yoga Basics . 11 February 2015 . Other yoga masters have also been involved in sexual abuse scandals with their students, notably, Kausthub Desikachar, Sai Baba, Swami Shyam, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Rama, Swami Muktananada, and Amrit Desai..
  10. Web site: Stuart . Gwynedd . 15 July 2020 . Yogi Bhajan Turned an L.A. Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse . 26 February 2021 . Los Angeles Magazine.
  11. Book: Sheldrake, Philip . 25 September 2014 . Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed . . 978-1441187215 . 142.
  12. Web site: Yoga Unify . Do Modern Yoga Students Need a Guru? . . 16 August 2021 . 27 April 2021.
  13. Beck . Julie . This Article Won't Change Your Mind . . March 13, 2017 . 22 August 2021.
  14. Web site: Wagner . Paul . Sri Anandamayi Ma: The Perfect, Profound and Mysterious Flower . Gaia . 16 August 2021 . 30 May 2019 . The Non-organized, Non-Proclaimed Guru.
  15. Web site: Anandamayi Ma . Om-Guru . 16 August 2021 . Though she was never formally initiated by a guru, one evening she spontaneously performed her own initiation, visualizing both the ritual scene and movements. Simultaneously, she heard the chanting of initiatory sacred words (mantras) inwardly..
  16. News: Chaama . Sridhar . Remembering a guru . 16 August 2021 . . 16 August 2012.
  17. News: Hatfield . Julie . Yoga on steroids, or feel the yearn Health: Practitioners say they get sweat and a sense of calm out of Ashtanga, a vigorous series of postures that looks conventional, but a lot faster . 3 September 2021 . . 23 April 1996 . Beryl Bender Birch, author of the book "Power Yoga" and generally regarded as the ultimate power yoga guru..
  18. Stacie . Stukin . Yogi Bhajan Turned an L.A. Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse . . July 15, 2020 .
  19. A New Report Details Decades of Abuse at the Hands of Yogi Bhajan . . August 15, 2020 .
  20. News: Godwin . Richard . 'He said he could do what he wanted': the Scandal that Rocked Bikram Yoga . . 18 February 2017.
  21. Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of #MeToo . Griswold . Eliza . . 23 July 2019 .
  22. Web site: Beck . Phillipa . Power and Prana: When Yoga Leads to Abuse . 17 August 2021 . 4 December 2019 . Amrit Desai was the spiritual head of Kripalu from the 1970s until his abrupt departure in 1994. The charismatic, kundalini-raising guru was a master at creating a powerful, direct experience of prana, or life-force energy.
  23. Goldberg, Ellen. "Amrit Desai and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health" in
  24. Cushman . Anne . Anne Cushman . Montgomery . Lizette . Yogi Desai Resigns From Kripalu . . January/February 1995 . February 1995 . 40, 42 .
  25. News: Roig-Franzia . Manuel . Scandal contorts future of John Friend, Anusara yoga . . 29 March 2012 . 29 March 2012 .
  26. News: Gilbert . Sophie . At last: a guru for the impatient . 26 February 2021 . . 19 September 2000.
  27. News: Sloane . Carly . Celebrity Yoga Guru Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa Explains Why Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Miranda Kerr and More Stars Love Her Style of Teaching . 2 September 2022 . US Magazine . 24 May 2019.
  28. Book: Pechilis, Karen . Gurumayi, the Play of Shakti and Guru . The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States . Oxford University Press . 2004 . 219–243 . 0-19-514538-0.
  29. Williamson, Lola. "Swamis, Scholars, and Gurus: Siddha Yoga's American Legacy" in
  30. News: Yoga Is Finally Facing Consent and Unwanted Touch . Rosman . Katherine . 8 November 2019 . The New York Times.
  31. Web site: Suar . Swati Snigdha . Meet India's 10 most renowned yoga gurus . Rediff.com . 18 June 2015.
  32. Web site: Yoga Day Special: India's 7 most renowned Yoga Gurus who redefined Yoga internationally . India TV News . 16 August 2021 . 21 June 2017.
