Mysore rickshaw pollution, originally uploaded by rpgold.

One week and we’re heading back to Mysore for two months. Getting excited!

The author of the comment took issue with an interpretation of Yoga Sutras I:14 in which Patanjali says “[practice] becomes consistent only if done for a long time without any interruption and with devotion.” I believe it was the interpretation of long time without interruption to mean everyday that irked my commenter.

To answer, I wouldn’t call myself a Fundamentalist who reads Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras literally. I don’t have an unwavering attachment to the Sutras and do not see them as a set of irreducible beliefs. I think of the Sutras as guidelines outlining conditions that will enable me to experience what Patanjali’s describing. I guess you could say I see the Sutras in a scientific way. It’s ultimately practical.

Where yoga practice is concerned, experience is everything. And experience is derived from practice. It is no coincidence that Guruji most often told students “practice, practice, practice” and “99% practice, 1% theory”. The latter can be paraphrased to 1% discussion or 1% intellectualizing.

If someone wants to define practice in his or her different way from Patanjali, he or she is welcome. The proof however is in the pudding. The results derived from practicing according to one’s own definition remains to be seen and is subject to debate. We can chat about fundamentalist readings of Patanjali, but there’s no hiding once we’re on our mats.

I’ve practiced everyday and I’ve practiced infrequently over the years. I have direct experience of what each was like for me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I have had the most positive results trying to emulate Patanjali’s and my guru’s teachings.

I have also always presumed that human nature is essentially unchanged since Patanjali’s time and have imagined his students asking him whether they really need to practice everyday, need to be celibate, need to eat vegetarian, etc.
Patanjali’s Sutras aren’t meant to be taken literally and on blind faith. In fact, each is a challenge to the student to gain direct experience and personal knowledge (pramana described in I:7).  I have found it more productive for me to do my best to follow the Sutras not because I am a fanatic, but because, from direct experience, I have faith and trust that Patanjali knows a lot more about yoga than I do.
Finally, I don’t have the presumption that I am an exception to human nature. It’s not a shortcoming that my chitta behaves in the way Patanjali outlines. In fact, I take comfort and find it useful that I am joined with others in a common goal (the state of yoga, see I:2) with common obstacles that stretches backward and forward through time. I gave up any attachment to being an exception sometime in my twenties. I am no Raskolnikov contemplating and needing to see myself as extraordinary.

Tiger Yawn, originally uploaded by rpgold.

This is the second pic of massive 250 kg Tiger 24 to top the list. This sleepy giant gave us a couple of perfect yawns before tramping off into the bush to catch a nap.

Ashtanga Yoga is a system of increasingly challenging sequences of asanas that are developed and mastered over time through practice. As in any endeavour that is a slow process of growth towards mastery, whether it’s Ashtanga Yoga, running a marathon or becoming fluent in Mandarin (to name a couple of non-yoga examples), we have to proceed through series of growth spurts and plateaux. We naturally improve up to a point and then appear to stall.

To quote a literary hero of mine, David Foster Wallace, referring to competitive tennis in his 1996 novel, Infinite Jest, “the only way to get off the plateaus (sic) and climb to the next [level]… is with a whole lot of… repetitive practice and patience and hanging in there.” (references are tricky as I’m quoting from my iBook copy. With adjustable fonts and sizes, page references are variable and therefore meaningless.)

Now what becomes of the Ashtangis who are either unwilling or unable to surrender and hang in there? What becomes of those of us who haven’t the patience, faith, non-attachment and trust to persevere?

We now describe and mourn the Despairing Ashtangi.

I’ve seen it time and time again. A student is great as long as he or she is in the improvement phase of practice. Things are opening up. New asanas are coming regularly and life is good, indeed. This student is often one of the loudest and most enthusiastic proponents of how great the practice is… that is until he or she hits a dreaded plateau.

The thing about hitting a plateau is we don’t always just see ourselves stall. Sometimes, we actually see things get a little worse for awhile. We find we have trouble with things that were easy just a short time earlier. Practice becomes harder for a time.

The Despairing Ashtangi starts to feel frustrated, then angry and then despairs. The plateau drags on and on, week after week, and begins to seem unending and the student’s faith that ‘it’s just a phase’ starts to get clouded with doubt.

Doubt breeds dark thoughts. Eventually, the spectre of “what’s the point” starts whispering in the student’s ear. He or she starts missing class here and there. When he or she comes to practice, the missed days make practice more difficult and a vicious cycle of difficulty and doubt spins downward until… It’s quitting time! The formerly enthusiastic student eventually jumps ship.

Sometimes, these students find their way back onto their mats. Sometimes, the experience of what life is like without practice is enough to renew their commitment. Sometimes, these students move from teacher to teacher looking to be saved by a magic adjustment or practice-tip. Sometimes, the student moves to another style of yoga or another activity altogether where he or she can experience the quick improvement phase again.

