Book review OM The world of Ashtanga Yogis - Plus my own answers to the nine questions.

Angelique Boudet let me know she had self published a book of Ashtanga Interviews  I bought the Ebook and have posted some quotes below.

The first friend I mentioned it too asked why would we want to buy a book of Ashtanga Interviews when we have Lu Duong going to all the trouble of interviewing Ashtanga teachers and posting the interviews for free on his site Ashtanga Parampara, there is an excellent interview with Tim Feldmann just uploaded today in fact. http://www.ashtangaparampara.org/Tim-Feldmann.html 

And of course we also have Guruji, the book that probably started the Ashtanga teacher interviewee format, essential reading as it overcome once and for all the idea that there was only one 'correct' way of teaching or approaching this practice.

And of course podcast interviews

I myself was interviewed by Claudia for her Yoga Podcast

Peg has excellent interviews on  Ashtanga Dispatch with the Podcast interviews

and Ryan Spieman has some Ashtanga interviews on his Lonely Guru podcast

... anyone else?

In his interviews Lu focusses on parampara of course ( although not exclusively and I tend to skip over those bits, it's not a concept I'm interested in personally, respect and gratitude towards my teachers feels sufficient), this new book focusses on nine questions, the same nine questions to each of the interviewees. It's a nice conceit in principle but I'm not sure it works in practice, it can become a little tedious, at times. I found myself almost shouting at the author to ask follow up questions, to pin down or push the interviewee a little but the only interviewers I know who are doing that effectively are our friends at Wildyogi.

There are still some good quotes to be found in the book, I read it on the long commute from my home beside Lake Biwa to Osaka. Interviews with Mark Darby, David Roche and Louise Ellis stood out for me and Chuck Miller of course, some of the other interviewees unfortunately seemed to see it as an opportunity to promote their shala.

Angelique is a photographer so much of the book is taken up with her photos.

Here are some quotes for each of the nine questions that stood out for me and below that my own attempt at the questions.

Available from here
http://www.blurb.fr/b/6565494-om-the-world-of-ashtanga-yogis

The nine questions

1 — How did you start practicing yoga ?

“Krishnamacharya was my very first guru then Patthabi Jois. Together we discussed every day, experiencing and practicing. 
In this way, we studied for seventy years. 
I actually started at the age of thirteen.” B.N.S. Iyengar


2 — Could you please tell us how the yoga 
has changed your life ? 

“Yoga has changed my life in every way conceivable and became a constant but evolving presence in my daily life” Louise Ellis


3 — What does it bring to you presently ? 
Could you tell us what your actual practice is ?

“   Yoga continues to help me see myself as I am now. Still trying to re-
turn to my found mantra : Be Here Now ! Thank you Ram Das !” Chuck Miller


4 — Would you ever stop practicing ?

“Would you ever stop practicing ?” is a strange question to me and 
I am not sure now what it means ! Some great person said when you 
first find yoga you have to practice yoga. After you become a yogi everything you do is yoga. That resonates with me. Practice takes so many different forms for me now ! I still maintain a regular meditation practice, an asana practice and a pranayama practice because they help me feel more comfortable and help to keep my mind sharp. And, just realizing I am drifting out of the present moment and then returning with my breath back to the here and now is also my practice, as far as I am concerned !” Chuck Miller

5 — What do you think about the fact that Westerners are getting more and more interested in, and involved, with yoga ?

“Yoga is very young in the West and we approach it from a western psychology. We, in the West, are very extroverted, we are competitive. We need to be seen. It is about achievement, ambition. In the East, people are more introspective. They are more community minded. We are more individualistic, in that way needing to be seen, but also mainly people have the same basic needs, desires and challenges. I think it is maturing because yoga is so young in the West, people are ready and I’m seeing it. People want the psychology, they want The Yoga Sutras, they want to understand it. They feel how it works, they want to know how it works and to understand the psychology. In the East, Hatha Yoga is just a very little piece of it but it makes sense that in the West we are attracted to it because we are physical, we are in the body, we are in the world in a different way. ” Bhavani Maki


6 — What is your opinion about Westerners’ practice and of the practice of yoga in your country ?

“I do not have an opinion about ‘Westerners’ or ‘Not Westerners’. I am glad for anyone who has found a practice, whatever that 
practice may be and however it supports them in their lives.” Lucy Scott

7 — According to you, how does yoga transform people and why does it help to change the world ?

“ I think yoga has the power to give you much more clarity, to become more and more aware, awake. And the main problem we have is that 
the individual is deeply asleep, we are an irresponsible, unconscious and childish society, and most of our problems have to do with that.” Jose Carballal

8 — In which way is yoga important to you ? 
How does it affect you ?

“One takes the Great Vow of yoga to observe the Yamas and Niyamas, then one has a pattern of how to conduct oneself as an individual and as a member of society. Practicing asana and pranayama brings not only physical and mental quiet ; they strengthen the bodymind complex to permit moving more fully disciplined into the areas of pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses, dharana - concentration, dhyana - meditation and samadhi. Being so involved in these pursuits makes one more conscious of his or her actions and their effects on their family, their community, and their world. ”
David Roche

9 — What is your dearest wish ?”

“I am pretty content as I am, I think that if you have a wish it becomes a desire and I don’t think desires are very good for spiritual practice.” Mark Darby

“My dearest wish is to hurt less the people I love,”Tim Feldman

*

view of the mountains from outside my house

And my own answers to the nine questions - you can tell perhaps that I started to find the questions quite tedious. But then, really, what questions would I ask that are any better other than why think about it when I could be practicing more.

1 — How did you start practicing yoga ?

See my series of posts Developing a home practice. Basically I was burgled, had seven vintage saxophones stolen ( I'm also a repairer), was angry about it but more angry that I was angry. Decided to start meditating again, picked up the most manly book on yoga in the library (just happened to be Ashtanga) and started practicing on a towel in my pants in the hope it would help me sit more comfortably while meditating.

