Concepts of liminality and communitas among Ashtanga Yoga practitioners

The term yoga has been used to define various practices of asceticism and philosophical doctrines that emerged within the civilizations of the Indus Valley. From Vedic to Modern eras of yoga history, all yoga practices have shared ritualistic elements and have been shaped by many factors such as religion, politics, geography, society, literature, and culture. All of these factors helped create what is known today as "modern yoga". This thesis focuses on the Modern Postural Yoga (MPY) school, "Ashtanga Yoga", founded by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, and practised widely and daily by thousands of people all around the world. It is known as a school of yoga that incorporates discipline, authority and devotion; compared to its contemporaries, it is a rather strenuous and transformational yoga practice. Despite being called a "modern" practice, it embodies the paraṃparā tradition and tapas practices dating back to the Upaniṣadic era. Tapas is the inner heat that is the source of transformation; achieving it requires discipline. Paraṃparā is the direct transmission of knowledge from the teacher to student (guru-śiṣya) that requires trust, obedience, and devotion. Authority of the teacher, obedience of the student, and devotion to the practice is necessary in order to experience the essence of this seemingly physical practice. Paraṃparā aspect and the strict physical practice of Ashtanga Yoga is analyzed through Van Gennep's "rites of passage", placing Victor Turner's concepts of "liminality and communitas" at the centre of its anthropological approach, and investigating the practice as a "secular healing ritual", as seen by Elizabeth De Michelis. The analysis shows that Ashtangis share the same symbolic language and values without any discrimination of gender or status; they form communitas, experiencing similar effects and benefits of their practice every day with other Ashtangis. This research is the first attempt in Turkey to discuss a widely practised MPY school in terms of its history, practice, and its relevance to the concepts of liminality and communitas. Keywords: Communitas, Liminality, Rites of Passage, Ashtanga Yoga, Yoga, Modern Postural Yoga, Paraṃparā, Ashtangi, tradition, modernity, community, devotion, authority, discipline, obedience.