Salvaging the Legacy of Pattabhi Jois

In spite of the recent revelations about Pattabhi Jois' physical, sexual and psychological abuses, and the discomfort many feel about continuing to practice what he taught, millions of practitioners and thousands of teachers worldwide, remain connected to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga that he developed and taught.

There are clearly many wonderful benefits to the practice, but equally, as a result of a new perspective on his personality and his teaching methods, we are compelled to re-assess his legacy and teachings.

To salvage does not imply to re-habilitate the man, but rather to distill the good parts of his teaching from those that may be defective. Some people feel inclined to completely reject the practice and teaching, feeling that it is all tainted by his touch, but others who have invested decades in teaching and practice, who have already transformed and refined what they learned, do not wish to reject everything that came through him.

In my own case, I studied intensively in Mysore for the decade of the 90s and then, in spite of many misgivings, felt obliged to attend his classes in NYC from 1999-2007 even though this felt like a kind of torture.

I thought the chapter had closed with his death and the contemporaneous publication of the book of interviews I made about him and his teaching: Guruji: A Portrait, but this was evidently not the case.

That book, rather than closing a chapter, ensured my continued association with him and a responsibility to participate in the healing process necessitated by his abuses and my participation in the glorification and elevation of his name that contributed to the obscuring of the truth about his actions and the harm they caused.

That sense of responsibility led me to write a series of articles that were designed to counterbalance the eulogies written in the book I had published and to bring into question everything he had taught.

Now that it is an established and accepted fact that he did indeed sexually assault, physically injure and psychologically abuse many of his students, my next goal is to try to establish what is beneficial in the system he created.

There can be no doubt that the author of a spiritual and hence ethical system of healing and evolution who was also tainted by abusive characteristics, must have made errors in the elaboration of his teaching.

However, the taints to his personality were not the whole story by any means: apart from the harm he caused, he was also an inspiration, a motivator and a healer to many. But was that inspiration leading towards the true goal of yoga, or towards a more mundane and limited goal? And could we "tweak" his system to produce a teaching and practice that corrects for his imperfections and leads us towards the true goal?

Over the last year I have been one of the most vocal critics of Pattabhi Jois and the Ashtanga Yoga system he created or adapted from his teacher Krishnamacharya. The reason for this has been twofold: on the one hand I have been speaking in support of those who have been injured by KP Jois' actions and on the other hand I have been speaking about my own observations of Jois' failings as a teacher and the limitations of the practice he taught.

I would have spoken out much earlier if I had thought anyone would have listened, but I doubted anyone would have paid much attention to my observations until now. I have, however, been speaking about this with my students for many years.

But in spite of my misgivings, I have continued to teach and practice much of what I learned from him and millions of people worldwide love the system that he created. There is evidently much value in what he taught alongside the failings that have been revealed.

So what are the good parts and what should be rejected?

KPJ was an intense teacher who used extreme methods and narratives to promote his vision of yoga. These methods worked to some extent but also failed to elaborate a genuine understanding and practice of real yoga.

He always used to say: "Yoga is not for exercise" or for "body building" however, it is difficult to see how this could not be the case. Asana practice, as he developed it, clearly is exercise and clearly also builds the body, develops strength, health and fitness - it results in the coveted "yoga body" that many people desire.

What is the connection between asana and the other seven limbs of ashtanga yoga? According to Jois, asana is the foundation: it gives good health and strength and is the basis for developing a pranayama practice and for putting the mind into a good condition for meditation and the other limbs of yoga.

Unfortunately, he did not develop these ideas or practices very far and so we were left struggling to fill in the gaps and put the rest of the picture together.

Even though progressively over the years, as the number of students increased, KPJ adapted practice less and less to the needs of the individual, originally he did vary his teaching according to the capacity of the student.

In the early days he was known locally for the health cures he was able to achieve, but by the mid 90s he had hardly any Indian students and the westerners who came to him were more interested in physical fitness, flexibility and strength than therapy. That is not to say that many did not also come for therapy or healing and that many also attributed healing to their practice with him.

There were many benefits to practice with KPJ but there were also many negative side affects - and a good number of these negative side affects are still not recognized or acknowledged. In addition, I believe, many of the benefits were not directly the result of asana practice but were byproducts or corollaries.

Ambition

For instance, the ambition to progress in practice is a well recognized phenomenon. It actually has a positive impact initially, but ultimately completely stands in the way of attaining actual yoga.

Because of this desire to progress, students are willing to make sacrifices - these turn out to be good or beneficial compromises. To achieve certain level of practice, one has to change diet and lifestyle - these are beneficial side affects of practice that are often undertaken for the sake of the desired physical achievements in asana practice.

