Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Namaskar Dennis,

I think you'll be happy with the structure of online courses from Aura. It's best when teachers allow students to find proof and allow healthy debate. This makes for a strong learning experience. Two minds won't think alike. If you have an enlightened teacher it dsn't mean that you'll also be enlightened. But if your teacher points you toward pure knowledge, you have a reasonable chance and so will your students.

As you likely know from your yoga training thus far, a guru is a person who's regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a specific area, and uses said knowledge to guide students. Most often a guru is a Hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religious leader and spiritual teacher.

You're still fond of your guru and it sounds like he / she didn't impart strict religious knowledge that you and your students would've taken as dogma. Your guru may have taught universalist concepts similar to the yogic writings of Paul Jerard and Aura. If your guru allowed students to find spiritual answers without swaying religious belief this is unique. Many gurus enjoy the spiritual worship of students and would have you believe only in them and their "divine" message.

The world is full of sheep who are taken advantage of by spiritual pretenders that establish beliefs or doctrines without proof. An example of this: It's Okay to kill your neighbor if she has a different belief. Burning, beheading or hanging in public will serve to keep non-believers in line. This underlying thought exists in every religion. All religions have killed others (non-believers) in the name of holiness.

Back to the advantage of online training. You and your students are allowed to draw your own conclusions about the heart of yoga. Matters like the complications of the subtle body, how to help students with stress, and the definition of heaven are subjects for intellectual debate.

Aura's resources for continuing education of yoga teachers are excellent. But you won't be told how to think. You'll be asked to provide proof in the form of references. This encourages each teacher to think independently.

OM