Quotes from B.K.S. Iyengar

disturbances of the mind and emotions fade away, and we are able to see true reality.

Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. There is a beginning but no end to knowledge.

Pain is a great philosopher, because it thinks constantly of how to get rid of itself and demands discipline.

For one who lacks ethical discipline and perfect physical health, there can be no spiritual illumination. Body, mind and spirit are inseparable: if the body is asleep, the soul is asleep. The

To my father, Bellur Krishnamachar, my mother, Seshamma, and my birthplace, Bellur

Without education, confidence does not come.

Stability-The Physical Body (Asana)

Samadhi is an opportunity to encounter our imperishable Self before the transient vehicle of body disappears, as in the cycle of nature, it surely must.

The Six Emotional Disturbances Through yoga we are able to lessen the six emotional disturbances that cause us so much anguish: lust, pride and obsession, anger, hatred, and greed. They are called negative emotions by Western psychology or deadly sins by Christianity, and indeed these emotional reactions are enemies of spiritual growth when they are beyond our control. However, each of these emotions exists for a purpose and can be used wisely.

Religions tell us to get rid of these emotions, but we cannot. They are human emotions that we will feel whether we want to or not. Suppression does not work. George Stevenson invented the steam engine because he noticed that the steam in a boiling kettle lifted the lid. The force was irresistible. yoga is about channeling and transforming that energy to higher purposes, just as Stevenson used the energy of steam to drive locomotives.

As the modern saying goes, we should live in the solution, not in the problem.

I am fanatical with myself when I practice yoga. It is true. You should be fanatical with yourself, but not with others.

To take joy in the well-being of others is to share in the riches of the world.

Positive emotions are not the same as virtue. Virtue is valor, moral courage, persistence in adversity, and protection of the weak against the tyranny of the strong - not hand-wringing sympathy. Compassion is the recognition of sameness, of kinship with others.

Without certain stress, the true asana is not experienced, and the mind will remain in its limitations and will not move beyond its existing frontiers. This limited state of mind can be described as the petty, small mind.

Art is the expression of human emotions through various mediums. Sports can be considered as nothing less than an art form because it makes the spirit soar.

There is something called "echo" exhalation that impresses this point even further. Exhale slowly and fully. Pause. Then exhale again. There is always a slight residue left in the lungs. In that residue is to be found the sludge of toxic memory and ego. In that brief further exhalation, let them go - and experience an even deeper state of relief from burden, of peace and emptiness.

All illness fragments and so whatever integrates also heals. It is axiomatic in yoga that illness has its origin in the consciousness. Self-cultivation really begins only with total self-absorption, so anything that facilitates concentration, reflection, and inward absorption, is going to begin to heal the problems of the fissured, imbalanced self.

Many ask me whether pranayama, controlling the breath, postpones old age. Why worry about it? Death is certain. Let it come when it comes. Just keep working. The Soul has no age. It doesn't die. Only the body decays. And yet, we must never forget the body, since it is the garden we must cherish and cultivate.

So often what prevents us from living an admirable life is the catering of our minds, which pester us with long outdated doubts and despair. Our minds are truly one of the greatest creations in God's world, but they are so easily disoriented and set spinning.

hallar un equilibrio de polaridad, no el antagonismo de la dualidad.

There is nevertheless a chance that we can break free from the imprisoning past and individually train ourselves to control this reactive mechanism in such a way that the old patterns are not repeated; new things truly can happen, and real changes can in fact take place. This dawning clarity is, in essence, the path of yoga.

This is the problem with "long termism," a problem yoga identified more than two thousand years ago. When life's rap on the knuckles is not immediate enough to react as a deterrent, or the reward does not come fast enough to act as a spur, we tend to fell and act like children. We seek immediate gratification.

Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said, "Know yourself. Know what is good. Know when to stop.