2 — Could you please tell us how the yoga has changed your life ?

It hasn't, I'm still attached to the world, perhaps a little more focussed... and there are moments in those short kumbhaka in asana when the world drops away and there is just perhaps *awareness of awareness. Occasionally that happens for little longer while sitting.

*Just enough of a hint, suggestion to make me think that Patanjali's project really is worth pursuing and that Krishnamacharya may have been on to something with hi kumbhaka in asana.

3 — What does it bring to you presently ?
Could you tell us what your actual practice is ?

When the above happens.... peace. In general my asana practice brings me more discipline, hopefully it helps keeps me healthier. My current approach to practice is outlined in this post Slow Ashtanga

 4 — Would you ever stop practicing ?

I practice less asana, no longer stick the the series, see this post Slow Ashtanga, it's debatable whether I still practice Ashtanga, Krishnamacharya's early Ashtanga or Vinyasa Krama But I can't imagine not practicing some asana as preparation for and a support for my yoga practice

5 — What do you think about the fact that Westerners are getting more and more interested in, and involved, with yoga ?

Purusha doesn't have brown skin, nor a dialect, language, culture or history, so....

6 — What is your opinion about Westerners’ practice and of the practice of yoga in your country ?

As # 5

7 — According to you, how does yoga transform people and why does it help to change the world ?

It doesn't.....few if any of us are actually practicing yoga, mostly we're just playing at it.

8 — In which way is yoga important to you ?
How does it affect you ?

Hope

9 — What is your dearest wish ?”

To do less no harm


Update: I'm thinking I might revisit my, off the top of my head, response to these questions in a few days and flesh them out a bit.

Yoga, Ashtanga -The Source, Parampara, lineage

One of those posts that just popped out, perhaps I'd write it in a different way tomorrow, in a less provocative way or edit the life out of it but this is the way it emerged and hey, it's a blog.

Ideas of Lineage, Parampara, Source can be useful, serve a purpose, support our practice but they can of course also be questioned.

Four million year old Lake Biwa, two minutes from our place, this ancient Tori (gate) cycling distance

I struggle with terminology

The Source

Parampara

Lineage

It's Mysore season, and friends and digitally nodding acquaintances' fb posts are filled with "...off to visit the source".

The 'source' referred to here being the KPJAYI Ashtanga shala in Mysore India, where Sharath, Pattabhi Jois' grandson is oft referred to as the 'Lineage holder'.

Feel free to skip this digression- Does it matter that we like to use terms like Source, Lineage, parampara, probably not but of course all these terms relate to authority and I clearly have issues with authority, I struggle with 'hereditary' too, the Queen.... I didn't vote for her, nor will I have the opportunity to vote for her son Charles when he takes over the throne. He gets secret cabinet papers you know ( a lot of discussion about this currently) as does his son....forgot his name, who will be King in turn. None of these have been elected or will they be and yet they get to see cabinet papers. Charles of course seems a nice enough man, he's no Donald Trump... luckily and I really do mean luckily because we would have been stuck with him come what may. The monarchy doesn't have any powers, not really, or at least they do but effectively can't employ them and seeing that the current Prime Minister is about to remove the veto powers of the House of Lords we essentially have an emasculated separation of powers. Of course friends in the US might like the idea of a congress without any powers, or a Senate perhaps if your batting for the blue team..... or is it red

But I digress.

What is 'The source'.

I guess it's intended to represent where Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga began.

Except it's not, not really. It's not the original shala/studio/school, that was a smaller room elsewhere in Mysore. Big deal, so Pattabhi Jois needed a bigger room, we can still visit the old school...., perhaps it has a blue plaque like all those places in London, Isaak Newton, drank a pint here, or here in Japan in some temples where we find something along the lines of  Lady Murasaki wrote a few pages of the Tale of Genji HERE

Pattabhi Jois is no longer with us, the Ashtanga hereditary system we have, the idea of lineage, where the sceptre is passed down the line... has ended up in Sharath's perhaps reluctant hand. It skipped Manju, Pattabhi Jois' son, who was there in the room demonstrating asana as his father wrote Yoga Mala, outlining the current  Ashtanga vinyasa system (give or take the odd tweak). Manju decided to stay in the west after his father's first visit but has, he says, continued to teach just as his father taught him back in the 1950s, I suspect less roughly. However, he teaches outside India so instead, the perceived official lineage has passed to Sharath. Not to Sharath's mother Saraswati, who practiced as a child alongside Manju with their father and who continues to be a much loved and respected teacher with her own shala in Mysore, but to her son who travelled with his grandfather in later years and was trained in asana by him.

The source then is a place, Mysore where the current 'official' holder of the lineage resides. Did Sharath himself take on that title I wonder, is it mentioned anywhere, on KPJAYI website, I should check, perhaps it's just a way people have of referring to him, authorised teachers perhaps to give more legitimacy to the certification, more authority, credibility.

It's not necessary for credibility of course, anyone who has practiced this approach to asana six mornings a week for  ten years or so already has credibility as an asana teacher or should have and authority or rather respect springs from that. This is assuming that this approach to asana we practice allows us to understand our asana, not just it's construction but what it is, how it may be employed, the possibility of asana... perhaps thats why we look to senior teachers, those who have practiced for decades and have moved past the outward manifestation of posture. Dropping series.... asana, may be a relief a revelation, perhaps one asana IS all we require.

