Aimer savoir est humain.
Savoir aimer est divin.
~Joseph Roux
To love to know is human.
To know how to love is divine.
"To be on the proper disciplined path is important
because it is through that process that compassion can bring softness.”
~Geeta Iyengar, in an interview with Los Angeles times
 |
| Patanjali, modern art rendering in Patanjali Yogpeeth |
by Geeta S. Iyengar
In Yoga-sadhana all the three processes have to be followed for one's practice to bear fruit. For example, asana has to be repeated again and again, day after day, year after year; this is Sravana or Japa. It is Karma Marga.
This repetition leads one to the mental process of thinking, where one penetrates deeper and deeper from Annamaya Kosa to Anandamaya Kosa. This is called Manana, which gives meaning and understanding of the action which is being performed by the sadhaka. This is Jnana Marga in sadhana.
This repeated (Japa) and well-thought-over (artha) action gives a new experience to the sadhaka. It is a form of worship in which one offers every asana as a flower to God. The sadhaka becomes one with the action and remains absorbed in it (Bhavana). This enlightened state of Self-realisation is Bhakti Marga. Then Karma, Jnana, and Bhakti all merge into One. This is Nididhyasana.
This type of sadhana alone brings completion to the practice."
Thank you, Geeta Iyengar, for living as a wonderful yogi, writer, and teacher!
And though I may be "young" to some, I can really appreciate and relate to what Iyengar is saying when she says the following (in the same interview with LA Times as linked above):
[She] finds that her daily yoga practice has become a gift for old age. “Yoga is an inner journey that helps to keep oneself healthy, not just on a physical level, but it gives inner mental peace and maturity.” While she sees yoga as a valuable tool to for coping with daily living, she rejects popular trends to use it as a quick fix-solution for various ailments and aches. Instead, she says, “I feel there are so many things to learn from yoga that can help old age become pleasant.” She’s quick to add that she is “not talking in terms of Western ideas about beauty that demands one to remain and look young, even in old age.” Rather, she is prepared “to accept a mature mind that has experienced many things, and from that yogic experience I can find a better way.”
And so, wishing the world peace as we all age here together, frightened by silly world politics and policies and senseless shootings. Here's to getting old! Some people don't get that chance. Let us embrace all the time we have to inch our way towards Krishna consciousness, Krishna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita, or whatever guiding light and truth we may have discovered.
Om shanti Om
