Polishing the Inner Guru

Practice has been good in the Shala and anyway practice is always good.  It is what we do.  Parker and I have a routine and being here in Mysore with Sharath and Saraswathi is a time to focus on that.  I mean we get up at 3:30 am so we have adjusted our day so this is possible.  There is also Chanting and Yoga Sutra Study for us in the late morning and I somehow took on some other classes in the afternoon on some days.   I know, I like life full, what can I say.

I have the good fortune to be there for the opening chant and Parker the same at the Shala he practices in.  He is learning the words through this repetition and you know the switch that goes off in the brain when you start saying it in the streets and on walks.   That’s fun to experience and it is somewhat of a relief, like the asana sinking in, the chanting starts to sink in.

I come here to practice and to learn more about myself and yearn to go deeper inside to the heart center, to the source, through the yoga.   No matter where you are, you bring yourself to the practice.    There is no magic and no shortcuts just because I come to Mysore.  As it was said in conference and in yoga sutra study we are building the foundation for yoga through asana practice.    Strong house, strong foundation and something that will be able to sustain us in our lives through the ups and downs and the flow of the universe.   I like the energy here and the practitioners are a pretty special bunch here.  The commitment is unending and I get that.   Everyone is looking to focus, to go deeper and to do their practice.

Speaking for myself, I have no real expectations but I do have goals.  I want to do the practice correctly, feel good in my body, breathe properly and certainly have the desire to accomplish something that I have been working on.  We will leave it at that.  In Ashtanga Yoga and while in Mysore for sure, you give yourself permission to practice when you are tired, when you are a little sad, when you are maybe lonely and homesick as well as when you feel great and are ready for anything.  Again, it is what  you come to do.

In conference someone asked a question and he happened to not be at practice that day.  Sharath knew and said, “Why weren’t you in practice” and of course there was not a good answer so Sharath made a joke of having to pay a 2,500 rupees fine.   We laughed but I felt sorry.  I mean, didn’t we all arrange our lives to learn and put our trust in this teacher.  People still think that they know better, that they know more.

One other question was about the inner Guru.  Some of us like to think that we are following this and that we do not need a teacher telling us as we are following the teacher we all have inside.  However and this is a big however, how do you know this is not your ego speaking and your ego getting in the way.  Practice is polishing this inner guru and it usually needs some help and that’s what we do in the rooms, through the various series.  I like what the Ashtanga practice teaches me here and everywhere I go.

 

 

One thought on “Polishing the Inner Guru”

  1. Deb
    Your posts are beautifully written with such wonderful details. I feel as if the journey I had so desired can partially be fullfilled through your words.
    This morning I came across a yoga class on TV and it was basically ashtanga (with some U.S. modifcations I am sure). My husband was in awe of the practice of the participants and it was at that moment that I was able to turn to him and tell him that at one time I was able to do all of that. I think he finally understood my passion then. The calming voice of the instructor took me back to the small yoga center in Denville with chuck and greg and starting as Parker is now. I wasn’t lucky enough to start the way he is, but had hoped one day to fullfill that dream. Surgery derailed me for a long time. The teacher today said that if you are content in life, you are not growing. If you are content with each pose, you are not going deeper. It hit me like a ton of bricks. 3:30 can’t come quick enough to go home and get back to the beginning.
    Namaste
    Margee
    Denville, NJ

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