The rise of the “Evangelizing Yoga Colonialist”.
There is a huge problem with men whose childhood has been marred by low esteem or the lack of adequate positive nurturing. As these men age, they over compensate and a trait appears which is identifiable as narcissism… and they remain ‘man child”.
This phenomenon is particularly widespread in post colonial societies, especially with white men where this narcissism becomes compounded with neo colonialism. The third development of note is their increasing presence in the world of Yoga.
In all teaching spaces, if what is written or being preached is filled with ‘I/me” references, run a mile, a narcissist is present and your well being is in danger. Caste your mind back to your school days, how much time did your teachers spend talking about themselves? The best teachers spoke about the subject 90%, you 9% and themselves 1% if at all.
The second red flag is the supposed subject of teaching or scrutiny. If this person is poking around in a first nations traditions, with an undercurrent of assumed entitlement or a seam of disrespect, run faster because he has already assumed a position of arrogance, superiority and entitlement and that will be the ground of all of his relationships, including with you. Remember the first group of people who were suppressed by white narcissistic men were white women … remember the Sufragettes chaining themselves to railings to be able to vote? Jai Devi Durga shkati!
The same power structures are still in place, and history bears witness to the fact that whenever such white narcissistic men “own the rules”, humanity has suffered. If this white “man child” is present you will see him desperate to ‘own the rules’ … look around you.. who wants to “regulate yoga” ? It’s more about control and the “white narcissistic man child” will do anything to prevent women and blacks from being “out of control”. We all know that a genuine yogin and yogini is a free spirit on the way to becoming a force of nature… and with yoga being a ‘darkie science’ empowering women especially white women, it’s the ‘white narcissistic manchilds” worst nightmare.
Of course, the fact that the self appointed Matthew Remski and YA in the US, and Paul Fox of the BWY in the UK, are deeply troubled by the need for Public safety at precisely the same time is merely coincidence and hardly noteworthy. Isn’t it so nice of them to be so troubled about our safety and on our behalf? Galloping in on their white stallions, saving all those predominantly white middle class women from the dangers of darkie Yoga… and isn’t it so kind if them to go to such lengths to teach Hindus that their ancestral tradition is “nothing to do with Hinduism? Only last year the ‘Institute of the Great White Man Saviours’, otherwise known as the Church, desperately seeking to protect its global monopolistic franchisees, was declaring Yoga as Satanic…. that lie failed miserably and so white Christians appropriated it and it became Christian Yoga, controlled by the institute with their own White Jesus firmly installed as principle diety, in the greatest act of cultural appropriation and with white women becoming safe and ‘under control’ again. Hallelujah!
Of course their motives are pure, or at least they have convinced themselves of that. Isn’t it just what the world needs right now, more white man saviours?
Beware especially the presence of the white male yoga evangelist…. he is now just building a new church but the presiding deity is his own narcissism. Remember that in the Church of Empire, the colonialists religion, Jesus is portrayed as a white blonde man…. and that is not an accidental misrepresentation, and the absence of any initiative to implement a long overdue correction speaks volumes about how absent satya is, when the white narcissistic man child “owns the rules”. Keep yoga free.
Comments: 2
I don’t know about this. White men are significantly less self-centered than my Indian male relatives or the Indian men I’ve dated. Sure its anecdotal but my sisters and friends have said the same. Still the particular men you mentioned above might be a problem, I don’t know them so can’t say.