Hi InnerAthlete, thanks for the reply.
posted by Quetzalcoatl
A good sign for integrity is if it’s visible that they aren’t in it for the money, even though they live from teaching. Many websites have shops and “buy this book” and their smart pricing terms up front: That’s ok for a gym, not for a Yoga-studio. An excellent sign is, when they offer classes on a donation base. I know they must live and I want to pay, that’s not the point, but they should not do their thing to maximize profit and in case someone really hasn’t got the money, still accept them as a student. I guess this is the reason, why many people (including myself) aren’t actually hot for Bikram.
posted by InnerAthlete
Consider Being a Teacher
Some deeply consider their path while others do not. As a teacher my job is to hold the nature of yoga, preserve it’s authenticity and lineage while at the same instance looking to see how it may grow to serve humanity - not how it may grow to serve my own ego, needs, cravings, tastes or desires.
That must be balanced with the context in which we live. I bring this up because class fees were broached earlier. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a teacher sharing something sacred with a student and receiving compensation or payment for that. Classically, the student took complete care of the teacher in exchange for the teaching. So when students are willing to come to the teacher’s house, provide food, clean, and educate children, then there will not be any fee.
While it may be the dharma of some to donate their time or teach for free or have a sliding scale or a donation-based class it is not every teacher’s dharma. Further, it is a bit ignorant to presume that a student who knows nothing about yoga or the way(s) it is imparted could possibly ascertain it’s worth especially in the early years of their practice. Keeping a yoga studio open may serve many. Closing one serves almost no one.
I agree with most of what you say; I’m not sure about the Dharma-thing, if you care to, please explain. Some people don’t have the choice to do donation-based-Yoga-classes…?
Outside that: Sure it’s not “wrong” to pay for being tought Yoga. But it is not right as well. It’s a necessity, because the vessels of such teachings require food, clothing and a place to sleep and if they had to work in the coalmines to gain the money for all that, they could not teach Yoga and could not make the world a better place. Very true, never even remotely questioned by me.
What they teach, that sacred knowledge, is a gift, even if they paid for a training or paid their Guru. Whatever money or duty or stuff they gave away to acquire that knowledge: It’s far from being representative of the worth of such knowledge. Such knowledge is priceless.
What I’m trying to say (English isn’t my first language, btw) is, that it says much about a teachers integrity if they are willing to teach people without the fee, particularly people who cannot afford it. It requires some courage too to go such a path, because we’re living in messed up times ever since the consciousness has been invented. Some students might take advantage of such courage and pay little or nothing even though they could. But since it’s Yoga and not weightlifting, I doubt that would be much of a problem. Wholehearted students will willingly pay and most of the few who intentionally rip off a teacher will only attend to a class a handful of times and then give it up again. I don’t think I’m naive here, Yoga changes people and most students would be ashamed of such undignified behaviour. On the contrary, many students would do their best to help a teacher to keep up their good work and pay even more than what’s the average fee. I know I would.
Take yourself: You’re giving away lot’s of knowledge in this forum on a daily base. That costs you time. Some other teacher might not do such things, because they’re not so good with computers or this way of communication. Why should they not invest the time you invest here into teaching some students for free? Dharma? Hm… 
What Constitutes a Training
In my particular 2,000 teacher training (x-hours) we had 4-hour long anatomy and physiology classes, lectures on the nature and application of philosophy, instruction in our own asana practice, instruction in reading poetry, instruction in teaching postures, pranayama, restorative, meditation, therapeutics, research papers on other yoga practices and other healing modalities, book reports, self-evaluations…etcetera…
Thanks for telling. 2000 hours, I’d say that’s the least a good teacher should have, not 200. 200 is nothing if you asked me. I read a few schedules on 200- and 500-hours teacher training, like here:
http://www.yogaalliance.org/Standards.html
and I kinda got the impression that what’s tought there should actually be stuff any person truly into Yoga should have long learned before they even start a teacher training. I already have more x-hours in Anatomy and Physiology, Philosophy/Ethics/Lifestyle. Only via books and videos and forums and discussions with insightful friends in real life, but I doubt that’s necessarily less profound than personal instruction. Such certificates are more or less only a minimal insurance for a student. If a teacher has such a certificate, the student can assume they have at least that bit of knowledge. Not impressive.
Again: I’m not saying a certificate means nothing. It means something and the meaning is related to the number of hours too. But is it more than a vague start to get a remote idea of the quality of a teacher? I don’t think so and that’s why to me, this is none of those variables David asked about. Others, obviously, may have a different point of view on this.
Luckily I love the rain so it’s all good. 
