Wholistic Fitness

{Yesterday, our Coach…absorbed in contemplation. Not just an athlete whose feats are unmatched, Coach is a philosopher whose unique, powerful Teachings are devoted to helping humanity reMember an Ancient Path of Sweat and Stillness known as ‘yoga’. It was Coach’s amazing vision, many years ago, to use an unmatched caliber of multidisciplined Path of Yoga known as Wholistic Fitness to re-instill the Passion For Enlightenment and Inner Attainment instead of the current addiction to EnterTainment. i asked him about his natural state of being absorbed in contemplation, he just smiled and replied, “Well…it is hard for me to relate to anyone who is bored with life…to me, especially during these Kali Yuga times, there is always way too much to ruminate about when i am Practicing not-overthinking!” – Temple Manager Ananda}

***

On June 18th, 2006 i did a DL devoted toward a WF Training Tenet:
Perpetuation of Rationalization.

In that piece, i used a Student’s philosophical conundrum about killing a bug to illustrate the intensity of the yogic Practice of Ahimsa (non-violence). You may wish to review that particular DL in the Archives, for i reset in it a tough spiritual principle that will break most of our backs; to See all Bugs as our Teachers. In fact, they do not need to be bugs at all, but rather any other creature of endless forms that strike instant Fear in us. Can we accept those “Fear Dragons” as our most benevolent Teachers or deities or gurus; think here of Jesus, Gandhi, God, Whatever/Whomever…could your killing of that spider or snake or mosquito REALLY be compared to you killing the Buddha or slicing the head off of Mother Teresa?

Answer is:
Ab-so-friggin’-lute-ly.

No doubt about it.

“As you sow, so shall you reap.”
– Jesus

“Do no harm.”
– Buddha

“Do not kill.”
– 1st Commandment

{So, whaddya goin to do in this Moment? Leave your yoga on the mat or take your Practice into the handling of this Spider in your bathroom? Will you leave the Spider Being alone or carefully transfer this Spider outside or what? Your “Appropriate Action” (WF Lifestyle Principle #3) may dictate a WHOLE LOT MORE than your ego might wish to consider!}

To ANYONE who has reMembered just a miniscule GRAIN of their Yogic Training or Inner Work, they immediately realize the depth of the first Yogic Yama: Ahimsa or Non-Violence. Squash the bug, kill the spider and you absolutely have no stance whatsoever to EVER SAY ANYTHING OF INTEGRITY about the Bush Administration’s war policy, abortion, the raping of Mother Earth, Global Warming, increased gas prices, divorce, the high cost of living (which is continually built upon the high cost of killing), etc., etc., etc.

Very high Jainin yogis would actually sweep or have swept for them, the path ahead of their feet so as not to inflict harm or death upon any little bugs. Taken one step further (forgive the pun), these same yogis would be very critical if you or i just flopped ourselves down onto a chair or couch unconsciously. Why? Well, because, the very fibers of the couch are in a process of incarnation and you inflicting unconscious violence upon their matter harms both yours and the ‘couchs’ chances for a more Higher Incarnation next time around the Wheel of Samsara!

At what level, oh noble yogin, do you REALLY feel capable of playing the Game?

Regardless of your answer, i will say this to you;
One cannot practice violence in their own personal life and then plead innocent in other matters. Or as the Zen saying goes,
“Behind each jewel
are three thousand
sweating horses.”

Or, as i have Taught you in this forum for years;
“All Karma is God.”

So, having prefaced it this Way, here is how i answered the Student’s question about her killing of a bug and my Gift of several spiritual arrows that she can use in the future to help her and the karmic repercussions when faced with this “workout” next time…

May this entry help you and all Sentient Beings Everywhere…

“There is only one great adventure and that is inwards toward the self.”
– Henry Miller

namaste,

coach

***

Most Noble Yogic Warrioress,
first, i bow to your genuine Awakening and Rising Above your Impulsive (egoic) Manas (lower mind) in this circumstance. This is fantastic cihna (sign of spiritual advancement).

there are now millions of Westerners now ‘taking yoga’ yet many of these students (and even Teachers) may ‘take yoga classes’ yet leave the very basic tenets of yogic practices in the studio. it seems as if the Yamas and the Niyamas (the ten essential moral and ethical Guidelines of Yoga) end at the edges of our sticky mat. we tend to really dig the cool yoga principles of Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Aparigraha (not being greedy), and the other seven yogic guidelines which i have Taught you in my books and DL throughout the years. while sweating away in Trikonasana, we nearly nearly pride ourselves at the Desjardinesque notion that, “We are already wisdom.”

