In part 1 I related spiritual bypass to its effect on the spiritual seeker, but what about the guru? Mariana Caplan writes about this subject extensively, indicating that 80 to 90 percent of male spiritual teachers engage in some kind of scandal within their community, usually involving sex, but also power or money (1). She suggests that these situations usually occur due to “spiritual mediocrity” (2), where an unprepared individual who does not possess psychological self-awareness that is comparable to their spiritual awareness, is placed (or places themselves), in a position of power prematurely.

Despite the immense growing popularity of yoga in the Western world, does its philosophy (as it is commonly understood) really address the issues regularly afflicting Western culture? I’m talking about “trauma, anxiety, depression, loneliness, self esteem and self-worth issues, grief, difficult relationships and longing for relationships, parenting problems, wounding and/or isolation from our biological family of origin, addiction, codependence…”

It has been a peculiar four months teaching yoga online. At some points the physical separation is clearly felt, as we mute and unmute ourselves and peer at each other from awkward angles through our screens. Yet despite this, I have heard so many students and friends say that they are doing more yoga than ever, that they finally have the time and energy to dedicate to their practice, and that the lockdown has encouraged them to not rely on external factors to practice, like whether they can make it to the studio after work or not. It seems that the lockdown (not to mention the existential angst of a global pandemic) has encouraged a lot of people to re-evaluate how they spend their time and many have decided to place greater…