We need a lineage holder/wielder it seems to maintain the official practice of Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga vinyasa. Sharath does remind us that nobody owns yoga but there seems to be the perception that how he defines or outlines the practice is somehow official, how he tweaks it, what aspects he may stress is how it should be practiced and passed along through authorised and certified teacher's Mysore rooms. No Authorised or certified teacher is allowed to present teacher trainings, punishable by excommunication or at least being taken off the official list of recognised teachers. Personally it's those on the edges of 'official' Ashtanga, who have often ( but not always) practiced for decades, authorised/certified or not, that I find most exciting, who bring the practice and it's possibilities alive for me.

Authority, authority, authority.

Author-ity?

Sharath travelled, assisted  and trained with Pattabhi Jois in his grandfather's later years, the relationship with his granfather was clearly one of love and reverence and no doubt why he stresses paramppara, it is a concept important to him. Sharath, along with so many others has practiced and taught for years, his tweaks to the system/method have been few, minor perhaps. Pattabhi Jois himself changed the presentation of the system in a few minor ways, his shala used to have word research in the title after all, but mostly it appears to be how he was taught by his own teacher T. Krishnamacharya.

Krishnamacharya seems to have taught a dynamic style of practice to the young boys of the Mysore palace, it was perhaps a little like the Modern Shaolin school of Kung Fu, turning out demonstrators to promote yoga throughout India.

Krishnamacharya, Mysore palace school (Krishnamacharya standing on the boy in Kapotasana over on the right - Pattabhi Jois has said that he is the boy his teacher is standing on although he may be mistaken).

We also have Krishnamacharya's books on yoga written at the same time, outlining as they do a slower practice that included long stays and kumbhaka ( breath retention), a flexible approach to asana based on groups of asana, primary, middle and proficient ability asana. The follow up book was intended to include pranayama.This slower approach was less suitable for demonstrations of course although Krishnamacharya would supposedly keep one of his young demonstrators like Pattabhi Jois in kapotasana while he would stand on him and deliver a lecture/presentation and manju says his father would practice long stays in his personal practice.

Pattabhi Jois seems to have taken the approach to asana his teacher Krishnamacharya presented in his boys school for asana demonstrators, taken his teachers list (with permission I should add, even perhaps encouragement) and presented it as fixed series with minimal rearrangement to the first two of Krishnamacharya's groups of asana, the Advanced list took more rearrangement.

The source then perhaps refers to Krishnamacharya himself... what about his old shala/school in Mysore? I believe BNS Iyengar teachers there now or used to. BNS Iyengar according to an interview with him came to Mysore just after Krishnamacharya's school closed. Krishnamacharya had moved to Chennai but his family remained in Mysore and he would come back to visit, and no doubt give the occasional lecture in Mysore as well as the odd class. BNS Iyenger seems to have attended some of these lectures and classes but mostly he seems to have been a student of Pattabhi Jois.

The Source then is perhaps Krishnamacharya's own texts, Yoga Makaranda and Yogasananagalu, rather than how he was allowed to teach in the palace school  other than to private students, they are good source texts but The Source?

There is talk of Yoga Korunta, the mythical text allegedly eaten by ants that Krishnamacharya's work is said to be based upon, Krishnamacharya is the only person we know who may have seen it. Would we consider the yoga Korunta as 'The Source', a text rather than a person or place? Few bother to actually read Krishnamacharya's own texts that may have been based upon it, I suspect the Korunta and other of Krishnamacharya's source texts would only be referred to as The Source if they fitted exactly how Ashtanga is being taught now in the official shala...

too often we want our discoveries to justify our practice rather than question it.

What then of Krishnamacharya's own teacher, this shifts the Source from Mysore to either Tibet or the university library and /or the forests around Benares, old Varanasi  .... perhaps a little of each, or a little of all the teachers and texts that Krishnamacharya consulted in his years of wandering from library to library, Pandit to pandit, living authority to living authority.

M. and I once sought the source of the Thames, this great river that Conrad saw as stretching to Rome and the Tiber, to the Congo, joining all rivers, oceans.... at some point it becomes a stream and then a an insignificant trickle, like the source of the Ganges perhaps. Here, in Shiga, next to Lake Biwa we are constantly coming across small streams, water coming down from the mountains filling this four million year old lake. Which of these rivulets is the source of this great lake?

one of the many little streams near us, look, first snow

But India right, the source of Ashtanga, of yoga is Indian......surely.

Purusha doesn't have brown skin or any other colour skin for that matter, nor dialect, language, a culture, a sex, a history.....

Whatever your Philosophy the source of Ashtanga, of yoga, seems to come with the relization that I am, followed on some dark lonely night by the questions what then is this am, this I and am I it.

If not and perhaps my conception of what I am is ignorance how may I overcome it.

....and perhaps later what is this language, this grammar, that allows me to form the question in such a way.

These questions are our birthright, we find them in most any culture we encounter in one form or another and the response in all seems to be some form of moral code or behaviour, embodied practice, reflection, meditation.

There is often a physical embodied element, at it's simplest a prostration perhaps but some form of physical discipline,  breath control whether a form of what we refer to as pranayama or as chanting, prayer and always a turning inwards, introspection or outwards to conception of God, all questioning our sense of self of am'ness, being.

There are always those who go off alone to sit with these questions and/or their response to them, seek to understand them better, question them, question their teacher, question what they most believe to be so,

to know or to know that they don't know.... radical enquiry.

We find yogi's everywhere

The source of Yoga, of Ashtanga is right here, we carry it everywhere.

*

NB: I began my practice of yoga with Pattabhi Jois' presentation of Ashtanga Vinyasa eight years ago and still believe it provides an excellent foundation for discipline and focus that we can return to if and when our discipline wanes. For the last few years I've tended to maintain much of the structure of Ashtanga vinyasa but am more strongly influenced by Krishnamacharya's early Mysore writing as well as the strongly integrated practice of his long term student Srivatsa Ramaswami.