So what’s the antidote to despair? The simplest answer is to keep in mind that more asanas is not the measure of success in yoga practice. (For a discussion of Asana in the Yoga Tradition, click here.) It is also important to use the time spent on these plateaux to develop patience, faith, trust and non-attachment. Remember, hitting plateaux and wondering whether we’ll ever start climbing again is natural. It has happened to anyone and everyone who has practiced Astanga Yoga for any extended period of time.

Here’s a perspective-creating quote from the introduction to Edwin Bryant’s excellent and very highly-recommended translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

From the nine hundred-odd references to yoga in the Mahabharata, there are only two mentions of asana, posture, the third limb of Patanjali’s system. Neither the Upanishads nor The Gita mentions posture in the sense of stretching exercises or bodily poses… asana is not mentioned as one of the six limbs in the Maitiri Upanishad and Patanjali himself only dedicates three brief sutras from his text to this aspect of the practice. (“History of Yoga” p. xxx)

Only three brief sutras dedicated to asana by Patanjali and only two mentions in the entire Mahabharata (which weighs in at 100,000 verses)! So, the practice of asana which has become de facto synonymous with yoga in our time is barely worth mentioning. What are we to make of this? And how are we to approach asanas and how are they to be used if they are not the sum total of yoga practice?

When in doubt, it’s useful to return to Patanjali. Yoga is “chitta vritti nirodhaha” (I:2), the complete cessation of any and all activities within the mental-emotional spectrum. Asanas, therefore, are not yoga per se. They are however an effective tool to be used to generate good health and mental stability which are imperative for “chitta vritti nirodhaha.” The physical strength, flexibility and other benefits that accrue from asana practice are a necessary preparation for achieving the state of yoga. By definition, where there’s “chitta vritti nirodhaha”, there can be no thoughts, feelings, impressions, memories or physical activity of any kind whatsoever. Seen in this light, infirmity of the body and weakness and indiscipline of the mind and senses are obvious impediments to the prolonged concentration needed for the state of yoga.

So, asana earns its place as the third limb in Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga as the means by which we learn to strengthen our bodies, concentrate our minds and discipline our senses. In II:48, the third and last sutra dedicated to asanas, Patanjali says that through asana practice, the practitioner is freed from all dualities. The steadiness of body, mind and senses that conquers these dualities is also iterated in the description of “the Man of Steady Wisdom” described in Chapter Two verses 54-72 of the Bhagavad Gita. Asana is not a synonym for the state of yoga, but it’s practice is still crucial to its eventual achievement.

Guruji also taught that asana practice serves an important role in allowing us to better understand and implement the yamas and niyamas of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. While asana is the third limb in Patanjali’s system, after yama and niyama (limbs one and two, respectively), it can be much more useful to practice asana first. If we attempt to implement the yamas and niyamas first, without an established asana practice, each can feel like sets of rules and prescriptions that resonate on an intellectual rather than empirical level. Lasting changes in lifestyle and behaviour can only occur if there’s an foundation beyond our the intellect.

When I began practicing many years ago, I was an avid carnivore and had no particular inclination or interest in being or becoming a vegetarian. Problem is the first yama is ahimsa, non-violence. At the very least, ahimsa demands that we take a vegetarian diet so we are not causing harm to animals. Had I simply been told that I must be a vegetarian, I may not have been able to make this change in my life. However, through the practice of asana, I began to feel a greater connection between myself and other living things. This growing sense of connectedness led me to reconsider how my diet caused harm (and obvious death) to other living creatures. Each day’s practice reinforced this experience of connection which made my continued carnivorousness seem hypocritical and untenable. The ultimate change in my lifestyle to vegetarianism was the result of taking asana practice as a gateway to experiencing and more fully understanding the yamas and niyamas.

Guruji’s exhortation to take asana practice first is also useful if one ponders how distracted and multi-focussed most modern minds have become. In Yoga Sutras I:39, Patanjali says we can concentrate on anything that we find useful and helpful. Nowadays, we are bombarded at all times with myriad sources of information and distraction. Ashtanga Yoga teaches us how to concentrate.

My early experiences of Ashtanga Yoga practice were very physically challenging. Just trying to get through my practice in one piece left me with the experience of having concentrated for a period of time with no outside distractions. I didn’t think of anything other than my next breath. It was amazing to be free of all the other thoughts that generally filled my head. That I was learning to concentrate and purify my mind and senses while gaining strength, stamina and flexibility was icing on the cake for me. I was sold.

In the final analysis, it should concern us less whether we try to implement yama and niyama before asana. All three must be well established for practice to deepen into the subsequent limbs of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga. We just need to remember that “chitta vritti nirodhaha” is the true goal of yoga and that our asana practice is a necessary and effective means of moving towards that goal.

If we don’t maintain our larger perspective of yoga, asana practice inevitably risks becoming “circus” as Guruji used to say. If asana is only about making cool shapes with our bodies, we will miss the point and become frustrated and dejected when we encounter obstacles.

