Hi (What about BKS Iyenger and his Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali?)

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , Madhurima M <marycheva>

wrote:

> Dear Forum,

> I think, it is high time as sahaja yogis we learnt to judge the

> book on vibrations. When you are reading something, immediately

> your kundalini will tell you. I had read this book before comming

> to Sahaja and frankly it could give me nothing, compared to what

> Sahaja Yoga has given to me.

> Jai Shri Mataji

> Madhurima.

>

 

Dear Madhurima,

 

While still waiting for Balwinder to repost his reply which he

accidently sent to me only (instead of the whole group), i would like

to understand about books written by other gurus.

 

i admit that, compared to the knowledge given by Shri Mataji, there

is no guru who can come a close second to the depth and width of Shri

Mataji's discourses over the decades. And when it comes to Self-

realization, which is only possible through kundalini awakening,

there is just no guru available.

 

i use a lot of quotes from other gurus and authors. Thus Balwinder's

post is relevant to what is being discussed, and we will wait. In the

meantime i just want to know what you think of BKS Iyengar as i

bought and read his " Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali " ? What do

the vibrations say about this book? Is he a false guru?

 

Given below is an extract regarding BKS Iyenger. You will notice that

unlike Amma or Sai Baba he claims no bhagwanship.

 

 

jagbir

 

 

NOTE: B.K.S. Iyengar is one of the foremost teachers of Yoga in the

world and has been practicing and teaching for over sixty years.

Millions of students now follow his method and there are Iyengar yoga

centres all over the world. He has written many books on yogic

practice and its philosophy including " Light on Yoga, " " Light on

Pranayama, " " Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali " and more.

 

Mr. Iyengar was born in 1918 into a large poor family in the village

of Bellur in Karnataka state in India under very difficult

circumstances. His mother gave birth to him during an influenza

epidemic leaving him sickly and weak and his father died when he was

only 9 years old. As a result he went to live with his brother in

Bangalore. His childhood was further marked by a variety of serious

illnesses including malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid together with

malnutrition.

 

At the age of 15 Mr Iyengar was invited to Mysore to stay with his

eldest sister by her husband, the scholar and yogi Sri T.

Krishnamacharya, who was visiting. Krishnamacharya ran a yoga school

in the palace of his patron, the Raja of Mysore, where Mr Iyengar

eventually received some basic instruction in asana practice to

improve his health. His guru however, was an erratic and terrifying

personality who drove him hard and so at first Mr Iyengar had to

struggle from day to day. This diligence in practice gradually paid

off as he mastered some of the postures and improved his health.

 

Then in 1937 Mr Iyengar was asked by his Guru to go to Pune to teach

yoga. In Pune life was still very difficult as he was a stranger

there with weak language skills, speaking only a little English and

the local language Marathi. As he had left school before he could

complete his examinations and had no skills, he was left with little

choice but to continue to make his living through teaching yoga.

Moreover as he felt he had little experience or theoretical

knowledge, he decided to practice with determination and learn by

trial and error. In the beginning his students were better than him

so he would dedicate many hours a day to practice, sometimes

surviving for days on only water and perhaps some bread or rice. This

was also a difficult time in his yoga and he would suffer great pains

through incorrect technique, often having to place heavy weights on

his body to relieve the aches. However through determination and a

refusal to give up he gradually began to understand the techniques of

each posture and their effects. The number of his students also began

to increase, though financially times were still incredibly hard as

yoga was not greatly respected or understood, even in India.

 

Then In 1943, his brothers arranged his marriage to Ramamani. Mr

Iyengar had avoided marriage for some time as he felt he could not

support a family, but on meeting her consented. Initially life

continued to be very hard for them but bit by bit they worked their

way out of poverty. They agreed that she would take care of their

family while he would provide the income. Strangely it also fell upon

her to introduce the subject of yoga to her children for some time.

 

Gradually Mr Iyengar's recognition as a yoga teacher grew but it was

a meeting with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 which led to Mr

Iyengar's eventual international recognition. It was Yehudi Menuhin

who arranged for Mr Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland,

Paris and elsewhere and so meet people from all over the world and

from all walks of life.

