The striking photograph of Yogacharya Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar doing the shirshasan in the backdrop of the Swiss Alps brings out the perfection of the asana. Guruji, as Iyengar is popularly known, has worked for 70 years in mastering the art and the science of yoga. In his ninth decade today Iyengar is raring to do more. As president of the 15-school Indian Yoga Association, he has many plans ahead - of bringing about uniformity in these different schools; introducing yoga in schools and colleges and popularising yoga to the Generation Y to keep ills at bay. In a free-wheeling talk the yogacharya extols the virtue of yoga teachers to attain the zenith and look at yoga beyond a form of physical exercise. From Light of Yoga to Light on Life and the journey in between...
It has been one of enlightenment. The body is connected with five elements. Practice of yoga helps connect with all of them and attain atma darshan through asanas. Light on Yoga is a reflection of the maturity I attained through my practice and research. As my practice grew, I inched towards perfection to introduce intelligence in sadhana, where the entire body including the nail attains stability. Light of Life is the journey of more than half a century of my association with yoga, my travel from darkness to light and from sickness to health, from ignorance to the light of knowledge.
Your contribution to yoga has been far-reaching, in fact yoga is known in the West because you started teaching it...
I started to do yoga first to maintain a good health. When I met Yehudi Menuhin in Mumbai in 1954, and my asanas helped him with his arm, he invited me to London. I gave thousands of demonstrations before people took to yoga. I started slowly, but once its benefits were experienced by all, the followers of yoga multiplied quickly. Now there are plenty of yoga teachers.
There is a guru-shishya tradition involved here, can all the teachers live up to it?
The guru-shishya relationship is essential, but each one has to struggle on his own to attain perfection. Just as I started from scratch and became a king, other must also practice. Teachers of yoga have less dedication. Anyone who practices an art must observe and absorb. When there is observation and absorption, it will lead to dedication. When I teach, there is a lecture and then an asana is presented. It connects well with the student. The guru and his pupil are together concerned with the spiritual knowledge (Brahma Vidya). The fruit of first-hand experience matures and the guru and the shishya explore it together.
Why are there no big yoga camps?
I have never wavered from teaching it to the masses. In fact that is why yoga is popular today. In a poor country like ours, people spend too much on medicines. If knowledge of yoga spreads across the nation people can save money on medicines and use it to buy food instead. Further, yoga is an art for me. I have immense respect for it. It requires years of attention to the subtlest form of the self. Stretching of the body is not yoga. The self has to penetrate outside, just as the body has to look within.
You want schools and colleges to make it compulsory for students...
I began teaching yoga to school and college students in Pune in 1937. If only the benefits had been realised then, we would have had yoga teachers all over the country by now and yoga would have spread all over the nation.
Yoga is willing accepted by people of other faiths. Why?
Yoga is the supreme religion. The body and intelligence are the same everywhere. The mind is individual and yoga helps it become universal. It brings about a vibration in the body and this music is due to the practice of the asanas. Its benefits are immeasurable and that is the only reason for its popularity.
Your favourite asanas...
I respect the viparita salabhasan as much as I do the tadasana. Even the simplest of asanas can have deep impact.
Yoga is now a money spinner...
The world is changing. A teacher of yoga has to make a living. In 1954, when violinist Yehudi Menuhin invited me to London, I was paid 100 dollars and toiled for months. In 1960, when I took my first class, I charged 10 shillings per student. It was barely enough to make ends meet. Today, practical philosophy lies in the teacher giving more than what he takes. Just as there is rajadharma, there must be yogadharma. Each and every student should be treated equally. Preferential treatment to those who pay more is not acceptable.
And you have miles to go...
I began with a scratch and became a king. I practice yoga three hours a day and pranayam for one hour. Yoga is the reason I am still going on at 90. I am a tenant here. I will vacate when God asks me to. Till then, I have much to do
There have been awards — Padma Shree, Padma Vibhushan and Time magazine...
I am honoured. In fact I had no idea about Time magazine's choice. I never thought I was one of the 100 most influential people.
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