From the Archives: Mark Teaching in Saanen, Switzerland

This talk was recorded live at a workshop in the Swiss town of Saanen. A very interesting place for yoga and spiritual history and the transmission from East to West! Among the ‘himalayas of the north’, Mark is unravelling the core of modern spiritual systems and the search for enlightenment. 

Summarising the teachings of Krishnamacharya, Desikachar, and the radical honesty of U.G. Krishnamurti, this episode presents Yoga as an intimate participation in what is real—life itself.

Subjects…

• J Krishnamurti, UG Krishnamurti, BKS Iyengar, and the history of the Saanen Valley

• Why the ideal of a “perfect person” has deeply disempowered humanity

• How Yoga has been distorted by systems of effort, hierarchy, and branding

• U.G. Krishnamurti’s radical realization and the myth of spiritual seeking

• The social hoax of striving, self-improvement, and enlightenment fantasies

• How true Yoga arises spontaneously from intimacy with breath, body, and life

• The feminine principle and restoring our natural intelligence

Key Phrases:

“The Guru has no followers. The Guru has friends to help.” “Stop looking. Start living. Your Yoga is the living of it.” “No more gymnastics. No more spiritual gymnastics. Yoga is just your participation in life.”

Gratitude to Moritz Kuebler who recorded this, and our host in Saanen, Stephanie Iseli.

Resources Mentioned:

• Teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and T.K.V. Desikachar

• The lives of J. Krishnamurti and U.G. Krishnamurti

• The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice book

• History of Theosophy and the Saanen Valley gatherings

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Opening invocation: You are the power of the cosmos [00:03:00] Stephanie’s story and how Yoga found a home in Saanen [00:08:00] Mark shares the deeper purpose of the gathering [00:11:00] What makes a true Guru: no more than a friend, no less than a friend [00:16:00] The myth of spiritual hierarchy and the problem of “perfection” [00:23:00] Why modern Yoga and meditation have become systems of disempowerment [00:27:00] Reframing the idea of enlightenment as a harmful distraction [00:32:00] U.G. Krishnamurti’s “calamity” and the end of seeking [00:39:00] The mind is for relationship—not for searching [00:44:00] Healing trauma through natural breath and spontaneous Yoga [00:49:00] Revisiting the Yoga of Krishnamacharya and the legacy of Desikachar [00:55:00] The Saanen gatherings and spiritual history of the valley [01:02:00] The rejection of modern Yoga branding and spiritual consumerism [01:10:00] A new view: Yoga as participation, not performance [01:17:00] The body is intelligence, the breath is healing [01:25:00] Embracing life without effort: no more spiritual goals [01:32:00] How to practice a Yoga that serves your real life [01:38:00] Preparing to receive a personal, breath-centered practice

“You are the beauty. You are the intelligence. You are already in perfect harmony with life. You don’t need to seek it—you need only participate in it.”

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