古時候的人，如果要尋找上師，往往得經過口耳相傳的探訪，再歷經千辛萬苦跋山涉水後，才得以拜見隱居於深山洞穴的上師並向其虛心問教；而現在的我們，只要彈指間連上網路，便可以從youtube的影片中飽覽無數名師的教學頻道，欣賞他們輕盈優雅的體位姿態。這樣的我們是幸運的，但從某個層面來說，也可能不是，關鍵在於我們在這些爆炸的資訊中，在這些聲光影像的感官刺激中，能否保有清明的覺知來辨別學習最終的意圖。
我們要來與大家介紹一位老師-Sharmila Desai，她是一位優秀的女性練習者，你或許不曾看過她的體位法影片，也甚少看到她在社群媒體上宣傳自己的教學。她從1997年開始與Guruji及Sharath學習，是KPJAYI的認證老師(Certified)，也在Sharath的委託指示下，編撰了一本關於八肢瑜伽與母親的專書-Yoga Sadhanas for Mothers. 本就低調的她，在結婚成家之後，更有感於Guruji的諄諄提醒「活在當下」，因而決定全心陪伴孩子成長，所以在前些年鮮少有公開的教學活動。
我們有幸於2015年在Mysore認識她，也因為信安與她擔任同時段的助教，而有了更深一層的連結和默契；感謝這次她邀請我們參與她在首次在果亞Purple Valley舉辦的瑜伽營，讓我們有機會與她更近距離地互動，貼近感受她的溫柔力量，以及她多年專注於練習所自然呈現在生活中的從容和智慧。
以下將分享一份Sharmila老師的訪談，她接受中國一個瑜伽相關的網路平台的越洋郵件專訪，她花了非常多的時間，完全無私地分享她練習八肢瑜伽的歷程和體會，特別是以女性及母親的角度為出發點，相信能讓更多人更了解八肢瑜伽帶給我們生命的轉化意義；她總是謙虛地說，這些瑜伽的智慧都是她向前人所學習來的，因而她有義務要將這些智慧分享給更多的人。
訪談全文共分為五個部分，我將依序分段連載；以下為第一部份。
(以下英文原文為Sharmila老師提供連結，由我轉錄自該網路平台，中文部分也重新整理翻譯。原訪談之中英文可參考連結，附於文末。）
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Part 1: The Ashtanga Path
第一部分：八肢瑜伽之路
How do you find the practice? Can you tell something about your days with Guruji?
您是怎麼開始練習八肢瑜伽的？可以分享您與Guruji學習的故事嗎？
I was living in India on a fellowship from Columbia University and working on a project celebrating fifty years of Indian Independence in 1997. It was also the year that I met my Guruji, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, in Lakshmipuram Mysore who introduced me to the path of Self knowledge through Ashtanga yoga.
Meeting and learning from Guruji was everything I had been searching for and more - a heightened amalgamation of all the dancing, prayer, community service and study I had done previously. Guruji had the ability to have his students fully harness a one pointed concentration (ekagrata) and feel the divine (ishvara pranidhana) when he taught yoga. He aptly dispelled any darkness through the Light of his teachings.
I began learning yoga from Guruji in the afternoon class for Indian students in Lakshmipuram. I did not own a yoga mat at the time so I practiced on the carpet and I learned very slowly. I remember simply practicing suryanamaskara and sitting in padmasana for a long while. Time stood still. Guruji taught me more over the years and I am so grateful for that very gradual growth. It properly established the foundation of the practice with everything gently flowing to and from that base.
1997年時，我正以哥倫比亞的獎學金在印度生活，並為一個慶祝印度獨立五十週年的計劃工作著，就在那年，我在邁索爾的Lakshmipuram遇見了我的Guruji(上師)—Shri K. Pattabhi Jois，他透過八肢瑜伽引領我走向追尋自我的道路。
遇見Guruji並能與他學習，深入融合了我過往在舞蹈、祈禱、社會服務和學術研究的所有經驗，這正是我一直以來所希冀追尋的。Guruji教授瑜伽時，能讓學生全心專注投入，並且從中感受到至上神性，他的諄諄教誨，有如驅散黑暗的一盞明燈。
我最初和Guruji練習瑜伽，是在Laximipuram開設給印度籍學生的下午班，那時我甚至還沒有瑜伽墊，只在地毯上練習，而且進度十分緩慢，我記得我就只練習拜日式和蓮花坐姿好長一段時間，時間有如靜止一般，年復一年，Guruji慢慢教我更多東西，我很感激這樣漸進式的學習和成長，一切皆由根基溫和而生、自在流動，奠定了我練習的基礎。
You are an accomplished dancer, how do you see the connection between dancing and yoga on both physical and spiritual level?
您是一位傑出的舞蹈家，您認為舞蹈與瑜伽在物質和精神層面有什麼樣的連結？
The everyday discipline of Indian classical dance prepared me for Ashtanga yoga as taught by the Jois family. As sadhanas rooted in India they share common elements - both are steeped in Indian mythology, are expressions of devotion and connect the inner and outer worlds of consciousness. Studying Indian dance required tremendous self motivation with a daily practice of two to four hours outside of class and much like Ashtanga yoga one could only move forward after mastery of the present lesson as the Guru saw it. The method to learn was slow and thorough, daily with an emphasis on foundational expertise and also not necessarily in a linear pattern. Only through precision in form, rhythm and rasa could the Divine be invoked.
