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Comparing Iyengar`s Yoga with Astanga Yoga one can notice immediately the special role that Asana and Pranayama play in the former. This fact is openly admitted: "Guruji`s system is a unique interpretation of Patanjala Yoga", it says in the guide to the RIMY-Institute, "both in theory and practise. ...The emphasis is on Asana and Pranayama and intensive instruction is given in both." [5]
As there are only very few, although important references to Asana and Pranayama in the eight-limbed path of Patanjali the following questions arise:
As for Asana and Pranayama, Iyengar places himself above all within the tradition of his teachers: "You should know that many people were and are under the impression that my method of Yoga has nothing to do with the traditional form. This is imagination and not fact, as my Guru had a Guru, who had a Guru also. ... I consider my Guru and my Guru`s Guru as the fathers of Yoga, who sowed the seed for thinking about analysing and developing the practical side of this art. The seed of Yoga may be the same, but the trees grow in different directions, bearing fruits of different tastes." [6]
However, among what has been writen about Iyengar`s life so far, only a few hints can be found as to what exactly was conveyed to him by his Guru. Iyengar says that in 1934 his brother-in-law Shri T. Krishnamachar, a great Sanskrit scholar and director of a Yoga school in Mysore, had offered to teach him how to do some Asanas in order to improve his health. Krishnamachar had learned Yoga from Ramamohan Brahmachari, a Yogi who lived in Tibet near the lake Manasarovar. I was not able to find any more detailed information about the yogic, religious background of this man. It is known that Brahmachari was a very strict authoritarian teacher, who taught not only Asana and Pranayama but also emphasised the study of Patanjali, a combination which later became very important for Iyengar´s approach.
Krishnamachar instructed Iyengar for several days and then dismissed him, saying that he had to digest now what had been imparted to him. Only then could further instruction follow. Because of Iyengar`s stiffness, however, Krishnamachar lost interest in giving further lessons. Therefore, it was not until a year later, when Krishnamachar needed somebody to replace another pupil at a public performance, that Iyengar received further training. Again he was given lessons for a few days only , after which he had to prepare on his own for the performance. "I struggled very hard with tears in the eyes and tremor in the body. He never asked me to rehearse before him, merely telling me to be ready. Being weak, I was nervous about appearing in public. But his words were orders. Believe me or not, I did as asked and got a coveted prize of fifty rupees from the hand of the Maharaja as a token of appreciation. Though I was in ecstasy at that moment, I was in agony, with pains and tremors for months at a stretch." [7]
Apart from these two short periods of training, Iyengar never mentions any Yoga instruction received from his Guru Krishnamachar. Moreover there is never a word about philosophy, meditation or religious teachings, only Asanas.
It seems that Krishnamachar, being unpredictable, hard and excessively strict, struck Iyengar with fear. He intimidated him on the one hand, but on the other awakened in him the ability to practise with firmness and intensity. Within a very short time Iyengar was able to develop the Asana practise on his own. A born teacher, instructing others became an essential source of enlightenment: "This inner penetration, this way of looking into the bodies of others, developed awareness. This keen awareness brought me to focus my attention on looking into the Asanas while doing them myself. Thus, I developed awareness to penetrate the secrets of this mysterious human body." [8]
When asked how he assessed his way of teaching compared with that of his Guru, Iyengar says that in the past 30 years he has constantly changed his methods and that his way of doing the Asanas is certainly an improvement on that of his Guru. Most Asanas he innovatively developed further. The methodical use of "props" was his invention. [9]
When Geeta S. Iyengar, who also knows Krishnamachar´s way of teaching Asanas by her own experience, compares it with the approach of her father she finds the most striking difference in the lack of a logical sequence of the Asanas in Krishnamachar´s practise. According to her it was Iyengar`s work to introduce the proper linking of the movements and poses according to the anatomical structure, physiological functioning and psychological effect. [10]
A last point that should be mentioned here is the discovery of alignment as a basic principle, which differentiates Iyengar´s Asana and the old way of performing it. He says: "I began to look at photographs of people, drawing lines between their way and my way of doing it, chest to chest, hand to hand, elbow to elbow. The poses were there, but not aligned." Later I will show that this alignment is a necessary precondition for Dhyana in Asana. [11]
As for the Asanas, one can say in short that Iyengar, starting from traditional forms of Hatha Yoga and working almost completely on his own, succeeded in making a revolutionary breakthrough regarding both the way of practising and teaching them. His approach leaves far behind all which has so far been called Asana.
