Respectable Re-presentation or ‘Exotic chic’ Consumerism: A Case Study of the Trendiest Yoga Center in New York City

Written by Rachel Flax: 2003

In the last ten years, popularity in the practice of yoga asana (postures) in the United States has increased dramatically. Although there is a long history of American Yoga practices, the number of people currently practicing is comparatively higher than ever. In 1994, a Roper poll found that 11 million Americans do yoga at least once a week and six million practice it regularly. The trend continues to gain momentum; one estimate posited that by the year 2000 twelve million Americans practiced regularly.[1] As yoga asana practice increases in popularity, however, the issue of misrepresentation or misappropriation of this ancient Indian philosophy deserves attention. Is yoga in the West divorced from its Indian philosophical, religious, and spiritual origins because as a result of sacrilegious exploitation? Is it reduced in presentation and practice to an exotic-chic way to get a great looking body? Is the practice of yoga in America completely devoid of its primary goal—liberating the soul from “the corruptions of everyday life,”[2] guiding one towards achieving enlightenment?

If the answer to these is yes, does that mean American Yoga is useless or not worthy of the title “yoga”? I am not quite so pessimistic about the state of Yoga in the America. The individual who engages in ritualistic practice for a long enough period of time will eventually seek to know the nature, principles, and history of them. In chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains, “The mind, when controlled by the roving senses, steals away the Prajna as a storm takes away a boat on the sea from its destination, the spiritual shore. (2.67)”[3] And in chapter six:

“One gradually attains tranquility of mind by keeping the mind fully absorbed in the Self by means of a well-trained (and purified) intellect, and thinking of nothing else. (6.25)

“Wheresoever this restless and unsteady mind wanders away, one should (gently) bring it back to the reflection of the Supreme.” (6.26) [4]

Ritualistic practice, then, is at least a start on the path to spiritual liberation. If the number of Americans practicing asana remains as high as it is currently, perhaps more practitioners will explore, in addition to the physical ones, the greater sphere of healthy, spiritual benefits yoga can offer. In order for this to occur though, if American yoga is going to lay claim to the title of “yoga” with a reference to the asanas of the Indian philosophy, the industry needs more instructors whose teachings are in the same vain as those professed by like Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga Center.

Through a case study of Jivamukti Yoga Center (JYC)—one of the most trendy, chic, and soul-liberating focused centers in New York City (NYC)—I will address how Gannon and Life represent religious and philosophical concepts that originated in India through an abstract and universalized vocabulary so as to cater to their mostly young, mostly white, mostly wealthy NYC clientele. The specific issues that I will explore are: the evolution of various representations of yoga in the United States and how JYC incorporates such representations into their own idea of “traditional yoga practices” in order to live “a modern lifestyle without losing sight of the ancient, universal goal of liberation.”[5] I will question whether and to what extent the spiritual endeavor proclaimed by JYC conflicts or can be in accord with an entrepreneurial endeavor, and if their selling a “brand name” of spirituality contradicts or threatens JYC’s professed intentions.

The adjustments and adaptations to yoga that Gannon and Life have made to suit their audience and environment have led to the creation of a new yoga, Jivamukti. Although their syncretic method[6] parallels similar syncretic developments in the religious practices of Hindu immigrants who have to adjust their religious and social customs by virtue of entering a new environment, Gannon and Life have not transplanted an Indian tradition to the United States in the same way that the Hindu Diaspora transplants religious practices. Certainly, both Gannon and Life and members of the Diaspora have adjusted their practices according to the demands of their environment and practitioners/devotees. However, in the advent of extreme popularity and celebrity status, it is in the increasing commercialization of their representation of yoga that JYC is failing to live up to its intentions. There is a gap between the JYC theory and the JYC practice. American consumerism and spiritual materialism overshadow the challenge that Gannon and Life set for themselves when they began teaching yoga—“to relate the ancient teachings to modern experience without dumbing down yoga practices or sacrificing their original aim, which was always and only to experience union with the Divine Self.”[7]

The Jivamukti Yoga method aims to liberate the soul “from all past, present and future karma”[8] while an individual is living in a modern American society. JYC does this by melding pop culture and religious practices. By incorporating old, new, traditional, and innovative spiritual and social ideas, and transcending differences like religion, gender, and age, the Jivamukti method parallels the practice of Hinduism[9] in a modern American society. As Vasudha Narayanan says, “[W]e must note that in Hinduism as it is practice in this country [U.S.], there is a blurring of lines between domestic, community, and temple rituals.”[10] So too, Jivamukti Yoga blurs the lines of contemporary American culture and Indian traditions as it represents both. In this paper I will show how Jivamukti Yoga is like the Hindu Diaspora in its representation of originally Indian ideas and practices in America. In so doing, I will also highlight the key difference between the two—namely, the prevalence and priority of consumerism and business for Jivamukti.

