selves, perhaps he was rushing to the hospital to see his dying parent.
In the West, people take everything very personally and so there is even
now something called Road Rage where drivers will attack and even
shoot each other. In Pune and most of India, we still do not have traffic
lights, and our streets are a throng of drivers, pedestrians, and some
times animals all trying to cross each other and only narrowly avoiding
each other. Drivers honk their horns constantly at each other to alert
each other that they are there and to vie for position, but we take it far
less personally. We know that it is the roads and millions of people
trying to live their lives and get to where they are going. This does not
mean that we do not have traffic disputes or go to court when we
crash. Every Indian is not a yogi, but our culture reminds us that some
times life is impersonal. We all are subject to impersonal forces-like
traffic.
Often people say that I have a temper because I will shout at
people in class when I see that they are putting themselves at risk or
conversely not doing their best. For this reason people have said that I
am a severe teacher. I am strict, but I am not harsh. I use my anger to
free a student from his pattern. One student kept talking about his fear
in Sirsasana, and I finally shouted, "Forget about fear. You may only
fall on the floor, not beyond. In the future there is fear. In the present
there is no fear." He was startled, but he got the point. A commander
in the army who is heading into battle can not always speak softly to
his soldiers. Sometimes he must shout at them to motivate them
quickly, and sometimes he must speak gently to give them courage. The
battle of yoga is with the body and with the ego. You must conquer
your ego, or small self, so that you can let your soul, your big Self, be
victorious.
A young boy was brought to me by his parents. For weeks he had
been in a daze, like a trance. I sent the parents away and asked him
what was wrong. He told me that the divine Kundalini enagy had
been awakened in him. Kundalini energy is very sacred and vt•ry rare.
V IT A I .I' I Y I' II 1·. 1'. N 1:. 1\ t; Y II 0 I l Y ( /' U II N :1 I