In Pranayama, Iyengar had to rely even more on his own intuition than in the Asanas, because his Guru categorically refused to teach him breathing excercises, considering him unfit due to his poor state of health. "When my Guru visited me in Pune 1940," he tells, "I asked him about Pranayama; he just gave an outline. You know, what we call deep breathing. ...Then he said to do deep inhalation, hold the breath and do deep exhalation. These are the only techniques my Guruji gave me to follow. ...Though I did it, I did not succeed at all. ... So I questioned him. ... He said: ´Continue. It will come.´ And it never came." [12]
Iyengar says that he had only once the opportunity of watching Krishnamachar for some minutes in Nadi Sodana Pranayama, and that, in secret. Thereby he learnt the erect sitting posture, the practise of which was very difficult for him for years because, due to his excessive practise of backbends, he had lost the ability to hold himself erect.
As the Guru refused to help him, he tried with books on Yoga. But the very long breath retention that was recommended in these books to awaken the Kundalini Sakti resulted only in the feeling that his head was like a wooden block. [13]
His listless and uninspired Pranayama lasted about 20 years until 1960. "In 1960, while I was in Gstaad, Switzerland, the weather was congenial. ...While I was practising daily, one day I felt the delight and tasted the fragrance of incoming breath. The weather was neither cold nor warm, but exhilerating. That sensation which I felt, gave me the clue to play my digital fingers and thumb on the gates of the nasal passage to create that feeling. From then on I practised Pranayama daily with interest." [14]
It`s typical for Iyengar`s undogmatic and autodidactic access to Pranayama that he didn`t copy his Guru`s placement of the fingers in Nadi Sodana, but tried to play with the fingers on his nostrils like his disciple Yehudin Menuhin played on the violin. [15]
Just as in Asana, the challenge of teaching motivated him to carry on with his experiments and innovate the methods of Pranayama. In connection with the problem of Iyengar`s relation to the Yoga Tradition it is important to note that this innovation was at the same time a return to the roots of Pranayama. For example today Iyengar refuses to use the mechanical methods of counting while breathing which he himself, having been influenced by Yoga books, taught in former times. In this he can regard himself in agreement with the Yoga Sutras. " It is a fact, that all textbooks speak of ratio of inhalation, exhalation, and retention, whereas Patanjali does not speak of ratios but of depth, subtlety and precision. If one concentrates on counting the numbers ... then the practioner is only interested in attending to the numerical numbers and not to the breath, the movement of breath within the body. ... It is better ...to witness and observe the smooth flow of inhalation and exhalation." [16]
As mentioned above the extreme Pranayamas, which Iyengar had taken from manuals, including the counting of breath, did not lead him to success. So in the course of time a more gentle, simplified and yet refined method of breathing emerged. This new method is closer to the original Pranayama as described in the Upanisads, the Gita and Patanjali than to many of the techniques written down in the later Hatha Yoga texts and commentaries on the Yoga Sutras.
One can summarize the relation to tradition of Iyengar´s Asana and Pranayama by saying that it was indeed his Guru who has sown the seed of yoga in him. What he received from tradition was not more than a small, albeit powerful germ. The detailed analysis of the Asanas and Pranayamas and the many innovations in practising and teaching them must be ascribed to Iyengar´s genius.
Now let us turn to the second question mentioned above:
The contention can be found very often in Yoga literature that the so called physical exercises are a mere preparation for meditation. Such references are also found in the writings of the Iyengar family. So for instance the guide to the institute reads: "Guruji believes that the higher forms of Yoga - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi - can be taught only to those who have gained a measure of proficiency in Asana and Pranayama. Any attempt at bypassing these vital steps, which render the body fit and pure for higher practise, would result in damage to the body and the mind." [17]
Patanjali doesn´t insist on a special sequence of the eight limbs of Yoga, with the exception that Pranayama should only be practised after Asana (which in the Yoga Sutras means correct sitting posture) is mastered. Nevertheless many of the old and also some of the contemporary commentators proceed from the assumption that the practise of one limb has to follow the other. "Becoming steady in each preceding one, he is able to master the next" one can read in the commentary which is ascribed to Sankara. [18]
Iyengar refers to his own experience in supporting this thesis. In the introductory chapter to "Light on Yoga" he describes the remedies that Patanjali recommends to overcome the distractions and obstacles hindering the student of Yoga from reaching unalloyed happiness. They are Maitri (love), Karuna (active compassion), Mudita (delight at the good) and Upeksa (usually translated as equanimity, interpreted by Iyengar as understanding one´s own weakness and that of others). Iyengar concludes the review of these four as follows: "The deeper signifiance of the fourfold remedy ... cannot be felt by an unquiet mind. My experience has led me to conclude that for an ordinary man or woman in any community of the world, the way to achieve a quiet mind is to work with determination on two of the eight stages of Yoga mentioned by Patanjali, namely, asana and pranayama." [19]
According to the concept that every limb is the groundwork of the following ones, Iyengar consequently treats Yama and Niyama in "Light on Yoga" as a necessary basis of Asana and Pranayama: "Without firm foundation a house cannot stand. Without the practise of the principles of yama and niyama, which lay down the foundation for building character, there cannot be an integrated personality. Practise of asanas without the backing of yama and niyama is mere acrobatics." [20]
In her book Geeta S. Iyengar varies the same thought when she reads the Astanga Marga as a threefold quest where the external quest (pursuit of external purity) is followed by an inner or mental quest (pursuit of inner purity) which culminates in the spiritual quest, the pursuit of the soul. [21]
So it´s obvious that the Iyengars know and sometimes also advocate the common pattern describing the eight-limbed path as a step-ladder in which the lower step serves as a presupposition for the next one. Later it will become clear that this is not the ultimate and innovating view that B.K.S. Iyengar finally developed.