Ashwan Kumar Peetush writes,

“We live in a polyethnic and polycultural world. There are many different people living together in close proximity. The world is becoming a smaller place…we have to learn new ways of getting along, we have to broaden our horizons. Our interdependence requires the development of a new social fabric that is based on mutual recognition and respect…We can thus try and understand the beliefs and views of other communities, with the future hope of mutual accommodation in mind…”[11]

           In no other city are his comments more apt than in New York City, 2003. This diverse amalgam of people compressed into the space of a single city necessitates an acute awareness of who we are and where individuals with varied backgrounds, religious beliefs, and lifestyles fit into the microcosm of our immediate communities and the macrocosm of humanity.

A crucial addition to such self-awareness is attention to and respect for others’ identities and self-expressions, including what Peetush calls “awareness of misrepresentation and exclusion.” He explains, “This awareness is a constitutive aspect of the social conditions that are required for the possibility of a fair exchange between intercultural groups.”[12] Within the cultural richness of NYC, diversity is acknowledged and embraced through various media—from parades to sites of worship, from traditional dress to ritual activities, to magazine articles and daily personal interactions. Peetush argues that this dialogue “requires that we…pay attention to how we re-present each other.”[13]

This issue of representation is one with which a diasporic population contends. Diana Eck remarks, “Religion is never a finished product, packaged, delivered, and passed intact from generation to generation…America today is an exciting place to study the dynamic history of living faiths…”[14] In fact, the results of a Diaspora transplanting native religious and cultural practices to a new environment prove that, “not only is America changing these religions, but these religions are also changing America.”[15] Indeed, America is a place where the representation of an “other” takes on an additional need for sensitivity and understanding when one group (such as JYC) represents an “other” (Indian Yoga tradition) that is already representing itself (Hindu Diaspora).

As non-Indian practitioners represent the Indian origins and Hindu connections to the discipline, many instances of yoga in America face the challenge of representing something that is already representing something itself. Since 1893 when Swami Vivekananda introduced to the United States his own representation of Hinduism and his version of raja yoga, the issue of representation has become more and more prevalent and complex. Vivekananda stated, “‘I think that the Hindoo faith developed the spiritual in its devotees at the expense of the material, and I think that in the Western world the contrary is true. By uniting the materialism of the West with the spiritualism of the East I believe much can be accomplished.’”[16] This representation of Indian ideology supported the belief that, “the cultural wealth of India could transform the alienated American into a spiritual and yet material being.”[17] In the 1920s Swami Paramhansa Yogananda came to the United States to represent the teachings of his guru Babaji. Babaji had said, “‘although high in intellectual attainments, many Westerners are wedded to rank materialism…India can teach the universal method by which the West will be able to base its religious beliefs on the unshakable foundations of yogic science.’”[18] Although these early representations of “yogic science,” itself a representation of Yoga philosophy, offered yoga as a spiritual fix and a respite from alienation, they did not affect a divorce from inherent rank materialism of American culture.

More than a hundred years ago, yoga began changing America. But today, more than ever, America[19] is changing yoga. This phenomenon merits close analysis; while some non-Indian yogis do maintain a consciousness and respect for how they represent the Indian tradition, others carelessly use it as if it where there own to manipulate and exploit at will, undoubtedly thanks in part to a “beloved marriage arrangement.”[20] Those yogis who do not care to give credit to the roots of the tradition are those whom Peetush would condemn for maltreating the pluralistic diversity of American culture. Those who do respect the long history of yoga and its development, like Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga Center, on the other hand, aim to contribute to the interreligious exchanges that keep this nation thriving in diversity. The story of JYC is one to which Eck would refer in her observation,

“The stories of interreligious encounter remind us that religions are not fixed entities but are dynamic movements…These stories…remind us that our religious traditions are multivocal, that no one speaks for the whole…and that newfound alliances maybe made across the political and religious spectrum…that our religious traditions are constantly influencing one another.”[21]

           However, the story of JYC and the popularity of yoga is a more complex interreligious engagement than most. The second layer of representation—that is, non-diasporic yoga teachers—added to the physical and materialistic components of American yoga practice at least exacerbate the potential to (if they don’t actually) usurp the original intentions of yoga. Ours is a culture largely obsessed with materialism, celebrity status, body image, and style. It is also one in which religious preferences vary greatly. Recognizing the potential for this factor to overwhelm religious goals, Swami Vivekananda said in New York in 1896, “Religion is not the place to look for what is universal…Religion, after all, is a human expression, and religions are as different as our cultures. For our universal kinship we much look not to religion, but to God and to our deepest humanity, which is the soul, struggling god-ward.”[22] Gannon and Life also unabashedly encourage students to look to God, however they do not suggest “religion” (in an institutional sense) as the means through which to do so. Instead, they skillfully utilize the “exotic” (foreign), fashionable, body-sculpting status that yoga has accrued in the service of the true goal of yoga—union with the Divine Self[23]. In so doing, Gannon and Life translate what they believe to be “traditional yoga”[24] into an idiom that the young, hip New York crowd can easily understand and appreciate without neglecting ancient[25] meanings, teachings, and methods. The only threat to their endeavor is their own increasing tendency toward materialism and consumerism. As Gannon and Life gain more and more popularity and their business expands, the Jivamukti brand name is becoming more prominent than the goal that the word advocates: liberation in life, liberation while living.

