Tag Archives: Mysore

Ashtanga Yoga News Letter 3 : march 2019

Yoga « way to fullness » …

The “Hindu Trinity”, Brahma, Vishnū, Ćiva.

On the way to the intuition of “non-duality”, we try to be coherent yet if we are honest with ourselves we know how hard it is. For example, you are asked to stand up straight, we think and feel that we are vertical, but if we look in a mirror, we will see that this is an illusion, we have a shoulder higher than the other, the head inclined to one side, the pelvis rotated, a knee bent, the belly forward or backward, more support on one foot, etc.. In short, we are twisted. It is the same in postural yoga practice “asana” (Devanāgarī: आसन). We need an outside perspective to straighten, untwist and align ourselves, in order to go vertical.

During his first meeting with Guruji (Sri K. Pattabhi Jois), Anne expressed “it’s strange, but for the first time in my life I experienced a person other than myself you knew better than me what was good for me … and I trusted … “him.

Transmission of Yoga exists in this relational quality. It is a relationship of love, without love there is nothing of value, we cannot achieve the “Kingdom of Heaven” for a Christian, or what we call “Deep Reality” in Yoga.

The practice of Yoga Mala is a precision work (from the Latin praecisus), i.e. “no split” without division of breathing, movement, concentration, rhythm etc.. It is a work of unification. Hindus, like Christians might say to live a relationship state of “Trinity.”

Three not two, two is not one… The Trinity is not a duality and non-duality “advaïta” (Devanāgarī: अ त) is not unity. This is articulated One between “I” and “you” of ourselves, a … A relational One

«Oh yoguin, ne pratique pas le Yoga sans vinyāsa…»
Vāmana Ṛṣi (devanāgarī : वामन ऋषि)
Yoga Korunta

Forth yoga Korunta śloka express :

« Trī stanam avalokayé

Āsanam prānāyāma dristhihi »

Translation

The three key points of the method are: posture, breathing and concentration of the gaze.

Shri K. Pattabhi Jois’s comment

The method of yoga Korunta consists of three simultaneously performed points, that are:

a. Posture Āsana : to lengthen and stretch the spine back to ensure good blood circulation;

b. Breathing Pranayama : The wide opened rib cage so that breathing is good, long and soft;

c. Dristhihi : The head in alignment and directed towards one of the nine focus points so that the mind is concentrated. In this way, in your practice, you will not be troubled by what is happening around you and within you.

Guruji (Sri K. Pattabhi Jois), Laksmi Puram, Mysore

Om Shanti,

JC Garnier

The origins of the Ashtanga Yoga Institute in de Brussels

Jean Claude, dig the foundations of the Matrimandir, Auroville, India

After coming back from India where Jean Claude taught Yoga to Vinobha Bhave and to Indira Gandhi at Paunar Ashram, dig with a Peruvian friend the beginning of the foundations of the Matrimondir in Auroville

the adventure of transmitting yoga starts in September 1973 at “La Maison de la Culture de Rouen” (France).

Success is immediate, there are several classes everyday in different places, at Mt St Aignan University, at St Claire’s church etc. …. Jean Claude transmits either Iyengar’s technique or Pattabhi Jois’s technique. The workshops take place at the “Château d’Ernement sur Buchy”, where he was living.

Still in Rouen, in 1974, he founds the C.R.Y. (Centre Rouennais de Yoga) with Dr. Louis Creyx, 264 students follow the morning or evening classes.

He then founds the “Centre Padma” in Elbeuf in 1979 to host residential training workshops. Many workshops are held in France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland etc. …. Since then, Jean Claude exclusively teaches “Yoga Korunta” (Ashtanga Yoga as transmitted by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois) .

Many seminar take place, in the South of France, in the Community of the Ark, founded by Lanza Del Vasto.

Life changes ……. Jean Claude meets Anne and goes to live in Brussels in 1987. He teaches at the “Maison Américaine”, chaussée de Charleroi, then rue des Glaïeuls, Uccle, in 1988. More space becoming necessary, the Ashtanga Yoga Institute moves to rue Jules Lejeune, Ixelles from 1989 until 2003. Finally, with the help of his friend an architect Simon de Wrangel, the Ashtanga Yoga Institute moves into it’s own premises 610 Chaussée d’Alsemberg in Uccle, with a yoga room that follows the explanations given by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

“The ideal Yoga room must be well ventilated. Do not open all the windows, only those on a same side that are situated high up. The floor must be perfectly flat, the room very clean, on the ground floor (not above nor below because it is not good for the breathing), in a quiet place, far from the surrounding noise and far from people involved in an activity other than yoga.”

