Each year, under the bright full moon of Guru Purnima, yoga practitioners and seekers around the world pause to honor the timeless presence of the Guru, the teacher who removes darkness and reveals the light that has always been within us. This was written in July 2025, the first Guru Purnima Day, after Sharath Jois passed.
Our hearts were still heavy with grief and we contemplated what it truly means to walk in the light of the Guru? In the ancient yoga tradition, the Guru is far more than just a transmitter of techniques or philosophy. The Guru is the living embodiment of wisdom, a steady flame passed from teacher to student, generation after generation.
The Guru: Not Just a Teacher, but a Living Embodiment
Our ancient texts speak clearly about this. The Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) tells us:
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत
समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥
Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
Samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nishtham
"To realize that Supreme Knowledge, one must approach a Guru alone, carrying fuel in hand, who is learned in the scriptures (srotriya) and firmly established in Brahman (brahma-nistha)."
These two qualities, srotriya and brahma-nistha, reveal the heart of the true Guru.
Srotriya (श्रोत्रिय) comes from sruti (श्रुति), meaning "that which is heard," the revealed wisdom of the Vedas and Upanishads. Etymologically, sru means to hear and -triya means possessor of. A srotriya is one who has fully mastered the sacred teachings, the outer mastery of scripture, tradition, and precise method.
Brahma-nistha (ब्रह्मनिष्ठ) brings us deeper still. Brahman is the undivided reality, the ultimate truth. Nistha means "firmly established," from nis (down, firm) and stha (to stand). A brahma-nistha is one who stands unshakably rooted in the living truth of Brahman. This is the inner realization that breathes life into the outer knowledge.
Together, they remind us:
Without srotriya, the teaching drifts. Without brahma-nistha, the teaching is lifeless.
How the Guru Lives in Our Lineage
In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, we have seen these qualities alive in the teachers who came before us. Sri T. Krishnamacharya was a true a srotriya and brahma-nistha, deeply rooted in Sanskrit, the Vedas, and the subtle method of yoga: his whole life was devoted to the practice. His student, K. Pattabhi Jois was my teacher and he dedicated his life to teaching. While K. Pattabhi Jois' scholarship as a Sanskrit Vidwan was widely recognized, he unfortunately did not fulfill the role of a perfect endowment of the teachings due to the harm done to female students at his hands. Ashtanga Yoga still seeks to account for those actions.
Sharath Jois, K. Pattabhi Jois' grandson, embodied the living thread of the practice with all his heart and sought to steady the lineage and make space for healing. His srotriya shined through in the precise count, the unwavering discipline, the commitment to preserve the parampara, the unbroken lineage. But what touched people most was his brahma-nistha: the quiet steadiness, the humility, the simple, living truth that shows through his presence and service to this path.
Both of my Ashtanga teachers are gone now. To me, they will always be a light on the path. I still sit with much grief, sorrow and loss about their passing.
A yoga Guru is a yoga master teacher, not necessarily a spiritual embodiment. The word Guru has many levels and my teachers cultivated a light in me that continues to shine today. I would not be who I am today without them both.
A true Guru (or teacher) does not make you a follower. A true Guru (or teacher) shows you how to find the light that has always been yours.
The Guru Cultivates the Inner Flame
As Patanjali reminds us in the Yoga Sutra (1.20):
श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम् ॥ १.२० ॥
Sraddha-virya-smrti-samadhi-prajna-purvaka itaresam
"For others, samadhi comes through faith (sraddha), vigor (virya), remembrance (smrti), deep absorption (samadhi), and wisdom (prajna)."
These qualities are the hidden garden the Guru, our teacher, nourishes in us:
Sraddha: faith, the quiet trust that steadies us when doubt arises.
Virya: courageous effort, the strength to keep going.
Smrti: remembrance of who we really are and why we practice.
Samadhi: deep absorption, the merging of mind, breath, and heart.
Prajna: clear insight, the wisdom that sees through illusion.
The outer Guru lights this lamp. The inner Guru, which is our own guidance and light, keeps it burning.
A Prayer on Guru Purnima
When we bow on Guru Purnima, we do not bow only to a person, we bow to the entire living thread that connects us to truth: our teachers, our daily practice, our inner wisdom.
May our lives be our offering back, our sraddha, our virya, our willingness to stand firm in the truth when the world wavers.
May we carry this flame forward, bright and steady, for all those who will come after us, seeking the same light that our Gurus kept alive for us.
ॐ श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः।
Pranam to all Gurus, visible and invisible, past, present, and yet to come.
May Guru Purnima remind us all that the Guru is not far away. The true Guru lives in daily breath, sincere effort, and the quiet voice inside that whispers, keep going. May we keep this light alive, together.
