Lesson

Anne and I were standing in the waiting area this morning waiting for the practice room to be opened for practice. I realized that I was standing in front of a painting of Mr. Iyengar and I wondered if it was disrespectful to have my back to the Guru's picture. I noticed that my "friend" Chandru was in his office and I stepped in to ask him about this matter of protocol.

He said the main thing to know at the Institute is what each area is used for. "For instance," he said, "stairs are for going up and down, not for standing still on. Hallways and doorways are for passage, not for standing.The dressing room is for changing so please do not change your clothes in the hall or in the practice area, even if it is just putting pants on over your yoga clothes. But the waiting area, it is for waiting and so that is where you should wait." He also said that it is a religious custom in the temples not to turn your back to the Guru or to the icons but that The Institute is not a temple and so it is no problem.

It really is a great principle and reminds me of an ongoing teaching that Lee gives.He has said many times that as a spiritual practitioners, or those who aspire to be such, one thing we are hoping to be able to do is to know in any given moment what is truly wanted and needed and then to respond accordingly. This is really what it means to serve- to provide what is wanted and needed. We do sadhana to unravel our projections and interpretations and biases so we can see what is Needed and Wanted not just what we prefer or wish. And then also our ongoing efforts of refining ourselves help us to "get out of our own way" in order to respond optimally even if we do not feel like it in the moment.

So the teaching is as esoteric as it is practical and life will always give us clues if we are paying attention. So once again, it comes back to that most precious commodity- attention.

I would write more but I am bit brain dead from facing my mortality repeatedly out on the streets of Pune this afternoon. Tonight we have a pranayama class. That should be excellent.