Swami Kriyamurti Saraswati
I was 24 when I turned up at the Limestone Road, Belfast, for a yoga weekend with Swami Atmananda. It was not a beautiful house. It had no garden, just a back yard, and all the windows were sealed. But inside I found a peaceful yet dynamic atmosphere, where people cared about each other.
Here was a kind of caring I had not encountered elsewhere, for Swami Atmananda noticed every fleeting expression, every flicker of emotion, and acted upon it.
Whatever you said or did mattered, because it was an indication of your inner being. Externals, excellence, did not count as much as motive, intention and purity of feeling.
New Beginning
Swami Atmananda asked me if I would like to become a yoga teacher. I was attracted to this idea, and also I liked being with her – it felt so comfortable.
After years of education and university, here was someone who was not intellectual at all – what a relief! Reading all those books hadn’t helped me much, and I’d lost touch with the natural things, living in the conflicting world of my head. Perhaps I was a little nervous of life, sensitive and afraid of being hurt by the world, which seemed so big and unfriendly.
She chopped off my long hair, sent me out into the streets wearing orange robes and an old anorak, banned me from the yoga library and sun-bathing in the back yard, and broke the contact with my family and friends.
This was a new beginning! I trusted her, for she breathed new life into me. I started to feel real, confident; I started to be able to feel and say what was deep inside me.
She stopped me idly singing pop songs; she stopped me using long words. She taught me to be simple, creative and responsible in my choice of expressions.
Instead of studying books I began to be aware, moving from introspection towards interest in my surroundings. I learnt how to be efficient in simple tasks: even if we were addressing envelopes, it would be done with a system, with awareness.
It was not considered clever to expound an opinion or belittle other people, but it was considered very clever and valuable to remember someone’s phone number or to cook something that everyone could enjoy.
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