My Path Into Yoga took place between 1999 - 2001. From 2002 through 2008 the story was on the Yoga with Perumal website. Then it was removed from January 2009 - July 2018. For nearly 10 years this story was absent from the website since some reading ''My Path Into Yoga" came looking for a stereotypical guru which he was not. Most of the names and dates are omitted since they are insignificant. Look closely and you will find something deeper than the story.
On pg. 33, line 18, of B K S Iyengar’s book “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanajali” it states, “He [meaning the (Sadhaka: Aspirant)] has visions of perfected beings teachers and masters”. The following is my path into yoga.
One morning, Perumal was in a coffee shop working on my laptop. He looked up and standing in front of me was a Caucasian man in his mid fifties, wearing an Indian Kurta with grey hair and beard hanging to his navel. He was observing Perumal. Perumal's attention returned intensely to the monitor but seconds later he glanced up with curiosity to see the man had vanished. A few minutes later Perumal heard, “you look organized" from behind him. Perumal turned to see him. He was surprised and feeling like his privacy was being violated. He turned off the laptop, rotated his chair, and faced him with an expression saying, "what do you want?" He smiled and introduced himself. His name is Babaji. Ok, an Indian wanna-be; a throw back from the Sixties. That morning there was no time for anyone. Not even the interesting ones. Perumal introduced himself and stared at him. Then he said something convincing him that this man was mad. “You are going to teach Yoga,” he said. That was an impossible conclusion to draw since Perumal was not taking any lessons or even was close to yoga. Martial Arts yes, but yoga for the moment not.
For years Perumal told his friends of a future vision of Europe yet not knowing what he would do there. So hearing this made him think teaching yoga, a community oriented endeavor, could never be correct. Before he could end the conversation, he started showing him the “downward dog” yoga posture on the floor in front of everybody. This man is nosy and embarrassing. Perumal avoided saying anything, thinking that would defuse a situation which was getting weirder by the minute. He gave him his number and invited Perumal to a Buddhist Monastery.
Perumal tucked the number away in a manner to indicate interest. He did not care. That night he kept seeing images of him while in a waking state. Perumal felt this experience with others who influenced his life. Although skeptical Perumal called him. They arranged to meet at the monastery.
The Monastery
It was a decrepit yellow house on top of a hill. The front lawn was weed ridden, the paint was flaking, and a mural of some Indian deity was the only thing indicating this to be a monastery. The place ran on donations. When he walked in Perumal saw roughly ten people kneeling, standing, or stretching quietly on a carpeted floor. Everyone was soft spoken. As the hour approached for practice the students started lining up. Perumal followed and waited curiously.
The master walked in. He was a Japanese man in his mid forties with, once again, long hair. The straight black beard and hair hung to his mid section. Like the hippie he wore white loose clothing. Pictures of him on the wall at age 20 showed him with the same hair and clothing that he was wearing at 45. This did not seem like a fly by night master. He definitely looked and lived the part. I’m in the right place Perumal thought. It all felt so spiritual. And he was in awe. They started with the sun salutation and the competitor in me took over. Perumal was going to stretch further then anybody in that room even if it killed him. And it almost did. The lady next to Perumal was back bending like there was no tomorrow. The master’s breath was so slow that it took two to three breaths of mine just to keep up. No one in the room made a sound. All moved in unison. It was so surreal. He gasped for breath while trying not to show it. How embarrassing! Everyone was quiet and relaxed. Adding to his embarrassment the students were 20 or more years his senior. The practice humbled Perumal. Finally he was ready to be a student.
On the third week Perumal kept up with the master’s breath and almost exploded. Holding the breath was practiced with imagining white light moving from the stomach into his limbs. Once finished he noticed his hands drawn to my center. When stepping out of the monastery to the car the light was brighter, the air crisper, while sensitive to sound. When starting the car minute sounds that Perumal never processed could be heard from the engine. Driving seemed to be in slow motion. The speedometer said thirty-five miles per hour but my eyes saw everything as if it was ten or fifteen miles per hour. While pushing his foot against the gas pedal it was as if his foot was not just touching the pedal. Perumal's foot was touching all four tires and it could feel every pebble on the road. He somehow knew the car would run another three years. This answered his anxious question of how much longer this old thing would last. It was as if the car and he were fully integrated! There was no division between the inanimate and animate.