Before explaining the philosophy that Gannon and Life propound, it is important to outline briefly the basic concepts of Classical Yoga[26] as put forth in the Yoga Sutra attributed to Patanjali (circa the third century A.D.). It is also necessary to look at how Gannon and Life respect the cultural transplantation of yoga by imitating tactics of those representing it as members of the diaspora. Beginning with Vivekananda[27] in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and progressing to Sri Brahmananda Saraswati in the late 1960s, the ashtanga yoga of K. Pattabhi Jois[28] and the teachings of Sri Nirmalananda, and to the trendy hybrid gym-yoga forms of the new millennium, an explanation of how yogic philosophy and practice has evolved through the Diaspora will contextualize the theory and foundations of Jivamukti Yoga.[29]

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that comes from the root yuj, which means, “to yoke.” It is a system of logical meditative practices through which one embarks on a path to spiritual enlightenment. Yoga is the means by which the human spirit reclaims control of itself and abides in a potent state of calm; it is also the goal—union with God. The Katha Upanishad says,

When the five perceptions are stilled,

together with the mind,

and no even reason bestirs itself;

they call it the highest state.

When the senses are firmly reined in,

that is Yoga, so people think.

From distractions a man is then free, for Yoga is the coming-into-being,

as well as the ceasing-to-be. (KaU 6.10)[30]

In the early third century A.D.[31] a sage and philosopher called Patanjali compiled 195 aphorisms, which offer “the possibility of complete psychological transformation…a way to clear the mind of accumulated experiences and memories that bind us to a world of pain.”[32] He explains that in order to do this, one must cultivate dispassion, dedicate oneself and actions to the Lord, and develop pure contemplation. The practical means to accomplish this is ashtanga, the eight limbs, which, if practiced astutely will lead to liberation. The eight limbs are: moral principles, observances, posture, breath control, and withdrawal of the senses, concentration, meditation, and pure contemplation. The undertaking of the first limb, which consists of nonviolence, truthfulness, not stealing, celibacy, and refraining from greediness, is the mahavrata (great vow) of yogic practice. Once an individual takes the mahavrata, one embarks on a path of personal discipline through the observances of bodily purification, contentments, austerity, study, and dedication to the Lord Yoga.[33] Posture is the appropriate positioning of the body to enable effective breath control—steady inhalation, retention, and exhalation. When the body is situated comfortably and the breath is controlled, the mind can concentrate such that the senses sever their association with objects. This state of calm and attentiveness allows thought to turn inward. The final three limbs constitute perfect discipline; they culminate in the ultimate spiritual transformation. Concentration refers to total focus on a single point, meditation is a constant flow of attention on a single object, and pure contemplation occurs when that attention overflows from the object and absorbs the subject, resulting in nonduality.

When one masters all eight limbs, one gains extraordinary powers and knowledge. With these powers, the yogi eliminates all impurities of the mind and infinite knowledge alone exists—the spirit achieves its true identity: union with God, pure consciousness. As a whole, explains Miller,

“The Yoga Sutra is an economical set of mnemonic pronouncements of the arduous course for achieving spiritual freedom, a text that is meant to be learned by hear and amplified by a teachers’ guidance, although ultimately it can only be fully apprehended experientially, through long, continuous practice.”[34]

             In 1893 Swami Vivekananda, a disciple of the saintly yogi Ramakrishna, introduced Hinduism to the American masses at the Chicago’s Parliament of Religion with a speech on what he called raja-yoga, based on his guru’s interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.[35] In 1894 he founded the New York Vedanta Society, where he taught classes and gave lectures on Yoga and Vedanta schools of thought. Miller suggests that, Vivekananda’s “commentary on the devotional and service aspects of yoga supplements Patanjali’s philosophical and meditative emphases.”[36] In 1900 he published a book called Raja Yoga, describing the ‘royal path’, “as both mystical and psychological. It is a form of spiritual discipline based on the cultivation of concentration…bringing the mind to one-pointedness…will lead to clarity and concentration in the realization of God.”[37] The Swami’s goal was to unite religious and scientific ideas of the East and the West. He pleaded for a mutual understanding of spiritual Oneness: Eck claims, “in short…Vivekananda set forth a form of Hindu thought and practice that, he thought, would be both appealing and useful in the American context.”[38]

New York City in 1919 was the context for 22 year-old Yogendra Mastanami’s representation of the first asana practice in America. Although he returned to Mumbai after just three years in America[39] his impact was profound. By the 1930s, Indian immigrants taught Hatha Yoga at large public demonstrations. Americans realized the physical benefits of the practice through the efforts of the Russian-born yogini Indra Devi. She opened a Yoga studio in Hollywood in 1947 where she taught stars like Gloria Swanson, Jennifer Jones, and Robert Ryan. She also trained hundreds of teachers.[40] Following the trendiness of asana practice inspired by Indra Devi, the mid-1950s and early 1960s saw yoga become typical form of exercise taught at the local YMCA. To be sure, with little or no regard to respectfully acknowledge or explain the origins of the practice—what I would indeed call a great misappropriation.