When we assess Asana-Pranayama as nothing but preliminary to the higher stages of Yoga it remains unexplained why Iyengar doesn`t teach these stages, too. Though Dhyana is always mentioned in his books (and also in Geeta S. Iyengar´s "Yoga - A Gem for Women" [22]) it is hardly explained in contrast with the other exercises. The teachings which are given by the Iyengar family at the RIMYI-Institute in Pune coincide in this connection with their writings. Let us see if the arguments Iyengar delivers to legitimize this are convincing.
In his speech for his 70th birthday Iyengar comments on the final three of the eight limbs of Yoga, which are called Samyama (integration, perfect constraint) as follows: "These three stages of Yoga are experiencing stages. They cannot be presented with explanations. Asanas and Pranayamas can be explained, taught, shown and corrected, while Yama and Niyama are explained by stories of great men as ideal examples to build up character." [23]
Iyengar here understands Samyama as the fruit of practise which comes as its perfection. It is to be experienced directly only and cannot be demonstrated or corrected by others. So a reason for the fact that the Iyengars don´t teach Samyama at their institute is indicated: It is not possible for a teacher to teach these areas.
But this reason is not quite plausible, since not only the Yoga tradition but also many other schools like Zen, Sufism etc. do give instruction in meditation. Moreover, through intuition and verbal exchange teachers of these schools do have the opportunity to distinguish right from wrong and correct the students´ mistakes. The argument holds true only if it is presupposed that Samyama is a state of mind only and not a practise to gain this state. It fails to prove the impossibility of exercise and teachings in the field of Samyama, but it is true in the sense that nobody is able to fabricate the integration of the mind just by following certain operating instructions. This also holds good for the third argument:
Craving for "instant enlightenment", demonstrated above all by a special sort of Western travellers to India, often results in circumventing the "lower" limbs of Yoga. Those who seek "mystical experiences" or "altered states of consciousness" often practise exclusively so called "meditation techniques". Not only does Iyengar consider this to be dangerous, he also sees in it an abuse of Yoga, a kind of sacrilege. "Even a man like Arjuna had to beg Lord Krishna ", he says, "to bless with divine eyes for him to see the infinite light of the Lord, when the Lord graced him to look at his form. This instance is sufficient for seekers like us. To know that, we have to build up that strength and vigour to face the light of the Divine when divinity graces its light on us."[24] From this point of view Asana and Pranayama are a humble preparation for receiving the grace of God, a request that He might bestow on us the eyes that enable us to see His light. Unless we can realize this dimension of Asana-Pranayama, that they -like a prayer- are a manifestation of our longing for the presence of God, we cannot touch the deepness of Iyengar Yoga.
However, neither the graciousness of deep meditation, which always comes as a gift of the deity, nor the greedy attitude of some spiritual greenhorns preclude the regular practise of Dhyana as such.
Summing up, one can say that the arguments brought forward so far do not suffice to substantiate the almost exclusive practise of Asana and Pranayama in Iyengar Yoga. Ultimately, Iyengar´s personal dedication to the practise of Asanas, which has been absolutely central for decades, is probably at the root of it. But does that mean that all of his life he spent only on the preparation for higher Yoga?
In order to see why, according to Iyengar himself, this was not the case, we now have to get through to the core of his interpretation of the eight-limbed path.