 

Events continued to develop and grow, leading up to the publication

of Light on Yoga in 1966 after many years of development. This book

turned out to be an international best seller which continues to be

reprinted in several languages all over the world and succeeded in

making Yoga truly universal. This was later followed by titles

covering Pranayama and various aspects of Yoga philosophy. His latest

work " Yoga: The path to Holistic Health " was published in 2001.

 

Finally in 1975 Mr Iyengar was able to open the Ramamani Iyengar

Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his recently departed

wife, where he still resides and teaches. By this time Mr Iyengar's

eldest daughter, Geeta and son Prashant had also started teaching

yoga under his guidance.

 

In 1984 Mr Iyengar officially retired from teaching though he

continues to take medical classes and teaches at special events as

well as being fully active in promoting yoga world wide and being

involved in the institute and its charitable foundation. Though

physically quite capable of continuing, he felt it was time to " let

the next generation come through " and did not want to become attached

to his position there. Classes still run regularly which are hugely

popular and overd and are conducted by Geeta, Prashant or

senior teachers.

 

It can be said that Mr Iyengar is therefore one of the premier Yogis

responsible for introducing yoga to the West and Iyengar style yoga

is probably the most widely practiced form of yoga in Europe and

America today.

 

B.K.S. Iyengar is now over 80 years old and still remains unsurpassed

in his practice and teaching.

 

http://iyengar-yoga.com/bks/biography/

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , alex arthur <dude11976>

wrote:

> Hi Madhurima,

>

> Jagbir, you might also want to look at this site.

> http://www.anandamarga.org/spiprac.htm

> I went through it a long time ago when i was on a

> reading spree. You might find it quite interesting.

> Here again, nobody is making claims about being god.

>

 

Thanks Alex.

 

Can any SY find any fault with what i regard as a good read to expand

our consciousness?

 

jagbir

 

----------------------

 

What is Dharma?

by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

 

Human beings are the highest-evolved beings. They possess clearly-

reflected consciousness, and this makes them superior to animals. No

other being has such a clear reflection of consciousness. Human

beings can distinguish between good and bad with the help of their

consciousness, and when in trouble they can find a way out, with its

help. No one likes to live in misery and suffering, far less human

beings, whose consciousness can find means of relief. Life without

sorrow and suffering is a life of happiness and bliss, and that is

what people desire. Everyone is in quest of happiness; in fact it is

people's nature to seek happiness. Now let us see what one does to

achieve it and whether it is achieved by those means.

 

In their search for happiness people are first attracted towards

physical enjoyments. They amass wealth and try to achieve power and

position to satisfy their desires for happiness. One who has a

hundred rupees is not satisfied with it, one strives for a thousand

rupees, but even possessing thousands of rupees does not satisfy. One

wants a million, and so on. Then it is seen that a person having

influence in a district wants to extend it over a province,

provincial leaders want to become national leaders, and when they

have achieved that there creeps in a desire for world leadership.

Mere acquisition of wealth, power and position does not satisfy a

person. The acquisition of something limited only creates the want

for more, and the quest for happiness finds no end. The hunger for

possessing is unending. It is limitless and infinite.

 

However dignified or lofty the achievement, it fails to set at rest

people's unlimited quest for happiness. Those who hanker after wealth

will not be satisfied until they can obtain unlimited wealth. Nor

will the seeker of power, position and prestige be satisfied until he

or she can get these in limitless proportions, as all these are

objects of the world. The world itself is finite and cannot provide

infinite objects. Naturally, therefore, the greatest worldly

acquisition, even if it be the entire globe, would not secure

anything of an infinite and permanent character. What then is that

infinite, eternal thing which will provide everlasting happiness?

 

The Cosmic Entity alone is infinite and eternal. It alone is

limitless. And the eternal longing of human beings for happiness can

only be satiated by realization of the Infinite. The ephemeral nature

of worldly possessions, power and position can only lead one to the

conclusion that none of the things of the finite and limited world

can set at rest the everlasting urge for happiness. Their acquisition

merely gives rise to further longing. Only realization of the

Infinite can do it. The Infinite can be only one, and that is the

Cosmic Entity. Hence it is only the Cosmic Entity that can provide

everlasting happiness -- the quest for which is the characteristic of

every human being. In reality, behind this human urge is hidden the

desire, the longing, for attainment of the Cosmic Entity. It is the

very nature of every living being. This alone is the dharma of every

person.