Because one wants to master a pose, one may start to observe healthier food disciplines, one may start to go to bed early, to practice with regularity (develop discipline) and give up harmful habits such as drinking alcohol and eating meat.

Very often, I believe, the resulting health benefits are more the result of lifestyle changes than an ongoing asana practice. Exercise is certainly good, perhaps essential for those who live a sedentary lifestyle and for those who experience a lot of stress - but the idea that the asana itself directly gives one the benefits has been mythologized - I believe that most of the health benefits are indirect.

The initial stages of asana practice do definitely have health benefits, but the ongoing and "evolutionary" aspects of practice have less benefit than is attributed to them. Once health and healthy habits have been established, why would one need to continue doing therapy?

Since ambition is rooted in the ashtanga agenda, both in the student and in the presentation of teaching, if that continues to be a motivating factor, one will not see where the benefit has occurred and not recognize the harmful effects of over-practice.

Physical benefits can happen pretty early on, but mental benefits are more elusive. It all depends on the agenda. If practice is pursued, even in part, to develop an attractive body, then the psychological healing will not take place. Instead of finding true peace, knowledge and happiness, striving for the admiration of others (narcissism) is the result, with the consequent side effects of self-doubt, envy, greed, anger etc..

Too Much Asana?

One of Pattabhi Jois' failings was not to recognize when enough asana is enough - he constantly made us desire more. No doubt he observed our ambition and taught accordingly - his approach was to let the ego crash and burn through allowing it to continue to inflate. This has become an integrated feature of the practice he taught.

So while ambition, initially, is a strong motivator that facilitates positive change, healing and some evolution, if it is unchecked, it does not lead to yoga, but to more misery and greater delusion. I believe this was one of the greatest failings in his teaching.

It is easy to see how this agenda perfectly synchronizes with today's advertising methods - show the customer the idealized life, the idealized body, and sell them the dream they can achieve it - but tell the customer that to get the dream, you have to sign up for the rest of your life - and cash in.

KPJ used to say: "Practice, practice, your whole life long you practice" - only then, maybe, you will get the benefit. At least, in your next life you will have a good head start.

Do Western students actually want anything different? Do we actually desire realization and samadhi? Because these seem like impossible goals have we relinquished the true purpose of yoga and simply accepted that all we are going to get is a good body and maybe a little bit of peace from increased self-esteem?

It is really a shame that the deeper and fuller aspects of yoga have mostly been lost in this modern era. I believe it is mainly because teachers have been selling the body beautiful as the result of yoga practice. It has been a cynical ploy on the part of those who are intent on making huge profits from the teaching of yoga.

If you say the word yoga - asana is what is understood. It should not be called yoga, it should be called exercise! It should not be called "Ashtanga Yoga", it should be called "Jois Workout"!

Not that workout is bad. As stated above, exercise has many benefits. If exercise is all we want, then that is fine. We just should not call it yoga.

Traditional Method

KPJ's system of asana development is very effective but the way he actually taught has mostly been lost today. Many people come to Ashtanga Yoga through video or through led classes and through teachers who never studied with him.

He did have a very effective and systematic method that facilitated dramatic changes in the body. It was also very intense, at times harsh, harmful and abusive. But there was a beautiful method within the harshness - it was a diamond in the rough.

The method was good but the application was often harmful and has led most students and teachers away from a true understanding and elaboration of yoga.

What were the beneficial aspects of KPJ's teaching?

KPJ emphasized a gradual development of practice, a step by step method. On the first day he would only teach Surya Namaskar. When he saw that all the vinyasas and positions had been mastered he would teach a little more. Sometimes a student would only practice sun salutations for a whole week and sometimes if the student was ready, he would teach a few standing postures. Typically he would teach 1-2 postures every 2-3 days. If a student was young and relatively flexible, it would take 2-3 months of daily practice to learn the Primary Series. In other cases it could take much longer - 6 months, a year or even longer.

KPJ taught a number of lessons through teaching asana. He wanted students to go slowly, to breathe well, to not be impatient. He was looking for stability in the asanas as well as flexibility. He wanted to build a strong foundation and saw asana practice as the fundamental base on which to build the other angas of ashtanga yoga.

According to him, the three essential components of asana practice were bodily posture, breathing method (vinyasa) and drishti, or visual focus. If you could not perfectly perform a posture, he would physically put you in it. Unfortunately, he was often rough and overambitious and there was a frequent danger of physical injury. He was also not respectful of physical boundaries and his adjustments frequently constituted sexual assault.

