I’ve been studying Iyengar Yoga since the mid-late 90s and teaching since 2001. I’m not a joiner of clubs and such, and tend to feel most comfortable as an outsider, continually drawn toward peripheries and in-between spaces. Even so, I found the practice of Iyengar Yoga so fascinating and compelling that I have devoted more than two decades of my life to it. Meeting BKS Iyengar, and beginning direct study with Geeta and Prashant Iyengar, in 2005, led me even deeper into the Iyengar Yoga world. It has become my life path, my spiritual path, and my path of livelihood.
And now, along with so many others, I am wrestling with deep heartbreak, dismay, and frustration that Iyengar Yoga has made the news this past month due to allegations of sexual abuse. Even though BKS Iyengar has not--nor anyone else from his family--been accused of sexual misconduct, Guruji’s name cannot help but be sullied.
The USA Iyengar Yoga community is especially reeling from the publicity surrounding a beloved Senior Teacher, Manouso Manos. Some say that Guruji should have banished Manouso during the first round of sex scandals, in the 1980s, in addition to the public reprimands and the insistence that he would only forgive him once. Some blame Guruji for Manouso’s alleged continuation of abuse. Some say Manouso, in his aggressive, bullying behavior, was only mimicking how Guruji himself behaved.
I will not deny that I have witnessed, received, and possibly even been the perpetrator of verbal abuse in an Iyengar Yoga setting. To be honest, I really do not recall being verbally abusive to a student, and I have never been called out on it, but I know that in the heat of the moment, when I am deep in “teaching brain,” especially when students are at a critical moment in an āsana, I sometimes blurt things out without premeditation, the same way a basketball coach will yell things from the sidelines at heated moments in a game.
Teaching by shaming is part of the legacy of Iyengar Yoga. It’s not the only method, but one sees it arise in India, at the Iyengar Institute, and beyond. I recognize it as part of the legacy of colonization, as a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a Korean, with parents who grew up under Japanese occupation, followed by American militarization, shame is practically our family surname. It was in the air we breathed, and in my mother’s breastmilk. I know from shame.
How would colonization even work without the tool of shame? Colonized people were taught to disown their heritage, culture, spirituality, values, and resources. We were taught to emulate and envy the ways of our colonizers. Those of us with family and geographical histories of colonization have internalized shame, and under stress and desperation, it re-emerges.
When Geetaji yells at students, and calls them “stupid,” I can hear my own parents at their most frustrated moments, reprimanding us children harshly in Korean.
But I also see and hear Abhijata, a generation removed from her aunt Geetaji, and two generations removed from her grandfather, Guruji, and their traumatic, colonized pasts. Abhi consistently teaches with persistence and patience, grace and firmness, and has never, as far as I can tell, been abusive to anyone.
I have continued to study with Geetaji at every opportunity. I don’t condone verbal abuse, but I recognize where it’s coming from, and take it upon myself to transform it, as Abhi has, into more affirming practices. As such, we are transforming the wounds of our elders and our teachers. We are healing our ever-unfolding pasts, to open into a more compassionate and loving future.
I don’t emulate all the parenting practices of my mother and father, and their parents. I made a conscious decision not to discipline my children with shame. I can’t promise I always succeeded, but as God is my witness, I did my best. After all, when we fail to break the cycles of abuse that most of us have experienced in some form or another, we also fail to transform and heal the wounds of our elders.
Now, getting back to Iyengar Yoga in America, 2018:
If, as some claim, Manouso Manos is taking Guruji’s lead, and bringing his bullying into Iyengar Yoga in the USA and abroad, while mixing it with sexual predation, inappropriate touch, and sexual abuse, a tragic error is unfolding.
Others claim exactly the opposite, that Manouso is a gifted and brilliant healer and teacher, who has saved their lives, even. They insist they have never been harmed by him in all their years of study.
Can we not respect both these statements as truth? Can we practice openness and suppleness not just of our muscles but of our minds and hearts? Can we acknowledge that, although thousands of students have never been harmed by Manouso, some have? Can I see beyond my own limited point of view, and empathize with another’s? Even if only 1/100 or 1/1000 claim to have been hurt, isn’t that enough to take action to ensure that it will never happen again?
It’s incumbent on us, the progeny of our human and imperfect teachers and mentors, to absorb the lessons given to us, and improve them. The best way to honor Guruji’s brilliance and genius is to bring his legacy up-to-date, #MeToo and all. We must uphold his name and teachings with śauca and svādhāya, by purifying the essence of Iyengar Yoga, and with unrelenting self-study.
Our method is one that embraces pariṇāma, transformation. We trust that we never stay the same, but rather, are ever-evolving. BKS Iyengar, in forgiving Manouso in 1990, asserted this belief in redemption and rehabilitation.
