13 Days of Mourning EXCERPTS FROM A FACEBOOK DIARY BY VICTORIA AUSTIN
Victoria Austin (front corner) practices Utthita Trikonasana during the Yoganusasanam intensive at Balewadi, December 2018. Photo: Shael Sharma
In December 2018, many international students and teachers were in Pune for Guruji’s 100th birthday celebration, for Geeta’s Yoganusasanam intensive, and for general study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI). After Geetaji’s passing on Dec. 16, all classes stopped and the Institute began preparations for her cremation, followed by a 13-day period of mourning. Victoria Austin was among the practitioners present and posted daily reflections on the activities at RIMYI to her Facebook page, Yoga and Zen With Victoria Austin. With her permission, we have excerpted several of the accounts here. DEC. 16, 2018, PUNE This morning, when I received the news that Geetaji had passed away, I had been studying various actions in a sequence of standing poses, inversions, and forward bends. I was trying to understand what she had meant by charana kriya, chedana kriya, bedhana kriya, and sodhana kriya as applied to asana practice. Geetaji’s teachings were so present to me right then that, at first, the message that she had passed away did not make sense to me. When it began to sink in, my roommate Kathy and I quickly got ready to go to RIMYI to pay our respects. As the morning went on, the courtyard began to fill up with family, students, and friends.
Yoga Samachar Spring | Summer 2019
Now we are back and resting for the day—so far from where we started at the beginning of the day. Geetaji, as we knew her, is no more. Prashantji had already gone to Bellur with about 150 students and teachers for the continuation of the 100th birthday celebration. They all turned around and came back. At around 1:30 p.m. the priest came for chanting. Everyone chanted with heart to help Geetaji on her way. The men of the house carried Geetaji’s body to the ambulance for transportation to the cremation ceremony at Vaikunth.
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