Pandoraspace

Lessons in Humility and Compassion

It was in the morning class of the second day of the workshop that Jawahar told me that I had to re-learn Salamba Sirsasana. As there was another class that  afternoon, I went up to Jawahar after the morning class and asked him to teach me how to do Salamba Sirsasana correctly. Jawahar asked me if I was coming to class the next day and told me he would teach it to me then.  During the afternoon class when Jawahar finished explaining a lesson in Pranayama, he asked the class whether we had any questions. Then, he looked at me and said to the class that we should not ask him questions after class but during the classes so all could learn.  I need not tell you that that statement made me feel bad.

I did not, therefore, expect much after that set down. Jawahar did make good his promise to help me correct my Salamba Sirsasana during the next day.  I expected no less from him in that respect.  I was, however, surprised and touched when I realized that many of the asanas Jawahar made the class do were designed specifically to help me improve my Salamba Sirsasana. While doing those asanas, Jawahar painstakingly corrected me (and my other classmates as well) and tried to make me understand how to correctly execute them. It was then that I felt humbled by the attention devoted by Jawahar in teaching me how to improve my asanas. While he is a very exacting teacher, Jawahar also showed me great compassion by understanding my weaknesses and not belittling me for it. Rather, he accepted my weaknesses and worked with me to eliminate them.

When we students later expressed to Jawahar our gratitude for the invaluable lessons he had imparted, he simply stated that this is what he does.  And yet, in reality, Jawahar has become one of my best teachers.