Humility is everything

My yoga practice has taught humility above anything else.  Sometimes we need to witness painful things to understand what the qualities of the heart are.  Usually we need to witness strange actions to understand the power of of our practice.

There used to be a time when ambition was my motto.  More postures,  more series...more craziness,  more restlessness.  Now i know it´s not about that.

The power of a good teacher resides in being our rock in the middle of the storm.  My two Gurus are huge mountains,  powerful and humble at the same time.  Their love for their own Gurus has shown me the way to a deeper surrender of my my own plans and agendas.

I always thought i could transmit that same devotion to my students.  But it´s been a painful realisation to see how i have failed.  I have sent already ten students to Mysore.  From all of those,  only four have actually understood the real meaning of the pilgrimage.  It´s not about the asana. It´s not about bragging about the trip and taking pics all over the place- though it happens as a side effect.  It´s about a deeper connection to our own selves and the possibility of bypassing our mental patterns and attachments.  And this can only happen if you are connected in gratitude to the one who showed you the way.

From those ten students who had all my hopes and best wishes,  some of them stopped practicing.  They thought they had achieved something. That India meant they didn´t need any more guidance.  And that´s the mystery of this path:  the more you practice, the less you know.  The more you dive into the depths of yoga,  there is less need to demonstrate that you know.  You become like a little kid,  happy to play and help others.  Just the pure bliss of knowing you are protected by your teacher and that you can never go astray if you follow his steps.

You realise your teacher is your anchor and without them there is no where to go.

One of these students went to India once and came back and instantly opened a Yoga School.  The teacher in India told her clearly she was not ready.  One trip is just wetting your feet in the water.

"Fifteen years,  says my teacher Sharath.  Not 200-500 teacher trainings (about 40 days).  Whole life practice,  many trips to Mysore". 

Nevertheless,  she got carried away by who knows what old patterns in her mind and did it,  even though i never agreed and never gave her my blessing.  Separate will.  Bad karma.  Poor students.

Another one,  went and got all very confused because she was studying with different teachers.  This yoga is the yoga of commitment.  Like my teacher says:  "Two doctors kill the patient,  two wives kill the husband...two teachers... " Her mind became a toy manipulated in the hands of those who haven´t been to my school in India and have a lot of judgments and opinions which are not true.

She got lost in the way.

The last one had many issues and practice was making her vulnerable and fragile.  Just when she was ready to go deeper and find real answers to very hard questions,  fear came in.  This practice has the quality of opening deep wounds that we have carried in our tissues and muscles since many years.  It has the power to give us a new body and new mind,  if we can hold on and be brave.  Traveling to India in my tradition requires the blessing of your own teacher to go.  The teachers knows when you are ready.  They also know when you are not.  The apparent external power can never substitute the sincerity of a heart that is willing to wait.

She is in Mysore right now. Quit the shala,  went without my blessing.  Pushed through it.  Forgot what this is about.

The external practice in Ashtanga yoga is tricky.  Some think an advanced practitioner is someone who has practiced many years. Not necessarily.  For me,  an advanced practitioner is someone who has the wisdom to listen.  Yoga starts with listening.

The rest just went astray,  who knows where.  For them,  India was an exotic adventure.   It´s painful because i feel i couldn´t transmit them the power this Mecca holds if you can reach it in a state of humility and gratitude.  Somehow they lost the thread,  the connection to this river of Love and respect.

It´s not up to me to judge anybody else,  but i do feel the pain of sharing what i love and respect with all my heart with people who were not ready in their souls for this journey.  Somehow i thought the asana meant they were ready.  Big mistake.  It´s hard for anyone to read hearts and this practice has the power to go deep into it and take out all the poison.  Heal us.  Make us new.  But we need to have patience.

The four students who have returned from Mysore transformed were those students who never pretended to be what they were not.  Real people,  big hearts.  Honest practices.  Devotional minds.  Powerful souls in search of realisation,  in search of themselves.  Loving people who will be more loving,  more open and compassionate.  Stepping into their dharma with courage and humility.

Because without humility a yogi is not a yogi.
No matter how strong or nice the jump backs and how open the backbends.

An open heart full of humility is the sign of a true practitioner.
A heart that  honors each of those who have shown him or her the way and walked the path before us.

I thank these four souls for showing me the greatness of humility.  I also thank the rest for showing me what a yogi is not.

It´s been a great honor for me to be part of your path, my dear friends.

I know you will understand this love to be able to say:

"Let´s make our teachers proud".