{Temple Manager Ananda is a shining radiant example of a WF Yogini; she doesn’t just leave the principles of asana within her poses, she brings them forth into every facet of her Daily Living…that my Friends Along The Path, is what matters most about Yoga; not what yoga pose looks like, rather finding the principles of yoga within our day to day circumstances. Photo of Ananda recently in Florida taken by her father.}

yet, when the spiritual push comes to shove in daily life and butts right up against our deepest egoic grooves and heavy duty fears we still may end up doing very impulsive, reactionary, daresay animalistic things such as NOT going willfully into that Fear and essentially running for our (current stagnation of) life. i have endlessly Tested myself, students, and other Spiritual Teachers in each of these areas for many years especially in the Study Halls of fear of death, fear of falling, fear of separation, fear of animals. You may be surprised at just how few truly accomplished Adepts are with us these days. i have witnessed very well known Teachers from many Disciplines just fall apart in the face of Fear or Probable Injury to their bodies. We, if we are fortunate, all know that Sacred Feeling when we get a chill up our spine, right? Well, i will tell you this: that “chill” is in fact, a Nadic pulse through Sushumna from the lower chakral gearing. and whenever we choose not to run into this Fear, we – nearly instantly – start creating options to take us away from that Fear. we start rationalizing ways not to have to go further into the Challenge. i have come to call this predictable Tendency of non-Practicing in the face of intensity; Perpetuation of Rationalization.

We use our clever ahamkara (ego) to perpetuate our rationalization techniques in just about everything from not working out today, to killing bugs to drinking, to hunting, to fishing, to drugging, to eating that which is not needed, to gossiping, to using too much water in the shower, to driving too and not doing Cardio Commuting…the list is as endless as the Lifetimes we have been taking to get ourselves to a Killing A Bug Guru Awakening like you experienced.

Be aware of this tendency, for it is a Beacon toward your next Shift Higher.

***
8 SPIRITUAL ARROWS

let me give you Eight Spiritual Arrows to use next time the Bug Guru visits you:

#1: Before killing the bug/spider/mosquito et. al., recite to yourself, “All karma is God,” then, ask yourself, “Is this Being poisonous? (answering this question will require you to become more Learned/Skillful). If the Being is not poisonous, ask yourself, “Is there a way i can let this Being live another hour/3 hours/day before killing Him/Her?”

#2: If i do not kill this Fellow Being, how is it going to effect the quality of my life?

#3: If i do kill this Fellow Being, how is it going to effect the quality of this Fellow Being’s life?”

#4: What would Jesus (or Buddha, or Mohammed, or my Teacher) do in this situation?

#5: Before killing the bug/spider/mosquito et. al., recite to yourself, “All karma is God,” then, ask yourself, “Am i capable of compassionately re-locating this bug/spider/mosquito, et. al., to another environment that would frighten me less?”

#6: Before killing the bug/spider/mosquito et. al., recite to yourself, “All karma is God,” then, determine if you could at least flush the poor Fellow Being down the toilet (many Insect Beings have far more Will To Live than many Two Legged Beings), or some other alternative to Death?

#7: Before killing the bug/spider/mosquito, et. al., say to yourself, “I am yogi.”

#8: If you “must” take the Life Force from this Fellow Being, than please, for the Sake of All That I Have Attempted To Teach You, start chanting the WF Tribal Mantra which is also the National Chant of Tibet, “Om Mani Padme Hung” over and over again with Conviction of All That You Know Is Appropriate In The UniVerse as you kill your Fellow Being. It is said that if a yogin chants, “Om Mani Padme Hung,” even once in the presence of an Animal Being, an Insect Being, a Mineral Being, or a Plant Being that the Being whose life you are taking will take a Higher Incarnation based upon the strength of your OWN personal Sadhana (spiritual practice).

i wish you well in your future Bug (Fear) Guru encounters and i trust you will recall my Teaching to you;
“My Workout Is Everywhere.”

that is all,
coach ilg

***

“Paradise is where I am.”
– Voltaire

{photo at Red Mountain Spa, Utah…where Coach and Ananda will present their new workshop; “Lead From The Heart” August 13th and 14th…have you registered yet? Space is filling up…check out the flyer on our Calendar click at the Visitor Cave}