any contradiction between living with his family and living in the n true spirit of a
sannyasin.
Sannyasa in the sense of wearing orange robes, never staying long in one place but
wandering about and begging for food was, in my father's opinion, no longer appropriate
for our times. Manu, one of our great scholars, used to say that in these times of kaliyuga,
sannyasa has become impossible. My father's teacher told him that he must lead a family
life, and Nathamuni says that family life is the most important part of one's existence. By
that he does not just mean having children, but living as others do and having responsi
bilities. Even the Upanisads do not insist on sannyasa in the formal sense of the word. The
Bhagavad Gfta places no great value on sannyasa. In it, Arjuna comes to see that he
should involve himself
in life and not run away from his tasks. Perhaps it is appropriate for those who have
earned out all the tasks they have to do in the world to choose the way of sannyasa, but
there are not many like this. What was traditionally understood by the term sannyasa is
nowadays no longer possible.
Q: You studied with your father for more than twenty-five years. How did you come to be a
student of your father's?
A: First of all, it is not quite accurate to say that I studied with him for twentyfive years. To
say that gives the impression that I was like a student at university where the whole day is
filled with studying. No, I lived with him for twenty-five adult years and during that time I
also studied with him. In this way, studying with my father was like going to a foreign
country and slowly becoming familiar with the language, customs, and habits of the people
there. That is how I learned from him. He taught me how to understand the important texts
such as the Upanisads. I learned how to recite these texts and how to interpret them. He
told me what I had to learn and decided what I should teach. For instance, when I was
wondering whether to accept an invitation from the European Union of
Yoga, he said, "Go to the yoga conference in Switzerland!" and I went. He told me to go
and teach Krishnamurthi, and so I did, and my father told me how I should do that.
Living with him, being with him, seeing him, eating with him, and so forth were the most
important aspects of my life. I studied with him too, which is how I can now explain this and
that to you from the Yoga Sutra. But my explanations contain more of my experience with
him, my shared life with him, than his words themselves. All that has been a great gift for
me. Everything happened in our house: his treatments, his teaching, our family life,
everything. That was the essential part of my "study" with him.
Q: What was his instruction like? How did he teach you and what did you learn?
A: I learned asanas, but I only needed to work on them for six months or so. I was twenty-
five and very flexible. He often took me with him to lectures and I had to demonstrate the
asanas to the audience as he explained their par ticular details. He told me how I had to
perform them, and I did what he said
