the classical
T. Krishnamacharya - a profound teacher, largely responsible for passing on the yogic tradition as we know it today.
Krishnamacharya with his son and student T.K.V. Desikachar.
Krishnamacharya with a western student.
In ancient times, there were teacher and disciple. The disciple pledged his or her life to the path of yoga, and once inducted into the practice formally through ceremony, would follow the teacher's
outlined practice down to the last detail. For yoga, practiced without proper guidance, can be dangerous, and the student may stray or even be harmed through an imbalanced practice and
ignorance.
B.K.S. Iyengar describes the classical view of the relationship between teacher and student in his book Light on Pranayama:
"The guru and his pupil are together concerned with spiritual knowledge. The guru first studies his pupil and discusses what the pupil knows, while the pupil studies the guru and the subject he is being taught. The next step for the pupil is prolonged ascetic practice until the knowledge has been fully absorbed. In time wisdom, the fruit of first-hand experience, matures and the guru and pupil explore it together."
Iyengar goes on to say:
"Spiritual training has nothing to do with theoretical study, but it leads to a new way of life. Just as sesame seeds are crushed to yield oil and wood ignited to bring out its latent heat, so must the pupil be unswerving in his practice to bring out the knowledge latent within him and find his own identity. When he realizes that he is a spark of the Divine Flame burning throughout the universe, then all his past impressions are burnt out, and he becomes enlightened. He is then a guru in his own right."
a great
Learning to listen is vital to understanding the duality of the inner and outer teacher.
Images from Gregory Colbert's Ashes and Snow.
Student and teacher exist within each other. When we understand this we experience the freedom of detachment from knowledge.
Ultimately we must make that leap of faith into the unknown, trusting our awakened sense of intuition, instinct, and inner guidance.
It is ironic that we live in times where more than ever we need such teachers, and yet we can seldom afford the luxury of leaving our lives behind to appreciate such a classical
approach to learning a most necessary practice. How do we practice as pupils in our every day lives without a formal teacher? There is no simple answer. And yet if we look around
us and practice clearing away the debris that keeps us from stillness, then the Teacher reveals him/herself in a multitude of ways. We have to learn to listen.
It is quite a paradox that we live our lives and practice yoga under the impression that accumulating knowledge and progressing from "point a to point b" result from receiving the teachings from outside ourselves, when in fact what we are being taught is not unknown to us. It simply has to be rediscovered. The external teaching connects a piece at a time with innate inner wisdom, leading us to deeper understanding. This is the essential difference between knowledge and wisdom (prajna). Knowledge is accumulated information that has no experiential context. Wisdom is born from personal experience, from intuitive knowing, and an ongoing child-like curiosity for fundamental truth.
nature as
We look to deepen the intimate relationship between human and Nature, student and teacher.
From the guidance of the voices of the Teacher, we are led back to the source of knowledge and wisdom, a spring from which we must drink deeply.
Real knowledge and understanding is not fabricated by the mind, but is rather articulated by the mind to be shared and explored. What is its Source? Where does it come from? It bubbles up from deep
within us, from our own awakening wellspring of wisdom (prajna), from the seat of intuition, and the prime mover of instinct. Nature is manifest from the Divine, and so is the source of truth and
understanding. Wisdom is simply the experience of witnessing truth in action, and the closer to Nature we get the more clearly she cries out in beautiful song, beckoning us to listen and learn.
The classic description of guru and disciple can be experienced both externally and internally. In our yoga practice it begins when we encounter our first significant teacher. Under proper guidance we are safely pointed towards our own clear path inward. Eventually, the teachers who have most inspired us and aided us on our journey invite us to make that leap of faith into the internal relationship with the one true Teacher. We have learned to listen, and we understand that this one illuminating Teacher speaks with countless voices, through other human beings, animals, trees, earth, sea, and sky.