Re the young girl in Kurmasana in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and in my Krishnamacharya's 'Original' Ashtanga poster

This post started as a fb comment

"There seems to be a young girl in the poster"

from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

In response to a comment/question. Re the girl in Kurmasana in my Krishnamacharya's Original Ashtanga poster

In Krishnamacharya's first book,Yoga Makaranda, along with his own demonstrations of Primary postures, he includes some pictures of mostly more advanced postures demonstrated by his students or family (the girl in Kurmasana is I believe one of his daughters, I'm assuming the eldest, Srimathi Pundarikavalli).

Krishnamacharya seems to have taught groups of postures (Primary, Middle, Advanced) rather than fixed series but I wanted to bring together those Primary postures he gave instructions for to give an idea of how Krishnamacharya might have taught the postures that make up the first Ashtanga series. In truth my aim was to use this poster as a hook to encourage other practitioners to take a closer look at Pattabhi Jois' teacher's instruction/guidelines/options, the longer breathing, longer stays, the kumbhaka he indicates in most postures and how he takes a more flexible approach to asana practice In general.

Yoga Makaranda was written in 1934 when Pattabhi Jois was still Krishnamacharya's student. Here's the link to my original post telling the story of the poster.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/12/new-poster-krishnamacharyas-yoga.html

"The first thing to say about it is that this is NOT the order the asana are found in Krishnamacharya's 1934 book Yoga Makaranda.... but not far off".

*

"Sri T. Krishnamacharya had six children, three sons and three daughters. His wife, Srimathi Namagiriammal as well as his children were taught by him" Sri Shribashyam

"He (Krishnamacharya)  was married (in 1925 to BKS Iyengar’s sister Namagririammal) and had six children, sons TK Srinivasan, TKV Desikachar, TK Sribhashyam and daughters Srimathi Pundarikavalli, Srimathi T Alamelu Sheshadri and Srimathi Shubha Mohan Kumar.
from Paul Harvey's excellent Center for Yoga Studies

Krishnamacharya invited his wife and daughters to join him in demonstrating asana for the 1938 Mysore film footage.

NB: It 's been suggested that Krishnamacharya refused to teach woman until Indra Devi used her influence with the Maharaja of Mysore in 1938 to persuade him to teach her. Given that Krishnamacharya was quite happy to teach his wife and daughters asana to a proficient level, it seems more likely that Krsihnamacharya was unsure of Indra Devi's seriousness regarding Yoga.

"The woman, who became known as Indra Devi (she was born Zhenia Labunskaia, in pre-Soviet Latvia), was a friend of the Mysore royal family. After seeing one of Krishnamacharya’s demonstrations, she asked for instruction. At first, Krishnamacharya refused to teach her. He told her that his school accepted neither foreigners nor women. But Devi persisted, persuading the Maharaja to prevail on his Brahmin. Reluctantly, Krishnamacharya started her lessons, subjecting her to strict dietary guidelines and a difficult schedule aimed at breaking her resolve. She met every challenge Krishnamacharya imposed, eventually becoming his good friend as well as an exemplary pupil.

After a year-long apprenticeship, Krishnamacharya instructed Devi to become a yoga teacher. He asked her to bring a notebook, then spent several days dictating lessons on yoga instruction, diet, and pranayama. Drawing from this teaching, Devi eventually wrote the first best-selling book on hatha yoga, Forever Young, Forever Healthy". FERNANDO PAGÉS RUIZ  Yoga Journal

Kurmasana 

(Krishnamacharya's instruction for Kurmasana from Yoga Makaranda)

This has 16 vinyasas. The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th vinyasas demonstrate the sampurna sthiti of the asana. Only the 7th vinyasa is shown in the picture.
Benefit: The apana vayu is cleaned; nocturnal discharges are stopped. This is also a very good method for curing piles.

If women with irregular menstruation practise this asana with all the vinyasas for a few months, this affliction of the uterus and of menstrual disturbance will dissolve and they will have regular menstruation.

Important Rule: The practitioners of kurmasana must not practise it within 3 hours of eating. It must not be done on a full stomach.

poster from my book Krishnamacharya's original Ashtanga yoga
http://tinyurl.com/qa45jgl

Available from Amazon and Lulu but Lulu allows me to discount it 50% 
http://tinyurl.com/qa45jgl

Slow Ashtanga? Update New practice space

I was asked about my practice now I'm here in rural Japan between the mountains and Lake Biwa. 

While my Mac is out of action and in need of a new Hard drive I thought I'd repost this outline from last year of the Slow Ashtanga I'm pretty much practicing here. 

Difference from below? I tend to start with a simple pranayama, something from Sri Sribashyam's (Krishanmacharya's third son) Emergence of yoga say, then a little tadasana ( Vinyasa Krama) and a rough sketch of Ashtanga Primary or the first half of Ashtanga 2nd. There tends to be a strong Vinyasa Krama influence, the odd variation included perhaps in preparation or as an extension.  My breathing tends to be long and slow following Krishnamacharya's early writing, Kumbhaka too of course and I7ve been including internal drishti from some time along the the lines of Sri Sribasham's teaching.  Practising slow like this I choose to practice less asana to leave more time for pranayama ( mostly nadi sodhana with mantra - see my pranayama page above), pratyahara and an appropriate Sit.

I should add perhaps that asana attainment has lost all interest for me, gone the leg behind head postures, karandavasana, even supta Kurmasana and Marichi D (perhaps in summer), kapo tends to be toes at best when I remember to include it. I'm currently more interested in the longer, slower, steady breathing, the kumbhaka said and the internal drishti, mostly though I'm leaning more towards my simple, straight forward pranayama and peace in my sit.

It is so beautiful here.

The new practice space, the view and what's left of the yoga book shelf after the move to Japan.

