4.9
August 20, 2014

108 quotes to know BKS Iyengar by. Plus, video: Guruji in his prime.

bks iyengar

For bio, photos, videos, dedication, read here:

Thank you so much, dear Bellur Krishnamachar Sundaraj Iyengar.

More than a teacher, he was a creator, a giver, an innovator. He created yoga as we know it. Know his legacy. 

“Our flawed mechanisms of perception and thought are not a cause for grief, but an opportunity to evolve, for an internal evolution of consciousness that will also make possible, in a sustainable form, our aspirations toward what we call individual success and global progress.”

“Anything physical is always changing, therefore, its reality is not constant, not eternal.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat,” he wrote in his 2006 book Light on Life.

“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.” 
― B.K.S. Iyengar

“Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“We must create a marriage between the awareness of the body and that of the mind. When two parties do not cooperate, there is unhappiness on both sides.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence,” he wrote in Light on Life.

“Be inspired but not proud.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“Do not stop trying just because perfection eludes you” ~ BKS Iyengar 

“Regarding perfection, that’s a very difficult question. I can say that I have superseded most in my sadhana [practice]. I am in it, and my mind and my intelligence gets better in my sadhana, and it reaches a certain place. When I stretch, I stretch in such a way that my awareness moves, and a gate of awareness finally opens… My body is a laboratory, you can say. I don’t stretch my body as if it is an object. I do yoga from the self towards the body, not the other way around,” Iyengar told Mint in an interview last year.

“You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“I think overall the majority of people who are practicing it as a subject are following the right line. For the aberration, don’t blame yoga or the whole community of yogis,” Iyengar told Mint in an interview last year.

“As animals, we walk the earth. As bearers of divine essence, we are among the stars. As human beings, we are caught in the middle, seeking to reconcile the paradox of how to make our way upon earth while striving for something more permanent and more profound.” 

“Life itself seeks fulfillment as plants seek sunlight.” 
― B.K.S. IyengarLight on Life

“I think many of my students have followed the advice I gave years ago, to give more than you take.” He told the New York Times in 2002. “The commercialism may wash off sometime later.”

“Do not stop trying just because perfection eludes you,” he wrote in his book, The Path to Holistic Health.

“Yoga allows you to find a new kind of freedom that you may not have known even existed.” 

You must purge yourself before finding faults in others.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement.
Do not look at others’ bodies with envy or with superiority.
All people are born with different constitutions.
Never compare with others.
Each one’s capacities are a function of his or her internal strength.
Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.”

“You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul,” he wrote in Light on Life.

The popularity of yoga and my part in spreading its teachings are a great source of satisfaction to me. But I do not want its widespread popularity to eclipse the depth of what it has to give to the practitioner.” 

“The material body has a practical reality that is accessible. It is here and now, and we can do something with it. However, we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself.”

“Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self realization. Yoga means union – the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.”

Okay, not 108 without your help. What quote touched your path? Leave it in comments, I’ll add it in here. 

Read 11 Comments and Reply
X

Read 11 comments and reply

Top Contributors Latest

Elephant Journal  |  Contribution: 1,510,385