What Happened to Yoga

昨天下課後，在休息室看到一女正在吹頭髮。
身上包一條大毛巾，梳妝台上擺一條，腳下再踩一條。
頭髮乾了，從捲筒抽了張塑膠袋打包汗濕的衣服。


2樓，踩開垃圾桶丟蘋果核，赫然發現裡面都是一瓶瓶，裝水的、裝寶礦利水得的空瓶。


1樓，冰箱賣著一瓶瓶進口的高級礦泉水。展示區也是一件件動輒3,000元的練習褲、有品牌的運動水瓶。


當然我們不願意別人給瑜珈練習者貼上標籤，認為瑜珈練習者就是應該吃素、能把腳放在頭上等等，我也試著不要用批判先入為主的觀念來看人，但是，老實說，[上課+洗澡] 加起來也許不超過兩小時的時間內就要消耗三條大毛巾，我很於心不忍。


當然，這不關我的事。打掃休息室、收毛巾洗毛巾也不是我的工作。付了月費後館內的設施本來就可以使用。但，這不是誰洗毛巾、或你付多少錢的問題。這是資源問題，你浪費的，是地球的資源，是大家你我要一同承擔的後果。我的於心不忍，有太超過嗎？


就像你知道明明每次來上課都會產生濕衣服，那為何不準備一個可以重複使用的袋子呢，而不是次次都要耗損一個新的塑膠袋呢？你知道你天天都會去員工餐廳拿便當，一週五天就是五個空盒，帶一個便當盒放在辦公室就有這麼難嗎？在課堂上老師教我們「ahimsa，非暴力、不傷害」，過度消費保特瓶毛巾餐盒，難道不是傷害的一種嗎？


瑜珈不是在墊子上綁手綁腳的表演，而是心智狀態、意念、以及生活態度。把這樣的態度帶到生活上，多一點用心讓你和周遭的環境更完良善，少一點功夫表面搔癢，或戀棧於無關緊要無謂核心的事物。


今天讀到 The Boston Globe 刊登的 What Happened to Yoga，很有感而發。我引述片段如下，(原文網址於文末)：


It’s also been “monetized,’’ Syman said. Practiced by celebrities, fitness buffs, and fashionistas, yoga is a $6 billion industry with some 16 million American followers. Many of those millions are pouring into the trendy lululemon yogawear stores — purveyor of $90 yoga mats, $25 yoga water bottles, $40 yoga towels, and other nonessential yoga accessories such as yoga thong underwear and an $88 “yoga mat carry system’’ with a “Helmet friendly design.’’ [So you won’t hit your head with your mat while riding your bike.]
「瑜珈變成可以賺大錢的事業了，名人、健身愛好者、時尚人士都做瑜珈。瑜珈是個60億美元的產業，美國就有1,600萬人練習瑜珈，而其中的百萬人不吝於購買時髦的lululemon瑜珈服、一張要價90美元的瑜珈墊、一個25美元的運動水瓶、40美元的瑜珈毛巾、以及其他更多不必要的商品例如瑜珈丁字褲。甚至還有更誇張的是一組88美元，有著預防撞到安全帽設計的瑜珈背袋，讓你能更輕鬆背著瑜珈墊騎車。」


Even the venerable magazine Yoga Journal, considered the bible for yoga practitioners, has evolved from a nonprofit publication founded in 1975 in a Berkeley basement to a glossy magazine with celebrities on the cover and sexy ads for pricey yoga gear, a trend that’s infuriated one of its founding editors.
連被瑜珈練習者視為聖經的Yoga Journal，也從1975年在柏克萊地下室創辦的非營利刊物，變成一本閃亮亮像有擦唇蜜的雜誌、封面人物是名人、內頁廣告賣著昂貴瑜珈器材的廣告。這項趨勢讓創辦人之一Judith憂心。


“I feel sad because it seems that Yoga Journal has become just another voice for the status quo and not for elevating us to the higher values of yoga: spiritual integration, compassion and selfless service,’’ Judith Hanson Lasater wrote in a recent letter to the editor.
Yoga Journal 創辦人 Judith Hanson Lasater寫信給雜誌編輯說：「我覺得很難過，因為Yoga Journal開始變成跟市面上那些讓你可以表態自己社會地位的刊物一樣了，而不是為了提升自己，進入瑜珈更高的價值：靈性結合、同理心、及無我的服務。」


Yoga Journal’s editor in chief, Kaitlin Quistgaard, said she “completely respected’’ Lasater’s letter, “but we also need to run a commercial venture. . . . We are Americans and one thing Americans do is shop and like nice things. And one of the ways we identify ourselves is having a certain look. 
Yoga Journal總編輯Kaitlin Quistgaard表示，她完全尊重Judith的意見，但是：「經營一本雜誌，自然也需要符合商業的考量。我們是美國人，美國人就是愛購物、愛用好東西。我們美國人認同自己的一個方式就是有著社會大眾期待共同規範定義的一個樣子。」

Her (Wiltshire Cohen ) website makes it clear where she stands on the question. “We believe that yoga studios should act in ways that are consistent with the teachings of yoga,’’ it says. “We will never sell plastic water bottles that go into landfills [because ahimsa means ‘do no harm’]. We will never sell $150 yoga pants [because aparigraha means ‘identifying greed’]. We will never accept offers from companies to promote their gear in exchange for free publicity or products (because satya means “truthfulness’’). We will never brand, trademark, or pretend we’ve made up a new style of yoga.’’

Cohen的網站說的很清楚。「我們相信瑜珈教室的環境應該要符合瑜珈的意義。所以我們不賣瓶裝水，喝完後他們的下場就是垃圾掩埋場，而這不是ahimsa，因為它教導我們"不傷害"。我們也不賣一件150美元的瑜珈褲，因為aparigraha教導我們 "分辨什麼是需要、什麼是貪欲"。我們也不接受免費的瑜珈器材所以這些公司可以有更多的曝光，因為satya教導我們 "誠實"。我們也不品牌化、商標化、或假裝我們建立了一套新式的瑜珈派別。」

另外這位Cohen也講了一段關於John Friend上Time Magazine鬧得沸沸騰騰的一事的看法，我喜歡。但基於不要引起不同派別之爭，有興趣的人自己看吧，我就不翻譯了。哈哈。摘錄於下：

This is a less than subtle reference to a trend that’s disturbing not just to Wiltshire Cohen but to other yoga traditionalists. One brand, though not the only one, that seems particularly irksome is the growing Texas-based global empire of Anusara yoga, a relatively new hatha yoga system founded by John Friend, who teaches worldwide and sells clothing, jewelry, and music. He blogs, tweets, and characterizes himself on his website as “one of the most charismatic and highly respected hatha yoga teachers in the world.’’ Friend was recently featured in a New York Times magazine article, which he noted in a three-page rebuttal posted on his website was “the largest article on yoga ever published in a major newspaper. . . . For me, it is another clear sign that Grace supports Anusara.’’
“The minute yoga is packaged and branded, you’ve lost it,’’ Wiltshire Cohen contends.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2010/10/14/down_under_yoga_instructors_try_to_steer_students_away_from_commercialism_and_other_distractions/?page=3#

The minute yoga is packaged and branded, you’ve lost it,’’ 
真是說的太好了（鼓掌！）