Bikram on Netflix

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Bikram on Netflix

Postby grzegorz on Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:25 pm

Good documentary.

Unfortunately a situation I have seen far to many times.
Last edited by grzegorz on Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Peacedog on Sat Nov 30, 2019 10:15 am

Joe Rogan has some pretty interesting insights on Bikram as well.

I’ve never reached that level of success, but I have had the following happen.

1. A student try to give me legal ownership of all of his businesses.
2. Random people contact me over the internet looking for me to repair their brain damage, protect them from Satanists as they were under psychic attack, cure cancer, tell them how to run their lives, etc.
3. A yogini tried to have sex with me in public in a Trader Joe’s.
4. A woman once tried to give me her child to raise.

FYI, I said no to them all.

I can only imagine how weird shit must get when you reach Bikram’s level.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby jimmy on Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:23 pm

May I give you legal ownership of my satanic brain children's psychic sex cancer? All I require in return is a box of raisins and a bottle of two-buck-chuck

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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Peacedog on Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:57 pm

Jimmy, stranger stuff has happened. Those were only the things I could think of on the fly. Some of the stories friends tell are really crazy. That said, I can see how a lot of people end up in the cult business without any intention to do so. A couple of times when I was younger and very broke people offered me some insane amounts of money to which I said no. It took an almost inhuman amount of self control at the time to do so, but as I got older I am really glad I did. It's tough when you are trying to figure out how to pay rent.

The lady with the child is why I don't teach classes to the public anymore. I got up from where I was sitting, walked out the front door and never went back. I did refund all of the month's class fees to everyone who had paid.

The yogic/meditative thing tends to attract people who have what I call the "follower" personality. Basically, they are looking for someone to tell them what to do with their lives.

They tend to essentially get high on the vibe of the group and tend to hallucinate pretty easily.

All my friends in the business privately recognize this as a problem. But no one has really come up with a good way of dealing with it. Other than giving them the door when they get too weird/demanding.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby jimmy on Sat Nov 30, 2019 4:58 pm

most certainly not MAKING fun; tryna HAVE fun, yes. 8-)

but, daß übermensch is a real possibility, and anyone who rises above the pale is sure to receive double-quadruple takes from the herd. restraint is key, and the devil is in the details.

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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby jimmy on Sat Nov 30, 2019 5:12 pm

and for what it's worth... the deal still stands. >:@
jimmy wrote:May I give you legal ownership of my satanic brain children's psychic sex cancer? All I require in return is a box of raisins and a bottle of two-buck-chuck
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Peacedog on Sat Nov 30, 2019 5:33 pm

It's cool. Sometimes people don't believe me when I talk about this stuff. But man people can be weird.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby grzegorz on Sun Dec 01, 2019 9:48 am

I agree cults are a pretty complex issue but I don't think Brikam is the victim.

I think people who are looking for a leader shows how much unhappiness there is in our society. Being a Christian myself our society believes in the great man theory that one person will solve all of our lives' problems.

Not surprised that Rogan took that angle that is kind of what he does. He looks for alternative perspectives. I do agree to some extent. Foreigners in China often become local celebrities and "we" often feel and believe that we can do and get away with anything. Lots of foreigners do with the Chinese often not wanting to confront them in fear that they might "know" someone as a result many do things and some commit crimes which they probably wouldn't do at home. I knew some Canadian drug smugglers for example. (I wouldn't want to be in their shoes the day their luck changes.)

Yet I have also seen "Brikams" in the martial arts world with the same teacher training model Brikam used. These people are gifted, talented, know how to market themselves and know how to attract and talk to an audience. These are all things successful martial arts instructors must have to some extent if they are going to bring in the bug bucks, although big bucks doesn't necessarily mean these people are getting the best instruction.

I have seen a martial arts school use the teacher training model where once someone decides they want to be an instructor they have basically made a deal with the devil and will do almost anything for the leader in hopes of gaining favor to be "the one." This isn't unique to CMA either. I have seen the same in JMA, BJJ and at work.

Tragic for all involved but nothing new as well.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Peacedog on Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:44 am

I wouldn't say Bikram is a victim either.

I would say the second you give your responsibility for yourself to another, you are asking for trouble.

The fact that all of the women involved were all looking to get something from him does not strengthen their case. I watched about 2/3rds of the documentary.

The Indian woman that said no and took off I took seriously. But in that case Bikram backed off when she made it clear she wasn't interested.

How much of the rest of this was regret versus rape is hard to tell.

That said, Bikram, and his handlers, were idiots for allowing this to happen in the first case. Bikram's compulsive lying does not help the matter either.

In all, I'd say he probably raped some of the litigants.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby grzegorz on Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:54 am

In my book there is never an excuse for rape or attempted rape.

Perhaps Rogan sees things differently but to me he is nothing more than another TV/internet personality.

Clickbait sells. I understand where he is coming from as a celeb but I don't think it changes people abusing their power. I don't dislike Rogan. I used to listen to all his stuff but I don't think his situation is the same being that he is not a yoga instructor.

For me what was interesting is (like I was saying).is this stuff is still happening in martial arts. So for me Brikam and his handlers are unimportant. To me it is a universal story of people abusing power.

The same happens in my Catholic church and in college wrestling.

Brikam obviously had a gift and abused that.

Unfortunately I have seen martial arts instructors do the same but usually money was enough for them. Like Brikam they would make a lot of great claims instead of just saying they were teaching what they were taught.