The photo set from Sharath’s visit to Toronto in 2009 are still some of the most viewed in our stream.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpgold/sets/72157622198057373/

It’s been referenced and quoted because it’s true and it’s awesome. Anyone practicing Ashtanga Yoga should listen to Master Yoda.

Just in case you were abducted by aliens and spent the last thirty years in deep space, there is a scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which Yoda is teaching Luke Skywalker the ways of the Force. As usual, Luke is whiny, impatient, untrusting, and frustrated. When Luke weakly says that he’ll try to do something, Yoda replies, “do or do not. There is no try.” Here’s the youtube clip of said scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqOQLl7qmw8&NR=1

Luke misses Yoda’s teaching, completely. Luke is so hung up on the result of lifting the x-wing out of the swamp that he fails to see that he’s put in what I would consider a very strong first attempt. After all, up to that point, he’s been levitating rocks, backpacks and R2D2.

Luke doesn’t believe that he can lift the x-wing and doesn’t understand that his first attempt is the start of a process that will lead in time to being able to do it. Luke cannot see that Yoda’s abilities are the product of his many years of practice and gradual mastery. I imagine Guruji, if he was instructing Luke, saying with his loving grin, “Today lifting stones. Tomorrow, whole fighter. No Problem.”

In yoga practice, there is no difference between folding forward to touch one’s head to one’s knee or putting one’s leg behind one’s head. If there’s a difference, it’s only a matter of degree and intensity and it’s the process of taking practice that allows one to move from one to the other.

I was unbelievably stiff when I started practicing ashtanga yoga and most elements of the asanas seemed impossible. In those first few years, I was perpetually confronted with things I couldn’t yet do that others in class had mastered. Over time, my body opened and my mind opened to the process of unlearning the word “impossible”. Each difficult asana that I slowly became able to do fully gave me faith in the practice and courage when I confronted the next new ‘impossible’ asana.

It’s easy to sympathize with Luke. It genuinely seems like he’s being asked the impossible. He looks at the rocks and the x-wing and rightly, from a particular point of view, wonders if Yoda’s got to be joking. But, if I had had the same reaction to my stiff body as Luke to the x-wing, I would have quit practicing within the first week or may have walked out of my first class.

I contend, that if Luke were more patient and had more faith in the process, he’d be less frustrated. If he kept in mind all the ‘impossible’ things he had learned since the beginning of his training, his attitude would be quite different. What if instead of throwing a tantrum, he returned to the edge of the water each day, sat down and practiced lifting the x-wing. What if he approached lifting the fighter like he had the rocks? In this case, he wouldn’t be trying, he would be doing, even if he only began by lifting 1% of the fighter for days on end.

It also cannot be overestimated how important trust and faith are when it comes to yoga practice. We have to have faith in the process of practice and trust that difficult asanas will improve even when doubts and frustrations emerge. We have to believe even when faced with what seems “impossible.” Yoda gives Luke a very large dose of tough love when he says that his lack of belief is why he fails. Harsh but true.

Patanjali asserts practice becomes consistent and (we can infer evolves) only if done for a long time without interruption and with devotion (“Yoga Sutras” I:14). When we get on our mats daily, and have patience and faith in what we’re doing, there is no “try”. We are in the process of doing. 1% of 1% becomes 100% in the long run and those who waste their energy “trying” and forgetting the process usually quit due to frustration or burn out.

Those who quit often abandon practice because they lack the faith in the process required to persevere. Guruji always told us “all is coming” but it only comes if we do the work and have faith simultaneously. “There is no try” because trying results in an action devoid of belief and process. Trying implies that the result is all or nothing and leads to feelings of frustration, inadequacy and failure. It causes us to throw up our arms and give up like Luke. Yoda tells Luke his lack of belief is the cause of his failure. With belief and practice, we can “do” with the proper attitude and 0 becomes 1%, becomes 50%, becomes 100% in time.

- thanks Rachelle for your helpful suggestions, patience and proof-reading

Mom and Baby Black Bears

I didn’t think anything was ever going to depose the close up tiger photo from our visit to Ranthambore as the “most interesting” photo in our flickr photostream.

There’s a new Queen and Prince!

Taken while we were visiting our nephew in Whistler, British Colombia, this mother and cub were quite hard to find.

Our bear tour guide searched for them for awhile on the slopes of Whistler ski area and was about to abandon the search in order to move over to Blackcomb when we found them hanging out enjoying the clover grass.

Via Flickr:
Momma bear and a very young cub.
Whistler, British Colombia

P and Michael Carter, originally uploaded by rpgold.


My main homey. Coming to Toronto tomorrow. Nice!

Early one morning… Durvasasana, Padmasana & Rest, originally uploaded by rpgold.

We love our space. It’s so lovely and feels so great. When possible, we’ve been grabbing snaps with our iPhone.