Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009), or Guruji, is known as the grandfather of ashtanga yoga. He took up yoga at the age of 12, was a devoted student of T. Krishnamacharya, a scholar of philosophy and Sanskrit language, and a professor of yoga at the Maharaja Sanskrit College in Mysore. He has preserved the system of ashtanga vinyasa yoga, which T. Krishnamacharya recovered and revived from ancient texts, and made it known all over the world with the help of his students who studied with him in his school, Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (currently known as Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute), in Mysore.
Guruji (edited by Guy Donahaye and Eddie Stern) offers an insight into the character of Pattabhi Jois through interviews of his students, family and friends in Mysore. It is a fascinating read for anyone following the path of yoga whether they have been fortunate enough to meet Guruji in person or not. I am one who never crossed paths with him and this book is possibly the closest I will ever get to him. You also learn about the personal yoga stories of the interviewees, many of who are internationally renowned teachers and long-standing practitioners with decades of experience of teaching and practicing ashtanga yoga. The most interesting interviews, however, have got to be those of his son Manju, daughter Saraswathi, grandson Sharath and granddaughter Sharmila, which precede each of the four parts of the book. They talk about growing up in an Indian yoga family, of religion, tradition and devotion to God and of Guruji’s love for his family.
Guy Donahaye and Eddie Stern ask questions that shed light on Guruji as a teacher, healer, husband and father, but also on various aspects of the practice. Typically, an interview starts with a recount on how the interviewee came to learn ashtanga and meet Guruji. In all interviews Guruji is being described as compassionate, loving, generous yet strict and firm in his teaching. It is clear that he had a profound effect on his students. For many of them, meeting Guruji for the first time was almost like finding a way home after being lost in the dark. Anyone who came to him, Guruji would welcome with open arms (and a cup of fresh coffee made by his wife Amma) to his extended yoga family made up of students from across the globe. Nancy Gilgoff says: “I found Guruji to be openhearted and friendly. (…) I didn’t know anything about yoga then. I surrendered to this friendly man who really seemed to want to do things with me”. (p. 24)
The first Western people to study with Guruji in the 1970s were Norman Allen, Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams. While travelling in India, David and Norman witnessed Manju demonstrate some postures, which sparked an enthusiasm to learn the system. Norman Allen went to Guruji very soon after that, asking to become his student. Initially he refused to take on a foreign student. It was Amma who persuaded Guruji to let him study. At first, he was taught privately after the Indian students had finished in the mornings. There was asana practice twice a day plus pranayama. Once he had learned some postures, he started coming with the Indians. Norman says: “I went in there and I trusted him right away. I was ready to let him do it to me, to submit to that kind of practice. First, I lived in the house and used to crawl upstairs and crawl back downstairs. (…) My body was a hard body, I had been a bit of an athlete, played football. I couldn’t do baddha konasana, I couldn’t do anything! (…) So I could see I was in for it. (…) I was a good student, I showed up, I was determined and I submitted to it. (…) I know how you can transform and get a new body if you want, if you persist.” (p. 142)
David Williams returned to India soon after with Nancy Gilgoff. Guruji helped them find an apartment and they commenced their studies. Nancy talks about how she was sickly with bad migraines. Within the four months they stayed in Mysore he had cured that. She says: “The fiery practice of ashtanga that Pattabhi Jois teaches people is to heal the body – again this is how I understand it through myself – so that we can be strong enough to do the more advanced practices. “ (p. 25) During their first visit, David had learnt the two first series and half of the third one. With all this they returned to Encinitas, California and started teaching. Not long after that, Guruji made his first visit to the West. He came with Manju, who ended up staying, and lived with Nancy and David for four months, teaching the group David had introduced to the practice. “Nancy and myself plus Norman, when he was in America, introduced Guruji to America, which began the spread of ashtanga to all of the world. (…) After he started teaching us, ashtanga went worldwide, which was Guruji’s wish. I think it made him very happy to see that happening.” (p. 22) Now, over thirty years on, there are more people doing the practice outside of India than within. Every year thousands of people visit the shala, which has moved from Lakshmipuram to a bigger place in Gokulam, and even after Guruji’s death the practice lives on and is still taught in the traditional way all over the world.
