Interview with B. K. S. Iyengar

Yoga: A Path to Wholenes by Corinne Schuman

Many consider B. K. S. Iyengar, now 87, the world's greatest living yoga master. Named one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time magazine in 2004, he is the author of the bestselling yoga book of all time, "Light on Yoga," first published in 1966. Iyengar lives in India, and although he retired from formal teaching in 1984, he still serves as an advisor and an inspiration to students around the world.

What yogic practice allows us to do, he writes in his most recent book, "Light on Life," is to "rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit the broken pieces together." He describes yoga as an inward journey that can lead to happiness and inner peace. Corinne Schuman recently interviewed Mr. Iyengar via email for Beliefnet.

- In "Light on Life" you write of the yogic system as a vehicle to enlightenment. Do you think yoga has something to offer people of any faith, even those who don't believe in and aren't trying to attain enlightenment?

- Yoga has a lot to offer to people, whatever [their faith]. It has no geographical boundary, gender, caste, or religion. As each of us is susceptible to physical problems as well as mental, emotional, and intellectual problems, yoga can help us recover from these wants. It is an art to practice, a science to ponder over, and a philosophy that shows us the ways of right living.

Whether one believes or not, it enlightens one in giving physical health and lightness in mind, emotional stability, and clearness in thinking.

- For many Hindus, yoga is a way of life. For many Westerners, it's often just a great way to stretch, strengthen, and relax. What is lost when yoga is stripped of its spirituality and treated like just another exercise class?

- Life has two facets. One is the physical; the other is spiritual. The physical facet of life is a concrete visible part of the life force recognizable through the organs of action, senses of perception, and the mind. The other facet of life is the self or the soul, which is mercurial and abstract.

Naturally whether one is [Eastern or Western], he or she believes in what they see, and after grasping the visible sheath of the body he or she naturally tries to evolve to reach the source of all movements. [Then they can advance] by refining the intelligence to experience the second part of the facet of life. That is the core of the being, or the self.

I do not think that the essence of yoga which is meant to touch the self is lost in leading one’s life towards the core. For me the body is the concrete visible self, mind is the subtler self, and 'self' is the subtlest of the subtle.

This is the gradation or hierarchy in the field of yoga. Not all practitioners can jump to that highest level. They have to climb, step by step from the physical sphere to reach the spiritual sphere. If it is treated as exercise it is not the fault of yoga but of the practitioners.

- Are there benefits people will get no matter where their minds are?

Those who activate their muscles as they should be activated do feel a sense of benefit in yogic movements. It is possible to derive the benefit of lightness in the limbs of the body or freshness in mind, even if their mind is not in yoga.

In yoga the attention of bringing the mind to focus and correct the wrong movements of the body is very important. Hence without the attention of mind and religiosity in the practice, the benefit of integration of body, mind, and self is not possible. A casual attention brings a casual result, and intense, attentive practice gives intense benefits.

- What are your thoughts on the widespread trend of yoga across America? Is this a good or a bad thing?

- My friend, I am happy that yoga—whether it is in physical form, mental form, or spiritual form—is spreading.

- What do you make of modern iterations and trends like "hot yoga" or "power yoga"? Do you think these are creative innovations or poor substitutes for more a traditional practice?

- I am not here to comment on other yogic names, as yoga students should learn not to criticise but to trace their own weaknesses and correct them.

- For those who are not familiar with your style of yoga teaching, in what ways is it different than other types of practice?

- Yogic principles of any style are the same. As the trunk is one but the branches are many, yoga is one but adaptations may vary. One who takes any style of yoga experiences the same transformation. My style of practice is not different than others except in alignment of the motor nerves with the sensory nerves. [This requires] intellectual reflection and skillful actions without distorting even the minutest part of the anatomical structure of the body, so that the bones, joints, muscles fibres, the energy, the mind, and the intelligence [are in] harmony and the life force touches all the concerned layers of the body.

How can yoga help with specific physical ailments, such as lower back pain?

- Human anatomy is God-made at birth and becomes man-made as he grows. Yogic practice helps one to understand the divine anatomy and not the habituated anatomy formed by one's habits and manners. Each asana [posture] has to be performed correctly in order to [rectify bad habits]. While performing asana one has to judiciously adjust the anatomy without distorting the muscles or joints. If there is anatomical distortion then it is not an asana. That is why my emphasis is on alignment, which is a guide for enlightenment.

