About Guy
I had my first experience of yoga in 1989 - some breathing and movement exercises taught by T Krishnamacharya, which greatly benefitted me, and opened my eyes to the central role of breathing in yoga.
I started practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 1991 with Pattabhi Jois at his Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore. That was the beginning of an annual pilgrimage. I would spend 3-4 months in India and then return to England and practice what I had learned for the rest of the year.
I became a certified Ashtanga teacher, taught traditional Mysore Style Ashtanga for over 25 years and published a book about Pattabhi Jois: Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K Pattabhi Jois through the Eyes of His Students (see more below).
Pattabhi Jois was a Sanskrit scholar and a professor of yoga philosophy at the prestigious Maharaja’s Sanskrit College, but his English was very poor, so although he could give us general guidance on the path of yoga, his teaching was mainly confined to asana.
But I soon discovered that Mysore was full of wonderful teachers in many different fields such as music, Āyurveda, Sanskrit, philosophy and so on. I had become thoroughly disillusioned by Western academia and decided to immerse myself in the local teachings instead.
Then in 1993, I met Ācārya.
Ācārya
I clearly remember my first impression as Ācārya (Dr KLS Jois) began to speak on the Yoga Sūtra: my mind became completely lucid, his words needing no interpretation - I remember feeling - "this man speaks and knows the truth!" Not just an intellectually reasoned or remembered truth, but a lived and experienced reality, which he was able to communicate.
I remained connected with Ācārya from that time onwards, but it took some time until he became my primary teacher.
Although Pattabhi Jois gave me a foundation in practice, the understanding of the true meaning and purpose of yoga came through Ācārya, who has remained an enduring guide all these years.
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Śrī K. L. Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa Jois
Dr. Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa Jois is a Sanskrit scholar and orator in the traditional sciences of India including Yoga, Jyotiṣya, and Āyurveda.
He began studying the Sanskrit language at the age of five. Later he earned qualification as Vidwan in Literary Criticism and Indian Logic, and attended the Maharaja’s Government Sanskrit College in Mysore, India. He earned a MA in Sanskrit, and a PhD in Yoga. Dr. Jois also holds a degree in Hindi and is qualified as Pandit in Kannada, the state language of Karnataka, India.
Through his family lineage, he is deeply knowledgeable and experienced in Vedic Astrology. However, most influential in Dr. Jois’ life has been the teachings of his Eternal teacher, Śrīraṅga Mahāguru (1913-1969), a highly honored Enlightened yogi with deep insight into the Truth behind the original Indian arts and sciences.
Dr Jois is author of The Sacred Tradition of Yoga - https://sadvidyafoundation.org/the-sacred-tradition-of-yoga/
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According to his biographer and close friend Dr. V. S. Chamu, Srinivasa Rangaswami was born in a small village near Mysore in 1913. He attended the Mysore Sanskrit College and joined Kṛṣṇamācārya’s yoga classes, becoming his senior student and assistant teacher. After some years he returned to his village feeling some disappointment that the yoga school was too much concerned with physical culture.
From childhood Srinivasa had displayed tremendous capacities as well as evidence of experiencing yogic states. At the age of twenty he attained full realization and soon after experimented with transmitting the state to others.
Over the years, a culture of arts based on yogic science flourished around this highly gifted man. He was able to impart realization to several hundred disciples and was able to revive many ancient teachings through his samādhi.
He remained a “fruit behind leaves” - the jungle physician - the local healer, educator and spiritual advisor to an intimate group of people. His dīkṣā - his ability to pass on realization - was transmitted to his wife Śrī Vijjaya Lakṣmaṇa and she in turn was able to transmit realization to several hundred further individuals.
In 1947 Śrīraṅga disciples opened the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga Vijñāna Mandiram. The word vijñāna means - insight-filled knowledge - wisdom - discernment. The Mysore branch is just around the corner from Pattabhi Jois’ old shala. Unfortunately current teachings are only in the local Kannada language.