Why I got kicked out of the ashram...

Haha, yeah, it happened, I was asked to leave the ashram that I had been staying at for the first 10 days of my stay here in Rishikesh. I don't think I'm banned, or not welcome back, but for the time being, I had to find another place to stay. In this article, I want to explore a bit in regards to what may have led to me getting kicked out of Parmath Niketan, the largest ashram in Rishikesh, India.

Shortly after I dropped out of the yoga teacher training program in Goa, I started looking for another course to join. I did quite a bit of research, and the decision was tough, but eventually, I made a decision. I decided to join the upcoming program at Parmath, due to their serene environment, which is set on the Ganges River on 8 acres of a landscaped campus complete with a huge 3 storey yoga hall, pathways lined with flowers, and an unobstructed view of the mountains. For me, this is what I had in mind when I thought about what an ashram "should be," and I figured it would be the perfect place to do a teacher training course (TTC). Of course, in hindsight, I realize how stupid it is to have these ideas about what should and shouldn't be, but we have to admit, we usually have them anyways.

I found the course on their website, but there weren't very many details regarding what one could expect. Given that the ashram has such a big presence in Rishikesh, I figured they would only put on a top-notch program. What I didn't fully understand, was that it wasn't them who was putting on the course. It was another group, SVYASA, coming from Bangalore, and Parmath was just providing the space. SVYASA, which is basically a yoga university, devoted to the teachings of the late Swami Vivekananda, is somewhat of a mix between a traditional approach to yoga and a scientific understanding of it. They have research facilities, laboratories, and run testing to determine the benefits of certain postures and practices in order to get a better understanding of the ancient wisdom of yoga.

I sort of wanted a more traditional approach, something that would give me an understanding of the 8 limbs of yoga, of which Asana (the physical postures), is only one of and by no means the most important. I already had some basic understanding, but really wanted a TTC experience that would allow that understanding to deepen. Even though I wanted a broad education, I still wanted the asana instruction to be strong and allow me to fine-tune my practice in order to prevent injury, keep myself in shape, and maybe someday even teach. Teaching isn't my main intention, but I figure that by diving in now, I can secure this as a life-long practice and see where it takes me.

What I found though, is that the teachers from SVYASA were very weak in asana, and lacked an authority in their teaching style that made me doubt their expertise. Not only that, but they could not speak English well, and were not able to understand many of the questions posed by students. On the first day, before I had payed for the course, a lot of doubt was arising. Do I really want to pay that much money to these two teachers, who are not at all the living embodiment of yoga, to train me for the next month? The answer was not hard to find, no! So, for the second time, I walked out of my yoga teacher training course in India, and I tell you what, what a relief! Since then, I've been taking different classes around town, and will continue to do so before I go up to Dharamsala for my 3rd and final attempt at taking a TTC. If I strike out again, I'm going back to Thailand, deeming it the wrong time to do a course, and I will look back fondly on all my amazing adventures here in India.

So when I told them that I didn't want to take the course, the teachers were very defensive, and couldn't understand my concerns. I had to then tell the people at the front desk of the ashram, and they said, "Okay, are you leaving?" I told them I didn't know what I was going to do, and the more I thought about it, I just figured I'd keep my room at the ashram and keep doing yoga around town for a while until I found another course. So I stayed for 1 more night, and when I walked past the office on my way to the dining hall the next day, one of the guys stopped me, and asked a bit rudely, "So you leaving today?"

"Hadn't planned on it," I told him.

"Okay, you leave tomorrow then," he ordered firmly.

I asked him if I could stay a bit longer, to figure out what I would do next, but he wasn't having it.

"We have another group coming, they need your room."
"But I have this room reserved for the next 5 weeks!"
"Your reservation only for course. No course, no room."

Hmm, that's funny, I thought, as there are many people staying there that are not participating in a course. That and I had such a great relationship with the staff there up until I backed out of the TTC. So just like that, I was asked to leave, but that's okay, I don't hold it against them, and can sort of understand why, but don't totally agree.

In my opinion, Parmath Niketan would do well to be sure that any groups coming in to run courses at their ashram are providing the highest level of education and professionalism as possible, and to know that they are being represented by any such groups. I think if some of the people at that ashram really knew what was going on with the TTC, they would have a conversation with SVYASA about taking measures to maintain quality and reputation.

Out of the 13 or 14 students, there were about 4 others that almost dropped out after I did, and they were very unhappy with the whole thing. One of them, who was a very experienced practitioner, had a talk with the course coordinator and he agreed to fly in a real asana yogi to make up for the weakness. As for me, I'm glad I didn't have such conversation, because the fact that they allowed such a weakness to even happen in the first place makes me lose their trust, and I have a really good feeling about the course I plan to take next month.

Besides, this gives me the opportunity to spend a couple extra weeks, taking different courses and exploring different styles of practice, before I start my 4 week intensive. Since I'm taking about 2 classes a day, I think an extra 2 weeks will really get me prepared, as everyday I spend here, I feel stronger, leaner, more focused and centered, and more excited about this life changing transformation that I am embarking on!

I also want to add that since I wrote this article, I dropped-in at one yoga studio to a teacher who was wearing SVYASA track-pants. I asked him about it, and he said that's where he trained. I was the only one that showed up, and quickly learned why, he was terrible! He was having me do things that I know aren't correct and can easily cause injury. Although he was flexible, he reflected the lack of understanding of asana that the teachers of the TTC had. In Rishikesh, yoga is everywhere, and it's not always easy to find a legit teacher. So far, I've found a few, but not right away, and I've also had quite a few that were pretty awful. Spirituality in India is big business, and so it's important to question the motives of people who are claiming to be teachers. If they don't embody the practice, it's best to say thanks and move on.

At one point, on the day I got kicked out, I was so fed up with this town that I was ready to just leave and head north to a place that isn't so over commercialized, but I'm glad I stuck around, and have now found a real gem of an ashram. The best class that I've taken now, out of 20, was taught by a Canadian teacher. Go figure! But there is a lot of interesting things going on in this town, and I almost missed out on that because of being swept away by the arising emotions that came in response to being disappointed by so many bad teachers. Again, the level of my suffering was equal to my expectations. I guess, as an outsider, when you think of coming to the birthplace of yoga to train, you have this idea of the best teachers in the world. What you find though, is that there are also hundreds of other teachers, with advertisements everywhere, and it's difficult to determine who is legit and who is just a flexible businessman. Yoga is a spiritual practice, regardless of what it has become in the west, and a yogi is someone who had devoted his or her entire life to this practice.

My time in India seems to be running out, even though I have about 5 or 6 weeks left, and so I will be careful to not get swept away by the changing mind-states that arise in response to all the craziness that is this wonderful country. It's too easy to become judgmental, and to start looking down on things that are going on here, but to do so, would be to miss the really amazing things that are happening. If I have an idea about what a place should be like, I am bound to be disappointed. If I can let go of these preconceived notions, all I an do is explore and find out what is going on. But when it comes to spirituality, I will stay on guard, careful not to let some joker take my money and give me nothing valuable in return. If you've ever been to India, you know exactly what I mean...