Original post below from 8th November 2014

QUESTION: "Hey, love your posts about K , keeps me motivated. One question... in your understanding of K's yoga, how would one do a practice? If all the asanas have the vinyasas from samastiti to asana stiti and then back, like Ashtanga. So the practice would be like that, some sort of Ashtanga or maybe  a Vinyasa Krama like practice? If one is to dedicate 20 min to a pose that means the practice could be maybe 2, 3 poses and that's it then. How would you adapt that to a class for example?"

This post is an attempt to answer the question above with this morning's practice as an example but bringing in some of my older videos relating to slower practice I. E. slower breathing, longer stays (rishi approach) kumbhaka, adapting the 'sequence' to the demands of a slower practice etc. It's along the lines of the kind of practice I've been teaching in crete this summer and will be looking to present, at some point, in my upcoming workshops (see right panel of blog).

I thought I'd put this up at the top of the blog as a permanent page and develop it over time..

I think of the indications below more as options for practice that Krishnamacharya emphasised in his early Mysore writings (1930s-40s), back when he was still teaching the young Pattabhi Jois.

Slow Ashtanga

• Longer, slower breathing

• Longer stays in some asana, shorter stays in others

• Kumbhaka ( retaining the breath in for between 2 and 10  seconds after the inhalation and/or retaining the breath out for between 2 and 10 seconds after the exhalation) dependent on the particular asana or mudra.

• It may well follow the general framework of the current Ashtanga sequence but the sequence split perhaps over two or more days.

• Due to splitting up the sequence other asana or variations of asana may be included to prepare or extend a key asana in the days practice

In my own practice time is an issue. I follow the indications and instructions for practice outlined  in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) and prefer to breathe slowly in the asana and vinyasas, lengthening my inhalation and exhalation, "slow like the pouring of oil". I like to explore kumbhaka and the occasional extended stay, in Mudras especially. I also prefer to practice, much of the time, with my eyes closed, employing internal drishti at different vital focal points and I like to introduce vinyasas, extra preparatory asana on days when they feel appropriate as well as perhaps extending an asana into more challenging, 'proficient' forms on the more flexible days, this is in keeping perhaps with the idea of groups of asana rather than fixed sequences. I like to practice Pranayama before and after my asana practice as well as finishing my practice with a 'meditative activity'. I was first introduced to Yoga through the Ashtanga sequences and I still maintain that general structure in my main practice but I would rather sacrifice half or more than half a sequence than these other factors and perhaps practice the asana ‘missed’ in the following day(s). I still consider this to be Ashtanga, SLOW Ashtanga.

"When once a fair proficiency has been attained in asana and pranayama, the aspirant to dhyana has to regulate the time to be spent on each and choose the particular asanas and pranayama which will have the most effect in strengthening the higher organs and centres of perception and thus aid him in attaining dhyana". Krishnamacharya - Dhyana or meditation Yoga Makaranda part II

Sample practice from this morning Approx. 2 hours

The videos may take some time to load, don't worry, your unlikely to watch them anyway, it's like watching  dry or grass grow. 

Numbers beside the postures indicate no. of breaths unless 'times' or 'cycles' indicated

AK = antar kumbhaka (retaining the breath in at the end of the inhalation )

BK = bhaya Kumbhaka (holding the breath out at the end of the exhalation)

Krishnamacharya doesn't say how long the kumbhaka's should be Yoga Makaranda in Part I but in Part II they tend to be working up from 2-5 seconds in later krishnamacharya with experience they may be 10 seconds.  those indicated below are my own kumbhakas.

Kapalabhati in paschimottanasana (holding toes but without folding all the way forward - a kind of two leg version of mahamudra).
Ujjayi in tatkamudra - 6  breaths ( scanning vital points on inhalation, nabhi on exhalation)
Anuloma ujjai - in Vajrasana - 6 cycles

Krishnamacharya Surya Namaskara options

Krishnamacharya writes of staying for extended periods in each stage of what we now think of as a sun salutation or suryanamaskara. He writes of ten minutes or more below I take five long slow breaths in each.

Krishnamacharya shifts his kumbhaka around, generally, if the head is up it's antar kumbhaka, after the inhalation, if the head is down then it's bhya kumbhaka, after exhalation. generally there is no kumbhaka in twists.

Uttanasana B - AK5s

Chaturanga Dandasana - BK 3s

Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana - AK 5s

Adho Mukha Shvanasana BK-10s

Utthita Trikonasana - 10 breaths each side,(Krishnamacharya recommends ten minutes in this asana)
Parivritta Trikonasana - 3
Utthita Parshvakonasana - 3
Parivritta Parshvakonasana - 3
Prasarita Padottanasana A. - 5
Parshvottanasana - 5 AK 5s
Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana plus standing marichi variation - 1 full breath in each stage

(I spent longer in standing postures this morning, usually I would split these up over two days)

Dandasana - 10  - AK 5s (scanning through vital points on inhalation hrdaya on exhalation)
Paschimattanasana - 15 - BK 5-10s (scanning through vital points on inhalation nasagra on exhalation)
Purvatanasana - 3

mahamudra -10 each side - BK 5-10s

Slower breathing, 10 second inhalations, 10 second exhalations

Janu Shirshasana A. - 1 each side
Marichyasana A  C - one full breath in each variation and on each side
Tiriangmukhaikapada Paschimattanasana - 3
Bharadvajasana - 6 each side - AK 5s

Maha bandha - 6 each side-  BK-5s
Ardha Matsyendrasana - 3 each side
Baddha Konasana - 10 each vinyasa - AK 5s for B (sitting up)

Padmasana with variations - 10 in total
Uth Pluthi - 5

shoulderstand prep ( 3 vinyasas) 3x each variation

Sarvangasana - 12 (legs relaxed )
viparita karani (sirsasana as mudra no variations) - 12
Sarvangasana with assorted variations - 5 mins ( see THIS post )
Shirshasana with assorted variations - 5 mins (see THIS post) - No intentional kumbhaka but I tend to try and lengthen the inhalation and exhalation as long as possible, between 30-45 second breath, gets slower as it goes on.