- The use of props–pillows, blankets, belts, or blocks—is central to your teachings. Can you describe their function?

- The use of props, pillows, blankets, blocks, or belts is not central to my teachings. As true teachers are rare I developed these props to guide practitioners to get a sense of right direction so that they do not commit mistakes. [They also help] those who are stiff, confused, physically shaky, or who have disabilities and cannot perform independently.

These props do two things at the same time: [they help with] the extension of body and relaxation of the mind—together these are the key to meditation.

As they guide the body in the right direction the feeling of well-being is felt in the body and elation of freshness in mind is experienced. This naturally leads one to experience equipoise and oneness in body, mind and self.

- Could you choose a pose that you feel you’ve learned from and explain the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects you’ve experienced from it?

- It requires pages and pages to write on it. If you read the whole book you can get the answer to your question. This much I say here: the physical strength, mental strength, nervous strength, and intellectual strength should balance evenly by working in concord with all parts of the body, so that the core of the being, the intelligence, and consciousness concurrently and uniformly move with all parts of the body. If the body is the field then the intelligence of the self is the gardener who ploughs the field using asana as instruments.

Moon days - 2014

Tara - The Goddess as Guide and Protector, or Who Saves

In Hinduism, the goddess Tara  meaning "star", is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom [goddesses]", Tantric manifestations of Mahadevi, Kali, or Parvati. As the star is seen as a beautiful but perpetually self-combusting thing, so Tara is perceived at core as the absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.

The oral tradition gives an origin to the goddess Tara. The legend begins with the churning of the ocean between the Devas and Asuras. Lord Shiva drank the poison (Halahala) that was created from the churning of the ocean (in the process turning his throat blue and earning him the epithet Nilakantha), thus saving the world from destruction, but fell unconscious under its powerful effect. Tara Ma appeared and took Shiva on her lap. She suckled him, the milk from her breasts counteracting the poison, and he recovered. This story is reminiscent of the one in which Shiva stops the rampaging Kali by becoming an infant. Seeing the child, Kali's maternal instinct comes to the fore and when she was feeding him her breast milk Shiva sucked her rage out while sucking the milk. In both cases, Shiva assumes the position of an infant vis-à-vis the Goddess. Mainly Tara is a form of Durga or Parvati. As Per Shakti Mahabhagwat, She is the one who created 1st Seed from which the entire universe took birth in the form of Lord Vishnu. Since he was Non manifested divinity so next Mahavidya expanded him so that manifested divinity Lord Brahma took birth from him.

Kali and Tara are similar in appearance. They both are described as standing upon a supine Shiva in an inert or corpse-like form. However, while Kali is described as black, Tara is described as blue. Both wear minimal clothing, however Tara wears a tiger-skin skirt, while Kali wears only a girdle of severed human arms. Both wear a necklace of severed human heads and the previously mentioned girdle of arms. Both have a lolling tongue, and blood oozes from their mouths. Their appearances are so strikingly similar that it is easy to mistake one for the other. Indeed, they are often said to be manifestations of each other; for example, in their thousand-name hymns they share many epithets as well as having each other's names. Tara, for example, is called Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali, and Bhadra-kali. Tara is said to be more approachable to the devotee (Bhakta) or Tantrika because of her maternal instincts; however a large population of Bengali Hindus approach Kali herself as "Ma" or "mother".

Like Kali, furthermore, Tara in her Hindu context enjoys blood. In her hymn of a hundred names from the Mundamala-tantra, she is called "She Who Likes Blood", "She Who Is Smeared with Blood" and "She Who Enjoys Blood Sacrifice". The Tara-tantra describes Tara's delight in both animal and human blood but says that the latter is more pleasing to her. The blood of devotees is to be taken from specified parts of the body, such as the forehead, hands, breasts, head, or area between the eyebrows; some of these areas may correspond to the different chakras, spiritual centers within the body.

Tara can be distinguished visually from Kali primarily via her implements. Four armed, she carries a sacrificial sword, a severed head or skull cup, a lotus and scissors. Kali never holds a lotus or a pair of scissors.

