Honoring & Remembering SharathJi

SharathJi has always been a living embodiment of love, kindness, faith and unwavering devotion. His devotion has inspired millions of people to practice from a place of love. 

While he taught me asana, the real transmission I received from him was how to have faith in oneself and another. He transmitted this through his guidance and presence as my Guru: his gentle yet fierce kindness; his firm attention and ability to see it all, including what is not visible to the eye; his ability to teach each student individually despite the crowded room, when he was with you he saw you, to point out just a few of many qualities. SharthJi taught me about the attitude of faith and devotion through his own presence. His humor is what made his light shine bright, he always guided us to find the humor in the challenge. When assisting he would often tell me ‘I am so tired’, yet his attention was unwavering, perhaps he got off the chair a little less, but his eyes were always sharply watching. He dedicated his whole life to the practice. 

Through the years, anytime I would see him, this bright, kind smile greeted me. In our last lunch together this year he shared with us videos of the millions of people that came to practice with him in Asia, he was so proud. He showed us his collection of photos from his safaris, he loved to study wild life, particularly tigers. He watched over us like an eagle. 

I shared with him a picture of our Shala, he stared at it in silence, examined it by zooming in and then asked ‘this is your shala?’ I said ‘yes SharathJi’. He looked for a little longer then while still looking at it he said ‘very good, very good shala, very beautiful. This is very nice, very good Bibi’. I am not exaggerating on the repetition of very good, he was always deeply pleased and happy to see the fruits of his efforts - seeing his students thrive as lineage holders. I take this today to heart, I feel more than ever the responsibility as his student to make our space a sacred home for Ashtanga. I feel so blessed to hold his blessing to teach, and even more to have had the honor to assist him for seven of the ten years spent learning at his feet. His legacy is one of love, devotion and faith. 

स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः

sa tu dirgha kala nairantarya satkara asevito drdhah bhumih 1.14

Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and with deep devotion.

He often recited this Sutra during Sunday conference. In the Veda shraddha is an Ishta Devata, or a cherished divinity. When you looked at SharathJi’s  eyes, what you'd see is Shraddha established within him, in his heart. As his students, we grew up at the feet of Shraddha. We watched it move and spread. SharathJi was a devoted student of the Veda, he embodied these big concepts, he understood them and embodied them . He was Shraddha embodied.

Here is a recording of our class honoring his life. 

(Passcode: aS#e4Rc9)