In 1964, Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati founded the Yoga Society of New York and the Ananda Ashram with a goal similar to that of Swami Vivekananda. Before turning his attention fully to the Ashram, he was a medical doctor and surgeon, a background that aided him in his objective to integrate the ancient teachings of Yoga and Vedanta with his medical and scientific knowledge that spanned traditions of the East and the West. Brahmananda emphasized the unity of consciousness, the freedom of the individual to discover the true Self, and the universal harmony of the spiritual, physical, and mental Self as expressed in Yoga and Vedanta philosophies.

By the 1970s, asana practice was so mainstream that a counterculture set out to reclaim the spiritual roots of yoga and reconnect asana practice to Hinduism in attempt to reverse the trend, and proudly represent a more devout form of the tradition. Spiritually focused forms of yoga, like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM), A.C. Bhaktivedanta’s International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) movement, Swami Muktananda’s siddha yoga, and Maharaj Ji’s Divine Light Mission[41] entered the sphere of American yoga. This seems to be what Gannon and Life have in mind with Jivamukti, evinced in their statement, “We hope to encourage you to move beyond studying the various interesting shapes and attributes of the yoga practices and start fitting them back together” in a physically, mentally and spiritually integrated practice. [42]

Despite the spiritually focused reactions of the 70s, an extremely influential asana practice came to America in 1975 through the teachings of K. Pattabhi Jois. Jois introduced an intensely physical asana-focused method he called Ashtanga Yoga. His physical routine links together a vinyasa (thread) or “sequence” of poses with the thread of the breath. Jois learned this method in Mysore from his guru Sri Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya supposedly based his teachings on an ancient manuscript, the Yoga Karunta. Although the author and date of this text is difficult to determine, it is generally accepted as the ancient and original source of the method Jois teaches. Jois focuses on the physical aspect of yoga because, he argues,

By the mere study of texts on yoga, by the mere grasp of yoga’s meaning as a word, by a mere discussion of the pros and cons of this intellectual grasp, one cannot have thorough knowledge of yoga. For just as knowledge of culinary science does not satisfy hunger, neither will the benefits of yoga be realized fully by a mere understanding of the science of its practice…the scriptures only show us the right path. It is up to us to understand them and to put them into practice. By the strength gained through this practice, we can come to know the method for bringing the mind and sense organs under control. Thus can we achieve yoga.[43]

 Jois further suggests that in order to subscribe to the moral principles and observances explained in the Yoga Sutra, one must be careful to avoid illness and obstacles—anything that molests the body, the sense organs, or the mind. The practice of asana brings the body and sense organs under control so that the mind can be the sole object of focus.

Prior to the introduction of Jois’ Ashtanga Yoga method, the Hatha Yoga counterculture in America was retying yoga to its Indian origin—the concept of liberation of the soul—body and mind through a systematic philosophy as opposed to just a physical endeavor. In an article in Yoga Journal, a yoga practitioner of thirty years commented, “‘Back when I first started…[yoga] was very tied to Hinduism—to wearing white cotton yoga pants, taking a Hindu name, burning incense, and having a guru…Now it’s taken on an American patina rather than a Hindu patina.’”[44] The concept of yoga as a body shaping form of exercise infiltrated the American psyche, and now, undoubtedly Americanized, the evolution of yoga is bringing about many new forms. Yoga hybrid gym classes now combine asana with diverse, hip themes, as consumer culture represents and (mis)appropriates the ancient religio-philosophical tradition that aspires to liberate the soul. Instead the main reason for practice and teaching seems to be for the sake of “a yoga butt”[45] and capitalist endeavors. Power-Yoga, Aqua-Yoga, Disco Yoga, and Yogilates are a few of the recently evolved species of American Yoga. According to the President of Integral Yoga Institute Swami Ramananda, these evolutes of yoga practice produce limited benefits because they aspire to limited goals of physical well being, as opposed to spiritual liberation.[46] While these forms of exercise may not limit the benefits for the individual who aspires to obtain a “yoga butt”, if the practice claims that it is “yoga”, such a mundane goal provokes the question of whether the practice is worthy of the title “yoga” if it fails to acknowledge and accredit the origins of the practice.

These new yoga practices fail to credit the Indian tradition and origin of yoga. Although Swami Vivekananda, Sri Brahmananda, and Sri Pattabhi Jois all adapted their methods to suit their American audience, these men respected and worked with the tradition in order to remain true to it while catering their audience. Swami Ramananda continues, “‘If you take that one limb of the eight and you focus on that, play with that, get creative with that, you are really practicing something out of context…It’s important to retain a distinction between yoga in its classical sense and the practice of asana, which, in many people minds, yoga is reduced to.’”[47]

A young Indian woman from CUNY asks, “To what extent is imitation a compliment? And to what extent is imitation (mis)appropriation?”[48] To be sure, her question is relevant to the issue at hand. That is, to what extent is it “ok” for and beneficial (in a spiritual, yogic sense) for an individual to perform a decontextualized and modified posture and call it yoga? An article in a fall 2002 issue of Yoga Journal aptly points out, “When practices get interpreted cross-culturally, the teachers transmitting the form have the subtly difficult task of preserving the essence of the practice,”[49] but at the same time, they have to adjust the practice according to the environment and people to whom it is newly addressed. The lack of attention given to how one represents yoga by those who are not well versed in the basic tenets of classical Yoga is of concern in light of Peetush’s call for a pluralistic, tolerant, interdependent American culture.