Baddha Padmasana - 10

Paranayama - basti - 30 and nadi sodhana -pratiloma ujjayi- with japa ( mentally reciting pranayama mantra 20s) - 6 cycles
Pratyahara 3 mins
trataka - 10 mins

savasana 5 mins

*******

The videos above and below are pretty much unwatchable,  its like trying to watch grass grow, paint dry.... an exercise in trataka perhaps.

but  it perhaps give an impression of how slower breathing, longer stays, less asana might be approached.

Examples of slow practice, Oscar practicing Vinyasa Krama on the left while I take a Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda  Ashtanga approach on the right

Middle group practice

The practice from this morning that I outlined above was based on the Primary group asana, tomorrow I will most likely base my practice on the middle group, a similar approach to standing as above with perhaps some time spent on some tadasana backbending preparation variations from vinyasa Krama.

More time in Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana perhaps, in preparation for pasasana.

Tiriangmukhaikapada Paschimattanasana and krounchasana

I usually switch to the Vinyasa krama Bow sequence leading up to ustrasana, laugh vajrasana and kapotasana. The Bow sequence follows quite closely the layout of Ashtanga 2nd but with some extra vinyasas.

below kapotasana.

and in the leg behind head postures

I've started to leave out dwi pada sirsasana altogether and just practice a longer stay in yoga nidra

****

On the third day I would tend to switch back to primary group asana and explore some of the asana I missed from the regular Ashtanga sequence this morning and on the fourth day, asana missed from tomorrows Middle group.

******

We can practice less postures, below supposedly an example of Krishnamacharya's own personal practice from Krishnamacharya's 3rd son, TV Sribhashyam's book Emergence of Yoga.

November 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Illusion

My Mac is currently sick (most likely in need of a new hard drive ) prompting a leave of absence from the Inter-web, I will however try to continue posting Ramaswami's newsletters each month.

*

During October I with my wife Uma, went to the beautiful home of my friend Jyoti Chittur and met several of her yoga students and friends, There were several Tamil speaking yogis hailing from Madras, Chennai. I spoke briefly on the lines of "Yoga, a complete Adhyatma Vidya". Thank you Jyoti

November,  I am planning to go to India for a four month stay. In November I will be teaching a 100 hour Advanced Vinyasakrama program at Yoga Vahini in Chennai. I understand the registration is complete. I am teaching a long program in India after several decades. During my stay I am also scheduled to teach in Hyderabad, Dubai and New Delhi. For more details  here is the link

www.vinyasakrama.com/Events

 The 100 hour program is also scheduled in a number of other places like in Oneyoga in Saskatoon, Canada, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I may probably teach the same program in New York City and San Jose in 2016. It basically has a 60 hr vinyasakrama asana component, 20 hrs of Yoga sutras, word by word and 20 hrs of pranayama, mudras and yoga for internal organs.

Illusion

Disciple: Guruji, I read that some very revered philosophers of yesteryears conclude that the entire universe in just an illusion and there is  no substance to it

Guruji; Yes many great souls like Sankara, Gaudapada and others say so.

D: But I see that the universe, this world is real

G; It is not surprising. What you consider yourself, the 130lbs of you is also part of this illusory world. So being part of the illusion you may find the world real. 

D: But then if it is an illusion who watches the illusion? It is me, is it not?

G: Oh yes we will come to that, but tell me  how  you see the world outside you

D; With my eyes ofcourse. When I close my ears I am able to see but when I close my eyes I can not see. So I should be seeing with my eyes.

G: Do your eyes see.

D; Yes, but not really. The eyes merely select the light particles and pass it along . 

G. What does science say about how we see?

D: Basically it says that the senses receive sensations from the objects which are transmitted to different centers of the brain which then collates and processes the information, interprets it and sees the object. 

G. Explain in detail the steps involved

D: Let us take the case of seeing an object, Light particles fall on the object. The object absorbs some of the light and reflects some of the light at different angles. Then the light rays reach and then go through the eyes to hit the retina. There it is converted into electrical impulses. These impulses are transmitted through optical nerves to a particular part of the brain which contains the sight center if you would call it, It is a small area in the back of the brain. There it is processed and then the brain is able to see it. Ofcourse there may be other signals through other senses like hearing etc., and the brain will collate all the information add analysis and emotions to it and one gets a composite picture. The brain processes the information and sees it. Actually this is a quote from a ophthalmologist which states that the eyes do not see but the brain sees. Here is the quote Guruji

"We're eye doctors."...

"What's something about the eye that most people don't realize?"

"The eye doesn't see. The brain sees. The eye just transmits. So what we see isn't only determined by what comes through the eyes. What we see is affected by our memories, our feelings, and by what we've seen before." 

G: Yes. This is very much what the Yoga theory of citta vritti is. The object that subject sees is actually the light particles reflected by the object, the rupa tanmatras which excite the eyes. The information is transmitted to the brain or citta by the retina and  in the brain takes place the processing and modification of the signals. The information sent by the senses is collated by the 11th indriya, the manas, the buddhi or intellect analyzes the information with what is available in memory and the ability to analyze (adhyavasaya) and then the ahamkara or ego adds its own color to the the product of the citta. Naturally this produces emotions in the individual--  pleasant or unpleasant. And this final picture is called a cittavritti or the activity/projection of the citta. But this according to yogis is only part of the story. This rasoning also raises some more questions

D: What is it Guruji

 G:, Everything, according to science, is taking place in the head, in the brain. So right now I should see you in my head. But actually I see you in front of me. So we have to explain how what is happening in the head is seen outside of the head, in front, out side of me. I can not get into my brain and see. Further even in the head it would be some chemical changes of the brain cells or neurons flying all over the small head space. One has to explain how what is happening in the brain, that which  is seen in the mind in the mental space is seen outside in the physical space. And even if we assume that I see you in front of me, I have to explain if what I see in front of me is the real object from which signals were received or it is the mental projection of the object I had seen. We should be able to align both the subject and the object in the same space, physical space or mental space.

