Having read Pankaj Mishra's "Posing As Fitness" book review of "The Subtle Body The Story of Yoga in America", I somehow feel sad that the decline in the ethics of journalism has now reached the New York Times.
The last thing I want to read in a book review are false quotes and misrepresentations of what actually is written in the book the journalist is reviewing. Pankaj Mishra is doing exactly that. And obviously not by mistake but with the bad intention to replace his (questionable) view on the topic with what the writer of the book that it is reviewed has expressed.
What other explanation than such bad intention (except for maybe that he did not read the book at all) can there be for the fact that Pankaj Mishra's falsely states that "Syman writes" in her book that Jivamukti Yoga (among two other popular styles of yoga) is a "new, quasi-masochistic movement" and merely a "a strenuous, calorie-immolating 90- minute workout"? Quite the contrary can be found on page 281 of the book where Syman devotes 3 pages almost solely on Jivamukti Yoga praising this style for yoga for being the "apotheosis of this moment when yoga became sweaty AND RELIGIOUS again". Further down on page 282 Syman credits Jivamukti Yoga founders Sharon Gannon & David Life for "restoring an ancient scriptural tradition to modern yoga" and citing their goal to "bring spiritual substance into the Western lifestyle of shallow materiality."
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I think the interview with Stefanie Syman at http://www.yogacitynyc.com/yoga_week.php again shows how wrong that NYT author is by giving the impression that The Subtle Body is attacking Jivamukti Yoga:
QUOTE: AL: When I was reading about Blanche De Vries, I too thought of Sharon Gannon, and then you mention their similarity later on in the book.
Stefanie Syman: They’re so similar. I was interested in David Life and Sharon Gannon as an example in this trajectory that happened in the 90’s of bringing certain elements into yoga that seemingly had been lost.
AL: The religion?
Stefanie Syman: Yes. And the way they brought luxury into their later incarnation of Jivamukti: the merging of luxury and yoga and making it into a sensual experience. I was trying to understand the moment where yoga started to be trendy and how the fascination with India started up again in our culture. The way Hatha yoga had positioned itself was by shedding all of that, in a very aggressive and explicit way, so it was very interesting to me how Sharon Gannon and David Life were insistent on reinvigorating that. I’ve heard various accounts of that transition, but I felt that if I was too concerned with some of the politics it could drive people’s interest in yoga away. I wanted to be comprehensive. I took people as icons of certain forces, and look at them as energy points and how they intersect.
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All in all I believe that Syman should ask NYTimes to rectify the false impression that Pankaj Mishra has given in his book review.
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 04:19PM
Reader Comments (2)
Having read Pankaj Mishra's "Posing As Fitness" book review of "The Subtle Body The Story of Yoga in America", I somehow feel sad that the decline in the ethics of journalism has now reached the New York Times.
The last thing I want to read in a book review are false quotes and misrepresentations of what actually is written in the book the journalist is reviewing. Pankaj Mishra is doing exactly that. And obviously not by mistake but with the bad intention to replace his (questionable) view on the topic with what the writer of the book that it is reviewed has expressed.
What other explanation than such bad intention (except for maybe that he did not read the book at all) can there be for the fact that Pankaj Mishra's falsely states that "Syman writes" in her book that Jivamukti Yoga (among two other popular styles of yoga) is a "new, quasi-masochistic movement" and merely a "a strenuous, calorie-immolating 90- minute workout"? Quite the contrary can be found on page 281 of the book where Syman devotes 3 pages almost solely on Jivamukti Yoga praising this style for yoga for being the "apotheosis of this moment when yoga became sweaty AND RELIGIOUS again". Further down on page 282 Syman credits Jivamukti Yoga founders Sharon Gannon & David Life for "restoring an ancient scriptural tradition to modern yoga" and citing their goal to "bring spiritual substance into the Western lifestyle of shallow materiality."
--
I think the interview with Stefanie Syman at http://www.yogacitynyc.com/yoga_week.php again shows how wrong that NYT author is by giving the impression that The Subtle Body is attacking Jivamukti Yoga:
QUOTE:
AL: When I was reading about Blanche De Vries, I too thought of Sharon Gannon, and then you mention their similarity later on in the book.
Stefanie Syman: They’re so similar. I was interested in David Life and Sharon Gannon as an example in this trajectory that happened in the 90’s of bringing certain elements into yoga that seemingly had been lost.
AL: The religion?
Stefanie Syman: Yes. And the way they brought luxury into their later incarnation of Jivamukti: the merging of luxury and yoga and making it into a sensual experience. I was trying to understand the moment where yoga started to be trendy and how the fascination with India started up again in our culture. The way Hatha yoga had positioned itself was by shedding all of that, in a very aggressive and explicit way, so it was very interesting to me how Sharon Gannon and David Life were insistent on reinvigorating that. I’ve heard various accounts of that transition, but I felt that if I was too concerned with some of the politics it could drive people’s interest in yoga away. I wanted to be comprehensive. I took people as icons of certain forces, and look at them as energy points and how they intersect.
----
All in all I believe that Syman should ask NYTimes to rectify the false impression that Pankaj Mishra has given in his book review.
Love.
Christian
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