Yet, we cannot permit one another to be harmed. When we stand by in silence, we forfeit the responsibility of healing our inherited wounds. We do our ancestors wrong, shortchanging them of their evolving legacies. We betray each other, break trust, and damage community. At this crisis moment, we have the opportunity to provide space for redemption while holding each other accountable through practices like Transformative Justice.
I will not cover up the sins of my father or mother, or of my teachers. I will make it abundantly clear to my children, grandchildren, and students, that they will not hide mine. Instead, I expect those who follow me to exceed me, glean the best of what I have provided, and take it to the next level. We must do no less for Guruji, by striving to become our most gracious selves, vowing to do no harm, burning up the seeds of inherited saṁskāras, and strongly holding each other accountable.
9 comments:
Thank you for this post. As an Iyengar student I have been troubled by the demeanor of the senior lineage, but you have helped me gain perspective
My name is Brian Schuster. I am a student of Manouso Manos at the Abode of Iyengar Yoga and have been since 2001. I have also taught since 2001. I am one of your peers.
One of the topics that you have mentioned in your post from Thursday, September 27th, is "teaching by shaming". I would like to comment on this.
We have to remember that what we are doing is teaching correct action in the asanas. One of the obstacles of correct action is habit. For example, everytime I open my refrigerator, I do it with my left hand. Afterwards, I grab the food items with my right hand.
The type of correction necessary to break a habit sometimes has to be sharp or shocking. Even if I correct my own habit with my refrigerator, I have to say to myself sternly, "Can't you see that you open the refrigerator every time with your left hand? How about you change this time and open it with your right hand!"
If a teacher in an asana class uses their voice sharply, forcefully moves a student's body, or attempts to break down a student's ego, it is only an act of compassion in order to break a habit of that student. One's ego can be an obstacle in that it will protect a habit.
If I encounter a teacher who does not try to break my habits, then I would consider that this teacher may not be helping me in my path.
One thing that Manouso has mentioned is that there are three types of ways of parenting. You can parent like the monkey, where the monkey carries, holds, and nurtures the young for a period of time.
You can parent like the dog, where the mother will bite the young when needed.
You can parent like the fish, where the mother abandons the young and the young is left to fend for themselves.
I have experienced these three forms of his teaching in my almost two decades of studying with him.
I would say that "teaching by shaming" is a form of parenting like the dog. It is just one way of teaching.
Additionally, if we teach the same set of students for multiple decades and the students continually show up with the same habits, then it follows that the teacher may need to use a sharp word, shock, or slap to break a habit that is unbroken for multiple decades. So in the beginning we may teach nicely with nice words, but at some point we actually need to help the people in front of us to learn correct action.
Those of us who have suffered abuse of any kind in our most vulnerable years do not heal with sharp words and shame. Full stop
Brian,
I appreciate your words but I think this shaming or harshness can go wrong very very fast. Why don’t you challenge yourself to approach these students you are referring to in a different way? See if you cannot only teach them the correct action in the pose with intelligence but also with compassion and understanding. I have had teachers who have taken both approaches and I ultimately learned much more from the compassionate teacher. For example, one time I was in a teacher training program and we were timing our teaching of a pose. I started off teaching and 18 minutes later I finished. We were supposed to teach the pose in 6 minutes. I had NO idea I had gone on that long. The teacher berated me and shouted at me for the next five minutes asking me when I was going to get serious. Cut to a few months later I was in another teacher training and I did the same thing…. I just couldn’t figure it out. However, this teacher broke down into components exactly I was doing that kept me from teaching in a reasonable time. For instance, I was not being concise, my demo was to long…etc. I incorporated these points quickly and my timings improved. As teachers we have to remember when we are “teaching” and if the student isn’t getting it - it may be our teaching and not the student. A poor instruction does not improve by yelling it louder.
I grew up with tremendous abuse. I have no tolerance for “shaming” or abuse from my teachers. In 17 years of study with Manouso Manos, he has helped me see which of my fears may be overcome by discriminative discernment, skillful action, and which fears I may live with so that I may be a better teacher. I have never seen him shame anyone.
I had taken over 100 classes with B.K.S. Iyengar. I also had some classes with Prashant and Geeta. This was in the early 1980s. I do not recall a single instance when one of them was abusive in any way.
Yes, there were times when Guruji expressed his frustration. This happened rarely and he never ridiculed anyone. He did kick sometimes but it was playful and never intended to hurt. The only time I was hit was with the 2-inch rope that he used as a prop. However, he knew how to use it; I did not feel any pain. It was a gentle swat, followed by a loud guffaw. I laughed, as well. I am not defending or excusing his behavior as there was nothing abusive about it.
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