Pioneer of yoga teaching in Spain, Ramiro Calle (@ramirocalleoficial) is a reference figure in meditation and oriental psychology. He has been teaching this discipline for more than 30 years as director of the Shadak Yoga and Orientalism Center in Madrid. He is the author of more than 250 books, as well as hundreds of articles and videos in which he disseminates his study of the therapeutic effects of Eastern psychologies and the contribution of meditation to psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and neuroscience. —What do you remember about the first yoga class you taught?—I inaugurated the Shadak center in Madrid on January 15, 1971 together with Almudena Hauríe, my first wife and great yoga teacher, thanks to the generosity of my parents and my brothers. . There is a curiosity about this because a few years ago I learned that an espionage nucleus supported by the German regime was located in this area and it is likely that the Gestapo was based here. So I always joke that we spent 53 years purifying the karma they left behind. —At that time few had heard of yoga…—A journalist even told me that I was going to go crazy from meditating so much. I then replied that he was the one who was going to go crazy for not meditating. There was a lot of criticism, yes. The most orthodox sector of the Church constantly picked on us, the orientalists, meditators and yogis. —What motivated these criticisms?—Perhaps ignorance. I remember accompanying a mobile radio unit at that time to ask people about yoga and we were able to see it. They even asked us if he was a soccer player. But it is true that the few who practiced it were infinitely more serious, committed and self-demanding than those of today. There has been an enormous degradation of yoga.—In what sense?—For many, yoga has become a simple exercise to sweat, be flexible or have muscular endurance. Even a few years ago, a yoga teacher said that the only thing people were interested in about yoga was strengthening their butt. Yoga favors the body, but if there is no mind, attitude and ethics, it is not yoga. For these goals it is better to do calisthenics or lift weights. Yoga is compatible with sport, of course.—What is the reason for this interest only in the physical nature of yoga?—There is a constant cult of the body and an affirmation of the ego. There is a lot of posturing and the only thing that is interesting is to boast and attract attention. Many models, ‘influencers’ and actresses do yoga postures to show off, without mental content or emotion. But the first perverters of yoga were the Hindu teachers who arrived in the United States. —What was done wrong?—At that time, physical yoga and bodybuilding were mixed in India and much of what was focused on the cult of the body was used by Hindu teachers who traveled to the West to commercialize and corrupt yoga. . They did things as absurd as yoga championships. They focused so much on exercise that they forgot the mental and ethical part. —What does a complete yoga practice look like?—Yoga must include the discipline of ethics or virtue; mental discipline (meditation and concentration) and the discipline of cultivating right understanding (wisdom). Some are only interested in it to have mental control. But if it is not associated with genuine ethics, we may find ourselves with a misapplication of that power. Adolf Hitler himself had a team of specialists in orientalism with a destructive application. Yoga must include that essential pillar that is genuine ethics. «We must instrumentalize what happens to be more tender at heart. This society lacks tenderness» Ramiro Calle Pioneer of yoga in Spain—What principles does this genuine ethics have?—If you want to be happy, make others happy. If you do not want to be harmed, do not harm any being. Nor to animals. I am an animal lover, especially stray cats, which are very mistreated. —Little is said about the ethical dimension of yoga…—In such a brutally competitive society, only material goods are sought and spiritual and ethical goods are neglected. Genuine morality does not change with times or latitudes. It’s always the same. I want to be happy, I will give happiness. I don’t want to suffer, I’m going to prevent others from suffering. Many psychotherapists and coaches forget about ethics when they only emphasize using mental power to continue coveting, accumulating and affirming the ego. The teaching of genuine ethics is based on detachment and learning to let go.—How do you work on this detachment?—You have to free yourself little by little from the image and self-image. But instead of teaching us to dismantle the ego and weaken it, they teach us to strengthen it. And that is a false and dangerous self-esteem: it is an ego-esteem. —But today’s mantra is “you can do everything”…—Yes, and all of that is put at the service of enrichment and power. But as Krishnamurti said, power is always putrescible. That idea chains us, it does not free us. Millions of euros move in the world of pseudo-spirituality and throughout history there have always been tricksters and smoke sellers. But now, in the heat of that money, it is even more common to find false prophets and false gurus.—How to achieve calm in the age of hyperconnection?