From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/2)

ls it a spiritual practice he's teaching?
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

it's definitely a totally spiritual practice. However, if someone comes to it
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

excruciating detail and intensity, and you see it as sacred, if you are sim-
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)

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)

Guruji and Richard Freeman

So how does Guruji's system bring you face-to-face with that experience? Or does it? Is it specific to this type of yoga, or is it part of any yoga teaching?
It would be part of any yoga teaching. The question is: Does the system
work. or does the collection of systems and methodology work? And in
many cases, in many schools of yoga, not a lot is happening. Yoga tradi-
tionally has been passed down from teacher to student over thousands of
years. and often the lineages are broken, so it is like a wire that is broken
and no current flows through it, so the actual internal teaching doesn't
get transmitted.

Do you know how far back this lineage goes beyond Krishnmnacharya's
teacher? Do we know anything about Rama Mohan Brahmachari's teacher?

No, we don't. Of course, Guruji has a family lineage which is the lineage
of Shankaracharya. And he is constantly making reference to Shankara-
charya. to teachers in the Shankaracharya lineage, and he has much in-
volvement in that, and his yoga gum, Sri Krishnamacharya, also has his
yoga guru and his family lineage. It's a complex thing to study.

Shankaracharya

.
How important is a guru when practicing yoga, and how does Guruji perform that function of separating the light from the darkness?
The guru is practically the key to the whole system. I suppose in theory,
if one were extremely intelligent and extremely lucky and extremely kind,
you could learn yoga from a book and you could do very well and get very far. But with a teacher, you develop a relationship. and something right at
the heart of that relationship carries the essence of the practice, and so
the various techniques that you might learn, even the various philoso-
phies you might leam, are placed in an immediate context by the guru.
That context is simply one of complete, open relationship, complete
presence. It's a great thing. So if there's a great teacher around, take ad-
vantage of it! If there's no teacher around, practice anyway.

How would you characterize Guruji's teaching method?
When I first met Guruji, he reminded me very much of a Zen Buddhist
teacher in that he used very few words in his classes. The words he
would use were like koans, they were puzzling, at least to most of the
students. And often, he was just trying to wake you up with what he was
doing. It wasn't so much the content of what he was saying. He would
sometimes try to distract you or to place you in a kind of double bind
where you might just laugh and let your breath flow and all of a sudden
find yourself doing a posture that you had feared two minutes before.
l remember doing backbends in Mysore with Guruji. We were just
standing and arching back and grabbing our knees which is, if you think
about it, very scary at times. I was all set to do it with my arms crossed
and he looked at my shorts which were soaking wet and cotton and he
said, “Oh, nice material!" just as I was starting to drop back and made me
completely forget my preconceptions. And the backbend was no problem
at all.

When there is fear going into a pose, does he have a technique to take you
deeper, beyond your body's apparent natural capacity?
l think what he does is he makes you drop your presuppositions, your
preconceptions about your body and therefore about your limitations.
Oftentimes you'll approach him and say, “Oh Guruji, this muscle is hurt-
ing" or "This bone has this problem." And he'll just look at you and say,
“What muscle?" In other words, he is inviting you again to look with a
completely fresh mind to see if there is anything really there. And by
dropping the concept you have around a sensation or feeling, you release
them. Many times the concept is the limiting factor. He's a master at
that: seeing if there is some fear or some attachment. And usually, in a
very kind, sometimes gentle, sometimes abrupt way, he'll get you to re-
frame a situation.

ls he imparting that skill to Sharath?
l think naturally he is. That's just the way he relates to people, and so
Sharath is bound to pick it up I think.

Guruji and Sharath

It's interesting because Sharath is still involved with practicing with
Guruji immediately present, which is an intense way to practice. So
Sharath experiences sometimes a lot of pain, sometimes his own fear,
and so he is very sympathetic with the students, very compassionate, be-
cause he has learned to be compassionate with himself when he prac-
tices. Guruji is also that way, but he doesn't do asana practice anymore
and so he just takes you right into it.






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 (3/3)

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part1 (1/3)

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.

How did you first find out about ashtanga yoga, and how did you find your

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,

you have to be experiencing them already so that it's easy to teach. If
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)