| Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I have been very much encouraged by the rational and well considered posts initiated by Jivasana.
It is wrong to consider the West as morally inferior or less 'spiritually ready' than other cultures. Womens' rights and animal rights, as well as basic human rights are all developments of Western critical rationalism - not Western religion, but Western moral philosophy. And they are enshrined in law in just about all Western countries. This is not trivial, and could be argued as evidence for the West having some form of moral integrity on a cultural level.
What I like about yoga is that it has taught me mindfulness, and psychological flexibility, as well as a sensitive awareness of my physical body. However I gained this through Bikram. I spent 18 months at another studio and all I saw was a cliche social construction of what 'spiritual' was supposed to be: candles, purple cushions, incense, predictable rhetoric etc. The teacher at this studio was anything but psychologically flexible, and was insistent on deriding Bikram as inauthentic yoga. This to me became ironic.
These are just my personal views, and I have to admit that I don't identify myself as a 'spiritual' person although I have honestly tried to in the past. I see so much of what is considered 'spiritual' a product of social discourse and even conformity to some extent. I think that some of the criticism directed at Bikram Yoga stems from some valid arguments around safety and alignment, but some others seem like attacks upon a style of Yoga that is different to what "Yoga and Spirituality is meant to be" - like there is any consensus on such subjective phenomena anyway. |
Bikram yoga less "spiritual"?