The Ashtanga Yoga Institute’s reputation spreads; daily lessons, workshops and seminars are given in Belgium, Greece on the Island of Andros and in Athens,and in India in Mahabalipuram.

The Ashtanga Yoga Institute’s aim is to transmit “Yoga Korunta” (better known as Ashtanga Yoga) as it was taught by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois during his life-time, at the « Ashtanga Yoga Resarch Institute » in Mysore (South India).

Today, a lovely team participates in the evolution of the Institute. Below is what is offered :

Daily classes (except during the Christmas holidays which is the only time the Institute closes)
Introduction class to Yoga
Beginners class
First series class
Second series class
Third series class
Intensive mornings (3 hours class)
Teacher training in Ashtanga Yoga in Brussels, Greece and India
Ashtanga Yoga sessions in beautiful places:
- In Greece:
  - Athens
  - Andros Island
- In India
  - Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, South India

Events :
- Concerts of traditional Indian music
- Indian and Ayurveda cooking lessons

Om Shanti

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois has learned, developed, and taught others Ashtanga Yoga

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, was born on July 26, 1915, a day of the full moon, in a small village near Somnathpur in Karnataka in South India. He died on May 18, 2009, at the age of 94.

His father, Krishna Pattabhi Jois, was a well-known astrologer in the service of the Maharajah of Mysore.

After his primary and secondary schooling in 1930 he began studying Sanskrit and Vedic philosophy at the Maharaja Sanskrit College in Mysore. In 1937, he graduated, he immediately went into teaching Sanskrit at the University of Mysore and continued until 1973. He spent another three years teaching at the Ayur Vedic College, and he then retired.

He began studying Yoga in 1927, when he was 12 years old. He then lived with his parents in a small village near Hassan “Kowshek” (Karnataka). During the first three years, he undertook a journey back and forth every day to visit his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who lived in Mysore at that time (a distance of some 35 km). He received the teaching of his master for 25 years (from 1927 to 1952). Krishnamacharya asked him to transmit a method of original Yoga, called Yoga Korunta (known today as Ashtanga Yoga). Sri K. Pattabhi Jois taught Yoga in India from 1937, then later in the U.S.A and Europe. He received students from around the world to study this wonderful method of Yoga.

He was the founder-director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore in 1942. In 1946, he founded the Institute for Research on Ashtanga Yoga, where he experimented and developed the healing powers of Yoga. He was appointed Honorary Professor of Yoga at the Indian Government Medical College in Mysore, from 1976 to 1978.

Shri K. Pattabhi Jois was married with the delicious Savitramma, known as her diminutive Amma). She left us far too early in December 1997. She always wore a smile, offered comfort or had a blessing on her lips and she prepared an absolutely delicious coffee.

What is less well known is that she had also studied and practiced Yoga and sacred Shri T. Krishnamacharya texts. This is where she met Guruji. She was 14 when she was married, a marriage of love which was very rare at the time. They had three children, two boys and a girl (their eldest son Ramesh died in an accident on the Kaveri dam).

Manju Jois

Manju, their son, teaches Yoga at Emanitas in California – U.S.A. Saraswati, their daughter still lives in Mysore, she is married to a professor and also teaches yoga.

In 1964, André Van Lysbeth, the first European, came to study the Korunta Yoga at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore with Guruji. André spoke about him and made him known through an article he published in the early review of the time “YOGA”, which he edited.

Around 1972, Sri Pattabhi Jois received the first Americans after the “meeting” with Manju at the Gitananda ashram near Pondicherry (160 km south of Madras). The practice of Ashtanga Yoga spread in America from California, and extended later to Hawaii. In 1975, Guruji and Manju on their first tour spread the word about the practice of yoga. Since then, the practice of Ashtanga Yoga has spread worldwide.

Guruji passed on to the other side of existence on 18 May 2009 at 2:30pm in the afternoon (local Mysore time). Guruji had taught continuously for 63 years this wonderful method that he had learned from his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya in 1927.

Om Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Om (Om, may all beings achieve peace and harmony, Om Shanti).

