EP 08 - Studies with Krishnamacharya: A Conversation with Richard Schechner - a podcast by Mark Whitwell

This week we are so very glad to welcome Richard Schechner, who is a director, pioneer and founder in the field of performance studies, author of innumerable books, Professor Emeritus at New York University, editor of The Drama Review, and… a dedicated practitioner of the yoga he learned from his teacher, T. Krishnamacharya, in Chennai (then Madras) in 1971-72.

What a blessing to talk life and India with this great thinker, who also happens to be a holder of the torch of yoga.

In this episode, Mark, Rosalind and Richard discuss:

• How Richard came to study Krishnamacharya in the 1970s
• Why he doesn't belong to any one tradition, religion or tribe but rather sincerely combines their principles
• The power of ritual and why being precedes meaning
• The importance and paradox of "not-that-ness" and opening of infinite possibilities
• Richard's meticulous notebooks, including Krishnamacharya’s direct words during lessons, recorded word-for-word
• Krishnamacharya's impact on Richard's entire life, and the surprise of being asked to teach
• The relationship between performance studies and yoga, and how they serve one another
• The neverending student status in our lives and how we know teaching goes well
• Person-to-person transmission of knowledge vs. knowledge gathered from books
• Can you solve a material problem with immaterial means?
• Reframing the process of declining and getting old
• Is there hope for humanity? How can yoga help?

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