Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, known to his students as Guruji, passed away yesterday, May 18th at the age of 93. Guruji was a student of Krishnamacharya in Mysore India, where many students including myself went to study and experience life in a different culture. Guruji was a person of dedicated practice, of joy and love for sharing. He was still helping students in backbends at the age of 90! As Guruji would say: “Practice and all is coming".
I celebrate all that he has offered us, and I am grateful for all that he shares with us beyond his body. Guruji's teachings shall live on and keep inspiring more students on the path of yoga, of union, of teacher and student practicing. I am grateful for the tradition we inherited, and the seeds that have been planted. We can see the flowers booming in many new traditions of yoga from power to Jivamukti through most Vinyasa flow classes out there.
Since March I have had the privilege to teach in Guruji’s tradition here in Palo Alto. Early morning Ashtanga Mysore classes 6 days a week and even some afternoon classes. I am blessed with dedicated students and a body that allows me to be of service to others. The classes are filled with the sound of breathing, of bodies moving on the mat pose after pose, like waves, flowing one after the other in a calm rhythm finding the connection to the great ocean of life.
As I write I look over my screen to see a beautiful vegetable and flower garden. It was such a treat to see how hard earth can be tilled and worked, and how with the aid of water and sun small plants grow to become flowers and lettuce. It is a miracle to watch. Very much like the miracle of students practicing finding growth in their body, mind and spirit. It is a gift to have the time to garden and feel the earth cover my hands, a gift to be able to cook my own food and eat it in a clam and beautiful setting of this garden with a fig tree bearing signs of fruit over my head. As a city boy I find so much pleasure in this small-contained farm setting. I balance it by going to a superb 5 rhythms dance class on Monday nights, a class of mostly free form dance, of allowing the body to flow in its own rhythm, connecting with beat and other dancing souls on the wooden basketball floor. Dance is liberation for me, a compliment to my Yoga practice, from form to no form; breath is always present filling my lungs and heart with oxygen, fueling my energy.
Today I wish to thank all my teachers along the way, for my life as it is today, and my teachings are a long necklace containing their pearls of wisdom.