Enter Jivamukti Yoga Center. Its founders, Sharon Gannon and David Life, set forth a mission nine years ago, with their “brand name” Jivamukti Yoga, “to reintegrate the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of yoga for Western practitioners.”[50] They are “dedicated to teaching yoga as a spiritual practice, and to reminding…students that they are committing themselves to a demanding mystical journey toward enlightenment.”[51] The Jivamukti method is notable for its classical and pop culture infused syncretic approach to yoga. It is a philosophy that concentrates on the teachings found in Indian texts and the wisdom of Swamis that elucidate ancient ideas concerning yoga. The main texts that Jivamukti highlights are Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and the Upanishads. They also esteem the teachings and inspirations of Sri Brahmananda, Sri Pattabhi Jois, and Sri Nirmalananda—the “Anarchist Swami”.

Gannon and Life discuss their philosophy in Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul. They claim, “Jivamukti Yoga is the practice of internal revolution, of liberating the only prisoner you can really free: your soul.”[52] In addition to reading ancient texts, studying the philosophy, and keeping the goal of union with the Divine Self at the forefront of one’s practice, Gannon and Life, when they embarked on their yoga teaching careers, sought a cultural expression that late twentieth-century America could offer as assistance for achieving their goal.

As artists, inevitably on the fringes of society but in the center of a thriving community of creativity—the East Village in the 1980s—Gannon and Life looked to their tattooed, pierced, and blue- and green-haired nonconformist artist, poet, and musician friends for inspiration. They looked to the music of the Beatles, Van Morrison, John Coltrane, and Bill Laswell. Gannon and Life used these modern icons’ spiritually uplifting lyrics and fusion of Eastern and Western influences together with their recognition of the “essential, idealist nature of the United States…Freedom, liberation through unity in diversity,”[53] to develop and realize their mission.

By the mid 1990s, Jivamukti Yoga Center amassed great popularity. Although a visit to JYC gives the initial impression of vain, body-conscious New Yorkers, the religious focus of the Center is a major factor in its success. In their book they state,

“Yoga philosophy says: Yoga are the direct line to God. At Jivamukti we carry this idea further; we seek to diminish the division between religions by looking for their essential commonality. For example, you can find the essential nature of the Goddess in Mother Mary, Glinda the Good Witch, Isis, and the Hindu goddess Laxmi. They all represent her bountiful, merciful force.”[54]

           This interpretation could be considered along the lines of misappropriation, especially given the fact that Gannon and Life have taken the liberty to translate the yogic path that guides one to the realization of Atman = Brahman as the Indian practice that leads to God realization. However, Gannon and Life’s respect and commitment to the Indian tradition that their gurus (who were representing Indian traditions as immigrants) taught to them, evinced by their expressed devotion and gratitude to these teachers, warrants recognition and kudos. The five elements that form the foundation of the Jivamukti Yoga Method are applicable to any lifestyle. The focus on the aforementioned texts pays homage to the tradition of yoga, its Indian origins, and its religious affiliations, while the remaining four core practices are entirely universal. Students are encouraged to read the Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, Bhakti (devotion) includes understanding, tolerance, and interreligious dialogue. The use of altars, religious pictures, and incense creates a devotional mood. Kirtan (devotional chanting) and japa (repetition of the name of God) occur during a yoga session to reinforce the goal of the practice. Gannon and Life approach the ethic of ahimsa (nonviolence) by advocating vegetarianism, animal rights, and environmental and social activism. A pamphlet with the title, “Animal Mukti” is available at the front desk. The front page reads: “In New York City, 40,000 Cats & Dogs are put to death annually. What can you do to stop these murders?” The smaller print at the bottom of the page says, “Animal Mukti is a landmark clinic founded and fully funded by Jivamukti Yoga Center which provides free spay and neuter services to cats and dogs in New York City.” Music is a crucial aspect of the yogi’s perfection of listening and speech. Nada Yoga, an important element in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, is the practice of listening for the unstruck sound—OM. Listening for the unstruck sound begins with refining one’s ability to listen and hear. Gannon and Life claim that one starts to do this by appreciating good music, which according to them, is music that resulted from pop music artists’ incorporation of Indian philosophy and spirituality into their lyrics beginning in the 1960s. Instructors play songs ranging from the Beatles to Ravi Shankar, from Bhagavan Das and Krishna Das to Sting and Van Morrison because these artists celebrate the “philosophical ideals of God as love, peace, and nonviolence”[55] in their lyrics. At JYC, a variety of music styles and sounds fill a yoga classroom after students listen for and create the sound current OM and engage in kirtan of the chant:

Guru Brahma,

Guru Vishnu,

Guru Devo Maheshvara,

Guru Sakshat,

Param Brahma,

Tasmai Shri Guruvey Namaha.

