April 2006 | Letters to the Editor
From Our Readers...
Yoga and Teachers and Sex, Oh My!
The problem of yoga teachers engaging sexually with students is a problem and your article ("Yoga-Gate: Posing Problems,” March CG ) was a great beginning look. What is interesting is how this is rarely an issue in Pilates or aerobics. In yoga, we project onto the teacher wisdom and spirituality that often isn’t there. Often there isn’t enough wisdom to even keep the student safe from seduction or manipulation. How does a student qualify their yoga instructor as a teacher worthy to open oneself up to for guidance? Just because someone knows yoga poses, can teach them, has charisma, has written a book, and gained a following doesn’t make them a moral and ethical person, let alone a spiritually developed being.
[Your magazine contains] an ad by a well-known meditation teacher who has been accused of being a sexual predator by more than one woman.
As Swami Beyondananda once said, “There’s a seeker born every minute.”
— Josh Lachman, Berkeley
Watch Your Words
I agree with the article, ["Yoga-Gate"], but there may be a different choice of words.
Ana Forrest states that teachers should not “fuck” their students on pages 24 and 25. For a magazine focused on conscious enlightenment, using the word “fuck” is not appropriate. There must be some other way to emphasize the importance of not having sex with students.
— Linda Rae, email
Dear Linda: Perhaps we could have used “f----.” This somewhat Victorian convention identifies the vulgarity without perpetuating it. Readers, what do you think?
Can We Subscribe?
We live up in Nevada City and there is no location to pick up Common Ground anywhere near here that I could find on your location finder. Is it possible to get copies mailed to us? Could we get a subscription? Please let me know.
— Shanti Shivaya
Dear Shanti: Subscriptions are available for $36 a year for first-class delivery inside the US.
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