Tara Yantra

Tara Mantra

Green Tara Mantra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(Devi)

Kali -the goddess of the death and enlightenment

Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses. The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."

It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death). It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition. Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.

Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality. The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body. In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends. Thus the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body. She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood. As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum unmanifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve. She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look. Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness.

By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography. In the same way one could say that Christianity is a religion of death, destruction and cannibalism in which the practitioners drink the blood of Jesus and eat his flesh. Of course, we know this is not the proper understanding of the communion ritual.

Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all. There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite. She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate practicing austerity and renunciation!

The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion.
Kali is the goddess of enlightenment or liberation.

Yantra

Mantra

Kali Maa Jaap Mantra

Rudra (Shiva) from the book "India: The gods and heroes" by E. Geraskina

Great was the fierce god Rudra, the son of Brahma, the fruit of his wrath and fury. He lived alone in the north, in the desert mountains, and he had great power over all the animals.

Dressed in the skins of wild animals, with matted black hair, he wandered the forest with his bow and arrows, with a heavy stick in his hands. Rudra was very beautiful, but the beauty horrendous. His smile shone like the sun, he was quick in his movements and is invulnerable to enemy arrows. His neck was blue, the abdomen was black as night, the back is red as fire. And when he was running for his magic chariot, it was like a red wild boar of the sky.

Once on top of the great mountain Himavati gathered gods sacrifice. Daksha God forgot to invite to the feast of the powerful Rudra. Terrible anger swept Rudra. Furious, he appeared at the top of the mountain Himavati and made great slaughter, which caused shudder with horror all the other gods. Mingled earth and the sky, dimmed the stars, the moon and the sun, terrible darkness engulfed the world.

The gods were frightened and fell down before Rudra. But the anger did not abate Rudra. To the god Pushanu, the keeper of roads and herds, Rudra was knocked out  by his bow all the teeth, to the god of happiness and wealth Bhaga - the eyes, to the god of the sun, Savitar, whom everyone called gold because gold was his eyes, hands, hair and clothing, ripped Rudra fierced hands. But worst of all punished Rudra its main offender Daksha, whom he carried the head. Then  the wounded gods  picked up terrible howl and cry, begged for mercy, and the string shapped on the bow of Rudra. His anger was replaced for mercy, and turned his anger into steam. He returned to God Pushan his teeth, and to  God Bhaga  - his eyes. However, since those times the god Pusan ​​can eat only porridge, for this reason the people brings him only porridge. The god of happiness and wealth Bhaga stayed blind, for this reason the people say that the human destiny and happiness are blind. To help to the god of the sun, Savitar, the mighty Rudra asked the skillful magic wizard Tvashtar to attach to Savitar his golden hands. Today Savitar continues to extend his golden hands-rays to the Earth.

Rudra wanted to help to Daksa too, but as tried to find the severed head of the gods Lord of all creatures on earth, they could not - apparently, it had rolled somewhere far, far away. And the head of the goat was held to the body of Daksha. So he was left with a goat's head.

Rudra complained to the Progenitor Brahma that he was not invited to the feast by the younger gods, although Rudra was the eldest among them because he was created by Brahma before. And Brahma commanded to all the gods and asuras to praise and to worship Rudra and to bring him victims. The dominion to over all living things on earth. was giving to Rudra. He could not only kill by his black arrows, but also send the disease to humans and livestock. To those who praise him, the mighty Rudra can help to get rid of the disease and deterioration. To those who pray to him and ask him for help, the terrible Rudra is kind and responsive. That's why people started calling him Shiva, which means "merciful". Those who did not do to Rudra divine honors, he sent his serpentine children who crawled to human habitation, and brought with them disease and unhappiness.

Rudra had other children - Marutas. They were born when Rudra, becoming a bull, married the Earth, which was trying to hide from the Almighty Rudra in the form of spotted cow. Marutas were strong and powerful, reminding to everyone his father Rudra. Exactly to Marutas the god Indra took to his army, he loved them as their own children, dressed him in golden armor and helmets, and led them to his nomerous trips. Marutas - the loyal retinue of Indra, he is their lord and protector, and they pay him with devotion and love.