Devotion and Discipline: Christian Yoga and the Yoga of T. Krishnamacharya

Abstract

SA tu dīrgha-kāla-nairantarya-satkārāsevito dṛḍha-bhūṃiḥ, Yogasūtra 1.14 states, “Practice becomes firmly established when it has been cultivated uninterruptedly and with devotion over a prolonged period of time.”1 As a student of the late Pattabhi Jois, I heard this sūtra countless times during Jois’s afternoon conferences with his students. In the context of practice in Mysore with Jois, I understood the concept of discipline. However, the concept of devotion, satkārā, was more ambiguous. Questions about God and devotion were usually met with a simple, “God is one.”