“Food, eaten in moderation, at the right time and in the right environment,
is of prime importance to achieving and maintaining a healthy body.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 30
araṃbanaṃ saṃśilanaṃ punaḥ punaḥ |
“Begin then verify, again begin then verify, again begin then verify.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary to Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Eight verse 8
I agree it is not easy to work on ourselves and we might compare it to being a bit like encountering a garden that has been left to become overgrown and entangled over years of neglect.
We might begin by clearing away the old rubbish that lays all around on the surface of our lives and hampers, distracts or confuses our view of what’s really underneath.
Of course this also means that we are able to discern between the nuances around what we perceive as useful to keep, what is rubbish to clear and especially what we see as precious is in reality useful, or is in fact actually dross we need to cling onto under the illusion (Avidyā) of it being essential for our journey.
When practicing Āsana,
it is as if something watches something.
What is the something that is watched?
What is the something that watches?
Link to Series: 108 Yoga Practice Pointers
“A great number of postures, notably most standing postures,
have doubtless come to us directly from the Professor,
who would have introduced them as appropriate
to the needs of modern times.
Amongst the standing postures, Uttānāsana, Parśva Uttānāsana,
Utthita Trikoṇāsana and Utthita Parśva Koṇāsana,
are examples which the Professor himself codified.”
– Claude Maréchal was a student of TKV Desikachar from 1969-2002.
This is an extract from Claude talking about what
Desikachar told him about his father, Krishnamacharya.
Whilst living in Madras from 1979-1981 I was at an event in Chennai in June 1980 where BKS Iyengar was invited to give a Yoga lecture and Āsana demonstration in a tribute to his Guru T Krishnamacharya.
Krishnamacharya consented to attend as the guest of honour and I was able to take a number of personal photos during this event, including Mr Iyengar demonstrating Āsana.
This particular picture shows T Krishnamacharya and BKS Iyengar sitting together during the salutary addresses.
“Yoga is stopping the mind,
from becoming involved,
in activities that distract,
one from a chosen direction.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2
It increasingly appears that Yoga has been acculturated into the fitness mindset
rather than fitness being acculturated into the Yoga mindset.
Link to Series: 108 Yoga Practice Pointers
The Biomechanics of Śīrṣāsana – Article by TV Raghu Ananthanarayanan a former teacher at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram.
Downloadable as a PDF
– Originally published in KYM Darśanam February 1994
“Yoga is the pursuit of the unpursuable.”
– TKV Desikachar
‘Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice’ by the University Press of America,
a transcript of recordings of a one month Yoga Programme in Colgate University in 1976, published in 1980.
Unlike the later redacted edition, re-published in 1995 as the ‘Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice’, it captures the evolution of the retreat with the days lectures and Q & A dialogues as they alternated between ‘lectures on the principles and purposes of Yoga and discussions related to the practice of Yoga with special reference to the postures and the breathing techniques’.
TKV Desikachar, in his forward to the original version wrote:
“These lectures and discussions, printed words put before persons I might never meet,
are but reflections of that deeper result that grew out of a living face-to-face encounter.
Coming to learn of Yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired.
Yet, something worthwhile about Yoga might be shared through the medium of the printed word.”
A chapter by chapter Study guide is offered below with added verse and word cross-references where possible to support a a deeper linking with the teachings within these lectures and Q & A sessions.
“Niṣṭhā – The holding of a question throughout the days activities.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 5 verse 17
Freedom of movement within the Annamaya
does not presume freedom of movement within the Prāṇamaya.
Link to Series: 108 Yoga Practice Pointers
In terms of Yoga Practice within adult lifestyles
I feel our priorities need to be based more around
how we practice, rather than what we practice,
unlike children’s lifestyles where the priority is
on what we practice, rather than how we practice.
Link to Series: 108 Yoga Practice Pointers
“Different suggestions are available in our tradition
to help the beginner arrive at the highest state of Samādhi.
For example, using the image or idol of Īśvara
in the form pleasant to the seeker or even a picture frame.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 42
“How we feel during the action is the quality of the action.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 13
Question to TKV Desikachar:
How rigorous should we be in the practice of Tapas?
“Tapas is not the rejection of everything around us.
In the Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1,
Tapas means to be able to discipline oneself.
So if you are too fat eat less.
If you are too thin eat more.
Tapas which harms the mind should be rejected.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 21st 1988
Learning Support for Chanting Vanamālī Gadī
– From the Śrī Viṣṇu Sahasranāma Stotram verse 108
From my personal library of recordings from my studies with my teacher TKV Desikachar recorded by one of his senior chant students Sujaya Sridhar.
To Download or Listen
To Download the Chant Sheet with Romanised Saṃskṛta and Chant Notations
Modern Postural Yoga is most certainly one way in.
However have we become trapped within this way in
and thus can’t find the way out?
Link to Series: 108 Teaching Path Pointers
