B.K.S. Iyengar quotes - page 3

Seeing that the general state of my health was so poor, my brother-in-law recommended a stiff regime of yoga practice to knock me into shape and strengthen me up to face life's trials and challenges as I approached adulthood. (B.K.S. Iyengar)
Patanjali is considered the father of the yoga. On reality as far as we know, he was a yogi and polymath living around the fifth century BC, India, who collated and elaborated knowledge of the yogis' life and practices. He wrote the Yoga Sutras, lierally a thread of aphorisms about yoga, consciousness and the human condition. Patanjali also explained the relationship between the natural world and the innermost and transcendent soul.... What Patanjali said applies to me and will apply to you. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
You do not need to seek freedom in some distant land, for it exists within your own body, heart, mind, and soul. Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you must choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Anything physical is always changing, therefore, its reality is not constant, not eternal. Nature is in this sense like an actor who has only different roles. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills - it has to be earned through sweat. It is something that we must build up. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Non-physical reality is called Parusa in Sanskrit or Universal Soul is an abiding reality. It is logical, but remains conceptual to our minds under we experience it's realization within ourselves. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
The mind and the breath are the king and queen of human consciousness. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
By drawing our senses of perception inward, we are able to experience the control, silence, and quietness of the mind. This ability to still and gently silence the mind is essential, not only for meditation and the inward journey but also so that the intuitive intelligence can function usefully and in a worthwhile manner in the external world. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga goes beyond the physical motions. The practice of yogasana for the sake of health, to keep fit, or to maintain flexibility is the external practice of yoga. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
My poor health was matched, as it often is when one is sick, by my poor mood. A deep melancholy often overtook me, and at times I asked myself whether life was worth the trouble of living. (B.K.S. Iyengar)
Often, we hear people saying they remain active and light when they do just a little bit of asana practice. When a raw beginner experiences this state of well-being, it is not merely the external or anatomical effects of yoga. It is also about the internal physiological and psychological effects of the practice. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
When I set off in yoga, I had no understanding of the greater glory of yoga. I too was seeking its physical benefits, and it was these that saved my life. When I say that yoga saved my life, I am not exaggerating. It was yoga that gave me a new birth with health from illness and firmness from infirmity. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
The head is the seat of intelligence. The heart is the seat of emotion. Both have to work in cooperation with the body. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Because I want to make a good death. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Asanas keep the body healthy and strong and in harmony with nature. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
It took me decades to appreciate the depth and true value of Yoga. Sacred texts supported my discoveries, but it was not that signposted the way. What I learned through yoga, I found out through yoga. I am not however, a " self made man”. I am only what seventy-two years of devoted yoga sadhana has created out of me. Any contribution I have made to the world has been the fruit of my sadhana. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga transformed my life from a parasitic one to a life of purpose. Later yoga inspired me to partake in the joy and nobility of life, which I carried to many thousands of people without consideration of religion, caste, gender, or nationality. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
The compass is ourselves. So we are able to infer that there is a universal reality in ourselves that aligns us with a universal reality that is everywhere. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga was my Destiny, and for the past seventy years, yoga has been my life, a life fused with the practice, philosophy, and teaching of the art of yoga. Like all destinies, like all great adventures, I have gone to places I have imagined before I set out. For me It has been a journey of discovery. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
I set off in yoga 70 years ago when ridicule, rejection and outright condemnation were the lot of a seeker through yoga even in its native land of India,” he wrote. "Indeed, if I had become a sadhu, a mendicant holy man, wandering the great trunk roads of British India, begging bowl in hand, I would have met with less derision and won more respect.”. (B.K.S. Iyengar)
Of the two aspects of asana exertion of our body and penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
Generations will remember him as a fine Guru, scholar and a stalwart who brought Yoga into the lives of many across the world. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
He was a one-person movement...we will strive to keep his Sadhana (legacy) alive. He has achieved eternal peace. He was open to everyone even till his last breath. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar
He was a phenomenal person, compassionate, sensitive, caring and broad-minded. He was instrumental in revitalizing an ancient art and taking it to an international level. View quote
B.K.S. Iyengar