Thanks to Anthony of Urban Yogis for the permission to reprint this portion of his interview with Clayton Horton entitled " Rising with the Sun " . It best expresses a contemporary application / treatment for an integral part of the classic yogic tradition , the Guru-Sadhaka relationship . It reinforces what I've observed all along about the "dilettante / cocktail party " approach of ERSTWHILE practitioners :
" One of my
inspirations Bhagavan Das, an American, bhakti yogi, says, “if you
start something, finish it.” Don’t get distracted! Some people are
such that they will want to take this Buddhist workshop, and another
day they want to check out the Zen center, then they are moving to
India to study Kundalini yoga, and later they come back and want to go
this sound healing workshop. Great! All of this is fantastic, but it
is truly important to just pick one thing and stick to it; otherwise
you will continue to get distracted.
Stay on the path, and don’t get
distracted. It is important to find something that works for you and
stick with it. I see this with the teacher and student relationship.
People go to a Guru, and then they go to another Guru, and then they
find another teacher and go to them. They run around so much to so
many different teachers that they never get to establish a relationship
with their teacher, and their teacher never gets to know them enough to
say, “I know you and it would be best if you did this.” Unfortunately,
before a bond between the student and teacher can ever be established,
the student is already running off to another roadside attraction,
another teacher.
This sometimes happens as soon as the teacher starts
to push a button or to show the student their shadow. This is what
Guru’s do. The word Guru means the remover of darkness, and this
darkness is your own shadow. It is the part of yourself that you don’t
see. The teacher goes, “Look, you are doing this, but you do not see
it! Stop doing this!” This happens in asana class. People cannot see
that in chaturanga dandasana there elbows are sticking way out when
they are supposed to be in toward the side body.
Therefore, it is crucial to stick with something even if it is not the most comfortable thing for you. So it is great to do lots of different things and study many different disciplines, but find one discipline, and stick with it. Find one teacher and stick with them. It may take you awhile to find your way, but stay on your way once you’ve found it. That is my advice. "
Hari Om Tat Sat. Much respect -