Our creation is that Guru,

The duration of our lives is that Guru,

Our trials and the death of the body is that Guru,

There is a Guru that is near by,

And a Guru that is beyond the beyond.

I offer all of my efforts to the Guru.[56]

 The fifth element of the Jivamukti Yoga method is meditation. Gannon and Life explain, “We encourage the practice and study of meditation. We feel strongly that without meditation, no attainment in yoga is possible. There is no point in practicing asana, for example, with out also practicing meditation. It must be a part of every…practice session.”[57] Instructors continuously encourage students to focus on the present. The breath too, reminds practitioners to concentrate, to move in conjunction with the breath, to focus on the moment. Gannon or Life also leads a once-weekly, by donation, seated meditation session that attracts a large audience. The Jivamukti Yoga experience integrates the aforementioned five facets—scripture, bhakti, ahimsa, music, and meditation—into the environment, instruction, and practices at the Center. Drawing on the multiple influences heretofore mentioned, and their own creativity they believe that, “art can fill the gap between the yogi in the Himalayan cave and the modern urban practitioner.”[58]

In addition to the five foundational elements of Jivamukti Yoga, Gannon and Life promote the teachings of their Indian gurus: Sri Nirmalananda, Sri Brahmananda, and Sri Pattabhi Jois. Indeed, the foundation of Jivamukti stems from the synthesis of these gurus’ teachings.[59] Sri Nirmalananda was largely responsible for inspiring the ahimsa component of the Jivamukti method. He was the first guru of Gannon and Life and taught them a mantra: “lokah samasta sukhino bhavantu.” Literally translated it means, “May all beings, everywhere, be happy and free.” Gannon and Life make sure that this mantra is repeated in every class and satsang with their extended interpretation, “May all beings, everywhere, be happy and free, and may the thoughts and actions of our lives contribute to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”[60]

Sri Nirmalananda is known by the epithet, “the Anarchist Swami”. However, his definition of anarchy was self-rule by the enlightened Self—personal control of a Self that is free from the tyranny of thoughts.[61] The swami spent much of his life as an activist, despite his ascetic practices. He wrote letters to heads of state pleading for world peace, shunned all animal products for ethical reasons, and embraced ahimsa to the utmost extent in the name of divine worship—enlightened self-rule. In his book, A Garland of Forest Flowers, the he promotes social activism for the self explaining that, “The curse of the believers of religion and politics has been compulsion to convert others to a particular creed or an ideology…Compassion of the heart should be our way, not the compulsion of the mind and the belief of believers which they force on others.”[62] These concepts of activism, ethical awareness, and responsibility for the self are central to Jivamukti, evident in the passage: “Jivamukti Yoga is…our attempt to offer a form of ethical social activism. This activism is not aimed at overthrowing existing governments or even critiquing them. Jivamukti Yoga is the practice of internal revolution, of liberating the only prisoner you can really free: your soul.”[63] On the topic of nonviolence, Nirmalananda says, “When the truth is known, we realize that we are only others in whatever form they may exist…The cruelty which we show others is the worst form of evil which we do ourselves.”[64] With teachings like this, the swami made a profound influence on Gannon and Life and the teachings they now profess.

In contrast to Swami Nirmalananda’s ascetic lifestyle, another guru of Gannon and Life, Sri Pattabhi Jois, showed the two that “the yogi could walk in cities and towns, work in the world, have relationships and families, and yet be free of the comings and goings…the fluctuations of the chittam, or mindstuff.”[65] Jois explains that renunciation was practical in this day and age. He assures that active participation in this world and in this life resounds in the Jivamukti philosophy. In fact, the word jivamukti itself means, “living liberated,” that is, “one who is enlightened to the true nature of being, while still living.”[66] Jois taught Gannon and Life the yoga practice he learned from his guru, T. Krishnamacharya, a disciple of an ashtanga master and expert, Rama Mohan Brahmacharya. Ashtanga Yoga, Jois explains, involves teaching yogic texts along with asana practice. Gannon and Life learned from guruji the ethical and philosophical principles that these texts and asanas describe. They suggest that, “by the practice of yoga, our minds…become focused on finding the path to the Supreme Self, whose nature is bliss. When the mind is not attached to things, such as the objects of the senses, it will be able to dissolve itself into the Self. This is what is known as the state of jivanmukti,”[67] they pay homage to Jois by practicing and disseminating his valuable lessons and vigorous asana routine.

