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which are teaching yoga. One group, the British Wheel of Yoga, with which I am associated, has a registered membership of 4,000. The Iyengar group claims another 4,000 and the third group is Swami Satyananda's disciples who are teaching yoga. However, it is not yet a great movement, it is just a ripple. There are no public schools that are teaching yoga. There are some schools which offer voluntary yoga programs conducted by yoga teachers, where 10,12,15, children register, but it is not a large number.
An important thing that is just beginning to develop is the scientific investigation of yoga. It has a great scope here in this country and also in the western countries. I am aware that Paramahamsa Satyananda's disciples are doing much work in this field.
I have been to Eastern Europe during the Communist rule, and even then, I felt a deep vein of spirituality there. Eastern Europe is a new field opening up, and it will be very receptive to yoga, because eastern Christianity is nothing but pure bhakti yoga. A deep emotional need which has been suppressed by two generations of Communism needs to be fulfilled, and I think there is great feeling for yoga in those countries.
So, what is needed is spiritual idealism, behind the physical aspect of yoga, behind medical research, behind kundalini research. However, I am sorry to say that in western societies, the spiritual idealism is lacking very much. There is a lot to be desired among the yoga teachers in the west today, even few as they are. Both in the United States and in South America, the ethical basis is lacking. A high level of ethical conduct, moral awareness and spiritual understanding is missing.
What is yoga today in the west? It is a profession or a means of side income among the spiritual teachers, and this is a fact which is not very well known. The majority of people who teach yoga do it for pin money, a little bit of pocket income. Among them there are many sincere souls who are dedicated to yoga, but basically yoga teaching is a means for earning side income, and that is also the case in South America.
In Buenos Aires which is my present base and head office, our Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta Center has 900 members in a city of 5 million There are about 40 yoga groups there teaching mostly in their own residences, giving private classes. A few rent separate places. In Montevideo, the Sivananda YogaVedanta Center has 800 members in a city of one million.
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