Powerful men are hard to take down.

The yogic/meditative thing tends to attract people who have what I call the "follower" personality. Basically, they are looking for someone to tell them what to do with their lives.


The same can be said for martial arts, religion and the military.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby grzegorz on Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:16 pm

The Indian woman that said no and took off I took seriously. But in that case Bikram backed off when she made it clear she wasn't interested.

How much of the rest of this was regret versus rape is hard to tell.


Well in this situation it was a man groping young men and I am sure the predator knew the young men weren't interested.

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I think one difference is women speak up whereas in cases where men are raped they usually do not.

The idea that women just regretted the sex or as Rogan stated that people come running to celebrities doesn't change the systematic amount of sexual abuse by powerful men in our society.

As to yoga people seeking and searching for people to turn around their lives I have seen the same in the military, jobs, religion and martial arts and these are also places with systemic sexual abuse.

New lawsuit in Ohio State sex abuse scandal brings number of victims to nearly 350

Corky Siemaszko

Ohio State University was hit Wednesday with another lawsuit alleging that school officials and coaches failed to protect students and athletes from Richard Strauss, the deceased team doctor now accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of athletes and students.

"Dr. Richard Strauss is dead. He can't pay for his crimes," the lawsuit states. "Only his enabler is left."

With this latest lawsuit, filed in Columbus, Ohio, by Pennsylvania-based attorney Joseph Sauder and five other law firms from around the country, the number of men who are suing Ohio State has climbed to around 350.

"The numbers don't lie," the suit states. "These men were repeatedly sexually abused by Strauss at different times, in different manners."

But in the complaint, the accounts from plaintiff Dr. Mark Chrystal and 48 "John Does" all appear to follow a similar pattern that an independent investigation noted earlier — Strauss using the excuse of giving physicals or medical treatment to sexually abuse hundreds of young men between 1978 and 1998. He died in 2005.

Chrystal attended Ohio State on a soccer scholarship from 1992 to 1997, the complaint states.

"The day before his exam some of the older members of the soccer team 'joked' about the physicals with Dr. Strauss, stating that he was a 'pervert' and he was 'only interested in inspecting genitals,'" Chrystal recounted in the lawsuit.

The next day, Chrystal said, he was subjected to an "invasive physical exam" during which he was subjected to "degrading and inappropriate comments."

When asked for comment, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson referred NBC News to a previous statement from the school saying, "The university is actively participating in good faith in the mediation process directly by the federal court."

And outgoing Ohio State President Michael V. Drake has apologized to the victims and Ohio State has stated repeatedly that it has led the effort to "expose the misdeeds of Richard Strauss and the systemic failures to respond."

The John Does in the lawsuit are former Ohio State athletes from a number of different sports, including at least five former wrestlers who competed for the school when Russ Hellickson was head coach.

Hellickson is named in the lawsuit as one of the coaches who was allegedly aware that Strauss was preying on students.

"When you're doing weigh-ins, you're too hands on, Doc," Hellickson told Strauss after wrestlers complained, the suit states.

Hellickson declined to comment to NBC News.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who was an assistant wrestling coach at the school at the time and has been accused of turning a blind eye to the abuse, was not mentioned in the latest lawsuit. He has denied any knowledge of what Strauss was doing.

A report prepared for Ohio State by the independent law firm Perkins Coie that was released in May said that what Strauss was doing was an "open secret" and that coaches and administrators at the school failed to sound the alarm or stop him. Also, a former wrestler named Dunyasha Yetts told NBC News he reported to coaches directly that Strauss acted inappropriately and a referree claimed in a lawsuit he informed the coaching staff of misbehavior by Strauss.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby GrahamB on Mon Dec 02, 2019 1:44 am

Watched it. He’s basically the Donald Trump of yoga.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Peacedog on Mon Dec 02, 2019 7:28 am

I’d say more the Clinton of yoga without all the convenient deaths.
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby grzegorz on Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:40 pm

GrahamB wrote:Watched it. He’s basically the Donald Trump of yoga.


LOL!
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Re: Bikram on Netflix

Postby Giles on Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:18 am

My take on this issue:

The basic pitch of a teacher (for adults!) is “I’m good at a particular profane (i.e. non-spiritual) skillset and can teach you this”. Woodworking, French, tennis, calculus... The more you move beyond this clearly delineated remit and towards “I can support/direct you spiritually” or “I can guide you in your life” or “I can offer you therapy” – then the less legitimate and appropriate it becomes to engage in sexual relations with any of your students/followers/clients. EVEN IF THESE SEXUAL RELATIONS ARE ‘CONSENSUAL’. The more spiritual mojo you bring into play, the more you will be (consciously or unconsciously) influencing, manipulating a follower. Who will often be needy, damaged, searching, without orientation, open to suggestion. The more you offer a spiritual or therapy-based path, the more you are taking on a parental role (even if this is not explicitly acknowledged). And hence the more such sexual relations by a power person will constitute abuse.

It’s why, in most countries, any state-certified psychotherapist will immediately have their licence revoked if they are found to have engaged in sexual relations with a client. And rightly so.

The more spiritually enlightened you are – be this with or without “...” around this term – the more you should naturally and deeply understand that having sex with a follower/student/client involves putting your own base gratification and ego far above the long-term needs and benefit of this follower. That it is an abuse of power and is likely to be damaging to the follower, not beneficial.
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