philosophy class

I’m taking a philosophy class with B.N.S. Iyengar. Right from the start, I've been a bit jaded about the class; he had us wait on a dilapidated balcony for an hour before talking with us, berated us because our teachers charge so much for yoga instruction, and spent the rest of the hour assuring us that after his class we would be ‘able to talk about these things with any scholar in the world. Then, of course, there's his name. Just as it’s common for products to be given familiar names with slightly different spelling (Lyzol cleanser or Reebock trainers) to encourage patronage, I find B.N.S. Iyengar to be strangely close to the name B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the most learned and advanced yogis alive today.

The class itself is difficult. Sometimes I can find the humour, like when he glosses over complicated sanskrit words only to stop and spell out the English ones, but mostly, its just frustrating and I dread going. But I go. No matter how jaded and cynical I may be, he is very, very learned and he knows miles more than I do. Despite my own best efforts, I'm learning. I've revisited the Yoga Sutras since beginning the class and noticed that the pieces are falling into place much more easily than they would if I had'’t had his instruction first.

Recently, an Indian gentleman has joined our class and I've gained insight into just how frustrating we must be for our teacher. Where I meet his constant inquiries as to whether 'You understand these examples?' with a puzzled look and a “Yeah", the Indian student responds with comments like “Very convincing argument Teacher” or "You have explained this very well Teacher, I've never heard an example like this before”. I know that, in India, the Teacher/Student relationship is one of respect but really didn'’t have the framework to understand what that means in a practical setting. How strange we must be, these four foreigners, with our blank looks, one word answers and hurried departures. I'm greatful the new student has joined us, first, because I've gained a sense of compassion for our teacher and, second, because he takes the heat off of us.