STRICT TEACHER

"I was disappointed to find that so many novice students have taken Ashtanga yoga and have turned it into a circus for their own fame and profit (Power Yoga, Jan/Feb 1995). The title "Power Yoga" itself degrades the depth, purpose and method of the system that I received from my guru, Sri. T. Krishnamacharya. Power is the property of God. It is not something to be collected for one's ego. Partial yoga methods out of line with their internal purpose can build up the "six enemies" (desire, anger, greed, illusion, infatuation and envy) around the heart. The full ashtanga system practiced with devotion leads to freedom within one's heart. The Yoga Sutra II.28 confirms this "Yogaanganusthanat asuddiksaye jnanadiptih avivekakhyateh", which means "practicing all the aspects of yoga destroys the impurities so that the light of knowledge and discrimination shines". It is unfortunate that students who have not yet matured in their own practice have changed the method and have cut out the essence of an ancient lineage to accommodate their own limitations.

The Ashtanga yoga system should never be confused with "power yoga" or any whimsical creation which goes against the tradition of the many types of yoga shastras (scriptures). It would be a shame to lose the precious jewel of liberation in the mud of ignorant body building.

K. Pattabhi Jois, Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, Mysore, South India

This post is in honor of Guruji's birthday this week. I think he would have been 96. Wish I could have practiced with him but I am still hoping Iyengar hangs around long enough for me to go to India.

Dude was a strict teacher. That was written in 1995. I am not sure how he felt about the system of Power flow or Vinyasa in his latter years, but obviously he was against the systemized marketing of American yoga as Ashtanga based. i.e. see Gym Yoga previous post. Is that yoga? A lot of earlier protegees from the west have stayed true to what he taught and others came up with derivative yoga from Ashtanga to meet the desires of the West.

The point isn't that he is being mean or righteous but that he is honoring his teacher and what he was taught. In the yoga tradition the guru relationship is not to be messed with. You disobey, you are OUT. I see in his writing a traditionalist who believes what he teaches and what he was taught so I am glad there are people out there that stay in tradition. They keep the pure essence of the practice what it was meant to be. These teachings are ancient yet relatively recent in their presentation to the rest of the world.

I have been been spending a lot of time studying Anusara and I know John Friend was a student of Iyengar. Whenever I work with an Iyengar based teacher who has moved away from the tradition, I see a similar thread of knowledge passed down. Anusara is wildly popular and one of the fastest growing styles in the world. It seems like Friend is everywhere.

I enjoy all practice and my first classes were Ashtanga so still have a deep love of the practice. I am all over the place with what I practice and teach but always feel there is an essence to some aspect of real yoga in every style.