Mitch Blum

One thing that has always puzzled me about Ashtanga Yoga is SKP Jois’s famous line: “99% practice and 1% theory”. Admittedly, it’s a great tag line for Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. It’s unique and memorable. It’s relevant to a wide audience. It’s rooted in the brand essence. But I’m just not sure that it makes sense.

The line, as it’s commonly interpreted, is akin to Nike’s “Just Do It.” As in, don’t think too much, don’t ask too many questions, just practice and “all is coming.” Reasonable enough, I guess.

And yet, Guruji is a Vedic scholar. Advaita Vedanta is the path of knowledge, aka Jnana Yoga. Why would a dedicated Vedantin, a professor, downplay the role of knowledge in this practice?

Guruji also consistently states that this is “Patanjali Yoga.” Patanjali Yoga clearly values knowledge. The fourth niyama is svadyahaha. The relevant sutra is 2.44, which SwamiJ (who, by the way, is incredible) translates as:

From self-study and reflection on sacred words (svadhyaya), one attains contact, communion, or concert with that underlying natural reality or force. (svadhyayat ishta samprayogah)

So, what gives? Should we just do it, or should we just think it?

I have a theory (Get it? I have a theory!) The mistake is in thinking that the ratio of 99 to 1 is meaningful – that somehow the “doing” is 99 times more important than the “thinking.”

It’s not a ratio. It’s an actionable insight on how to best proceed on the path. You see, Patanjali Yoga is all about direct experience. The knock on philosophizers is that they talk about Yoga without actually practicing Yoga. And while you can philosophize all day about Samkhya and Vedanata, you can’t just think about the third key darshana, Yoga. Yoga must be experienced first-hand through practice. But Yoga still requires the context. Patanjali tells us that quite clearly.

Guruji’s line is a reminder to philosophizers that they actually have to get their asses off the couch (or the tiger skin rug, I guess) in order to really “get” Yoga. But it’s also a reminder to hatha devotees that Patanjali Yoga requires the growth of knowledge and the “shining of the buddhi” in order to reach kaivalya.

Guruji knows that ultimately none of it matters – that transcending the duality of subject and object takes us beyond the physical and the mental – so asking for answers is unnecessary. Through practice all will be revealed. But that practice includes the postures and the study.

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