印度古典舞中的每日紀律，讓我做好準備向Jois家族學習八肢瑜伽。印度古典舞和八肢瑜伽皆是根植於印度的一種修煉形式，因而兩者之間有許多相同的元素：富含印度神話的色彩、並為奉獻的體現形式，用來連結內在和外在世界的意識。學習印度舞需要強大的自我驅策力來堅持每天課外二至四小時的練習，並且，只有當你的老師認為你已經完全掌握了目前所練習的部分之後，才能進階到下一個練習，這正和八肢瑜伽不謀而合。這樣的學習是緩慢而透徹的，日復一日著重於對於根基的徹底掌握，不強求線性的前進，唯有透過精確的形式、節奏和精髓，方能喚醒內在的神性。
You are the only Indian woman to be certified (among 48 certified teachers globally), what this certification means to you?
在全球48位認證老師中，您是唯一一位獲得認證（Certification）的印度女性，這對您來說有什麼意義？
On a physiological level Certification represents a lived understanding of the subtle energies in the Ashtanga yoga system that happens through commitment, respect and concentrated discipline over many years at the source. On a human level the certificate means to me a responsibility to bring the limbs of yoga into all aspects of life - to be a good human being who lives the positive transformation everyday.
Certification is not a course - it is not something you can plan for or measure in hours. You simply dedicate yourself to learning the tradition under the auspices of the teacher without expectations; If Certification is meant to happen along your path it will. And if so, you then keep steady in further studying the tradition. The path of yoga is eternal and one must always continue to seek and to be humbled.
We students are so fortunate that Sharathji and Saraswatiji continue to share with the world the purity of the lineage so we can experience a direct link to the ancient wisdom transmitted through successive generations.
在生理層面，認證代表了對於八肢瑜伽系統裡的精微能量體現於生命中的了解，而這是透過許多年的承諾、尊重，並且回歸源頭，專注於紀律的練習才能發生的。在人文的層面，認證對我來說，意味著我有責任要將瑜伽中的每一肢練習融入生活的各個面向，帶來正向的轉變，成為一個更好的人。
認證並不是一門課程，這不是你可以計畫預期或者通過時間的計量累積來達到的目標，你只需要在老師的協助之下專注學習這套系統，不懷抱任何的期待，若你注定要拿到認證，你就會拿到；而即便拿到了認證，你仍要持之以恆地深入學習傳統，瑜伽之路學無止境，我們必須永遠謙卑地探尋。
作為學生的我們是如此幸運，有Sharathji和Saraswatihi持續與全世界分享純淨正統的八肢瑜伽，讓我們得以經驗這世代相承的古老智慧，並且親身感受與其直接的連結。
You have some of the most “famous” students, such as Sting and his wife Trudie, can you share how is that experiences of teaching celebrities?
您有一些非常「有名的」學生，例如Sting和他的妻子Trudie，您能跟我們分享與這些名人的教學經驗嗎？
Many of the people who I teach and who excel in what they do have a depth and seriousness in their professions that spills into their yoga practice. That silence, dedication, quality of attention that has lead them to success replicates in their practice and in their reverence for the gift of life. Most of the bonds I form with people through yoga become familial grounded in our shared human values based in compassion and a holistic lifestyle.
許多我所教過的、並且在他們的專業領域表現出色的學生，將他們在其專業中所展現的的深度和認真，也帶進他們的瑜伽練習之中。那些引領他們走向成功的人格特質：沈靜、奉獻、專注，同樣呈現在他們的練習以及他們對於「瑜伽」這份生命至禮的虔誠之中。我透過瑜伽與人們建立的關係，大多變得越來越緊密，因為我們有著同樣的人文價值，那是建在慈悲心以及追求身心靈整體的生活形態。
Asana is a tool for us to find inner divine and Self, but sometimes asana can lead to ego and injury, how should we avoid this during our practice?
體位法是讓我們找到內在神性和真我的一樣工具，但有時候體位法也會導致我們膨脹自我或致使受傷，我們應該如何在練習時避免這些情況？
Learning from a true teacher - one who keeps the intent centered on the eight limbs and connects the practice to inner spiritual development - is essential. Everything we are seeking already exists when we are truly present. As a practitioner there is no need to grasp for anything or to push oneself in an asana causing injury. When we practice yoga with devotion and patience developing the tools of the tristhana method the asanas unfold in a non harming unitive way.
I personally find reading the scriptures also helps keep our intention clear. Ancient epics and yoga treatises direct our mind to support the path of the practice. Mythology imaginatively assures us of why we practice, helps us clarify our intent and guides us so we do not become attached to the fruits of our work.
向一位真正的老師來學習，一位專心致志於瑜伽的八肢、並且將練習與內在心靈發展相結合的老師，是非常重要的。當我們真正處於當下時，會發現所有我們追尋的一切皆已然存在，作為一個練習者，沒有必要去強求什麼，甚或為了迫使自己達到某個體位法而導致受傷；當你以奉獻和耐心練習瑜伽，並且建立起結合三大要素的練習方法（Tristhana），體位法便會自然和諧地呈現出來。
我個人認為閱讀經典也有助我們維持清明正確的意圖，古老的史詩和瑜伽專文能引導我們的心念，更堅定練習的道路；神話故事以跳躍想像的方式確立我們練習瑜伽的目的，幫助我們釐清思路並且引領我們，對於表象的成果不過度執著。
＃Tristhana: Asana, Breathing, and Dristhi (體位法，呼吸，以及凝視點）
～待續～
預告：下一部份是「八肢瑜伽與女性」，Sharmila老師將談到女性練習者最關心的話題，如生理期是否該練習？練習八肢瑜伽會導致生理期不正常嗎？練習八肢瑜伽會不會影響受孕？有興趣的同學請持續關注粉絲頁喔！
原文載於：http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s…
圖片來源：http://www.sharmiladesai.com
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