—You look outside and nothing inward. We want to know about everything but not about ourselves. It’s a paradox. There is a great inability to be in oneself and with oneself. Thus we continue to feed a collective neurosis. The change has to begin with assuming that we have a selfish, confused, jealous and resentful mind. Wars begin in the mind. If we don’t change our mind, nothing will ever change. That hatred that exists in the mind is projected to a sick society. Sick minds make sick societies. —What errors are common around meditation?—There are many prejudices. Some believe that with a weekend of meditation you can change your life and others believe that it is of absolutely no use. That’s why you have to go to the experience. We are moved by experiences not by beliefs. It is useless to believe that breathing exercises help us if we do not practice them. There is an adage in India that says that they can give you the best medicines, but if you leave them forgotten in the bedside drawer they will be of no use. The important thing is to practice without beliefs, judgments or prejudices. —What is meditation?—The art of stopping, being, learning to investigate, know oneself, accept oneself and transform oneself. Spiritual movements have to transform the person. —In what way?—In our minds there are perverse roots. You have to throw overboard jealousy, hatred, rage, the desire for revenge… You have to unmask yourself bravely and fearlessly to achieve the beautiful, cooperative and loving side of yourself. —Is it necessary to experience a hard or traumatic situation to transform?—No, there are many people who suffer very difficult situations and do not experience any change. And others can feel a change with small experiences. It all depends on the attitude and how you channel or instrumentalize what happened, be it a loss, a breakup, a dismissal, an illness, a tragedy…— Years ago a serious illness brought him to the brink of death…— I was in a coma for almost a month, hooked to machines, another month in the hospital and then at home convalescing. What that time taught me is humility and compassion. And it’s a shame to have to go through something like that to develop more compassion. But you have to instrumentalize what happens to be more tender at heart. This society lacks tenderness. And if politicians lack something, it is tenderness and empathy. Well, perhaps there is some notable exception.— He defends that you have to surround yourself with people with good feelings… —By their works you will know them, said Jesus. You have to observe how that person behaves with others, if they have sensitivity, compassion, empathy… Buddha said that if you can’t find noble people to walk with in this life, it is better to walk alone like the elephant. Plus, emotions are contagious. Who is serene, transmits serenity. Who is loving, transmits love. Whoever is jealous or picky transmits that. “Few things matter in life: health, relationships with others and the affection of loved ones” Ramiro Calle Pioneer of yoga in Spain—What role does communication play there?—We have lost control over the word. The ancient sages said that we use our tongue like a poisoned stiletto to hurt, defame, slander and disqualify ourselves. Throughout my life they have not stopped criticizing me, they have even threatened to kill me. I have also been praised so I take as a reference the wise teaching of Buddha: “Be like a dead person when faced with flattery and insults.” Very personal Ramiro A. Calle (Madrid, 1943) was a tormented and restless child, always searching for answers to the why of life and death. Her father was a wealthy real estate agent and her mother was a free thinker, daughter of the poet Emilio Carrere and passionate about Hindu culture. It was because of her that he started yoga at the age of 16. Throughout his hundred trips to India he has interviewed the most important spiritual teachers of that country and is a great researcher of Buddha and his thought. In 2011 he was on the verge of death after contracting the listeria bacteria in Sri Lanka.—What is death?—Death is an idea. As Marcus Aurelius said, when I am dead I am not and when I am I am not dead. We constantly anticipate death. Buddha said that even the most fearless tremble at the thought of death. And in yoga we say that in the face of death everything pales. When you are serious you realize that you have been busy and worried about incidental things. You have to use discernment to realize what matters. Few things matter in life: health and relationships with others and the affection of loved ones. But the mind feeds on conflict and all day it is worrying and generating quarrels, friction and displeasure. Human beings have so much dissatisfaction that they have to always be adding conflict to conflict. We have created a chaotic society. —Are you afraid of dying?—We deceive ourselves into thinking that it is others who die and not us. But it is self-deception. We must prepare for death.—A plea for self-knowledge?—We must learn to collect ourselves, feel and live inwardly to understand that we are light for us. We are so obsessed with the exterior that we are not able to dose our energy to reserve part of it to live inwardly. We live with a great unknown inside and we are obsessed with what is outside. Stop, stop, feel, live and try to be yourself despite everything and everyone.
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