Talk:Bikram Yoga

Bikram Choudhury's claim to have studied under Bishnu Charam Ghosh

Bikram's claim that he studied under B.C. Ghosh has been investigated in detail, and found to be false, like several other of his claims. There is no reliable independent evidence that he did study under Ghosh to support his assertions, and on that front alone we should not assert that he did. The most we can do is to state in a footnote that he made the claim, but even that ought to be accompanied by the later evidence that he did not. The evidence includes Jerome Armstrong's 2018 book Calcutta Yoga: Buddha Bose & the yoga family of Bishnu Ghosh and Yogananda. Bikram's claim is unsafe and should not be in the article, specially not in Wikipedia's voice. Chiswick Chap (talk) 14:35, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

It's what all the included sources in the article state. All 3 references to reliable sources, in the 2 places where it is mentioned currently in the article, do state that he studied under B.C. Ghosh. What one of those sources contends, is at what age he did start his training and also states that he was not a yoga child prodigy. If there is an independent reliable source that clearly states that he never studied under Ghosh please present it here. There is a lot of evidence that he did. The book you quoted does not say that he did not study under Ghosh. Quite the oposite, it clearly states that in 1962 at the age of 18 he was a student of Ghosh. Please see here]. Again, what could be another false claim by Bikram is the age at which he started, but that is not mentioned in the article. Regards. --Crystallizedcarbon (talk) 08:53, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

Well, I began this with the knowledge that apparently good sources made the claims you mention, but also with the certainty of Bikram's lying about taking part in yoga competitions which didn't exist at the time, not to mention later proof of his character. I guess there is no hurry here; evidence will emerge of any falsehood. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:26, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

Thank you @Chiswick Chap: you are right, there are big discrepancies in many of his claims, and some of them were very easy to disproof. In this case however, even critical sources state that he did study under Ghosh, just not the way he tells it. Regards. --Crystallizedcarbon (talk) 16:13, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

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Wiki Education assignment: English 216

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 8 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Myepez1998 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: IDOSALSA101, Pattycakekwan888.

— Assignment last updated by ProfHanley (talk) 16:54, 20 October 2023 (UTC)