The Jagged Paradoxes of Aghori Babarazzi
In both form and content, the work curated by Aghori Babarrazi presents a jagged paradox, true to his pseudonym, that defibrillates the limping heart of yoga philosophy. His crew consistently speaks for yoga-as-egoic-dissolution—through the most singular and eccentric voice of modern yoga literature. They repeatedly invoke the austerity of complete personal responsibility, while... Read More
How Victoria’s Secret Corners Young Women
I have been overwhelmed by the politics surrounding gender issues in the United States in the last week. Not only are we fighting for marriage equality but, in a related way, we are fighting for women to be seen in a more complete and accurate fashion. Mayhem broke out when Victoria’s Secret CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer claimed that girls as young as 15 want to be like older... Read More
The Magical Thinking of Patanjali
In the following book excerpt Matthew Remski contemplates the historical context of Patanjali’s magical claims to body-snatching, levitation, and superhuman strength. More compellingly, he draws a connection between this ancient mythologically-rich tradition and our modern infatuation with the platitudinal-logic of the various new age spins on manifestation theology: contemporary... Read More
Flirting With Surrender or What Austerity Means To Me
I don’t have a name for what I give away. Whatever Shams gave, that you can have from me.—Rumi Plumbing. I draw the line at plumbing. I am reading Marie Howe’s poem “What We Would Give Up” and considering the question that she poses to her students: “What would we be willing to give up to equalize the world’s wealth?” To equalize the world’s wealth I would... Read More
Reanimating the Corpses of Saints and Gods: Reflections on “Yoga Creationism”
Is yoga an expression of a perennial truth? Or is it a byproduct of our evolutionary history, an adapted response to the development of subjective interiority? Is there some hidden layer of existence that precedes body and, according to Patañjali (strangely), consciousness, referred to in the sutras as purusa? Is the concept of purusa—and the philosophical precepts of realizing... Read More
Does Patanjali Lead to Consumerism?
Does Patanjali lead to consumerism? Are the urges underpinning asceticism and transcendentalist philosophy the very same cravings that are driving us toward ecological disaster? In the following book excerpt, Matthew Remski discusses what he terms “the extractive drive” or the essentialist urge toward purity (fetishistic ideals) and its relationship to body, food, ecology,... Read More
The Punk Rock Ethos of Yoga
In the early 90′s I was a suburban punk kid with dyed black hair and two safety pins through my nose. My proximity to Washington, DC gave me all the cultural inspiration a budding young rebel could ask for. It was the epicenter of the Straight Edge and Riot Grrl movements; bands like Fugazi played low-rent shows at least twice a week. I saw Bikini Kill for the first time... Read More
Remixing the Sutras: A Manifesto for a Changing Tradition
Our dear friend Matthew Remski has been engaged in a vital process of remixing Patañjali-s sūtra-s through the respective lenses of psychoanalysis, contemporary philosophy, and neuroscience—enacting what he claims the yoga tradition has been doing ever since its inception: adjusting, being informed by, and contributing to the circumstances of history that thinking breathing... Read More
What I Hate About Zen
Over the course of my life, since my introduction to Zen Buddhism in 1974, I’ve read many books about the various traditions of Buddhism and about Zen in particular. While that statement may open me to criticism from the anti-intellectuals (and they are rampant) amongst the Zen acolytes, I hasten to add that I’ve never fallen into the trap of thinking that reading about Zen... Read More
Evolution, Creation, and the Faux Middle Path
Earlier this week, my friend and fellow YogaBrains contributor Derek Beres shared a shocking statistic on my Facebook wall: Over half of Americans do not believe in evolution. According to a recent Gallup Poll, approximately 46% of Americans believe in creationism, 32% in “theistic evolution” and only 15% acknowledge the reality of evolutionary processes as described... Read More
