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Last February, Rose was interviewed by the Branches Newspaper for an article on yoga teacher in Indiana. An excerpt of the interview appeared in the March/April issue. The full text of the interview is below.
Originally Yoga was introduced in this country as a complete science and philosophy covering the whole spectrum, body, mind, emotions and spirit. It has become popular because Yoga has become more body fitness, body oriented, and the true reason for practicing yoga has been forgotten. Hatha yoga was a way to prepare the body to sit still, because ultimately union with the Center of Consciousness (Self) is the goal, but it has become an end in itself. Yoga has become synonymous with stress reduction/relaxation and this is ok, but there is so much more. Until we understand the reason for our stress, which is buried deep within, it will always be there. So we can relax for a few minutes and with practice for a little longer. But the tension always comes back. And the only reason to reduce tension is to allow consciousness to go beyond the thoughts in the mind to the Center of peace. There is no peace when consciousness is centered in the thoughts.
In the Himalayan Tradition we were taught the purist Yoga by a monk, Swami Rama, who was raised and trained in the Himalayan cave monasteries where this science and philosophy originated. This tradition is thousands of years old, and he taught what he learned from the Himalayan Yogis, and nothing had been changed for all those years – it was in its purist form.
A few years ago things did change, it became aerobics yoga, now it’s “power” yoga, “hot” yoga and even “competitive” yoga, classes where they compete with one another, all not found in ancient Yoga literature. If something is so changed and diluted, can it really be called “Yoga” anymore? I find it so discouraging to read or hear about what has happened and what is now called by that name. It has become big business. We don’t take the philosophy and the experience of yoga very deep but rather just keep changing the surface. People are looking for something, but what we are looking for is not in the body.
You don’t have to believe anything, just learn to relax the body, regulate the breathing and quiet the mind. You don’t have to pattern yourself after anyone. Agnostics and atheists have the same inner world as people who go to church and those who believe in an inner world but don’t go to church. You learn to remove layers of negative emotions, feelings, thoughts and actions built up over lives and find out who you are without all that baggage. It’s an individual inner world but all lead to the same higher consciousness and then one becomes a positive force in the world. Someone once asked Swami Satchidananda if he practiced Hinduism, he said “No, I practice undoism”. That’s how one becomes a pure and perfected human being and by perfected we mean a disciplined body, positive, steady emotions, and a quiet mind and then the ability to go beyond the mind where the real Center of peace is, where no outside circumstances can disturb us. Then you are “in the right place, with the right people, doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way”, and that means living a life of no regrets. Working only with the body doesn’t begin to touch this level, even if it includes breathing exercises. And sitting and listening about others who have achieved this, such as a Buddha or Christ, doesn’t help us either. We have to do the work.
Anytime you do anything to discipline any part of yourself it’s good. Only disciplined people are really happy. Anytime you set a discipline for yourself and do it, exercise your body in some way, you smile inwardly and are more pleasant outwardly, and you walk a little taller. But why waste time going half way? It is equally as important, if not more so, to discipline mind and emotions.
This is something not easy to answer here. It’s very personal – when you work with someone like Swami Rama, and now Swami Veda and Swami Hari they don’t let you get by with anything, not in yourself, not in the way you teach. All serious students have an opportunity to work with teachers such as these, and your life changes dramatically. But it’s not easy. These are things I sometimes share with people in class, but maybe it’s not the place here. You do have to be ready to admit that life with ourselves at the center doesn’t work and go on to a God centered life. Then everything changes, life really begins to make sense – it’s not haphazard, you see where the “coincidences” come from, and why. You also begin to understand karma and why and how it affects you.
Someone once said, if a student is around for 5 years he will stay for 10, if he is around for 10 years he will stay for 15, if 15 he will stay for 20, if 20 he will stay forever. We have some still around after 30 years and so they are here for this lifetime and will begin the search again in other lifetimes. Many have moved out of State and at least 5 of those who have moved are teaching now, and still keep in touch. I notice the students who buy books because they are interested in changing their lives – or are interested in something beyond focusing only on the body, or on this one life where there are so many questions but no answers. Many times students talk before class, during a class discussion, or after about the things that are happening, or what led them to a yoga and meditation class. Sometimes it is a life changing event and the knowing there had to more to life than what they had experienced up to that point. They are a little more serious. Some, but very few, would like to experience Samadhi – the state of consciousness “where no question remains unanswered, no mystery remains unsolved”. Some are just curious, they won’t stay long but it is a beginning.
The beauty
of yoga is that there is something for everyone. Classes can be and
are tailored for elderly or disabled people, some in wheelchairs,
many with arthritis and every other medical condition. It can be
done in chairs, very simple movements. We do what is called Joint
and Gland exercises. They are not the dramatic asanas (postures) you
see in magazines but are much deeper, working with the inner
supportive muscles and tissue. Sometimes people don’t see the
value in these because they aren’t talked about much. But
anyone who is breathing can do them. Certainly they can all go on to
the next step and practice concentration and then on to meditation. As
far as obesity, much of overeating is because we don’t slow
down enough to see what we are doing. “Did I just eat that
whole thing?” is not a joke. It really happens. Slowing down the
mind, giving us a chance to observe our actions, emotions and
thoughts is something we can and ultimately must do.