What are PJ's criteria?

[Guest guest]

This post resurrects a question from a previous

post that never got answered.<br><br>What are Jois'

criteria for certification? Is it based only on one's

mastery of a certain number of series? Are teaching

skills taken into account? Is one evaluated on how one

is progressing on other limbs of the yogic path

besides asana?<br><br>But this leads to another related

question: how does Jois view Ashtanga's asana practice in

relation to the other limbs of yoga? We've all heard his

admonition to "just do your practice and all is coming."

Does this mean that Ashtanga practioners are left to

their own devices when it comes to pranayama,

meditation and the like, or does it mean that Jois views the

Ashtanga asana system, properly practiced, as somehow

encompassing enough facets of the other limbs of yoga that one

needn't worry about practicing the limbs like pranayama

or dharana "separately."<br><br>Or maybe he has some

other line on this.<br><br>I've heard different things

from different folks. One of his earliest American

students told me that Jois spent a lot of time teaching

pranayama and various kriya practices, back in the 70's

when he had fewer students. A more recent 90's student

told me that he was interested in learning pranayama

and asked Jois to teach him, but that Jois just said

"maybe next week" and next week never came.<br><br>Have

Jois' teaching practices changed substantialy over the

years, or does he just do things differently with

different folks?<br><br>All of this has bearing on what to

expect from a teacher who is "personally certified by P.

Jois", should one have the opportunity to study with

such a rare speciman.<br><br>Can anyone shed light on

these matters?<br><br>Peace and Good,<br>Homer_Hanumat

[Guest guest]

The unenlightened cynic in me screams "it's all about money and control". Why

train and certify anybody when that will only draw business away from your own

door?

[Guest guest]

Regarding Pranayama, Guruji usually does not teach it until completion of third

series. Until that time, the Nadis are not sufficiently opened, according to

him.<br><br>spw

[Guest guest]

Thanks, for the info, Senor. And by the way I

just came across a similar remark in godfreydev's

webpage, to the effect that in the Ashtanga system of the

Yoga Korunta the student is not permitted to begin

pranayama and seated meditation until Advanced Series A

(under the old division of series) is

mastered.<br><br>Peace and Good,<br>Homer

[Guest guest]

Yes it is true, Sri KP used to teach Pranayama on

a regular basis. To the group of 7 who brought the

Guru and Manju here, the requirements were simple, sit

in padmasana for 45 minutes and be able to complete

the beginning and intermediate series. Our practice

was a mindblower, do all your asanas, then strap

yourself in for some good bhastrika blasts with the guru,

and yes he sat in the circle with us daily, laser

eyes focused on our abdomens and throats. This was

pre-Tim Miller, he who claims to be the 1st American

certified by Guruji, which is maybe true on a

technicality.<br>And by the way, we laughed alot in class, both at

ourselves and Guruji. Why this essential ingrediant to the

practice has been lost by many is directly proportional to

the teachers view of his/her self importance.

<br><br>Yours in yoga.

[Guest guest]

not long before i discovered the joys of

ashtangavinyasasadhana but could do the primary and intermediate

postures and more, i got into deep trouble with my

pranayama practice, it was making me hypersensitive to the

extent that i could hardly bear to interface with the so

called real world. this didnt seem like a good idea. so

i changed tack. i stopped measuring (maya) the

duration of in and outbreath, and gave up intentional

retention. over the following 12 years i have discovered a

pranayama vinyasa based on patanajali's definiton and the

guidance of my masters who dont bother with such fine

analyses. patanajali he say..<br>"within asana, pranayama

is exhaustive interpenetration of inhalation,

exhalation and transition until the duality of the breath is

transcended and the mind becomes ready for meditation"

<br>what this means to me is that <br>"within the joyful

steadiness of a body free from tension that manifests the

infinite beyond duality" (bhagavad sri patanajali..)

<br>pranayama is simply (?) a matter of becoming so deeply one

with the breath that the duality of inhale&exhale,

breathing&pausing, breath&breather, become insignificant, in

practice what happens is that yes, the breath does slow

down, even almost disappear and yes there are

spontaneous suspensions of the breath (kevalakumbhaka)... but

it happnes simply as a function of awareness not as

a function of the will. the difference is

huuuuuuge. and yes, laughter is for sure the

mahamahasiddhi........

[Guest guest]

not long before i discovered the joys of

ashtangavinyasasadhana but could do the primary and intermediate

postures and more, i got into deep trouble with my

pranayama practice, it was making me hypersensitive to the

extent that i could hardly bear to interface with the so

called real world. this didnt seem like a good idea. so

i changed tack. i stopped measuring (maya) the

duration of in and outbreath, and gave up intentional

retention. over the following 12 years i have discovered a

pranayama vinyasa based on patanajali's definiton and the

guidance of my masters who dont bother with such fine

analyses. patanajali he say..<br>"within asana, pranayama

is exhaustive interpenetration of inhalation,

exhalation and transition until the duality of the breath is

transcended and the mind becomes ready for meditation"

<br>what this means to me is that <br>"within the joyful

steadiness of a body free from tension that manifests the

infinite beyond duality" (bhagavan sri patanjali..)

<br>pranayama is simply (?) a matter of becoming so deeply one

with the breath that the duality of inhale&exhale,

breathing&pausing, breath&breather, become insignificant, in

practice what happens is that yes, the breath does slow

down, even almost disappear and yes there are

spontaneous suspensions of the breath (kevalakumbhaka)... but

it happnes simply as a function of awareness not as

a function of the will. the difference is

huuuuuuge. and yes, laughter is for sure the

mahamahasiddhi........