List of modern yoga gurus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern guru-follower relationship is not secretive, not exclusive, and does not necessarily involve a tradition. Many such gurus, but not all, teach a form of yoga as exercise; others teach forms which are more devotional or meditational; many teach a combination. Several have been affected by scandals of various kinds.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Newcombe, Suzanne (2017). "The Revival of Yoga in Contemporary India" (PDF). Religion. 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedias. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.253. ISBN 9780199340378.
- ↑ Wagner, Paul (30 May 2019). "Sri Anandamayi Ma: The Perfect, Profound and Mysterious Flower". Gaia. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
The Non-organized, Non-Proclaimed Guru
- ↑ "Anandamayi Ma". Om-Guru. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
Though she was never formally initiated by a guru, one evening she spontaneously performed her own initiation, visualizing both the ritual scene and movements. Simultaneously, she heard the chanting of initiatory sacred words (mantras) inwardly.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 38–59.
- ↑ Chaama, Sridhar (16 August 2012). "Remembering a guru". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ↑ Hatfield, Julie (23 April 1996). "Yoga on steroids, or feel the yearn Health: Practitioners say they get sweat and a sense of calm out of Ashtanga, a vigorous series of postures that looks conventional, but a lot faster". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
Beryl Bender Birch, author of the book "Power Yoga" and generally regarded as the ultimate power yoga guru.
- ↑ Shearer 2020, p. 210.
- ↑ Syman 2010, p. 260.
- ↑ Stukin, Stacie (15 July 2020). "Yogi Bhajan Turned an L.A. Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse". Los Angeles Magazine.
- ↑ "A New Report Details Decades of Abuse at the Hands of Yogi Bhajan". Yoga Journal. 15 August 2020.
- ↑ "Tantric yoga guru Gregorian Bivolaru charged with human trafficking". The Guardian. 28 November 2023.
- ↑ Szaniecki, Maya; Tanno, Sophie (3 December 2023). "French police arrest yoga guru in connection with alleged rape, human trafficking and kidnapping scheme". CNN News.
- ↑ "France arrests yoga guru Gregorian Bivolaru on suspicion of indoctrinating followers for sexual exploitation". CBS News. 29 November 2023.
- ↑ Redactia Hotnews (14 June 2013). "VIDEO Gregorian Bivolaru, condamnat definitiv la sase ani de inchisoare pentru acte sexuale cu minori si trafic de persoane". www.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ↑ "'I found myself at the centre of a trafficking ring'". BBC Home. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ↑ Ionita, Raluca. "Amanare din lipsa de procedura in dosarul liderului MISA, Gregorian Bivolaru". Romania Online (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Suar, Swati Snigdha (18 June 2015). "Meet India's 10 most renowned yoga gurus". Rediff.com.
- 1 2 3 Jain 2015, p. 66.
- 1 2 Park, Tosca (11 February 2015). "Modern Yoga: Turning a Blind Eye on Sexual Abuse Allegations?". Yoga Basics.
Other yoga masters have also been involved in sexual abuse scandals with their students, notably, Kausthub Desikachar, Sai Baba, Swami Shyam, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Rama, Swami Muktananada, and Amrit Desai.
- ↑ Godwin, Richard (18 February 2017). "'He said he could do what he wanted': the Scandal that Rocked Bikram Yoga". The Guardian.
- ↑ Griswold, Eliza (23 July 2019). "Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of #MeToo". The New Yorker.
- 1 2 Leviton 1990, pp. 123–124.
- 1 2 Jones & Ryan 2007, pp. 124–125, Desai, Guru Amrit.
- ↑ Beck, Phillipa (4 December 2019). "Power and Prana: When Yoga Leads to Abuse". Retrieved 17 August 2021.
Amrit Desai was the spiritual head of Kripalu from the 1970s until his abrupt departure in 1994. The charismatic, kundalini-raising guru was a master at creating a powerful, direct experience of prana, or life-force energy
- ↑ Goldberg, Ellen. "Amrit Desai and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health" in Gleig & Williamson 2013, pp. 63–86
- ↑ Jones & Ryan 2007, p. 237, Kripalu Yoga.
- ↑ Cushman, Anne; Montgomery, Lizette (February 1995). "Yogi Desai Resigns From Kripalu". Yoga Journal (January/February 1995): 40, 42.
- ↑ Schneider 2003, p. 116.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 210–233.
- ↑ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (29 March 2012). "Scandal contorts future of John Friend, Anusara yoga". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, p. 210.
- ↑ Gilbert, Sophie (19 September 2000). "At last: a guru for the impatient". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ↑ Sloane, Carly (24 May 2019). "Celebrity Yoga Guru Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa Explains Why Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Miranda Kerr and More Stars Love Her Style of Teaching". US Magazine. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ↑ Pechilis, Karen (2004). "Gurumayi, the Play of Shakti and Guru". The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States. Oxford University Press. pp. 219–243. ISBN 0-19-514538-0.