Today, his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy, the son of Sarasvati, is Director of the Institute. He was born in 1971. He is transmitting the Ashtanga Yoga he learned from his grandfather. Sharath is married to Shruthi and he is the happy father of two children, a charming little girl called Shradda (Dedication), and a son Sambhav (connected to the being or Manifestation of being).

The new Yoga course room “Yogashala” can be found :

Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute 235, 8th Cross 2nd Main, 3rd Stage Gokulam, Mysore 570 002 Karnataka, India

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamarcharya, one of the greatest masters of yoga (1888 – 1988)

Sri T. Krishnamacharya, one of the greatest masters of yoga, the light of his knowledge has profoundly influenced the whole world.

He has never left anyone indifferent. In the course of a life that would easily fill several ordinary lives, he had many extraordinary encounters. A descendant of the great priests serving at the temple of the Lord of the Seven Hills, who in turn were descendants of Nâthamuni, Sri Venkateshvara of Tirumalai, this teacher had been promised an exceptional destiny at his birth. Nothing commonplace could happen to him.

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was born on 18 November 1888, the eldest of six children (four boys and two girls).

His father, Sri Tirumalai Srinivasa Thathacharya, a great religious master teaching the knowledge of the holy books (the Vedas), takes charge of the child’s education with his wife Shrimati Ranganayakamma.

The young Krishnamacharya is gifted with great physical force, coupled with extraordinary temperament and intelligence. He also suffused with an intense ardour to know and… to know how.

Still an adolescent, Krishnamacharya sets off to discover his country, its sages, its scholars, its artists and its mystics.

An incredible journey is the life of this young man who will by and by discover, then master, the most varied disciplines, from close-quarters combat to astrology to Vedic rituals.

A well of sciences, fluent in seven languages, an eminent pundit, he will successively explore each of the classical viewpoints of Indian philosophical thought, obtaining the highest distinctions in the most celebrated traditional schools.

Benares, Varanasi, India in 1922

Varanasi

When he left for Benares for the first time, around the age of 18, he was fortunate to be instructed in certain secrets of Sanskrit grammar in the course of a single night by a sort of genius, Shivakumar Shâstri. Back in Mysore, he received an exhaustive three-year education in the philosophy of Vedânta by the director of Parakala Mutt, Brahmatantra Sri Krishna Brahmatantra Swâmi. Once again back to Benares, he found there a deeply enlightened tutor, Sri Vamacarana Bhattâchârya who, while teaching him philosophy, alsohelped him for years giving him advice on how to live his life.

The holy lake of Mânasarovar…

As advised by his tutor at the University of Patna, he then set off on foot for the Himalayas. By difficult paths and rope bridges over spanning torrents, he arrived at the foot of Kailash, the mythical mountain considered to be the abode of Shiva and the axis of the universe, and at the holy lake of Mânasarovar.

Yoga

He learns and practices intensively all the different aspects of yoga. Thus, in the second phase of his life, he will become one of the greatest (Maha) yogi (âcharya) of his time.

Maharaja of Mysore, painting

The maharajah of Mysore

In 1924, he is invited by the maharajah of Mysore who viened yoga as a help in treating his numerous physical ailments. He opened a yoga school in his palace in 1955.

He established himself in Mysore

He is already in his forties when he established himself in Mysore, in the South of India, there he marries the very young Srimati Namaginammal. She will give him six children, three boys and three girls.

Srimati Namaginammal wife of Krishnamacharya

Madras (Chennai)

When he established himself in Madras in the fifties, he once again had the opportunity to treat two men in very senior positions. Both suffered from paralysis: an eminent lawyer Sri T.R. Venkatarâma Shâstrî and Sir Alladi Krishnaswâmi Iyer, the celebrated jurist who had participated in the drafting of the Indian constitution. Both, causing him stay Madras, added themselves to the long list of crucial encounters that influenced the course of his life. (Extract of N° 24 of Viniyoga, dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of Sri T. Krishnamacharya).

The legend of Yoga-Rahasya

Of the Yoga-Rahasya, an important work on yoga that had been lost for several centuries, only a few excerpts were known. Krishnamacharya declared having received the whole of this original teaching in a dream from the mouth of Sri Nâthamuni, this Vishnu saint who lived in the 9^th century

It was not until 1965 that T. Krishnamacharya wrote the verses of Yoga Rahaysa down on paper.

