Hiya,

So yoga in India is hot, hot, hot. Shri Pattabhi Jois, the teacher here, is 89 years old and still shows up to teach every day at 5am. There are big plans for a celebration of his 90th bithday next July, so if you’re in India at that time, it should be quite an event. He’s immensely kindly and smiles constantly, but is very focussed on the practice. “Where from?” he asked me. “What level?” and I was off, me and the other seventy students. On the edge of town is a small mountain called Chamundi Hill. Just below the summit is a Shiva cave temple, looked after by an ancient Himalayan yogi. I joined him for his evening chanting yesterday. It was quite magical emerging from the cave with the moon and stars above and the lights of the town twinkling below and lighting the way down the ancient stone steps. And for once, (blessed relief) India was quiet! Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Cheers Daizan

ps all the above is out of date now. I’m up in Calcutta working at the Mother Teresa house for dying men. It’s pretty overwhelming. More later

Hiya and how are you? I’m in Mysore India. Several hundred of us are studying at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute with K. Shree Pattabhi Jois and his family. The yoga is strong, fast and very intensive, and moving well beyond straightening out My frame after a thousand miles of tramping round Shikoku.

A few of us were eating lunch yesterday in a place with a covered courtyard. four Indian men were holding a twelve foot ladder vertically upwards. A fifth man clung to the free end of the ladder with one hand while reaching up with a welding torch to fix the trellis. Everyone was shouting at the same time, hot sparks showered everywhere, and the resturant power supply kept on shorting out. But the job got done – eventually. India’s changing a lot, but it’s still, unquestionably India.

There’s a film crew here making an Ashtanga documentary called Journey To The Source. It’s going to feature interviews with the main teachers here and some of the students, including me. They were very interested to explore how a background in meditation and energy work can introduce a level of bliss into what is otherwise an immensely physical practice. The gymnasts and acrobats around the place are looking for a more sustaining and satisfying dimension. The film should be out in the new year. It could well be that it’s very interesting.

More later. Hope all’s well. Wishing you abundant harvests this autumn (on every level.)

Cheers Daizan