- ↑ Williamson, Lola. "Swamis, Scholars, and Gurus: Siddha Yoga's American Legacy" in Gleig & Williamson 2013, pp. 87–114
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Yoga Day Special: India's 7 most renowned Yoga Gurus who redefined Yoga internationally". India TV News. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chetan, Mahesh (5 March 2017). "10 Most Inspiring Yoga Gurus of India". Indian Yoga Association. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 122–146.
- 1 2 Syman 2010, p. 278.
- 1 2 Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 283–307.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 107–121.
- ↑ Shearer 2020, p. 211.
- 1 2 3 De Michelis 2004, pp. 187–189.
- ↑ Rosman, Katherine (8 November 2019). "Yoga Is Finally Facing Consent and Unwanted Touch". The New York Times.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 83–106.
- ↑ Jones & Ryan 2007, pp. 33–34, 247.
- ↑ "Kriyananda: An American yoga guru who loved India (Tribute)". Business Standard. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ↑ Mattson, Doug (30 October 2002). "Jury: Copyrights violated by church". The Union. Grass Valley, California.
- ↑ "$1 million judgment against swami". Palo Alto Weekly. Palo Alto, California. 27 February 1998.
- ↑ Goa, Helen (10 March 1999). "Sex and the Singular Swami". San Francisco Weekly.
- 1 2 "15 Yoga Gurus That Are Empowering The World Through Social Media". Influence Digest +. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 190–211.
- ↑ Safransky, Sy (July 1976). "An Interview With Swami Muktananda". The Sun Magazine. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
Muktananda was said to be a living saint, a perfectly realized human being, a sadguru — the highest of gurus.
- ↑ Syman 2010, pp. 242, 260, 278.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 190–209.
- ↑ Harris, Lis (14 November 1994). "O Guru, Guru, Guru". The New Yorker. pp. 92–93. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ↑ Lewis, James R.; Tollefsen, Inga B. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II. Oxford University Press. p. 293. ISBN 9780190466190.
A few female gurus have gained international recognition... Sahaja Yoga's guru, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.
- ↑ Webster, K. (December 1990). "The case against Swami Rama of the Himalayas". Yoga Journal.
- ↑ Charet, F. X. "Ram Dass: The Vicissitudes of Devotion and Ferocity of Grace" in Gleig & Williamson 2013, pp. 15–40
- ↑ Vaucher, Andréa R. (2013). "America's Guru: Ram Dass at 82". Tricycle Magazine (Winter 2013). Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ↑ Narain, Priyanka Pathak (31 July 2017). "How Baba Ramdev became the Guru of Yoga Programming on Indian TV". Firstpost. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ↑ Jain 2015, p. 67.
- 1 2 Landau, Meryl Davids (February 2012). "In Times of Scandal". Elephant Journal. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
Here I was, eager to learn yogic principles like nonharming and truthfulness, while Swami Satchidananda, the guru at the head of this teaching center, was being accused of harming and lying aplenty. I don't know if the accusations were ever proven, but the disciple who claimed she'd had a longstanding, not-really-welcome sexual relationship with the supposedly celibate swami was pretty convincing
- ↑ Syman 2010, p. 261.
- ↑ Hammond, Holly; Cushman, Anne (January 1992). "Satchidadanda Controversy Heats Up". Yoga Journal (102): 18.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 261–279.
- ↑ "Sathya Sai Baba: Guru and philanthropist who was revered by millions but whose career was dogged by controversy". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
With 1,200 ashrams in more than 100 countries, the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba was seen as a reincarnation of god by his devotees, who included prime ministers and presidents of India, business magnates, film stars, artists and world-class sportsmen and sportswomen, who all gave generously to his social welfare projects.
- 1 2 "'Secret' sex shakes yoga school", Keith Platt, Mornington Peninsula News, 20 January 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- 1 2 "Guru sex scandal at Mt Eliza yoga retreat", Miki Perkins, The Age, 20 January 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- 1 2 Kaur, Ishleen (15 June 2021). Guru: Living a lie (Podcast). Guru: Yoga - Power - Abuse. BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 17–37.
- ↑ Syman 2010, p. 59.
- ↑ Singleton & Goldberg 2014, pp. 60–79.
Sources
- De Michelis, Elizabeth (2004). A History of Modern Yoga : Patañjali and Western Esotericism. Continuum Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8264-8772-8. OCLC 51942410.
- Gleig, Ann; Williamson, Lola, eds. (2013). Homegrown Gurus: from Hinduism in America to American Hinduism. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-4792-6. OCLC 862746284.
- Jain, Andrea (2015). Selling Yoga: from Counterculture to Pop Culture. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-939024-3. OCLC 878953765.
- Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Alt URL
- Leviton, Richard (March–April 1990). "Yoga in America: The First 100 Years". Yoga Journal (91): 40–.
- Schneider, Carrie (2003). American Yoga: The Paths and Practices of America's Greatest Yoga Masters. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-0-7607-4558-8.
- Shearer, Alistair (2020). The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West. London: Hurst Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78738-192-6.
- Singleton, Mark; Goldberg, Ellen (2014). Gurus of Modern Yoga. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199938728.
- Syman, Stefanie (2010). The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-23676-2.
