Richard Freeman met Guruji after an extensive period of spiritual un-
dertakings which began in I967 and included living as a monk in India,
becoming an avid yoga practitioner, and devoting himself to philosophi-
cal studies. He has been instrumental in spreading aslmmga yoga in lhe
West.
way to Mysore?
I don’t remember when I first heard about it, but I knew of its existence
for a number of years. First, through the work of Desikachar—the concept
of vinyasa, that things occur in sequences and that you can practice yoga
asana in sequences. And then I learned that Pattabhi jois was going to
come to the United States and lead a workshop at the Feathered Pipe
Ranch in Montana. and so I signed up right away. When I met him I was
enthralled by his radiance and his kindness. We almost had an instant
connection. And fortunately; we were in a place that was isolated. There
were two classes every day and hours of time in between to talk, and it was
an exciting experience. I was swept off my Feet by Guruji when I met him.
What was your first impression of him?
I was impressed by his smile, his radiance, his overall sweetness. I found
him extremely accessible. He was willing to tell me anything I wanted to
know, and that was actually rare in teachers. I was swept off my feet.
I 've often heard Guruji say he teaches real or original Patanjali yoga.
What was your experience of him as a teacher of true yoga?
When someone says they teach Patanjali yoga, the eight limbs of yoga,
they are implying that not only do they teach asana and pranayama but
also samadhi and all of the stages of meditation and then the release, or
the self-realization through samadhi. My experience of Guruji is that this
is what his interest is. Practically his only interest in life is to fulfill the
whole yoga system. His emphasis is, of course, on intense asana practice
at first. but through that asana practice with the vinyasa methodology he
is also teaching the fundamentals of pranayama and meditation. And
much later on in his system, these particular parts are separated out and
refined. But in a sense he is teaching the eight limbs initially through
asana practice, and when one picks up the thread inside, we find that the
other limbs are very easy to practice. And so he is saying the first four
limbs of yoga—yaama, niyama, asana. and pranayama—are very difficult,
but if you are grottnded in them, the intemal limbs are easy and occur
spontaneously. naturally.
Does he actually teach them themselves or are they just incorporated in
the asana practice?
He teaches them on a one-to-one basis when he wants to. If someone is
really interested, dying for it, he teaches the internal limbs. Practically,
someone is burning with desire. then they are so close that the teacher
doesn't have much to do except say yes, that's it.
Is samadhi far off for us?
Samadhi is very close. according to my understanding. Practicing yoga,
you gradually develop the ability to observe what is happening in the
present moment, and when you observe very closely what is actually occurring, then that is samadhi. And what is occurring is very close to us.
Usually we are looking at some other place rather than at what is actually
happening. So yoga asana and pranayama allow the attention to focus on
what is actually happening. Present feelings, present sensations, and the present pattem of the mind become sacred, they become the object of
meditation. So many people try to practice meditation but are trying to
practice by observing what isn't present. They are trying to look behind
this, they are trying to look anyplace, let me see anything but this. But
when you practice asanas enough, when you practice pranayama, the very
sensation that you are having presently is what is sacred. You stop looking
elsewhere and samadhi starts to occur.
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (3/3)
