Time for finals

As I enter this blogpost, it's just after 11PM and tomorrow is our final full day in the course. It is said to involves 3.5 hour open-response final exam.

I've been on the record since day 1 that I think the exam is total bullshit and they're just using it as a scare tactic to force us to learn. (fraternity conditioning)

Either way, everyone else is stressing out about it("How many points is each question worth?? What score do I need to pass?? Do we need to know the Sanskrit names for all the yamas and diyamas??"), while the teachers and staff just discuss it nonchalantly.

I personally spent about an hour reviewing some stuff but didn't stress out for a second. It's not like we're not going to "pass" if we don't know all the Sanskrit names for the 9 steps of Bhakti yoga.

Anyways, guess I'll know by 7:30 am tomorrow whether or not my intuition is correct.

Otherwise, it's been an emotional couple days, wrapping up our final classes and seeing some of the staff and students leave a day or 2 early due to various circumstances. One of my roommates left today after taking the "test" in a secluded area.

This TTC was a big deal for the teachers as it was the first time they operated a large scale TTC under their new independent sivananda organization. It was also the first time at this himalaya ashram that a TTC was undertaken. So a lot of their own blood, sweat, and tears went into this creation and you can really see how committed they are to spreading the teachings to others.

I've been able to have many one-on-one conversations with the teachers about practical issues I would face trying to teach yoga back in the states and they've all been incredibly forthright and helpful. It's certainly not a cakewalk to create your teaching arena. It's obviously yet to be seen what will come out of this experience, but I certainly believe that I would be an effective teacher if I choose to pursue this path.

Guess we'll have to wait and see. Bedtime.