D: Yes, I understand that we do not see any object per se. We only see the projection of it. And there is this question of aligning the subject and object in the same space--physical or mental 

G: Yes the Yogis explain this. They say as the scientists do, that the whole experience is taking place in the mental space or citta-akasa. Apart from the signals received through the senses. of the outside objects, the brain also receives information about oneself, one's person- the subject. There is a complicated nervous system that runs all over the body, presumably sending signals to the brain. The brain or citta with these signals constructs the image/feel of the subject as well and so we have an integrated picture of both the subject and the object in the brain. Through the numerous nadis--72,000 in all-- according to yogis are sent  various signals about the subject or what we consider as ourselves. Then the citta or the brain projects a composite picture of subject and object the totality of the experience we have at a particular moment. We not only experience the outside objects but also feel that we, as subjects, are experiencing the outside object, This total picture is what they call as citta-vritti, or activity or projection of the brain. The feeling of 'I' or about oneself,- the subject- they call as 'asmita' or the “I-exist-feeling” is part of the citta-vritti and it takes place in the brain-- in the mental space.

D :I think science also puts both the object and the subject  in the same mental plane or space. I read this in a blog (Guruji blog is what people write whatever they think is important)

What we call the ‘self’ is a construction of our brain. First, think about what the term ‘self’ implies: understanding a separation between what you are, both physically and mentally/emotionally, and whatever is outside of you, or non-self. While a bit clinical, Antonio Demasio’s definition serves us well:A dynamic collection of integrated neural processes, centered on the representation of the living body, that finds expression in a dynamic collection of mental processes. That is, this thing we call the ‘self’ is the result of our neurochemistry interacting with our physical body and the outside world, resulting in not only what but how we think. 

G: Yes the self that is referred to in the previous quote would correspond to 'ego' or the asmita of the yogis, but not the real self , the pure consciousness or atman the yogis, vedantins talk about. This 'asmita' is something which is felt as part of what is experienced. Most scientists would say that the brain is the processor/ projector and also the observer of what we experience. But several vedic philosophers of yester-years  would point out that what is considered to be  the brain, that itself is part of the projection of the mind, because the brain is also part of the subject referred to , the 'empirical self' .  I will explain in greater detail …..

D: Then which is the one that experiences this whole picture, the projection of the mind

G: It is awareness. According to them, the samkhyas, yogis and vedantins,  what we experience and consider as oneself is a product of the mind or brain and there has to be an independent entity which should be able to experience that. It basically should be awareness, and should be able to constantly observe the ever changing cittavrittis moment after moment. Patanjali says that for experience to take place there should  be an object of experience and an experiencer. The brain cannot be the experiencer and  also what is experienced at once. Here, since what is experienced includes what we consider as ourselves-the empirical self-, the experiencer is one which is pure unwavering consciousness called drashta, atma, purusha and so on.  This theory is reiterated by sankhyas, yogis, vedantins, Brahma sutra, the Gita and other vedic texts

taṁ durdarśaṁ gūḍhamanupraviṣṭaṁ

guhyāhitaṁ gahvareṣṭaṁ purāṇam|

adhyātmayogādhigamena devaṁ

matvā dhīro harṣaśokau jahāti||

He (the Atman), difficult to be seen, full of mystery,

the Ancient, primaeval one, concealed deep within,

He who, by yoga means of meditation on his self (adhyatma yoga),

 comprehends Atman within him as the Lord,

He leaves excitement and sorrow far behind.

— Katha Upanishad, 1.2.12[41][42]

According to them the brain cannot at once be a processor and projector of vrittis on one hand and also the experiencer on the other. Further the brain is just a super processor and an insentient organic one. It has no consciousness, it is just living matter even as it appears to have consciousness. They call the brain 'citta' which literally means something that masquerades as consciousness (cit iva bhavayati iti cittam) even as it is a piece of  organic matter like other parts of the body-alive but without consciousness

D: But the yogis consider the world, the universe, the creation is real.

G: Yes. Ordinarily everyone  thinks the world is real and the senses give experience of the world to us

Scientists and thinkers say that it is the brain which actually processes and experiences the world which by implication is real. The yogis say the brain or citta processes and projects what is experienced in the mental space but there is an independent non changing consciousness which is aware of the experience. They also consider the world as real.

D: Then why the doubt about the reality of the universes?

G: There are several reasons why a group of philosophers consider the world to be unreal. For instance what the mind projects that we experience is sometimes decidedly  a non substantive illusion --like  for instance in a dream what the yogis call as vikalpa vritti,  those are experiences that are determined unreal on waking up. But even during waking stage we only experience a cittavritti or projection of the brain as we have just seen. We do not see any object per se. We have no independent means of determining if there are really objects because what we can experience are  mental projections or cittavrittis only. While in dream the cittavritti appears real and in waking state the cittavritti is considered real only just  exactly as the dream cittavrittis were considered real during dream state. Now even as we believe the waking vrittis are real it is not conclusive. So some philosophers conclude  it is indeterminable (anirvacaniya), whether the world is real or not. Some though assert that just as dream experience is proved to be unreal while awake, the waking experience is considered by implication. false during dream. For instance my dream self was 19 years old yesterday night but on waking up i find myself decades older. One experience negates the other experience. The 76 year old waking experience is negated by the 19 year old dream experience and vice versa. Since one is false the other also must be false.

