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The question is if Ashtanga Yoga is a cult? I have heard mixed messages about it. Some say that devotees blindly follow Sri K. Pattabhi Jois who is the founder of this group. His classes are very expensive and you cannot become a certified teacher unless you travel to India and take his classes.

See [www.culteducation.com]

This is about the classes taught by Eddie Stern in NYC.

Here is some pieces of one ashtanga teacher`s interview I found in the internet. (I can also post a link if you prefer that)

I would like to hear your opinions. Does this sound like a cult-like teacher or just a harmless guy who has just "lost it" a little bit?

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When we choose the teacher, we choose the style, too?

"Yes. You know, in America, people actually move to follow the teacher. Many people live in Boulder, Colorado, because Richard Freeman is there. Some people move to Encinitas because Chuck Miller is there. They move because of the teacher."

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But then we really have to trust our teacher, right?

"Always trust and respect the teacher, whatever he says. If there is something wrong, then maybe you need to change the teacher. You need to find a teacher that you really like. We should have only one teacher, and of course it would be best if we could just live in Mysore and study with Guruji. But now there are many teachers, and you can fly everywhere and find your teacher and I am sure that anybody can find a teacher, if not for the rest of their lives then at least for many years."

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To what extend is yoga guiding your everyday life?

"I was already a vegetarian when I started to practice astanga. When you get to know yourself a little bit better, then maybe you get rid of some of this hate. Then you maybe start to feel something deeper; I call it a kind of holiness. I think that this holiness is the goal. You start to follow this kind of spiritual energy, and actually you do everything according to how you feel this energy. And I think that is yoga. You start to feel this energy and it is your guide. We can call it God if we like. It is a kind of spiritual guide and you just follow it. It is holiness. You need to find this. It is getting stronger if you follow it. I don't know where it leads you. I really try to be honest with this energy. Being honest is one of the most difficult things.

You always try to follow yourself, cheat yourself even. We could also call it an inner way, com-pared to the outer, physical world. I try to follow this energy. It is nothing else. If I need to read some books, the energy shows them. If I feel something I try to trust this energy. It is intuition also, but actually we say that it is our Guru. We have two Gurus: One is your teacher and one is what you see with your heart. Your heart is your own Guru. So you try to follow your heart, which is also Guru, and also God. They say you should follow your Guru, because your Guru has seen more than you. If he is Satguru he has experienced God. And also you can say that your heart has experienced God, but you just need to find it or purify yourself so you can really feel it. So after you find your heart you can follow it. It's funny: When Pattabhi Jois speaks of Guru you never know which Guru it is. Is it heart or is it Krishnamacharya?"

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What would you consider to be the ideal time for practice?

"Ideal time is between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. That is vatta time, the most spiritual time of the day. Krishnamacharya, the Guru of Pattabhi Jois, used to wake up at 1:30 a.m. When vatta time starts, he started to do all this pujas and asanas and pranayama and chanting. They say he was so loud with all this chanting and ringing bells that all the village was waking up."

Does not anyone have an opinion about this interview? How about you moderator? Does this seem like a normal yoga teacher?

I found worrying the parts where he told that students are following their teachers by actually moving after them.

Also the part "always believe in your guru whatever he says" was alarming.

See [www.culteducation.com]

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Mena
What would you consider to be the ideal time for practice?

"Ideal time is between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. That is vatta time, the most spiritual time of the day. Krishnamacharya, the Guru of Pattabhi Jois, used to wake up at 1:30 a.m. When vatta time starts, he started to do all this pujas and asanas and pranayama and chanting. They say he was so loud with all this chanting and ringing bells that all the village was waking up."

I bet he was popular in his town :roll:

2am - 6am?? Hello sleep deprevation

If I need to read some books, the energy shows them.

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And how about that one? An energy shows him what books to read?

Based on this interview alone Ashtanga Yoga seems something like one should be careful with.