Quite a different and new view appears already in the teachings of Iyengar written down by Noelle Perez-Christiaens. In a note dating back to 1959 Iyengar says: "In each posture, in each action, you should be able to find yoga in its integrity according to Patanjali´s explanations" Then he undertakes a first attempt to rediscover the whole eightfold path in Asana. [25]
The same basic idea can be found in Iyengar´s instructions collected by Donna Holleman between 1970 and 1974 where it says: "Patanjali has not said :´Eight steps´; all these put together are Yoga. But unfortunately people who have not practised at all say: ´This is physical.´ . Yama and Niyama: when you are doing the posture, the ethics of the right foot, the ethics of the left foot, are they even or not? If you let loose, that is untruth. If the palms are not joining (Parsvottanasana), that is Himsa: you are showing violence on that palm which is is not working at all. Because your intelligence has not touched there, so the truth is unknown. ... So please learn that these poses have been given to know whether in any posture whatever we do, whether you can follow the eight steps or not. ... All the postures contain all the eight steps." [26]
In the texts just quoted, Iyengar speaks his very own language, taken directly from a training situation. It is not scholastically alienated as seems to be the case with some of his more theoretical commentaries on the Yoga Sutras.
From the standpoint of the practitioner he calls into question the premise that the eight-limbed path is a sequence of steps, one following the other. He rather suggests that only "put together" i.e. taken as a unity they form Yoga. Because the eight-limbed path is an indivisible whole in every partial field of it, at least potentially, the entire way of Yoga is present.
From this thought it follows that those who are serious about one of the limbs of Yoga are able to attain what Yoga as a whole is about through intelligent practise of that limb alone. This is Iyengar´s unique interpretation of the eightfold path, which has no precedent as far as I know.
What is hinted at by the early remarks quoted above, he treated in detail in his collection of speeches and lectures entitled "The Tree of Yoga", published in 1989 (especially pp. 41-81). Therein he says: "Mahatma Gandhi did not practise all the aspects of Yoga. He only followed two of its principles - non-violence and truth, yet through these two aspects of Yoga, he mastered his own nature and gained independence for India. If a part of Yama could make Mahatma Gandhi so great, so pure, so honest and so divine, should it not be possible to take another limb of Yoga - Asana - and through it reach the highest goal of spiritual development?" [27]
Formulated with reference to Patanjala Yoga, Iyengar suggests that the various areas mentioned in the third chapter of the Sutras as a field for the application of Samyama are replaced by the refined practise of Asana and Pranayama, which includes the development of the other parts of the eight-limbed path.
How this can happen, I want to work out in greater detail in the second part of this essay, paying particular attention to the last three limbs of the Astanga Marga.
[5] Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Know your
Institute, Pune 1985 (Internal document), p.4.
[6] Light on Yoga Research Trust (Ed.), op. cit., pp. 4-5.
[7] Ibid. pp. 2-3.
[8] Ibid. p. 7.
[9] Ibid. pp. 58-59.
[10] Ibid. 378-379.
[11] B.K.S. Iyengar`s 60th Birthday Celebration Commitee
(Ed.), Iyengar. His Life and Work, Porthill, Timeless Books,
1987, p.197.
[12] Light on Yoga Research Trust (Ed.), op. cit., p.74.
[13] Ibid. p. 79.
[14] Ibid. p. 76.
[15] Ibid. p. 77.
[16] Ibid. p. 78.
[17] Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute (internal document),
p. 4.
[18] Trevor Leggett, The Complete Commentary by Sankara
on the Yoga Sutras: a full translation of the newly discovered text, London,
Kegan Paul International, 1990, p. 261.
[19] B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga. Yoga Dipika,
London Sydney Wellington, Unwin Hyman, 1989, p. 27.
[20] Ibid. p. 57.
[21] See Geeta S. Iyengar, Yoga - a Gem for Women,
New Delhi, Allied Publishers Private Limited, 1983, pp. 16-18. A very similar
scheme underlies the book of Silva, Mira and Shyam Mehta, Yoga: the Iyengar
way, London, Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1990.
[22] See Geeta S. Iyengar, op. cit., pp. 295-301.
[23] Light on Yoga Research Trust (Ed.), op. cit., p. XXXII.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Noelle Perez-Christiaens, Sparks of Divinity, Paris, Institute de yoga
B.K.S.Iyengar, 1976, pp. 79-80.
[26] Dona Holleman (Ed.), Yoga Darsana of B.K.S. Iyengar
London, 1970-1974, Vol. II: Savasana, Pranayama, Sutra,
Firenze, Donna Holleman, 1987, p. 134.
[27] B.K.S. Iyengar, The Tree of Yoga. Yoga Vrksa,
Boston, Shambala Publications, 1989, p.46.