The experience with the car was one thing. But what followed he would never forget. Perumal went into a parts store for his clunker. He found the part and took it to the counter. The cashier/owner started talking to me. It felt like Perumal knew him. Not the details of his life, but he knew his essence. And he knew why he was talking to him. The man was indirectly investigating his knowledge of parts. He wanted to see if he could overcharge me. But on that day he charged him the fair price. He knew buying from him again would be a bad idea.
The car and the parts store experience lasted nearly two hours. Throughout this whole time Perumal just kept breathing. Over the next several months he went on to experience similar spiritual episodes at the monastery. But it was never with the same magnitude. These experiences were all an indication to Perumal that yoga was more then just breathing and stretching. Although this is important it is only an aspect of the whole.
The Call Of A Guru
During his study abroad program on his second month of celibacy he was approaching midterms. One night after studying he had a strange dream. He was teaching yoga to some twenty-five students. While standing in front of the class Teacher X walked in from the back, stood in front of the class, and started speaking on his behalf. He woke up that morning thinking what a weird dream. How can I become a Yoga teacher Perumal thought?
A few weeks later he began to see an image of an Indian man from his hair line to just below his lower lip. This went on for three weeks. He have to go to India Perumal felt instinctually. Somehow what he saw was telling him where he was supposed to be. The Guruji looked like someone in his thirties but could very well be ten or more years older. In the vision, although a yogi, he is also capable in the martial realms.
A few months later Perumal went to Kerala, India. While visiting his family he searched for his next teacher. During every interview he studied the faces of the teachers. Around the sixth interview his cousin told him of a teacher that had been working privately with his uncle. He was called to my auntie’s house where he sat waiting for me in her home office. Perumal walked in and sat across from him on the desk. As soon as the teacher looked at him he introduced himself as a Yoga master. Without his introduction Perumal knew who he was. The face matched the vision. He found his teacher!
He started teaching Perumal immediately. By the end of the first week he said, “You will become to be a teacher”. Oh no, Perumal thought, not another strange yoga prophecy. Perumal started recalling what the Hippie said. By the end of the second week he said with great enthusiasm, “you will come a teacher known all over the world and you will come to be master. This I foresee. I will certify you”. He was beginning to worry Perumal. It all seemed such a different direction. Perumal did not want to teach yoga because the last thing he wanted to do was be one of “those guys”. Most of the people he. met within yoga in that time had strange hyper organic anti-system values.
Perumal accepted his Guru’s certification and letter of recommendation. As hee collected the certificate he started recalling the latter Teacher X dream. Then it all began to make sense. He once did the teacher thing in another system and the whole mystique of it was behind him.
How It All Came Together
Babaji pointed the way. The Buddhist monk introduced Peerumal to slow, deep breathing in salutations along with the spiritual side of Yoga. Teacher X taught him that Yoga has a strong physical side. The celibate female master helped Peerumal gain further control of his lower self which has been put into practice when in between relationships. His Guru recognized and endorsed him.
The
method of Yoga with Perumal is a combination of an adapted salutation he learned from Teacher X coupled with the deep breathing of the Buddhist monk. Included is the pranayama learned from my guru. The postures run in the sequence he prefers for himself. He ttaught what he practiced. As the years progressed with teaching Perumal discovered preparatory postures and honed the
six parts of his method (Pranayama, Preparation, Salutation, Strength, Stretching and Meditation). By the year 2018 the
Retreat Method
was honed through 7 years of intensive Marrakech retreats.
PERUMAL KOSHY : "There is so much more to say that has been left out. What happened with every year following 2001 - 2004 of my teaching in London, 2005 - 2010 Milan and 2010 - 2018 Marrakech has a lot to say similarily to what is read here. One’s path is comparable to a space between dream and reality. If I chose to be overly logical I would not be where I am. But that does not mean you give up logic. It is like threading a needle. Tapping in requires honesty with oneself. Mostly one has to live without denials. Some fundamental ways of being disconnected from the path is living a life others believe you should live, holding relationships with people that are not true to the inner self, and maintaining a work and study path not reflecting the needs of the soul. This story is part of our evolutionary heritage and within all of us. There is no mystery".
