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letters, insisting that they refrain from altering, taking credit for, or otherwise creating derivative works of his sequence of 26 exercises. He has threatened to sue disobedient disciples for as much as $150,000 per infraction. He claims not to charge a franchise fee of his students to teach his classes.

The Berkeley, California classical yogi Dharmandhi Sarasvati sees this as "the antithesis of yoga." In India, Sarasvati states, teachers openly shared their knowledge of yoga. Greater knowledge was their only reward. Instructors never charged a fee from their students.

A number of yoga instructors who received cease and desist letters from Bikram's lawyers formed Open Source Yoga Unity, a coalition inspired by those who fought back against Microsoft's near-monopoly in the realm of computer operating systems. They filed suit against Bikram Choudhury, in an attempt to limit his trademark and copyright rights. The suit was eventually settled out of court. Unfortunately, the settlement depended upon the conditions being kept confidential.

It gets worse. In 2006, Bikram was charged with ten criminal safety violations by Los Angeles prosecutors, including operating a studio without a fire permit, failure to maintain emergency exits and overcrowding. Bikram, his landlord and company president faced hefty fines and jail time for the serious violations. Nevertheless, Bikram's lawyer referred to the charges as a "publicity stunt." Bikram's studio was closed in April 2006 for multiple violations of safety codes. According to Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Bikram repeatedly disregarded notices from Los Angeles safety departments in regards to the fact that the converted warehouse studio had insufficient fire exits for the number of students.
His response was simply that he planned to high-tail it back to Honolulu. Ultimately, Bikram pleaded no contest and paid more than $8,000 in fines and penalties for the safety violations.

Bikram has fallen under harsh criticism from multiple highly experienced instructors for his irresponsible and undocumented claims. Unfortunately, this is the least of his crimes.

Bikram's practices of regularly pushing his students past their limits, wantonly violating safety codes, refusing to provide medical warnings for his potentially dangerous form of exercise, and aggressively litigating with his former students for outrageous sums of money which they could never conjure do not meet the standards of conduct which Patanjali prescribed to yogis. Particularly, they violate the principle of ahimsa, which commits the yogi to non-harming and non-violence. This so-called "yogi" is extremely reckless. It's a miracle somebody hasn't already gotten hurt.

The real "clown" here is Bikram himself. He is a joke, and he has made a mockery of yoga. If you're considering practicing Bikram yoga, I would proceed with extreme caution. Don't assume that the practice is safe simply because the instructor and studio are "certified." Be sure to check with your doctor before beginning this practice, and make sure the studio follows local safety codes. Last but not least, I would strongly recommend against studying with Bikram himself.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Claerr.
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