| hbkta@aol.com 2005-08-07, 6:03 pm |
|
omjaroo wrote:
>
> Ahh, a thinker. This is the hallmark of a jnani :-)
>
>
> I appreciate your reasoning. I would agree. I think it is important for
> us to take personal responsibility and contribute and pay our way in
> the world.
>
>
> Notwithstanding what I said above, sometimes I find one of the hardest
> things to do is to =E2=80=9Caccept=E2=80=9D a gift from someone. I want t=
o pay them
> in kind because I do not want to feel =E2=80=9Cindebted=E2=80=9D to them
This line of reasoning is also used by some yoga teachers,
they think that they need to get some sort of exchange for their
teaching,
else they will create indebtedness of the student to them, a karmic
debt.
Seems a bit self serving, with regards to filling one's wallet, to me,
When, the one who gives is Brahma,
and, the one who recieves is Brahma,
and, the action of giving is Brahma,
and, that which is given is Brahma,
where is the possibility of any karmic debt?
who is indebted to who?
the one who receives some yoga teaching
or, the one to whom the opportunity to serve, Brahma in the form of the
student, is given.
just Brahma interacting with Brahma.
> and
> therefore, vulnerable. This fear or distrust is a real poison in human
> relationships. Because it disallows the person giving the joy of giving
> as well as the joy of having a gift freely and gladly accepted. In
> addition any inability to =E2=80=9Caccept=E2=80=9D will work against us i=
n our
> quest for Yoga (union) because by its very nature Yoga is a profound
> form of acceptance of the mental, physical and spiritual realms.
>
, it =E2=80=A8>behooves me to ensure that its available. a teacher who is s=
tarving, or =E2=80=A8>endangered by living in the streets, or arrested for =
being naked in public =E2=80=A8>will not be available to me. i know this is=
selfish, but sometimes selfish =E2=80=A8>is reasonable.[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Selfish? I would call that pragmatic :-) After all in the highly
> developed nations there is little or no context for a teacher to
> =E2=80=9Cgive away=E2=80=9D teaching as a fulltime avocation. Where as in=
India a
> naked sadhu may be revered and cared for by total strangers, here as
> you suggest they would be jailed and/or medicated :-( The poster who
> made the comment that he has taught yoga free for 30 years, still
> required a paid job to support himself while he did so. I suspect that
> is just how it has to be done here unless you align yourself with a
> yogic community.
>
> Implicit in this idea of supporting one=E2=80=99s self while teaching yoga
> has to be the question of whether one should charge to teach yoga its
> self. Then that takes me back to; it depends on whether you are
> teaching yoga in its original design as a striving for God Union or as
> a commercial fitness, stress reduction or weight loss, product. But
> then this begs the question, but what about the person who is attracted
> to yoga as a =E2=80=9Cproduct=E2=80=9D and as a result of practicing the
> =E2=80=9Cproduct=E2=80=9D becomes aware of yoga=E2=80=99s true purpose? B=
ut for the
> commercial product being available they might not have realized the
> spiritual benefits=E2=80=A6
>
> Then again either the teacher is aware of the true purpose or they are
> not. I still think, the teacher that is aware, ought not sell yoga but
> rather support themselves in some other fashion and leave their yoga
> teaching motives pure and resolute.
>
> Bottom line for a =E2=80=9Cseeker=E2=80=9D of Truth. If you are paying an=
y more
> then a nominal or cost basis fee for yoga instruction this is probably
> not a =E2=80=9Cspiritually=E2=80=9D centered program. I believe the Truth=
will
> always be =E2=80=9Cfree=E2=80=9D in any regard and especially in yoga. As=
long as
> =E2=80=9Ctelling the truth=E2=80=9D is subject to commercial concerns the=
n there is
> always the possibility (likelihood) the Truth will be bent for those
> concerns.
>
>
>=20
> Me too=E2=80=A6 but that=E2=80=99s what jnanis do.:-)
>=20
> Jared
>=20
> Namaste
|