The important concepts of this text are:

The importance of yoga for women
The yoga practices to follow during pregnancy
The adaptation of yoga to make it suitable for everyone in different stages of his life
Yoga is an essential therapeutic tool

It contains the main ideas of the teachings of Krishnamacharya on techniques such as āsana and Prāṇāyāma.

T.K.V. Deskachar & Shri Bhashyam

Two of their sons also became yoga instructors.

The elder one, T.K.V. Deskachar, lives in Madras, and manages an important yoga therapy centre – the Krisnamacharya Yoga Mandiram – officially recognized by the Health Ministry of Tamil Nadu.

Sri Bhashyam, his pupil, lives in Nice (France). He has married a Frenchwoman and teaches yoga mainly in France and Switzerland – Yogakshemam, a school teaching traditional Indian philosophy – Ayurveda and Yoga.

Dissemination…

Compared to the occident, the dissemination of the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya incurred a strange fate.

Indra Devi
Yvonne Millerand
K.V. Desikachar
K. Sribhashyam
Sri B.K.S. Iyengar
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Mainly due to the engagement of his two sons and their pupils, it is firmly rooted in French speaking countries (France, Switzerland & Quebec).

In Anglo-Saxon countries, this teaching is better known through the interpretation provided by his brother-in-law and pupil, B.K.S. Iyengar with his worldwide reputation – as well as that of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, also known worldwide.

His death

He died on 28 February 1989 in Chennai in the South of India. He was nearly 101 years of age. The teacher Sri T. Krishnamacharya will for many remain an unmatched and irreplaceable master of yoga…

In accordance with tradition, he never left his native India in his life. Nevertheless, the light of his knowledge of yoga has profoundly influenced the whole world.

“Yoga is the greatest gift of India to the world.”

Sri T. Krishnamacharya

Sources:

The Yoga of the Yoga The legacy of T Krishnamacharya by Kausthud Desikachar – Edition: K. Y. M – Chennai – India
Shri T. Krishnamacharya 1888 – 1988 Cent ans de Béatitude
Notebook
Edition: K. Y. M – Chennai – India
La revue « Viniyoga » n° 24
Yoga Sutra de Patanjali – Translation and commentary by K.V. Desikachar – Edition du Rocher – 1986
Reflection on Yoga Sutra – s of Patanjali – By K.V. Desikachar
KYM – ISBN: 81.87847.20.4
The Heart of Yoga – Developing a Personal Practice – By K.V. Desikachar
KYM – ISBN: 0.89281.681.3

Breath Of The Gods

Film:

Breath of the Gods, A Journey to the Origins of Modern Yoga, by Jan Schmidt – Garre Film – Length 105 minutes

K.S. IYENGAR
PATTABHI JOIS
K. SRIBHASHYAM
KRISHNAMACHARYA

Very beautiful and moving testimony to the life of Sri T. Krishnamacharya as recalled by his students, his children…

Websites:

Astrology Indian (Jyotish), assistance in decision making…

Indian Astrology is part of the auxiliary sciences of Hinduism, so connected to the Veda.

In India, no important decision is taken without consulting an astrologer. Indian Astrology (Jyotish), the oldest, is based on 27 moon constellations (nakṣatra) and passages of the Moon close to them in the union or not with the position of the Sun.

According to jyotish astrology, we are at any time connected with the universe.

The Maharaja of Mysore had at his service his own Devin/Astrologer, Krishna Pattabhi Jois (the father of Guruji – Sri K. Pattabhi Jois).

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois fater of Guruji

What is that Indian Astrology?

Everyone knows his “sign” in Western Astrology: Cancer, Lion, Sagittarius or otherwise. It is in fact the seasonal sign occupied by the Sun on the day of the birth.

The Sun lies a month in each sign, since it passes over all twelve in the year. The changes occur around the 21st of each month. So, a date of birth tells us directly to which ‘sign’ the person belongs.

Things are not as simple in Indian Astrology, firstly because this discipline gives primacy to the Moon and not to the Sun and then because it uses a Zodiac said to be “sidereal”: the signs of the Zodiac are superimposed on the constellations, without the inexorable shift due to the precession of the equinoxes. Knowing one’s sign in Indian Astrology would more or less imply knowing the constellation crossed by the Moon at the moment of birth. This Lunar position cannot be simply inferred from the date of birth, it requires other skills and other means.

