43
" So we would say in yoga that the subtle precedes the gross, or spirit precedes matter. But yoga says we must deal with the outer or most manifest first, i.e. legs, arms, spine, eyes, tongue, touch, in order to develop the sensitivity to move inward. This is why asana opens the whole spectrum of yoga’s possibilities. There can be no realization of existential, divine bliss without the support of the soul’s incarnate vehicle, the food-and-water-fed body, from bone to brain. If we can become aware of its limitations and compulsions, we can transcend them. We all possess some awareness of ethical behavior, but in order to pursue yama and niyama at deeper levels, we must cultivate the mind. We need contentment, tranquility, dispassion, and unselfishness, qualities that have to be earned. It is asana that teaches us the physiology of these virtues. "
― B.K.S. Iyengar , Light on Life
53
" When we direct our eyes looking forward from the corner of the temple in its normal field of vision, the frontal brain is working with analysis (vitarka). But when we spread our ocular awareness from the back corner of the temple, near the ear, the back brain is brought into play and works with synthesis (vicara). The front brain can dismantle because of its powerful penetration. The back brain is holistic and reassembles. If you find this difficult to imagine, just think what happens when you first walk into a great medieval cathedral. Your eyes may appear to focus on what is before them, the altar for example, but your real awareness takes in the whole immense volume of the space surrounding you, its grandeur and the hum of its ancient silence. This is holistic meditative vision. While working in asana, if the action is “done” solely from the front brain, it blocks the reflective action of the back brain. The form of each asana needs to be reflected to the wisdom body (vijnanamaya kosa) for readjustment and realignment. Whenever asana is done mechanically from the front brain, the action is felt only on the peripheral body, and there is no inner sensation, there is no luminous inner light. If the asana is done with continual reference to the back of the brain, there is a reaction to each action, and there is sensitivity. Then life is not only dynamic, but it is also electrified with life force. "
― B.K.S. Iyengar , Light on Life
57
" Es necesario hallar la línea media de cada asana, de manera que la energía quede distribuida de forma adecuada. Cuando uno vacila, apartándose de la línea media, entonces se dirige hacia el pasado o el futuro. La ascensión vertical es el futuro; el descenso vertical es el pasado. La horizontalidad es el presente. El presente es el asana perfecta. Cuando creas apertura horizontal, el futuro y el pasado se encuentran en el presente. Por eso la extensión y la expansión dinámicas te permiten hallar el equilibrio y vivir de manera más plena en el presente mediante tu cuerpo. En asana hallamos equilibrio e integración en las tres dimensiones del espacio, pero también hallamos equilibrio e integración en la cuarta dimensión, la del tiempo. Los sabios de antaño dijeron que la clave de la vida era el equilibrio. Equilibrio, como yo he insistido, en todas las capas de nuestro ser. ¿Pero qué se supone que hemos de equilibrar? La respuesta radica en las tres cualidades de la naturaleza, llamadas guna. Estas tres cualidades deben hallarse en equilibrio en tu práctica de asana y en tu cuerpo, mente y alma. Podrían traducirse como solidez, dinamismo y luminosidad. "
― B.K.S. Iyengar , Light on Life
58
" We must grow, or we begin to die. The status quo leads to stagnation and discontent. So just standing still isn’t really an option. We have to move on. If not, disturbances will come. We’ve learned how to handle the disturbances of getting fired from our job, the outward ones, but when vanity and pride and smugness dawn, these disturbances, what I would call the diseases of the mind, take root within us. So nature offers us a new challenge. We’re handling the day-to-day problems, but are we handling the inner disease of the growth of vanity, pride, and smugness in ourselves? This is a new challenge. We have to deal with it, but we won’t if we get caught up in yoga for pleasure, the self-regarding yoga of saying, “I’m alright, aren’t you in a mess.” So the need to persevere derives from the fact that if we don’t go further, new problems arise in which we become bogged down. That is why we are compelled to continue our practice. "
― B.K.S. Iyengar , Light on Life
59
" As mammals, we are homeostatic. That means we maintain certain constant balances within our bodies, temperature for example, by adapting to change and challenge in the environment. Strength and flexibility allow us to keep an inner balance, but man is trying more and more to dominate the environment rather than control himself. Central heating, air conditioning, cars that we take out to drive three hundred yards, towns that stay lit up all night, and food imported from around the world out of season are all examples of how we try to circumvent our duty to adapt to nature and instead force nature to adapt to us. In the process, we become both weak and brittle. Even many of my Indian students who all now sit on chairs in their homes are becoming too stiff to sit in lotus position easily. "
― B.K.S. Iyengar , Light on Life