Yeah, i think it's spiritual in the way most people use that word. You
could also say it’s beyond spiritual. If someone has a concept of spiritual-
ity, this is much more interesting than anything they could imagine. But
and has no interest in what they believe spirituality to be, if they just take
up the practice for improving their health or fixing some biomechanical
problem in the body, it'll prove effective but it will also put them in touch
with their core feelings. And just by touching those core feelings they
will start inquiring into what is real. They'll start to ask: "Why am I suf-
fering all the time?" “What is true?" And so they've come to the right
place. And so yoga in a sense is like a fountain. People will go to it, for
many different reasons but because they've gone to the source they start
to get a taste for it, and they might not really understand why they like it
but they'll keep coming back to the source and eventually they'll just
jump right back in.
It is spiritual in the sense that the Atman, the soul, is revealed, but at the
same time there is a methodology as well, so is it somehow a fusion of those
two things?
Exactly. If we say that what is of most interest to the open mind, to the
open heart, is beyond expression, beyond words, also therefore beyond
technique. our first reaction is “I won't do anything." But the fascinating
thing about practice is that what is manifesting as the body and the mind
is composed of strings and strings of techniques, and so yoga is actually
the art of using techniques with incredible skill and through that one
naturally arrives at a place where there is no technique anymore but free-
dom. This is one of the major themes of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the
extremely illusive themes, that the truth is ultimately formless because it
generates all forms. How can it be approached? How can you realize it?
lt’s actually through seeing forms with an open mind and allowing the
body and the mind to complete their natural tendencies to complete
their forms. and in that you release form.
So you have to see all the forms that your mind wants to manifest to actually
see behind them, mul that goes for all the different asanas as well.
Yes, each one is sacred, each one is like a mandala, or in the Hindu tra-
dition they use the word "yantra," which is a sacred diagram. Yantras have
very distinct forms, so a yoga asana has a very distinct outer form and a
very distinct internal form. and if you are able to go into it, in sometimes
ply able to observe it without reducing it to some concept or theory, then
you are free from that form. The very heart of the yantra or mandala is
you. Then another form comes which happens to be the next pose in the
series, and eventually you are able to see all of these as an expression of
the same internal principle. lt's just that at certain points we get con-
fused and we're not able to see it as sacred, as spiritual.
Has Guruji described to you diflerent mental forms that relate to the differ-
ent asanas?
No, he hasn't. just practice. What he has clone is he's given me a lot of
things to study, books to read. hoping that I will be fascinated and extract
information from them.
Why is there such a strong emphasis on asana practice in this system? What
is the function of going back to the same place daily?
The practice is like a mirror. We go to the mirror every morning to tidy
ourselves up before going out into the world, and the practice is like a
mirror for what's in your heart and what's in your mind. If you are able to
approach the practice from an internal space, it's always new. The same
old pose is always fascinating because you are using it as an object of
meditation rather than as a means to get something. And that way you
are able to practice and practice and practice—perhaps forever.
What is the attitude one needs to get that experience?
I think the key to ashtanga practice is bhakti. which is devotion or love.
The eight limbs are accessories to that heart. Bhakti is probably the clos-
est thing to what yoga is. And so guru bhukti, which is a direct relation-
ship or love for the teacher. is one aspect of bhakti that is extremely
helpful.
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part1 (1/3)
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)