Breathing Practice

In order to protect ourselves from injury and from the discomfort of being touched in ways that were unacceptable, there was the recourse to surrender through breath: he advised us to use "free breathing." Free breathing was one of the gifts that allowed us to relax or dissociate from the stresses of intense or aggressive adjustments.

Relaxed breathing allowed us to surrender to his intense adjustments, which over time rendered the body more flexible.

What is free breathing?

He would often quote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika - chale vate chalam chittam - control the breath to control the mind, or relax the breath to relax the mind. Mind and body are one: when the mind relaxes, the body relaxes. When the body relaxes, the mind relaxes. The link between the two is the breath: when the breath is "stiff", uneven or stressed, so is the body and so is the mind.

There are four nodes of breathing: the inhale, the exhale and a possible pause after inhale or after exhale. Different mental states can be observed to cause varying patterns in the breath and even different personality types can be seen in the way a person breathes.

For instance, a depressive or lethargic person has a tendency to emphasize long exhale (sigh) with a pause afterwards, while a hyper/stressed person has very shallow quick breathing. Some people find it easy to take in information or advice or support - associated with an ease or emphasis on inhalation (absorption - internalization) but maybe cannot give, support, contribute or let go - associated with an ease in exhaling (releasing - outward movement of energy).

Yoga advocates evenness of mind associated with evenness of breath: when we feel anxiety, we hold the breath, it becomes stressed or uneven. So when we were adjusted strongly, KPJ's advice to "breathe freely" helped us to relax and surrender and recognize the link between body and mind through the breath.

This was not the ideal way to learn this lesson! But it certainly was an effective teacher. It was the only way to survive! Pain and stress are great teachers. When everything is easy we can just rest on our laurels, we do not have to think, there seems to be nothing to learn. But when there is pain, we are forced to find a way out of it, a way to reduce or eliminate it.

Eastern philosophy starts out from the premise: life is suffering. Spiritual practice is the way to alleviate and transcend it. KPJ often made us aware of the intensity of our stress and suffering and also gave us the tool to deal with it and to transcend it.

Unfortunately, this also led us to take responsibility for our own pain and to excuse him from having caused any harm.

So free breathing means that the breath flows freely: there is no holding the breath after inhalation or exhalation and it flows smoothly in and out.

Now comes a question: KPJ taught that the inhalation should be the same as the exhalation - if the inhale was 5 seconds, the exhale should be 5 seconds also. In this teaching he departed from the wisdom of his own teacher Krishnamacharya and teachings of the ancients, should we therefore reject this aspect of his method?

There is another associated issue. Every human being is unique. We all have different bodies, different minds, different constitutions, different histories, habits, genetics, aspirations etc.. Since breathing is associated with mind and body, that should imply that each individual will have a unique way of breathing and a unique way to breathe in a healthy way.

Krisnamacharya taught that thinner and weaker individuals should emphasize inhalation whereas heavier and stronger individuals should emphasize exhalation. He also advocated using breath retentions, or kumbhaka, either after inhalation or after exhalation.

Another factor to consider - exhalation is the relaxing breath, whereas inhalation is the energizing breath. Relaxation is associated with meditation and deep peace, whereas inhalation is associated with extraverted activity. So beyond the individual needs of the body mind there is another factor: is yoga to be used for spiritual practice or for health and strength of the body to perform physical actions such as work, taking care of family etc..

Vinyasas

In the specific vinyasas or linking movements between asanas, he also departs significantly from Krishnamacharya's teaching. In some cases it feels as though he made an improvement and in others we have to question his departure from the original teaching.

I have already spoken in some length about these differences here: https://www.facebook.com/aysnyc/posts/1473171029492488

Though we love and become attached to what has become known as the "Traditional" Ashtanga Method, I believe there are some things that we remain blind to. Chaturanga Dandasana is one case. Clearly, many people find this posture extremely challenging the way KPJ and K taught it but I suspect that even those who can apparently perform the pose, suffer physical stresses and pain as a result. I see so much shoulder and neck stress amongst practitioners that I believe is mainly caused by repeating this pose over and over again.

In Krishnamacharya's vinyasas that can be observed in the 1938 videos, jumpbacks from a posture do not go to chaturanga but to downward dog. Although this avoids the challenging pose, it also eliminates the backbend of upward dog, that helps to balance out all the forward bending.

A solution may be to allow the knees and or chest to touch the floor in chaturanga - for sure, this will reduce the intensity of practice, but perhaps this is actually a good thing. Also keeping the head up and looking forward in this pose contributes to the tensions in the neck and shoulders - perhaps the solution would be to look down.

Ashtanga purists will decry these suggestions - but there can no longer be such a thing as an "ashtanga purist" - all that remain will be fanatics and obsessives who remain attached to a way of practice that may actually be harmful.

