A Matter of Maitri: Friendliness & the Study of Iyengar Yoga.

The Maitrī Southeast Regional Iyengar Conference in Washington, D.C. was held at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center May 3rd through the 6th. Maitrī pronounced My-tree, is sanskrit for friendliness. The event was co-sponsored by the Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southeast, as well as the  Iyengar Yoga National Association. Preeminent teachers like Patricia Walden and Manouso Manos attended, along with a long list of other teachers that read like the Who's Who of Iyengar Yoga (including Atlanta's own Kathleen Pringle, Nancy Mau, and Kquvien DeWeese). They came to teach, to chant, to meditate, and to breathe fresh air into many aspects of the Iyengar system, while sharing their experiences of the meaning of maitrī. 

As John Schumacher explains in his conference magazine article, Maitrī and the Yoga Community, the regional Iyengar conferences are open to all practitioners of any style of yoga. New students and dedicated yogis alike piled into the opening ceremony with Fred Smith, who is Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions at University of Iowa. An Iyengar practitioner and student of B.K.S. Iyengar and his son Paschant, Mr. Smith spoke about the idea of maitrī. His vast knowledge of sanskrit and Indian religion spans history.

He took us back -far back in time to 2500 BC, where one of the oldest depictions of yoga can be found with man sitting in a yogic pose akin to baddha konasana, bound angle pose. The Shamanesque man appears in a meditative, peaceful state surrounded by all kinds of animals and other living things, demonstrating the basis of maitrī. This image and others Mr. Smith presented exemplified the friendliness, equanimity and compassion described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutre 1.33 Maitrī Karuna Muditopeksanam Sukha Dukha Punyapunya Visayanam Bhavanatas Citta Prasadannam. Where these three virtues: friendliness, equanimity, and compassion bring citta prasadannam, literally, a stable mind, or figuratively, peace of mind with ourself and all things. Mr. Smith brought us through time into the present where he associated the call for maitrī not only to other people, places, and things, but to ourselves.

The conference gave us ample time to exercise personal maitrī, as well as friendliness to our fellow yoga aspirants around the country.  Beginning at 7 am with a pranayama class then to an asana class, followed by two additional asana classes after lunch; we expanded, extended, and excelled our idea of maitrī. A therapeutic panel with Manuoso Manos, Dr. Lois Steinberg, Joan White, and Dr. Kimberly Williams quickly turned to the idea of maitrī. One issue that was brought up was about addressing new students to the discipline required in Iyengar. This issue brought new light to the idea of maitrī. Of the many outstanding points brought up on the panel, the idea that it is sometimes friendlier to pull a student back than allow them to take class or do a pose they are not prepared for, seemed very poignant.

Almost everyone interested in yoga has read the controversial, January 5, 2012, New York Times article that was adapted from "The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards," by William J. Broad, a senior science writer for the NY Times. Many have read the entire book that was published by Simon & Schuster the following month. Despite much disagreement with the content,  it seems to me that it articulated the imperative of quality guidance in yoga. Yoga is not to be taken on frivolously.  

Three of the five Yamas or moral, ethical, and societal guidelines for the sadduka or student in Patanjali's eight-fold path come to mind:  Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya. Ahimsa is non-violence, Satya is truthfulness, and Asteya means non-stealing but also non-coveting, which for the purposes of this article will be the definition of focus. Many of you know these same basic ideas from the Ten Commandments or other religious texts. When it comes to the practice of yoga, these ideas take on a meaning that can be applied inside the yoga studio as well as outside it. For the Iyengar student,  ahimsa, satya, and asteya are encouraged in our personal yoga practice as well as in our life. For example, we need to be kind to our body, truthful as to our level in a pose (every day that may change), and not covet another student's pose, who may be displaying what we consider better technique than us. 

As per the panel discussion mentioned earlier, Manouso pointed out that as a teacher, it is actually an act of himsa, violence to allow a student to do a pose they are not prepared for. For those of you who are not familiar with Iyengar yoga, that means even students who have studied other types of yoga for years still may not be prepared to do a pose they may have done time and time again in another style of yoga. If you think about it, the student doesn't know the entire truth of their situation. They know they have done the pose before in another yoga, but they don't know the difference in the same pose they are being prevented from doing in the Iyengar system. If a teacher doesn't allow them to do a pose, the student may get pissed off and leave. If a teacher allows them to do the pose, the student could get hurt. 

To avert either outcome, it becomes a teacher's act of maitrī to show equanimity and compassion for where the student has come from and educate them in order to expand that student's idea of satya or truthfulness in regards to the disciplines of Iyengar Yoga. In response to this act, the student may also extend maitrī, showing compassion for where the teacher has come from and maintain a sense of asteya non-covetness even for the pose they are being asked to let go of for the time being. The result of this equanimity creates an opening to experience the magic of maitrī:  a communion, which in its essence is yoga. It's interesting to note that in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krisha explains that equanimity is yoga: Smattvam yoga uchhyate.  

While we know this teacher/student scenario is the preferred one, it doesn't always happen that way.  The student may not comply.  The teacher may get frustrated.  As B.K.S. Iyengar said in his message in the Iyengar Conference magazine:

"We human beings face challenges in similar ways, physical as well as emotional problems.  We may speak different languages, have different colors on the skin, but there is no differences in our physiological body and emotional imbalances, as all of us live in the net of lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and envy." 

Everyone develops and learns differently. Sandra Pleasants, points out in her article, "Maitrī and the Student Teach Relationship" in the Iyengar Conference magazine that the Iyengar system is valuable, because it not only teaches good alignment, it also helps develop discrimination (a type of wisdom) and  concentration.

However, it is important to know, like anyone who has had a daily Iyengar practice for a while knows, yoga is powerful. So, if you don't know how to listen to your body or accept the guidance of a highly trained instructor, yoga can be like understanding fire: you may have to get burned before you can learn to respect it.

I will end this article as B.K.S. Iyengar ended his prologue in Light on the Yoga Sutras with a quotation from the Visnu Purana given by Sri Vyasa on the Yoga Sutras:

"Yoga is the teacher of yoga; yoga is to be understood through yoga. So live in yoga to realize yoga; comprehend yoga through yoga; he who is free from distractions enjoys yoga through yoga. " 

Namaste.