Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar Quotes
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You must be as joyful when you fail again and again as you are joyful when you succeed. It is often when you fail that you move toward the goal without being aware of it. You must feel joy even when you have not fully succeeded but only moved toward achievement of your goal.
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There must be relaxation in full extension.
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Our greed comes from our fear that we will not have enough - whether it is money or love that we grasp. Yoga teaches us to let go of these fears and so to realize the abundance around us and within us.
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Firmness in the body leads to firmness in the nervous system.
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Health is not a commodity to be bargained for. It has to be earned through sweat.
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Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. There is a beginning but no end to knowledge.
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The yogi cannot be afraid to die, because he has brought life to every cell of his body. We are afraid to die, because we are afraid we have not lived. The yogi has lived.
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An intellectual mind that is unconnected to the heart is an uncultivated mind.
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When I stretch, I stretch in such a way that my awareness moves, and a gate of awareness finally opens.
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The Yogi conquers the body by the practice of asanas, making the body a fit vehicle for the spirit. The Yogi knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit, for a soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly.
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Approach each asana with freshness every day.
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Yes, flexibility of body and physical perfection for Yogasana is important. However more important is the state of your mind, Meditative mind. Your flexibility might be excellent but if your mind is not attentive, you are merely doing some physical exercise, not Yoga.
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The practice of asanas purges the body of its impurities, bringing strength, firmness, calm, and clarity of mind.
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Yoga is effort. Only practice is important. The rest of knowledge is only theory.
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What I was is unimportant, what I am now is important.
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I can remain thoughtfully thoughtless, It is not an empty mind.
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Pranayama teaches the aspirant to regulate his breathing and thereby control the mind.
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For me there were only two ways on the precipice - either I have to fall in or I have to fall out, to accept or say good-bye. The moment I crossed the precipice, it no longer was a discipline - it became a passion, an urge to pursue. Then I experienced freedom. Freedom comes when the discipline revolutionizes the discipline as a passion for the art.
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As we explore the soul, it is important to remember that this exploration will take place within nature (the body), for that is where and what we are.
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As a breeze ruffles the surface of a lake and distorts the images reflected therein, so also the chitta vrtti (fluctuations of mind) disturb the peace of the mind. The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.
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I think many of my students have followed the advice I gave years ago, to give more than you take.
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You must continue to go back to the beginning, to the foundation, and question the foundation. Even once you‘ve reached Samadhi you must go back so you can create it at will. Samadhi is the beginning of spiritual growth, not the end. You must always be questioning. Enlightenment comes as an accident at first, then you have to learn to recreate it.
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One day you too may experience what I have experienced. So right away go and practise.
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A stable mind is like the hub of a wheel. The world may spin around you, but the mind is steady.