Blogging about everything and nothing in particular

I have been having a lot of trouble motivating myself to blog the last few days. What could there be to blog about? I can blog about my practice, but really, there are only three things I can possibly talk about when I talk about my physical practice now: (1) My newfound obsession with floating and being a floating clown (see this post); (2) My continuing attempt to make my practice challenging and stimulating despite having to work with my tweaky left knee (as if this in itself is not challenging enough); (3) my continuing adventures in backbending. Backbend Update: Over the last few weeks, I have succeeded in grabbing my lower shins consistently in Kapotasana.

Ho hum. You are probably thinking: Big freaking deal. You are probably an asshole off the mat, trying to make up for your off-the-mat assholism by fixating on your on-the-mat exploits. Which is more or less on target, unfortunately. Maybe that's why so many bloggers have recently mentioned that it is not a good idea to blog too much about the mechanics of asana practice.

But if one doesn't blog about the nuts and bolts of asana practice at least some of the time on an Ashtanga blog, and asana is supposed to be the foundation of Ashtanga yoga practice upon which all the other seven limbs are based, then what is the point of writing an Ashtanga blog? This, then, is the quandary of Ashtanga blogging: To write about asana practice or not?

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The blogosphere (or at least certain segments of it) is recently on fire with that case of that so-called guru of that particular yoga style who is facing allegations of sexual and financial misconduct (hmm... who could I be talking about?).

Personally, I could care less about whether Guru X is sleeping with his or her students. Doesn't help me with my Brahmacharya, nor with anybody else's, as far as I can see.

As for the financial misconduct, well... shit happens. Such financial shenanigans happen in every other area of life: Specifically, they tend to happen when a group of people, for better or for worse (usually worse), place too much unquestioning trust in a single individual. So why shouldn't the same thing happen in the yoga world?

But all of this is old news. You can read about all this in much more lurid detail in other corners of the yoga blogosphere that specialize in uncovering yoga scandals and fake-guru-busting. This area is not my cup of tea (or coffee).

But here's something else to think about. According to my very superficial understanding of Advaita Vedanta, all phenomena is ultimately non-dualistic. Which means that somebody else's being an asshole is not separate from who or what I am, or what I am doing right now. So if Fake Guru X is the sexual-and-financial-energy-mismanaging monster that he has turned out to be, his being this way is a reflection in some way or other of who we are and what we have being standing for, tacitly or explicitly. Could it be that Fake Guru X is able to become who he is because we have collectively created the environment that has enabled his behavior over the years? If this is so, then are we really in a position to get all self-righteous and point fingers
 and say, "Be gone, you evil one, scourge of all that is pure and unadulterated in the pristine world of yoga!" Just where is this pristine yoga world to be found?

Something to think about, as always.