Freedom in Bondage

How can we be free if we are "in bondage"?
What the poet means, what the musician sees in rhythm, what the Ashtangi sees in the discipline of Sri Pattabhi Jois' teachings from his guru to us is that we become free from the tyranny of our chaotic thoughts and impulses.

It may take many years of daily practice to come to this realization, many starts and stops and restarts, a few rebellions before we finally submit to the ancient wisdom and symbolically bow down to the "lotus feet" of the Guru and see what it means to find freedom in discipline/bondage. But just as Mozart made the most exquisite symphonies from the linking of rhythm and harmony in a tremendous flowering of creativity (and the musicians who played those symphonies submitted completely to his leadership), those of us who learn from Sri Pattabhi Jois (or those who learn from Mr. Iyengar, or those who learn from any other Yoga teacher) must learn to submit fully to the teaching even if we don't always understand why right away. The why(s) will become apparent with time and continued study.

A link on the sidebar will take you to an interview with Sri Jois which appeared in Yoga International a few years ago. More on the Ashtanga system can be found on Ashtanga.com, the official website for Ashtanga practitioners.