Furthermore, importantly, even as the brain is a unique organ it is still part of the experienced, the empirical self,its activities are also experienced. So the theory that the mind processes, projects the objects and also experiences it, is suspect.

D; Is there any other reason put forward

G: Many philosophers raise the question about the improbability of real material creation . Science talks about a dime sized singularity of infinite density from which the whole creation took place including the physical space. The universe with trillions upon trillion tons of matter and unimaginable amount of energy and life and consciousness came from this 'insentient', lifeless singularity. Ofcourse they give convincing proofs that other scientists understand. Samkhyas say that the universe evolved out of atomic mulaprakriti. Space, matter, life, everything (not consciousness though) came out of it. Upanishads say that the universe came out of brahman, atomic  pure consciousness (pragnyana ghana). It was both the material and efficient cause of the universe. Everything including space came out of it.  Some philosophers say, that kind of creation is not possible. Only an illusion and not a real creation is possible. On these lines some puranas mention that the universe was created by the Lord with the power of Maya or illusion (for lack of a better word). According to some vedantins the entire narration of creation is an imagination and not real. Like a magician creating an illusion, the Lord created this  huge cosmic illusion. Some  describe creation as a series of pulsating projections moment after moment for the beings to experience and ultimately turn away from and approach the Lord knowing the creation is not real and is worthless (tuccha). Some philosophers even while not agreeing to a Creator or separate consciousness say that what we experience is just a mental projection moment after moment (kshanika) and hence an illusion without any substance.

The theory of  science  seems to suggest that the mind whose seat is the brain projects and experiences the composite projection that contains both the object and the subject in certain vrittis. Since the brain also is part of the subject this would amount to saying the brain/mind projects and experiences itself which is untenable.

There is another theory in which creation is considered to be the projection of Maya or Mayavritti. Since what is considered as  you, the 130 lb you and also your vrittis are known to a conscious observer, you really are the conscious observer different from all that you experience and mindlessly think as yourself. What you experience is the vritti or projection of Maya or power of illusion, by which not only the entire universe is known but also all the thoughts or cittavrittis of the subject are known. Every thing including the world, your 130 lb being and your thoughts form part of this grand cosmic illusion.

D: Even if it is an illusion, what is the use of such knowledge, we still have to go through life and just wish away the world as a mere illusion is not possible.

G:  Ofcourse these are two separate questions, truth and usefulness. Here mere intellectual appreciation is not sufficient, one must be able to realize it to be so. Even when one is convinced about the non-real nature of the universe, because of old samskaras the mind tends to fall into the default belief that the 'ego' or the empirical self  is the real self. It requires yogic contemplation on the illusory nature about the universe  on one hand and and the reality of the 'Self' on the other . As the Katha Upanishad quote  emphasizes, Yogic meditation and contemplation are necessary requisites to replace  the old samskaraas with the new right samskaras. . Then the approach will be different.

Further  during our dreams we believe it to be real and emotionally get attached to the objects, especially the dream self, and experiences which may be happy, indifferent or painful. But when we wake up and realize that it was just a dream, we dismiss the dream experience with a shrug and do not usually bother about it. Likewise  when one, after deep analysis, contemplation and yogic meditation. realizes the illusory nature of life in this world, the attitude towards life will be lot different, lot less stressful, like the relief I get after waking from a nightmare. It is said considerable unnecessary weight one carries in the mind is lifted. Ofcourse the difficult part is that meditation, contemplation and realization should  succeed understanding and conviction. 

D: Guruji what is your final conclusion, is it real or unreal

G: My conclusion? It does  not matter. For that question, each one has to find one's own answer, as the Tamil saying goes, “manattalave ahumam Guru” (Ultimately one's own mind is one's guru). The Lord has given us a long life to find the answer to this simple question,”Is this  real or unreal?”

D: Guruji, dhanyavad. I may come back with more questions

G: Yes please. In the meantime calmly think more about what we discussed today

Tailpieces

.1..In some languages I understand Jesus is pronounced as 'Isus". The Sanskrit word 'Isus' and its derivative 'Isvara' would mean 'the Lord'. A Sanskrit mantra from Yajur veda is 'Isus sarvasya jagatah prabhuH " meaning Isus or IsaH is the Lord of all the worlds. Isas and isvara are popular first names in India like Iswara, yogeswara, yogesa, sarvesa, vagees. paresa......

.2..All yogis are familiar with the name Patanjali. Anjali indicates palms kept together as a mark of reverence. Pata or pat is used in the sense of 'to fall'. So Patanjali is described as one who fell into the praying arms of the devotees. Another involed explanation would say 'that which is falling from the folded hands/palms'. Patanjali is said to have fallen down from the palms of the praying Gonika who wanted a divine child. Several people have explained Patanjali along these lines. I have also written about the story of Patanjali in my book "Yoga for three stages of life along these lines following a 17th century sanskrit work called "Patanjali carita" or Story of Patanjali written by Ramabhadra dikshitar a south Indian scholar. There is another interesting interpretation possible. According to dhatupata an ancient source book for Sanskrit roots, the root 'tap' is  transformed into 'pat'. So pat could have the meaning of 'tap'. The word tapas comes from tap to heat (tapa dahe). The dhatupata refers to this tap as follows. "tap(pat)aiswarye va". It means that tap becomes modified to pat and could mean aisvarya. What is aiswarya? It is supernaturaal powers. Amarakosa mentions vibhuti, aiswarya and siddhis as synonymous. so pat or tap could mean siddhis and Patanjali was a great siddha yogi also, as could be seen from the various siddhis elaborated in the III chapter of yoga Sutras.  Patanjali could mean "One to whom siddhis surrender" or one in whom siddhis are inherent. So Patanjali can be given another interpretation. It could be 'A master siddha yogi'.  Patanjali=Master of yoga. One can find the name Patanjali and also Tapanjali as first or family name even now in India.