| Cougar Press PO Box 894 Meadview AZ 86444 |
| Dedicated to Swami Vishnudevananda |
In the dedication for his well known book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, the author
refers to Swami Sivananda as “my Master.” Humility and honesty prevent me from honoring
Swami Vishnudevananda with the same title in the dedication for my book.
In the Hindu tradition of Yoga, the terms Guru and Devotee always have referred to a personal
relationship between the teacher and the student. I never had the pleasure of meeting the late
Vishnudevananda in person. However, much or most of what I know about Hatha Yoga I
learned from the words and pictures in his book.
I have spent more than forty years now practicing the asanas that I learned from
Vishnudevananda. I have imagined running into him, in a dream, a vision, or a hallucination,
and having him recognize me as his promising young intern.
I expect that he would express disappointment during that imaginary meeting. There is so much
that I didn’t do. I didn’t practice the asanas every day. Some of them I never practiced at all.
There are plenty of the more difficult positions portrayed in his book that I never even attempted.
My dedication to the rigors of Pranayama, the breathing techniques, would have left my virtual
instructor equally unimpressed. Though I have spent many sessions over many hours, days and
years inhaling and exhaling according to various ratios, I never made any real progress. From
my own point of view, however, it was certainly not time wasted.
The dictionary defines the word “devotee” as:
devotee
-noun
1. a person who is greatly devoted to something.
2. a person who is extremely devoted to a religion; a follower.
While I harbor no compunction about claiming to be a long-term “devotee” of Yoga in the
physical, mental and spiritual context, I cannot pretend to any real devotion to
Vishnudevananda. That name is one of many that I must acknowledge as contributors to
whatever knowledge, skill or wisdom that I might have in this subject. The following list is only
incomplete due to my own lack of a perfect memory.
Although, to the uninitiated, the expertise of the folks on this list may seem to range far from the
topic of Yoga, believe me when I say that they all deserve mention.
refers to Swami Sivananda as “my Master.” Humility and honesty prevent me from honoring
Swami Vishnudevananda with the same title in the dedication for my book.
In the Hindu tradition of Yoga, the terms Guru and Devotee always have referred to a personal
relationship between the teacher and the student. I never had the pleasure of meeting the late
Vishnudevananda in person. However, much or most of what I know about Hatha Yoga I
learned from the words and pictures in his book.
I have spent more than forty years now practicing the asanas that I learned from
Vishnudevananda. I have imagined running into him, in a dream, a vision, or a hallucination,
and having him recognize me as his promising young intern.
I expect that he would express disappointment during that imaginary meeting. There is so much
that I didn’t do. I didn’t practice the asanas every day. Some of them I never practiced at all.
There are plenty of the more difficult positions portrayed in his book that I never even attempted.
My dedication to the rigors of Pranayama, the breathing techniques, would have left my virtual
instructor equally unimpressed. Though I have spent many sessions over many hours, days and
years inhaling and exhaling according to various ratios, I never made any real progress. From
my own point of view, however, it was certainly not time wasted.
The dictionary defines the word “devotee” as:
devotee
-noun
1. a person who is greatly devoted to something.
2. a person who is extremely devoted to a religion; a follower.
While I harbor no compunction about claiming to be a long-term “devotee” of Yoga in the
physical, mental and spiritual context, I cannot pretend to any real devotion to
Vishnudevananda. That name is one of many that I must acknowledge as contributors to
whatever knowledge, skill or wisdom that I might have in this subject. The following list is only
incomplete due to my own lack of a perfect memory.
Although, to the uninitiated, the expertise of the folks on this list may seem to range far from the
topic of Yoga, believe me when I say that they all deserve mention.
| Jay Dyck |
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |