Comments on: Very Cool Article In The Economist About Pattabhi Jois http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/ Featuring daily updates on topics like the Santa Barbara yoga scene, the yoga world in general, health & nutrition, food, progressive politics, compelling thoughts and ideas, and total randomness. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:30:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Nickey http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-3037 Nickey Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:32:21 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-3037 Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success. Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.

]]> By: admin http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-197 admin Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:30:50 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-197 With all due respect ( :) ), we find the debate taking place here quite compelling. We appreciate all of your thoughts, and are super thankful to Andreas for engaging. Andreas' piece in The Economist was absolutely intended for a broad audience, and we respect its candidness and honesty. (And we are quite connected to the Ashtanga scene ourselves and have been practicing this form of yoga for years.) If the article happened to point out some of the controversies surrounding Jois, it also offered much appreciation for his accomplishments and influence. We do understand, though, that reflecting on a person's life, especially a public figure whom many consider to be their spiritual guru, can certainly be a sensitive issue for some. With all due respect ( :) ), we find the debate taking place here quite compelling. We appreciate all of your thoughts, and are super thankful to Andreas for engaging. Andreas’ piece in The Economist was absolutely intended for a broad audience, and we respect its candidness and honesty. (And we are quite connected to the Ashtanga scene ourselves and have been practicing this form of yoga for years.) If the article happened to point out some of the controversies surrounding Jois, it also offered much appreciation for his accomplishments and influence. We do understand, though, that reflecting on a person’s life, especially a public figure whom many consider to be their spiritual guru, can certainly be a sensitive issue for some.

]]> By: Andreas http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-194 Andreas Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:41:41 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-194 I feel pressure to start with: "With all due respect..." BTW, I actually DO respect your view, Jennifer. But I want to make two points: 1) you say that these criticisms are "well worn" and "familiar to most/all practicing Ashtangis". Well, yes, that they are. But when I write in The Economist (as opposed to this blog, say) I don't write for Ashtangis. I write for people who almost certainly have never heard of him. 2) You say that "an obituary is not the correct place to air such opinions". And why not? In the yoga crowd, there seems to be this perception that obituaries are meant to be gushing eulogies, if not hagiographies. We don't do that at The Economist. Because it would be ... boring! We want to be incisive, challenging, cheeky, humorous, irreverent and fair. That's my dharma as a journalist, and I try to do my dharma as Arjuna did his. ;) (You would, too.) I feel pressure to start with: “With all due respect…”

BTW, I actually DO respect your view, Jennifer. But I want to make two points:

1) you say that these criticisms are “well worn” and “familiar to most/all practicing Ashtangis”. Well, yes, that they are. But when I write in The Economist (as opposed to this blog, say) I don’t write for Ashtangis. I write for people who almost certainly have never heard of him.

2) You say that “an obituary is not the correct place to air such opinions”. And why not? In the yoga crowd, there seems to be this perception that obituaries are meant to be gushing eulogies, if not hagiographies. We don’t do that at The Economist. Because it would be … boring! We want to be incisive, challenging, cheeky, humorous, irreverent and fair. That’s my dharma as a journalist, and I try to do my dharma as Arjuna did his. ;)
(You would, too.)

]]> By: BJ Galvan http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-193 BJ Galvan Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:27:17 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-193 With all due respect, and in deepest heartfelt honor to the legacy and tradition Guruji left in his wake, and in honor of the litany of expressions and offshoots of hatha yoga practices that have emanated from Ashtanga, the truth is the truth, and sometimes is hurts. With all due respect, and in deepest heartfelt honor to the legacy and tradition Guruji left in his wake, and in honor of the litany of expressions and offshoots of hatha yoga practices that have emanated from Ashtanga, the truth is the truth, and sometimes is hurts.

]]> By: Jennifer http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-192 Jennifer Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:14:32 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-192 With all due respect, feel that the article was unnecessarily harsh in tone and imbalanced. These well worn criticisms of Pattabhi Jois will be familiar to most/all practicing ashtangis. Debate is important and as yogis we must be aware of our teachers shortcomings. An obituary is not the correct place to air such opinions; Pattabhi Jois has revolutionised yoga and the scope of his influence reaches into towns and cities worldwide through his method and the derivatives of power yoga, vinyasa flow. This is his legacy. As such he deserves better than this lopsided article. With all due respect, feel that the article was unnecessarily harsh in tone and imbalanced. These well worn criticisms of Pattabhi Jois will be familiar to most/all practicing ashtangis. Debate is important and as yogis we must be aware of our teachers shortcomings. An obituary is not the correct place to air such opinions; Pattabhi Jois has revolutionised yoga and the scope of his influence reaches into towns and cities worldwide through his method and the derivatives of power yoga, vinyasa flow. This is his legacy. As such he deserves better than this lopsided article.

]]> By: admin http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-195 admin Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:55:54 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-195 Hi Andreas! Thanks so much for saying hello, and for sharing this fascinating link with us. We really appreciated the behind-the-scenes peek into editing practices at a major publication like The Economist. We found all three drafts of your piece to be informative and interesting, but we could definitely see the difference in emphases between them. And we learned some extremely interesting facts which didn't make it into the final version of your piece - like the alleged disappointment that Krishnamacharya felt upon seeing Jois' method years later. So intriguing! If you write more on the topic of yoga, we'd love to read it. :) Drishti Hi Andreas! Thanks so much for saying hello, and for sharing this fascinating link with us. We really appreciated the behind-the-scenes peek into editing practices at a major publication like The Economist. We found all three drafts of your piece to be informative and interesting, but we could definitely see the difference in emphases between them. And we learned some extremely interesting facts which didn’t make it into the final version of your piece – like the alleged disappointment that Krishnamacharya felt upon seeing Jois’ method years later. So intriguing! If you write more on the topic of yoga, we’d love to read it.
:) Drishti

]]> By: Andreas http://drishtiyoga.com/ashtanga-yoga/very-cool-article-in-the-economist-about-pattabhi-jois/comment-page-1/#comment-196 Andreas Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:44:32 +0000 http://drishtiyoga.com/blog/?p=1054#comment-196 Glad you liked it, and thanks! I'm the author of that article in The Economist. In case you’re interested, there was quite a bit of back an forth between my editor and me on this (which is unusual at The Economist), and if you want to follow the different versions, I blogged about the process <a href="http://andreaskluth.org/2009/06/04/a-peek-inside-editing-at-the-economist/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Namaste Glad you liked it, and thanks! I’m the author of that article in The Economist.

In case you’re interested, there was quite a bit of back an forth between my editor and me on this (which is unusual at The Economist), and if you want to follow the different versions, I blogged about the process here.

Namaste

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