Pattabhi Jois was also emphatic about both lifting up before jumping back and jumping through on the inhale. Krishnamacharya taught that light people should lift up on inhale and heavy people should lift up on exhale but also taught that jumping through should be done either while holding the breath or on the exhale.

Without a doubt, breathing is at the heart of the practice KPJ taught and this means that we should give it some significant consideration.

Another way that KPJ limited our access to exploring and understanding the breath was the way he taught pranayama. On the one hand he restricted it to the very few who were able to start advanced practice and on the other hand, when he taught it, he made it into something extremely intense and challenging.

This is another big departure from Krishnamacharya's teaching, who valued pranayama, perhaps even more than asana and always integrated pranayama into a student's practice. Maybe he did not think it was necessary or accessible for the boys he was teaching at the time when KPJ was studying with him.

Breathing is the most important aspect of physical practice - as Krishnamacharya said: "If you can breathe, you can do yoga." In fact, Hatha Yoga refers to the balancing of Ha, the breath moving in the right nostril and Tha, the breath moving in the left nostril. Hatha yoga is all about the breath.

I have not found any reference to drishti in K's teaching, but it is certainly a valuable component of practice. I have also tried in vain to find any reference to trishthana in the yogic literature.

The sequences KPJ devised are wonderful and intelligently organized. By following the "traditional" step by step method, the body is allowed to progressively open up and become more flexible. However, some asanas are too challenging for some people in the sequence they are introduced.

If we bear KPJ's suggestion he makes in Yoga Mala in mind - that some postures are not suitable for some people and that other postures should be substituted, the sequences can be a model for developing a practice for any student.

Gatekeepers and Motivators - Initiation of Lifestyle Changes

There are certain postures that act as "gatekeepers" - they present a unique challenge and students are often "stuck" at these points. Poses such as Marichyasana D or Navasana present seemingly impossible challenges to some people. Only with dietary change and intense dedication to practice can they be achieved.

But Marichyasana D and Kurmasana can be impossible for some people even with intense discipline and training. Some poses are impossible or inappropriate for specific body proportions. In such cases other alternative postures need to be introduced and preventing the student from progressing because they cannot do the pose is meaningless or unnecessarily humiliating.

Unfortunately, humiliation was one of the "tools" that KPJ used and is something that has been inherited to some extent through the system. When students were ambitious and wanted to progress, the response was often to tell them that they were "not good enough".

There is value in keeping a student at a pose, so that they can develop the necessary flexibility and discipline to gain mastery over it. If progress is too quick, without mastering the basics, those basic postures are often not achieved.

When effort is focused on the challenge, all the poses that precede that posture improve, whereas, if the postures are not properly mastered and the student spreads their energy over a longer practice that has less integrity, that mastery is never achieved.

This is a subtle point and a teacher has to balance his or her understanding and perception of a students self-esteem and potential humiliation at not being allowed to progress.

I believe that one way to achieve this is to shift the emphasis away from physical achievement and more towards psychological benefits of practice. How much peace and concentration can be achieved through a manageable practice as compared to how much stress and struggle is needed for a practice that is too intense?

Is the goal of yoga something physical or something mental?

Related to the question about effort and struggle is the notion that students should produce a "profuse sweat" while practicing. According to Ayurveda, one should only use half one's strength when exercising and should only exercise until one just starts to sweat - one should not be dripping with sweat.

However, some students start sweating at the first breath of surya namaskar, while others will barely break a sweat doing a full series practice. This is partly due to constitution - vatta types hardly sweat - they also often find it very hard to breathe deeply and with long breath.

Another factor is the therapeutic phase of practice. Sweat is a detoxifying factor. Detox is expected at the beginning but is not necessary once this phase is concluded. However, if students continue to consume food that is toxic to the system, then the detox phase may be ongoing.

Every student is an individual and these general rules do not apply to everyone. We need to consider constitution, lifestyle, habits, aspirations and more.

How much Asana?

There are six series in Pattabhi Jois' asana system but most students will never even complete the first series - are they missing out on something?

Evidently, some students are innately flexible and some are stiff. Asana practice is designed to do two things - to make the body strong and steady and to make it flexible. Flexible students tend to lack strength and steadiness, while stiff students tend to be strong but inflexible.

The are many further questions to be considered such as: How much time should be devoted to asana? Should one practice every day, six days a week or fewer? What about moondays? Is taking time off on the full and new moon really meaningful? Should men and women practice the same way? What about pranayama and meditation (mad attention)?

We would do well to re-consider everything that KPJ taught instead of blindly following the instructions of an individual who was plainly not established in yoga.