Continuing their spiritual developments and yogic practices, Gannon and Life encountered Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati nine years after they met their first guru. Sri Brahmananda renewed their devotion as practitioners and instructors when he said, with “indefatiguable energy” (despite having endured a paralyzing stroke), “‘You are not the body and mind, although you have a body and mind. You are the Self. You are the Self. You are alive, feel the pulsation!”[68] Sri Brahmananda taught Gannon and Life at the Ashram he founded, Ananda Ashram until he passed away. Although they did not know him for a long period of time, Sri Brahmananda guided Gannon and Life with “his timeless message that we are all beyond the body and mind; we are the vibration of the I-AM.”[69]

Although he passed away in 1993, Gannon and Life still feel a strong connection to Sri Brahmananda and the teachings he left behind. One of the ways they express this is through the association JYC maintains with Ananda Ashram. Each Wednesday night JYC hosts satsang (“association with those who remind you of your True potential”[70]) with members from Ananda Ashram. Sri Brahmananda’s disciples give teachings, tell stories, and mediate a discourse with members of the JYC community—clients, instructors, and staff members. The most popular Ananda Ashram satsang is the first Wednesday of the month when Joan Suval, a senior disciple of Sri Brahmananda and the “Mother of the Ashram” for thirty-five years, leads the discussion. It is interesting to note that Suval, like Gannon and Life, represents Brahmananda’s representation; she is a white woman spreading the teachings of a diasporic Indian Swami. Two additional evenings of the week—Monday and Thursday—are dedicated to satsang in the forms of kirtan (call and response devotional singing) and meditation respectively. All three satsang opportunities are “suggested donation” gatherings at JYC. According to its website, satsang “is the spiritual heart and soul of JYC.” Somewhat ironically, however, these are the least crowded gatherings when compared to the attendance of asana classes. This fact highlights the business aspect of JYC, as opposed to the religious aspect (strictly speaking) with which Gannon and Life are associated.

The above-mentioned three yogas—bhakti, karma, and jnana[71]—are all part of a class session (as opposed to satsang) which JYC clientele pay a fee to attend.[72] Each class begins with the chanting of OM followed by a prayer through which the practitioner offers all efforts to God, the Guru.[73] In the lectures given at the beginning of each class Jivamukti instructors often quote Gannon and Life and their Swamis before conducting Ashtanga Yoga asana sequences. In these mini-teachings the instructor elaborates on a particular topic—the Jivamukti Focus of the Month. The Focus of the Month is a yoga-associated concept taken from the Jivamukti book. The Focus and the teaching serve to contextualize the student’s practice, both in the yoga tradition and at JYC. The instructor will quote the Jivamukti book and further explain the concept in his/her own words using other texts to support the claims. Although the lectures are instructional and provide authentic information, it is difficult to ignore the propagandistic aspect of them. Here again a business and commercial prevalence is evident.

It is this tendency towards marketing the Jivamukti “brand name” and the reality that JYC is a business in NYC that threatens the representation of yoga as a life transforming[74] that Gannon and Life seem to want to uphold. In fact, their book says, “We became teachers because we were driven to communicate something extraordinary about human potential. Our passion is to teach yoga as a spiritual practice.”[75] Although the structure of JYC classes and satsang transfer the Jivamukti method into practice, the other areas of the Center undermine the credibility of this smooth transition. Staff members and instructors with whom I casually conversed did tell me that they feel like JYC is spiritual place more than a business. However, when speaking to them I was constantly reminded of JYC’s commercial aspects. The sound of the cash register opening and the credit card machine printing, the uniform royal blue shirts that say STAFF across the back, and the merchandise at the boutique (books, compact disks, “Jivamukti” brand yoga-wear and yoga mat totes—complete with the Jivamukti Yoga logo!) all distracted me from focusing on my personal spirituality.[76] Additionally, if a client has a “scan card” containing x number of pre-paid classes, he/she is assured a spot in a class that may fill to capacity because cardholders can call ahead to reserve a space. A flyer I saw posted on the bulletin board provided a similar incentive to the scan card option; it encouraged others to refer a friend and “earn up to 5 free classes until March 31^st.”[77] At the front desk clients—indeed, I did hear people at JYC referred to as “clients” significantly more often than as “students,” “yogis,” or “practitioners”—can purchase 16 ounce bottles of water with the “Jivamukti” label for $2 a bottle. They can rent towels embroidered with “Jivamukti” and the Jivamukti logo—a large towel for $.75, a larger one for $1.00. In my opinion, the presence of the Jivamukti brand name—be it on a water bottle, a yoga mat tote bag, a spandex tank top, or a credit-card slip—is not relevant to uniting with the Divine Self.

Not surprisingly, the classes Gannon or Life teaches are always full or “sold out,” if you will. Often they are not even present to teach such classes; for most of the month of March they were traveling to promote their new book, The Art of Yoga. The duo wants to spread the Jivamukti yoga method across America. This endeavor is encouraging for the type of respectful representation of yoga Gannon and Life claim for themselves, but it is also a conveniently business-savvy concept. Although “Gannon and Life credit Jivamukti for the resurgence of yoga’s popularity in the spiritual wasteland of the nineties,”[78] there is a disheartening fallacy with such a claim. The problem with this “resurgence of popularity” is that JYC, Gannon, and Life conveniently profit from it, seemingly more and more as their fames continues to grow. JYC recently increased the price of a membership from $750 to $1,200 a year.[79] They just published a new book, which is prominently featured in the boutique display case. I stand by my claim that this business not fit very well into the framework of the Jivamukti method or as Life says, “the goal…[of] God Realization.”[80]

Other marketing stints include five words on the cover of the Jivamukti Yoga book, “With a foreword by Sting,” and a blurb on the back cover, “As seen on the Today Show”. An article online explains, “For the opening of the new Jivamukti space, a star studded guest list included clients Sting and his wife and Willem Dafoe. Donna Karan donated socks when a publicist contested the expectancy of le beau monde to walk around barefoot (a requirement at JYC).”[81] Although this may be an over-generalized statement, it would not be entirely appropriate to entrust the representation of an ancient, sacred, and spiritual tradition like yoga to the majority of America’s celebrity population or American media-consumer culture.

