Yoga Beneath the Surface: An American Student and His Indian Teacher Discuss Yoga Philosophy and Practice

by Srivatsa Ramaswami, David Hurwitz

In The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga Srivatsa Ramaswami presented the full breadth of yogasana teachings as taught by Sri. T. Krishnamacharya (1888–1989) — the father of modern yoga. Now, for the first time, Ramaswami imparts his vast yoga experience and knowledge of Krishnamachara's distinct vinyasa krama system in an accessible question-and-answer format with experienced California yogi David Hurwitz. In a beautifully clear and conversational style, Ramaswami and Hurwitz delve deeply into various general and specific topics relating to yoga philosophy and practice, shedding light on even the most confusing concepts. The nearly 240 questions are drawn directly from Hurwitz's private study with Ramaswami, and include: Does yoga lead to happiness? How do we achieve the famous ahimsa (non-violence)? How does the yogi "see" his soul? What is the role of breath in Asana? Where does willpower come in? and Was Krishnamacharya happy? Yoga Beneath the Surface is the next best thing to studying directly with one of yoga's true gurus — and a must-read for every serious yoga student.

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2006

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

COMPLETELY lovely.

I got this when it was published in 2006, and tried to read while also reading Max Weber’s Economy and Society. Ended up just rolling over the surface of both of works and jumping into something else as soon as possible. I remember thinking that both the Ramaswami and the Weber were nominalist, just a bunch of definitions. Words about words. Moving concepts around in space. No juice!

So the book was opaque. There was no getting beneath the surface of Yoga Beneath the Surface. I just didn't have an ability to see into it, or even enjoy it on a surface/definitional level, at the time. It would still be a couple years before I’d memorize the Yoga Sutras, and a couple more again after that before I started to ask questions similar to those Hurwitz asks of Ramaswami in part 1.

Now... those dialogs are incredibly sweet. So, in celebration of TKV Desikachar's life and of my own time in Mysore with my yoga teacher, I’m reading it again to see if it makes sense as a recommendation for new yoga practitioners. I’d say wait until you’ve committed the Yoga Sutras to memory and learned a bit about samkhya and how that fits in with other schools of Indian philosophy. Spend a little time with the Upanishads and the Hathayogapradipika. After that, there’s a stage in the learning process where things get really playful and you try to get your head around ideas that cannot really be translated into English. The way to do that is to try to converse about the relationship of terms (vasana, vikalpa, viveka, etc., etc., etc.) to each other, and to personal experience, in the company of a real expert who lives the work on its own terms. It is rare for a westerner to have a such a relationship with a teacher who has the patience, empathy, and love of teaching to hold space for that process.

So part one of YBS lets you eavesdrop on how that might play out. I thoroughly enjoyed this section, though the first time through I found it abstract and hollow. There is a feeling of respect and love of the material that comes through the written exchange. Ramaswami is careful to drop little bits of insight that start to help to piece together a basic yogic understanding of Consciousness, step by step.

Section 2 of the book is about the Vinyasa Krama approach to asana, as taught by T. Krishnamacharya’s last prominent - and only living - student. The first half of this section gives a sense of how Vinyasa Krama practitioners talk when they talk about asana, in a way that strongly clarifies the distinctive nature of this method. The physical practice is understood and approached far differently than my own branch of the method - ashtanga yoga from SK Pattabhi Jois. The contrasts here are clarifying and fascinating, but when this section moved into discussion of specific asanas and techniques, my usual yoga-asana-book-narcolepsy kicked in. It doesn’t make sense to me to lean much about asana practice from a book. Ramaswami’s message is the same - he is making general comments here for experienced practitioners, but when it comes to their actual physical practices, these are developed in person, over time, by oneself and in relationship with a teacher.

The same for the Section 3. There’s probably invaluable information here for practitioners of this method who are grounded in daily practice of it already, but since I’m reading from outside that context the material didn’t interest me on a practical level.

What is easier to make contact with is the conceptual piece in Section 1, which encompasses any practitioner in the Krishnamacharya tradition and many others.

[Arun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a good one.. nice Q/A approach as well. It'd feel as if you're asking all the questions that you've been wanting to understand and getting a good one on one response. But... as this book's central theme is yoga, you'd find it much more valuable and enlightening if you've been practicing yoga or are familiar with at least some of the terms used in this book. Even though I havent started practicing yoga yet, I liked this book.. but feel that I'm lost with all those terms and yoga poses and that I'd have had a better connection with knowing some of those things beforehand.

[Leila Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Text book - good for reference and dipping