 

The word dharma signifies " property " . The English word for it

is " nature " , " characteristic " or " property " . The nature of fire is to

burn or produce heat. It is the characteristic or property of fire

and is also termed the nature of fire. Similarly, the dharma or

nature of a human being is to seek the Cosmic Entity.

 

The degree of divinity in human beings is indicated by their clearly-

reflected consciousness. Every human being, having evolved from

animals, has, therefore, two aspects -- the animal aspect, and the

conscious aspect which distinguishes a person from animals. Animals

display predominantly the animality, while human beings due to a well-

reflected consciousness also possess rationality. The animality in

human beings gives them a leaning towards animal life or physical

enjoyment. They, under its influence, look to eating, drinking and

gratification of other physical desires. They are attracted towards

these and run after them under the influence of their animality but

these do not provide happiness as their longing for it is infinite.

Animals are satisfied with these limited enjoyments as their urge is

not infinite. However large the quantity of things offered to an

animal may be, it will take only those which it needs and will not

bother for the rest. But humans will certainly act differently in

these conditions. This only establishes that animals are satisfied

with the limited, while the desire of human beings is limitless,

although the desire for enjoyment in both is prompted and governed by

the animal aspect of life. The difference in the two is due to the

possession by the human being of a clearly-reflected consciousness,

something which animals lack. The infinite nature of the human urge

for absolute happiness is due to their consciousness alone. It is

this consciousness alone which is not satisfied with the physical

pleasure of possession, power and position -- things which in spite

of their huge proportions, are only transitory in character. It is

their consciousness which creates in human beings the longing for the

Cosmic Entity.

 

The objects of the world -- the physical enjoyments -- do not quench

the thirst of the human heart for happiness. Yet we find that people

are attracted by them. The animality in people draws them towards

gratification of animal desires, but the rationality of their

consciousness remains ungratified since all these are transitory and

short-lived. They are not enough to set at rest the unending and

unlimited hunger of the human consciousness. There is, thus, a

constant duel in humans between their animality and rationality. The

animal aspect pulls them towards instant earthly joys, while their

consciousness, not being satisfied with these, draws them towards the

Cosmic Entity -- the Infinite. This results in the struggle between

the animal aspect and consciousness. Had the carnal pleasures derived

from power and position been infinite and endless, they would have

set at rest the eternal quest of consciousness for happiness. But

they do not, and that is why the fleeting glory of temporal joys can

never secure a lasting peace in the human mind and lead people to

ecstasy.

 

It is only the well-reflected consciousness which differentiates

human beings from animals. Is it then not imperative for human beings

to make use of their consciousness? If their consciousness lies

dormant behind their animality, people are bound to behave like

animals. They in fact become worse than animals as, even though

endowed with well-reflected consciousness, they do not make use of

it. Such people do not deserve the status of human beings. They are

animals in human form.

 

The nature of consciousness is to seek for the Infinite or realize

the Cosmic Entity. Only those who make use of their consciousness and

follow its dictates deserve to be called human beings. Therefore,

every person, by making full use of his or her reflected

consciousness, earns the right to be called a human being and finds

his or her dharma or nature to be only the search for the Infinite or

Cosmic Entity. This longing for the Infinite is the innate quality or

dharma which characterizes the human status of people.

 

Happiness is derived by getting what one desires. If one does not get

what one desires, one cannot be happy. One becomes sad and miserable.

The clearly-reflected consciousness in people, which alone

distinguishes them from animals, seeks the Cosmic Entity or the

Infinite. And so people derive real happiness only when they can

attain the Cosmic Entity or get into the process of attaining It.

Consciousness does not want earthly joys because being finite none of

them satisfy it. The conclusion we arrive at is that the dharma of

humanity is to realize the Infinite or the Cosmic Entity. It is only

by means of this dharma that people can enjoy eternal happiness and

bliss.

 

What is Dharma?

Ananda Marga: Elementary Philosophy by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

 

http://www.anandamarga.org/publications/dharma.htm