The notes below are designed to give prospective readers an idea of what to expect from the book, and to aid in making a decision on whether to buy it.
My Search for Yoga
David Williams
Introduction
This is an excellent book that provides a good biography of David William’s life. David Williams is one of my favorite yogis. David narrates his yoga journeys, and it’s the story of how things in life trusted in karma work out. David also provides an excellent account of history of many locations in detail that will be of great aid to historians. Shiva takes are care of his own is a continuous thread that David weaves throughout his life and the novel. I could not help but wonder what a blessed life David had had and if such blessings would be possible in today’s world with such an anti-hitchhiking stigma and so many divisions in society.
The book can be bought on David Williams website here: http://www.ashtangayogi.com/HTML/my-search-for-yoga.html
General Notes
The key to writing a book is to write one page per day. His book took two years to write and 10 years to edit.
Booties, a lifeguard in North Caroline who told him the only limit was his imagination, was his guru.
Reading and chess and swimming were his passions.
David graduated from UNC Chappell Hill. Post college, David got naturally high at a rock festival via the root rock and breath of fire, which impressed him about yoga.
Read Ram Das “Be Here Now” in the 1960s and loved it.
Rick taught David some basic yoga moves. David learned that 2-3 minutes was a good amount of time to hold poses and learned to increase the holds over time.
David fell in love with Amy and followed her to DC and Florida. She was a sophomore at college in Florida. David left to the EU to hitchhike with Amy across Europe and Asia to India.
David heard of $14 bus ticket was possible between Istanbul and New Delhi but ended up paying $28.
David made signs with his destination when hitchhiking, which make it easier to catch rides.
David was amazed at the cruelty towards life in Istanbul, which caused him to turn back towards England to fly to India, but they turned around when they caught a ride from the right guy.
David was proud of how he never took weed until Afghanistan and then only free weed. Everyone else on his bus was high.
David was very upset that a woman was assaulted in Iran. In Afghanistan David was upset that all the foreigners were drug junkies and all the native males had machine guns. There were no females in Afghanistan allowed outside the house.
India was poor when they arrived. Nice people and all was super cheap.
Swami Paya Nandas the YMCA in Delhi was good but it was too pollution, so he and Amy took the $7.50 train to Puri before the monsoon season wiped out the bridges.
David loved the books Yogasanz Vjnjnans and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
David found hand pulled rickshaws when he arrived in India in Puri.
It was very difficult for him to find English yoga classes.
He did not strain in yoga asana.
Ranchi and Pondicherry cities had no yoga classes, despite his long journey.
Pigs across India ate excrement and cleaned the streets.
David traveled to Anand Ashram which had people fast for their birth days (ranging between 3 and 11). Everyone first had
25 cups of salt water to help them purge. After the fast was completed, students took coffee enema’s in shoulder stand for 15 minutes on day 3.
Brahma mudra occurs 96 minutes before sunrise, when the earth is coldest and quietest.
At sunrise at Anand Ashram students would swing heads side to side and blink eyes while looking at sun.
Meditation is the space between thoughts.
David Williams learned body work walking on the back of others at Anand Ashram.
Two methods of yoga: 1. Mantra yoga via Hinduism 2. Breath yoga via Buddhism.
Om on inhale, om on exhale.
Mauna is silence, speak less, think less. Occurred for 18 days for David until Amy demanded he stop.
Bhastrika was enough to levitate one’s body.
David never made a call to the USA while in India. It required hours of waiting and never worked plus was expensive.
Parcels from India to the USA were required to be wrapped in cloth and sewn closed.
David met Normal Allen who studied with Guruji longer than David given his via did not expire.
Maju and Basavaraju did a demo at the Ashram which impressed David the most.
Amy left to Italy, David left to NY, both got their teach training certificates from P Jois.
A Charlatan was the worst thing for a yogi to be called in India—it was one after profit.
Swami Satchidanda book was Integral Yoga.
Amy married Jesse and not David Williams to get $1mn. Broke David William’s heart but he remained true to his morals.
David met Nancy Gilgoff who was a friend of a friend and who had graduated from Syracuse. They visited Bootid and hooked up.
David taught a class at Wafford College on yoga.
David went back to FL and met David Carnis and learned naul kriya.
Then David went from NY to London to Istanbul to India with Nancy (who paid her own way)
Iran, again, was a negative experience in terms of how women were treated/raped. The bus was broken twice and he train tracks were flooded during Monsoon season. David and Nancy took a $100 flight.
Indian trains were a chance to practice equinity. If one got upset, then s/he wasted prana.
Benares was a holy city in which to die. So many corpses floating in the Gauges river.
Darjeeling was in West Bengal at the foot of the Himalayan mountains (at 7k ft above sea level).
The Tibetan Book of the Dead was translated there. Also, tea was grown there and Tibetan scholars who fled Tibet all took refuge in Darjeeling.
An Avatar was a divine incarnation of Jesus, Buddha, Krishna such as Swami Giskid.
Norman was already studying with P Jois who was ‘hard as nails.’