What is a natal chart?

It is the representation of space, visible from a specific point of the globe, at a specific time. In this place, at this moment, someone came into the world. The schema of his sky of birth is called the theme. As in a snapshot, the natal chart captures this inextricable energy node that corresponds to the new-born being. Because a being is an energy node…

He can only stay, continue to be what he is, as long as these energies in their clash remain in balance. No balance is perfectly stable, so the being will never cease to transform.

The great currents that are at work will keep for a time (time of an existence) their strength, their meaning, and their character. The intensity and quality of these energies come from all over the universe, they define at the birth of an individual his nature, shape and “degree in being” or, if preferred, his level of consciousness.

To go further

You can receive a free Indian astrological study: http://www.yourplanets.com/

I deeply thank Mr Jean Dethier, for his introduction to Indian Astrology. He had the pleasure of studying in India with the Professor, K. Neelakantan, recently deceased, who also exercised Astrology with the Maharajah of Mysore, circa 1928.

« Astrological Applications Of Kota Chakra and Sanghatta Charkra”
by K. K. Joshi / K. N. Rao ISBN (Paperback) : 8170820235, 9788170820239
« A Complete Book on Triple Transit Influences of Planets” by V. K. Choudhry & K. Rajesh Chaudhary ISBN (Paperback) : 8170820308, 9788170820307

Prices for the lessons Yoga Ashtanga Institute 2024/2025

Single course Required membership 1 lesson / trial lesson 1 private lesson	Price 30 € 30 € 100 €	Valid 1 year from September to September 1h30 1h only by appointment
Card 10 lessons 20 lessons 30 lessons	Price 180 € 300 € 410 €	Or 18 € the course Valid 3 months Or 15 € the course Valid 3 months Or 13,6 € the course Valid 3 months
Subscription Annual 1 class / week Annual 2 class / week Annual 2 class / week	Price 670 € 1200 € 1600 €	Valid 1 year from September to september Valid 1 year from September to september Valid 1 year from September to september
Intensive Morning 1 morning 2 mornings 10 mornings	Price 60 € 115 € 540 €	3h 3h x 2 the samee week-end Valid 1 year from September to June
Workshop in India Half session One session Two sessions Three sessions Trainning	Price 280 € 460 € 850 € 1250 € 1460 €	One week from monday to friday (morning) Two weeks from monday to friday (morning) Three weeks from monday to friday (morning) Six weeks from monday to friday (morning) Four weeks from monday to friday (morning+afternoon)
Workshop in Greece Athens – October / November Athens – April Athens – June / July	Price Ask Ask Ask	nikzog70@gmail.com 00 30 69 77 80 92 21 nikzog70@gmail.com 00 30 69 77 80 92 21 katarizou@gmail.com 00 30 69 97 90 22 90

The room is equipped with a ventilation system, an air purifier device that measures the air quality with UV treatment

To offer a lesson, go too “Go” boutique !

Payment in Euros by :

International postal order (Very low cost) addressed to :
JCG – SCS, Ashtanga Yoga Institute
Chaussée d’Alsemberg, 610
1180 Brussels – Belgium
Bank transfer – Bank :
ING – Uccle DE BUE – 1180 Brussels –
Telephone: 00.32.2 348 47 80 – Fax: 00.32.2 348 47 89
SWIFT or BIC de la ING : BB RU BE BB
IBAN: BE 34 3630 0145 0390
Account n° ING 363-0014503-90Cancellation fee: 100 € per person

You can gather a small group of friends (3 or 4 people) and discover Ashtanga Yoga together. Choose the time of your lesson and organize a session adapted to your needs, learn the basics or go deeper into the method.

The instruction given at the Ashtanga Yoga of Brussels is true to the Yoga Korunta transmitted by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois at the l’Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore – Karnataka South India.

Teachers who regularly gives classes at the Ashtanga Yoga Institute are: Jean Claude Garnier, Jan Janssen, Sergine Laloux, and the team of substitute teachers: Annette, Bernadette, Catherine, Ivan, Mary, Simon …

Gaja Lakshmi

Financial difficulty ! So it is not an obstacle, contact the Institute by mail or letter.

Ashtanga Yoga Institute #EN

610, Ch. Alsemberg – 1180 Brussels