The first of the four parts in the book is concerned with how ashtanga first came to the West. The second part consists of interviews of people who live or used to live in Mysore, Indians and Westerners. Guruji used to teach yoga at the Maharaja College where he made friends with many students and scholars. He and Amma had very little money but everything they had was shared with friends. Often Amma and Guruji invited people over for a meal – many interviewees speak of Amma’s delicious cooking and her extraordinary warmth of character - and discuss philosophy, arts, yoga... The reader is introduced to Guruji as he was when socializing with friends in his own language of Kannada. Before his reputation grew and students started to crowd the shala, he used to invite his students over for food, talk about yoga with them (with Manju as his translator) and give lectures and talks all over India with Manju, some of his Western students and, later on, Sharath doing demonstrations. After retiring from the College, he put all his time and energy into the shala. It was in his nature to teach. He loved teaching and gave all of himself to his students. He would never miss a class and he taught for many hours every day until he was in his 90s.
The last two parts further unfold the story of “globalization” of ashtanga. They also feature a number of interviews with female practitioners including Dena Kingsberg and Annie Pace, who are internationally known teachers. As Nancy remarks in her interview, ashtanga yoga seems to be male-dominated in the sense that the best-known teachers are men. I have often longed for a woman to speak about the female experience and perspective in relation to the practice and was delighted to find just that in the book. The women touch on topics involving womanhood such as menstruation, pregnancy and birth, all of which have to be taken into consideration if you’re a woman practitioner. When asked whether women should be taught differently from men, Nancy said: “I think they should be taught within the same framework but there should be a difference. A woman should be allowed to be a woman in the practice.” (p. 26) Dena Kingsberg talks about gender in ashtanga: “I do not believe that the more advanced series steal femininity. There is nothing more beautiful than a strong woman. (…) There are delicate male practitioners who demonstrate grace and elegance. There are powerful female practitioners who defy gravity. They are all beautiful to me.” (p. 295)
Guruji’s daughter Saraswathi was the first woman to be educated at the Sanskrit College in Mysore. She cleared path for other women who have received their education there. Her daughter Sharmila continues teaching her own classes in Bangalore. It is interesting and reassuring to read how these women have managed to maintain a daily practice and establish their own teaching careers in addition to having a family. Guruji himself was an example of a yoga practitioner who chose not to isolate himself from the world. He went against the idea of yoga being for renunciates. At best, yoga can be helpful in coping with the everyday life of a householder. In David Swenson’s words, “Just because we do asanas (…) doesn’t mean we will never get sick. Doesn’t mean we won’t have problems or difficulties in relationships or money problems or whatever. We will have the same kind of problems. But this yoga as a tool somehow gives us strength of character.” (p. 97)
The first thing we learn about ashtanga is the physical asana practice. It is tangible, accessible, available for anyone and therefore the starting point for what often turns into a lifelong journey on the eightfold path of yoga. But what about the other limbs? Yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, Samadhi? As every regular practitioner will know, yoga is not limited to the mat. Sure enough, my body feels great when I practice, I feel energetic and healthy. But what about the cultivation of the mind? How is putting my legs behind my head helping me to reach Samadhi? What actually is Samadhi? Guruji is often quoted for saying: “99% practice, 1% theory”. David Williams: “If you do the practice all will be revealed.” (p. 21) Ashtanga yoga systematically progresses from the external to the internal, from the gross to the subtle. First the body is trained until it becomes strong and healthy. After that, the mind can be trained too. Sharath says: “Asana is the foundation from which we build up to self-realization. When you do asanas correctly, then only will your mind and body transform, you will see them change, you can make out the difference. It’s very difficult for someone to practice the yamas and niyamas but through the asana practice I think you’ll be able to understand what is yama, what is niyama, and all the other limbs of ashtanga yoga.” (p. 183) Yoga helps to bring the mind under control and, as many interviewees put it, realize divinity, within and all around us. And all it takes is practice and a little faith that it can take us to a wonderful plane of existence. It really is that simple.
Guruji is not just about Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. It is about ashtanga yoga, and that includes every one of the eight limbs. After reading the book I felt more inspired than even to carry on with my practice. Many wonderful things have come from it but there is a lot more to experience. As time passes, the practice will start to penetrate deeper and deeper into the very core and beyond. And even if I never fully realize myself, that’s ok. Maybe in the next lifetime I can pick up from where I left.
Words by By Meri Erkkilä
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