Although JYC receives a great deal of media-hype and attention, a final example of misrepresentation secures the fear of the submission of JYC to unchecked spiritual materialism. Upon approaching JYC about a research project for a class at Columbia University, the staff issued forth a press kit consisting of a Jivamukti Folder filled with color photocopies of magazine covers and articles on which Jivamukti, Gannon, and/or Life have been featured including: Time Magazine, Yoga Journal, Yoga Chicago, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and multiple New York Times articles. The folder also contains two pages of positive, praising quotes from various mass media sources, brief biographies of Gannon and Life, and a brief description of “Jivamukti Yoga”. That a scholarly research endeavor received media treatment provokes concern as to the order of priorities at JYC—marketing, commercialization, and exposure regarding Jivamukti Yoga representing tradition[82] based yoga for Westerners followed by actually teaching the fundamental tenets of yoga—Classical, Modern, and the Jivamukti synthesis.

Ironically, they proclaim in their book,

“Today…we have become a mute audience: voyeurs rather than participants, consumers rather than creators. We collect, acquire, and hoard. With the growing popularity of yoga, it, too, could be reduced to a vacuous commodity. This is why we emphasize to our student s that their practice must be grounded in humility and selflessness and a striving toward divinity.”[83]

 By explaining the Jivamukti Yoga method one can see the intention of this excerpt, and the truth in Life’s quote, “‘Our project from the very beginning has been to respiritualize the practices.’”[84] However, an increasing tendency towards spiritual materialism and the increasing popularity of JYC overshadows the claim of respectful representation that Gannon and Life profess. Despite their theoretical intentions, the image of Jivamukti Yoga is one of JYC as spiritual commodity—a direct consequence of its popularity and star-studded reputation.

In theory JYC duly represents a practice adapted by Americans for Americans. In practice is it is and it is not. Surely an American representation is appropriately commercial and commodified for the masses. However, it is unfortunate that despite Gannon’s claim, “We’re not just making a living. We have a responsibility and an obligation. It would be easier not to say anything—just inhale and exhale, do this and do that—but our consciousness, and our gurus, will never let us do that,”[85] JYC is a successful, media-hyped, trendy business. Its prominence as a chic spiritual hotspot, a “palatial, three-studio center on the newly swank strip of Lafayette Street directly south of Astor Place,”[86] is changing the type of respectful representation of an “other” that Peetush, among others would appreciate and transforming it into another American misrepresentation.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Cushman, Anne. “The New Yoga,” Yoga Journal, Jan/Feb 2002. 21 Mar. 2003 <http://www.yogajournal.com/views/281_1.cfm>

 

Eck, Diana. A New Religious America. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.

 

Funderburg, Lise. “’I Don’t Have a Problem Representing Yoga.” Time Magazine. 15 Apr. 2001. 19 Mar. 2003 <http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,106207,00.htm>

 

Gannon, Sharon and David Life. Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul. New York: Ballantine Publishing Company, 2002.

Jivamukti Yoga Center: Chants, Mantras and Prayers. Printed handouts for student use in class.

Isaacs, Nora. “Yoga, or Something Like It.” Yoga Journal. Sept/Oct. 2002. 19 Mar. 2003 <http://www.yogajournal.com/views/737_1.cfm>

 

Jois, K. Pattabhi. Yoga Mala. New York: Northpoint Press, 1999.

 

Jolly, Mark. “Yoga’s Big Stretch.” 19 Mar. 2003

<http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/health/fitness/features/2158/index1.html>

 

Miller, Barbara Stoler trans. Yoga: Discipline of Freedom- The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali. New York: Bantam Books, 1995.

 

Mukherjea, Ananya. “Indo Chic.” 19 Mar. 2003 <http://www.makezine.org/indo.html>

 

Olivelle, Patrick trans. Upanisads. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

 

Peetush, Ashwani Kumar. “From Decolonization to Dialogue: Consturcting a New Critical Consciousness.” Hindu Diaspora: Global Perspectives. Ed. T.S. Tukmani. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Lts, 2001:193-212.

 

Prasad, Ramanand trans. The Bhagavad Gita. California: American Gita Society, 1988. http://www. eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/gita.htm 5 Mar. 2003.

 

Prashad, Vijay. The Karma of Brown Folk. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.

 

Swami Nirmalananda. A Garland of Forest Flowers. Bombay: R.V. Raghavan, 1993.