(Printed in YOGA INTERNATIONAL “ON HATHA TRADITIONS”)
The article summarizes the various traditions as if the student were shopping for a car in Consumers Digest. Just as a motor vehicle will take the passenger to the destination so will the vehicle of yoga.
Students should approach the practice of yoga with an open attitude about the benefits and with faith and trust in their own practice. Speculations about “how to screen a prospective hatha teacher” create a preconceived idea that the class must conform to the students expectations. When these expectations are not realized, the result is the exact opposite to what the practice of yoga is intended for.
Certification does not make a teacher. What makes a teacher is the awareness that the True Teacher operates through him/her. The only criterion that the student should use in selecting a teacher is this. Do the words coming through the instructor penetrate into the heart of the student? When this happens the student is led to the True Teacher who sits in the heart center. Then you know you’re in the right class.