Guruji

In honor of Guruji, and with the anniversary of his passing coming up, I thought I would highlight I few excerpts from the upcoming book, Guruji - A Portrait of Sri K. Patabhi Jois - Through the Eyes of His Students, over the next week. A big thanks to Steve who put me in contact with the link to Guy Donahaye's website, which have a list of passages from the book. Incredibly inspiring.

The way Guruji teaches is not lazy in any way, shape, or form. He brings the same energy, or more, to every class every day. I would be dragging, it would wear twenty of us out. I think it was the consistency and the genuine love and desire to see you learn this practice and improve your health. It took me four years in Mysore, off and on, to get into lotus. I remember the day that he finally, after sitting in front of me, got me into lotus. He stopped the whole class and almost started crying with laughter and joy. I think he was more thrilled to see me in that posture than I was. You know, that’s just one example. It goes on every day that you are in there. Whatever posture is difficult for you, he never forgets, he always makes you do it, even if you’ve gone by it. It’s his discipline and his tenacity along with the love of the practice that make him unique.

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I would describe it as being one of the most sincere messages I’ve ever received. When you are in there with him, you know he has totally dedicated his heart and his soul to this teaching, so you want to give him the same in return. I’ve had many teachers of all types throughout the years, from English to basketball, and of course, you meet great teachers along the way. I’ve never met anybody who loved to teach as much as Guruji. In fact, it seems to me, as he is teaching he seems younger, he’s a different person in the room. Out of the room, he’s such a beautiful wonderful householder that the combination was overwhelming to me. To me, he is one of the great humans.  

- Ricky Heiman

( Passages from Guruji, A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Through the Eyes of His Students)