Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 8
lished his book on the Khecarvidy in 2007. He encouraged
me to apply to study with Alexis Sanderson at the University of
Oxford, which I did. My successful application and five-years of
intense learning and study under Alexis, as well as an ongoing
collegial mentorship with Jim, has resulted in my current role
on the Hatha Yoga Project.
MA Were you already practising yoga when you started
your studies?
JB Not really. Funnily enough, they started at the same time for
different reasons. I was initially studying classics at the University of Sydney and changed to Indian Studies after meeting Dr
Peter Oldmeadow, who was the lecturer in Sanskrit and Indian
Religions, and learning of the vast (relatively) unstudied literature of Sanskrit. Peter has done his doctoral research on a hitherto unedited, untranslated and unstudied Sanskrit commentary on a famous Buddhist work called the Bodhicaryvatra
. Peter was an excellent teacher and I soon saw the appeal of
opportunities to do such pioneering work. I had also become
interested in Indian philosophy through reading German philosophy and the works of the Transcendentalists. Soon after I
switched to Indian Studies, my chronic asthma happened to
worsen and someone suggested I try yoga. In fact, my mother
had practiced yoga, so I gave it a go. Within a year my breathing had greatly improved and I was free of medication. I was
lucky to find two excellent yoga teachers at the very beginning;
Bernadette Arena and Simon Borg-Olivier. Simon had had experience with asthma and gave me private classes on how to
adjust the practice to suit my condition. I learned prnnyma
as well as a dynamic style of sana. Simon was full of vitality
and enthusiasm. I could see how his years of practising yoga
had enhanced his health, and this was a great inspiration for
me. Even to this day, after studying with many teachers around
the world, I think Simon’s knowledge and mastery of the techniques is unparalleled in many ways.
MA Do you think that practising Hatha Yoga has influenced
and informed your research?
JB It undoubtedly has. It helps to have some practical
knowledge of yoga for understanding some of the more
obscure references and descriptions in yoga texts. However, one also has to be very careful not read modern ideas
of yoga into premodern texts. That can result in significant
misunderstandings and missed opportunities to see new
perspectives. I learned from Alexis that a non-practitioner
of physical yoga with excellent Sanskrit and knowledge of
Indian religions can understand yoga texts more deeply and
accurately than a practitioner with preconceived ideas and
less experience with the language. Jim has also taught me
how to juggle philological study with practical experience,
and his insight into the yoga texts and traditions is the most
profound that I’ve come across.
MA What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
JB There are too many to mention, but I would say that making new discoveries, particularly unexpected ones, is a great reward. Also, reading a document that hasn’t been studied before
and communicating its contents to a wider, interested audience is very satisfying. I’m also very grateful for having travelled
and lived in India extensively, and for studying with so many
knowledgeable and interesting Indologists and yoga teachers
throughout the world.
MA You have written extensively about the proliferation of
asanas after the 16th Century. Do you think that further research will push back that timeline even further?
JB Possibly. We know from yoga texts composed in the 12th
century that collections of 84 sanasexisted at that time, and
it is possible that an early text with a list or discussion of such
a collection may surface. Whether its a yoga text or a work on
martial or ascetic practice remains to be seen. There is also a
“One has to be very careful not to read
modern ideas of yoga into premodern texts.”
6 AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021