  33. Web site: Chetan . Mahesh . 10 Most Inspiring Yoga Gurus of India . Indian Yoga Association . 16 August 2021 . 5 March 2017.
  34. News: Kriyananda: An American yoga guru who loved India (Tribute) . 13 January 2022 . Business Standard . 22 April 2013.
  35. News: Mattson . Doug . Jury: Copyrights violated by church . Grass Valley, California . The Union . 30 October 2002.
  36. News: $1 million judgment against swami . Palo Alto, California . Palo Alto Weekly . February 27, 1998 .
  37. News: Goa, Helen . Sex and the Singular Swami . San Francisco Weekly . March 10, 1999 .
  38. Web site: Safransky . Sy . An Interview With Swami Muktananda . . 16 August 2021 . July 1976 . Muktananda was said to be a living saint, a perfectly realized human being, a sadguru — the highest of gurus..
  39. Harris . Lis . O Guru, Guru, Guru . . 14 November 1994 . 92–93 . 17 August 2021.
  40. Book: Lewis . James R. . Tollefsen . Inga B. . The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II . 2016 . Oxford University Press . 9780190466190 . 293 . A few female gurus have gained international recognition... Sahaja Yoga's guru, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi..
  41. Webster . K. . The case against Swami Rama of the Himalayas . Yoga Journal . December 1990 .
  42. Charet, F. X. "Ram Dass: The Vicissitudes of Devotion and Ferocity of Grace" in
  43. Vaucher . Andréa R. . America's Guru: Ram Dass at 82 . Tricycle Magazine . 2013 . Winter 2013 . 7 September 2021.
  44. Web site: 15 Yoga Gurus That Are Empowering The World Through Social Media . Influence Digest + . 16 August 2021 . 5 June 2017.
  45. News: Narain . Priyanka Pathak . 31 July 2017 . How Baba Ramdev became the Guru of Yoga Programming on Indian TV . Firstpost . 30 May 2021.
  46. Web site: Landau . Meryl Davids . In Times of Scandal . Elephant Journal . 17 August 2021 . February 2012 . Here I was, eager to learn yogic principles like nonharming and truthfulness, while Swami Satchidananda, the guru at the head of this teaching center, was being accused of harming and lying aplenty. I don’t know if the accusations were ever proven, but the disciple who claimed she'd had a longstanding, not-really-welcome sexual relationship with the supposedly celibate swami was pretty convincing.
  47. Hammond . Holly . Cushman . Anne . Anne Cushman . Satchidadanda Controversy Heats Up . . January 1992 . 102 . 18 .
  48. Web site: Sathya Sai Baba: Guru and philanthropist who was revered by millions but whose career was dogged by controversy . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sathya-sai-baba-guru-and-philanthropist-who-was-revered-millions-whose-career-was-dogged-controversy-2275654.html . 15 May 2022 . subscription . live . . 16 August 2021 . 23 October 2011 . With 1,200 ashrams in more than 100 countries, the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba was seen as a reincarnation of god by his devotees, who included prime ministers and presidents of India, business magnates, film stars, artists and world-class sportsmen and sportswomen, who all gave generously to his social welfare projects..
  49. http://mpnews.com.au/2015/01/20/secret-sex-shakes-yoga-school "'Secret' sex shakes yoga school"
  50. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/guru-sex-scandal-at-mount-eliza-yoga-retreat-20150120-12ugkk.html "Guru sex scandal at Mt Eliza yoga retreat"
  51. Kaur . Ishleen . Guru: Yoga - Power - Abuse . Guru: Living a lie. 21 June 2021 . . 15 June 2021 . Podcast .
  52. Newcombe . Suzanne . Suzanne Newcombe . The Revival of Yoga in Contemporary India . Religion . Oxford Research Encyclopedias . 1 . 2017 . 10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.253. 9780199340378 .

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