R EGIONA L C O N D O L E N C E S Photo: IYNAUS archives
Intermountain Iyengar Yoga Association
pressed, and he looked at me, smiled, pressed his hands on
I met Mr. Iyengar only once, and it had a profound effect on me.
mine, and left. I wandered out to a boulder and sat staring at
It was during his visit to Colorado in 2005 just after publication
the mountains for a long time, trying to understand what I had
of his book, Light on Life. I was there to help my teacher, Leslie
just experienced. Talk about Rocky Mountain High!
Bradley, run a booth on Ayurveda. It was last minute so I hadn’t registered for any classes, and when I arrived there were several
I write this from India where I just arrived for the first time.
free passes to classes. When another volunteer learned that I
Guruji is no longer with us, and the power of his presence is
had never met Mr. Iyengar, she said without hesitation: “You
everywhere. Last night there was a Shradhanjali meeting where
should go to the class—I’ve been to India!” My heart was filled
Patricia Walden recounted this very same event from her
with gratitude, and off I went to Patricia Walden’s class where
perspective. She said that after the interview, they quickly
Guruji would surely be present. Indeed, he was in the room and
passed through the crowded hallway and were whisked into the
teaching alongside Patricia. It was a great class, of course.
car where she said, “You just gave darshan to 1,000 people!” and he replied, “That was then. This is now.”
That evening, he was being interviewed in the big hall by Annette Bening. A powerful presence on stage, when he spoke it
— Diane Goldstein, Introductory II
was as if he was talking directly to me. I felt that he was looking
Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York
at me and talking to me, so much so that I began to shift in my
“May Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar’s teachings be ETERNAL!”
seat worrying that he might call on me to answer a question or
— Harshad Shah, Introductory II
do a pose as he had begun to engage the audience and had even summoned Manouso Manos up to perform on stage. He
“Mr. Iyengar was a surrogate spiritual father to me. I am finally
was magnetic.
going to India next year after 26 years of practice. I am sorry to have missed his in-person magic.”
When the event ended, I quickly exited to a hallway, turned and
— Michelle Hill, Introductory II
saw people dropping to their knees and through the mass of prostrating bodies he walked toward me where I stood, hands 28
Yoga Samachar Fall 2014/Winter 2015