Swami G went crazy, and David left in the middle to the night with Nancy to study with P. Jois.
Life does not happen to you but happens for you.
David and Nancy arrived at P Jois who was 58 years old. He was experienced as a yogi but still engaged.
Important to focus on continuous breath
8 space were present for yoga mats at P Joi’s Shala.
Sat in lotus and said the postures had not changed in thousands of years. You must not change these postures. He said, you must breathe and do mula bandha. Down-dog see your navel. No resting. 10 breathes for all poses. Finish with tolasana as rapid as possible with 100 breaths. Important to have a dharrie mat of this natural fiber.
Ramesh was the son of P Jois and took headstand and then walked around on his hands.
Important to rub sweat over the body after practice and not to remove it via a towel.
Jalandhar Banda was folded forward with chin to chest and folded forward with a full inhale and full exhale.
P Jois was 18 when he met Iyengar at 15 (@ Krishnamacharya’s place). He was upset about Light on Yoga as he was Iyengar’s teacher.
Kundalini was ignorance that you will release.
P Jois scaled back yoga from 10 poses in a sequence (e.g., Sun A) to 8 to 5 to 3 as students got better.
David Williams learned primary in 3 weeks. Ramesha, not Guruji, learned in the afternoon. John joined them.
There was no black coffee, which David loved, as it was water boiled which was fine to drink.
Poses came from Yoga Kurana to Rama Mohan Brahmacharia to Kryhmarharya. There were four series of yoga outlined in the book.
After advanced A, there is the rishi series, which consists of doing any ten poses for 50 breathes each.
Incense comes from flower oil.
Yogasanagalu by Krishnamachrya was a good book.
Pranayama was always done with shirt off to check bandhas. P Jois always sat on deer skin for pranayama.
Guruji’s adjustments often hurt and he did not stop when asked. He injured David Williams. David never saw antoher teacher in India using adjustments or touching students.
The daily minimum was 3 sun a, 3 sun b, and 3 finishing series.
When David and Nancy left P Jois, they received a copper disc as their teaching certificate.
They then visited the Taj Mahel which was built by 20k men over 20 years.
Holy men in India had their penis pierced with a big iron ring to prevent sex.
Sadhu do not stay in any one place longer than 3 days. They are fed at local households but never come more than once to any household.
There are 108 names for Shiva.
Nancy and David visited Rishikesk, a holy city for yogis. Nancy and David were invited to stay at an ashram as the holy man thought Nancy was his reincarnated mother. A monkey took flip flop and negotiated for a banana. They visited Rosie, a German lady who lived in a cave. Then they visited Tat Wale Baba, a holy man in a cave. He invited David Williams to live in his cave with him but David’s visa was about to expire. He said he would be back, but when David came back years later Tat Wale Baba had been killed.
David enjoyed bookstores including Watkins Books in London and Weiser Books in NYC.
David and Nancy got married in Virginia courthouse due to parental pressures from David’s family.
They saw Maui in a movie Rainbow Bridge. Saved $3K to travel to California. Stayed with family at an avocado farm. The ocean was cold and cliffs near the ocean were impressive.
David taught Pearl Jam yoga.
Guruji arrived with Manju to visit them after raising money from yoga students. P Jois said, “class is good for teacher, not for students.” Was too easy and people were not showing up enough.
Clifford flew Joises, David, and Nancy to San Francisco in his tiny plane.
P Jois reminded students most important is mula bandha and ribs expanding when breath expands. P Jois called Manju “swami.”
David moved to Hawaii and was amazed there are no billboards due to a law.
Maui Magic is how Mother Maui either invites people with open arms or all goes wrong for people. Lahaina was a port town that had been a party town since the days of the whaling ships in the 1800s. David set up a Shala. One of his older students was Cliff who was old at 45 (vs David was 26). Cliff helped attract students to David and Nancy’s demo. Only got $4 worth of money but lots of weed as many in upcountry grew weed. They set up Shala at 110 Front street. Any student could sleep on the floor. More and more huts set up at 110 Front St, all illegal. John Gilbert did adjustments of students called Gilbertizing. He was a miracle healer. George was a difficult student who was crazy. Finally told students they needed money and one owner of a gallery gave them $3K a couple months later.
Nancy and David went back to India. Visited lady they met in Maui called Santosh in Kallu. Saw Sadus. Sad Tat Wale Baba was killed. Visited P Jois. “good posture, good heat” was highest complement. Nancy kicked out Guruji’s teeth by accident. They lived with Sally in Mysore. Sally founded Alcoholics Anonymous in Maui.
Cobra was later changed into upward dog in primary. Everyone except P Jois altered lotus top foot. In pranayama completed mooreha for 64 count retension. Kevala kumbhaka is complete isolation. Sitali was alsone done last to cool off.
Lemonbhatanda (one who loves lemon rice) was David.
Ramesh committed suicide before forced marriage.
Bootie, David’s Guru, died at 45. Bootie said at age 30 ‘give me another 15 years like the last 15 years and I will gladly jump into my grave.’ He did.