MAXIMS by Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar
“Words fail to convey the total value of Yoga. It has to be experienced.”
“Unless freedom is gained in the body, freedom of the mind is a far cry.”
“To a yogi his body is a laboratory, a field for perpetual experiment and research.”
“While practicing asanas, learn the art of adjustment.”
“As a pearls are held on a thread, all the limbs should be held on the thread of intelligence.”
“The goal is far for those who do asanas casually, it is near for those who are intensely intense.”
“Never perform asanas mechanically, for then the body stagnates.”
“The brain is the hardest part of the body to adjust in asanas .”
“To bring a part of the body in correct alignment, you have to work with the whole body.”
“In each asana, if the part of the body in contact with the floor-the foundation- is good, the asana is performed well.”
“Allow your intelligence to penetrate evenly throughout the body to its extremities, like the rays of the sun.”
“Everything cannot be observed by our two eyes. Each pore of skin should act like an eye. Your skin is a most sensitive guide.”
“Do not contract your brain when you stretch your body.”
“Because you cannot see the back, it is forgotten. The back must be activated in all the poses.”
“When the pose is correct, there is a lightness, a freedom.”
“When you stretch, if the stretch is even there is no strain at all.”
“Today’s maximum should become tomorrow’s minimum.”
“The body must be trained to be the servant, not the master.”
“How can you have peace of mind, when there is no peace in the body?”
“Total extension brings total relaxation. If you know the extension of the body, you know the extension of the mind.”
“Use each experience as a stepping stone.”
A battle ensues when the mind says, ”I want to, but the body says, “I cannot,”it lies in your hands to see who wins.
“In your discipline, if doubt comes let it come. Do your work, let doubt carry on with its work, and see which gives up first.”
“What we were is unimportant. What we are doing now is important.”
“Intelligence alone will not solve the problems, unless it is linked with observation. First observe, and than use the intelligence.”
“The parts of your body are your pupils. Teach them well.”
“Correct from the source. Find the source. Go to the source of the problem.”
“Like sprinkling a drop of water in hot oil to see if it sizzles, make sure as a teacher that you also see an keep that kind of heat in students.”
“A confused mind finds a confused teacher”
“You all want to learn Yoga, but you are not willing to accept the challenge that comes.”
“Unbearable pain must become bearable before it can be eradicated. Then we can learn to remove it ”
“As leaves move in the wind, your mind moves with your breath.”
“Your body lives in the past, your mind in the future. They come together in the present when you practise Yoga.”
“The known is limited, but the unknown is vast. Go to the unknown more and more.”
“Pranayama requires intelligence. You become intellectual through books. As long as you do not live instant to instant in the breathing you are an intellectual.”
“The brain supercedes you when sound is rough. To tame the brain-tame the breath.”
“In pranayama your intellect should be as firm as a burning candle in a windless place”.
Taken from the book: Iyengar – His Life and Work. CBS