Wholistic Fitness

“Where there is Love, there is no effort. Giving others Happiness is my rest.”
– Amma

***

Starbucks – Bernalillo, NM

well, how to put this to my Beloved Sangha?

hmmmmm…

dare i admit that my pilgrimage with Joy and my unborn Baby Buddha Girl to see the great Indian Saint, Mata Amritananda Mayi Mi on the banks of Turtle Island’s western version of the Ganges has effected a new, unanticipated (yet energetically suspected) direction in my own Spiritual Journey?

hmmmmm…
where to begin to share at an appropriate Level this New Leaf in my own Path and Practice?…

well, WF philosophy mandates the beginning point of any technique or teaching be from the Sacred Ground, meaning, the Shining Basics…so, let me start this Way:

there is nothing more Sacred than the relationship between a Shishya (devoted student) and his or her Guru.

now, if that word i just wrote (Guru) gives you a case of the defensive shudders, relax. there can be many forms of Gu (Darkness) Ru (Slayer). in fact, the whole Blessing of recognizing and participating in a spiritual Path such as WF, is that you can be guaranteed of a receiving the Grace of a Guru; and if the Path is a valid and wise one, that Guru will be found in a formless manner within, before any external, formful Guru will come to you. if you dig your spiritually-hungry nose into my DL Archives, you will find several Teachings on how to find your Inner Guru as well as how to Recognize the various types of gurus, such as Upa Gurus and Sat Gurus. yes, even your Mountain Bike can be an Upa Guru and the Feelings of Sanctity experienced while mountain biking can produce the etheric amplititude required for an Encounter with a Sat Guru. make no mistake about this.

and relax as well, if you feel a pang of sadness or guilt or anger if your mind goes to the, “Shit, i don’t even HAVE a Guru,” place.

true, it is considered a Blessing of countless lifetimes to attain a Guru/Shishya relationship in this lifetime. in the meanwhile, practice the Teaching of the WF Bible: Just Listen.

Listen to your Teachers; they are your Springboard toward your Guru’s Grace. Don’t miss a word from their mouth, and examine their body, their attitude, and their actions. For if the Teacher is a True One; they will Teach you from the Message of their Life.

Listen to your Circumstances; they are your Pranic Playing Field in which to Raise your Vibration through Love, Awareness, and Fierce Determination. The more your Practice shines through your Circumstances, the more rapid you will close the Gap between your egoic self and your Guru’s Grace.

Listen to the world around you; look for the ‘om so ti’ moments, those ‘seemingly coincidental’ moments that just seem a little too auspicious to be anything else than a spiritual cairn, left for you from your Guru, to keep you closing the Gap toward Them.

***

Beyond this point, i don’t know how much else i can share with you from my darshan with Ammachi.

i cried. a lot.

i smiled. a lot.

Amma kept myself and Joy and our Unborn Baby Buddha Girl next to Her for nearly 3 hours. i’ll let those of you who know about how Rare it is to even experience sitting at the feet of a God Realized Enlightened Being for a few moments, to have Her keep you in Her Presence for so long.

i am shivering with Pranic Convulsions; thank God for WF and my own Steadfast Practice along her Way so my subtle Anatomy is fit enough to absorb Her intensity of Divine Love.

The Divine Mother called me up to Her Feet a second time to Bless me with a new Mantra, whispered to me with all the force of the Five Oceans and Six Realms. She knew Everything and i was helped to my quivering feet by Her Swami’s as i attempted to regain normal Consciousness and heartrate. thank God for WF and the Blessings of Intervals and Intensity across the physiologic spectrum so that i was able to absorb so directly, so steeply the torrential Love from Amma’s darshan and Mantra Dristhi.

hmmmm,
have i Spoke too much for my Warrior Tribe of Sweat-Based Sacredness?

will you think, “Oh Lord, ilg has turned Bhakti!”

will you ever Sense how deeply i Love you as my little masks of ‘personal fitness trainer,’ ‘yoga teacher,’ ‘athlete’, ‘book author,’ and all the other Labels that i role play just so that you can find the Dharma breadcrumbs within my humble Teachings to lift, lift, LIFT you Higher toward (y)our Guru?

will it be the will of God
to let you find endlessly again and again
the Divine within the grip of a barbell,
the flow of your feet running along a mountain trail,
the dance of inhale and exhales across your asana,
the bravery to get out and DO THE DO of your
one
precious,
amazing,
beautiful
life?

Good Lord Padmasambhava,
ilg is turning Bhakti…
i figgered i would last at least to 75 years old before
i switched to Bhakti…

hmmmmmm…
sounds a lot like, “ooooommmmmmm“

keep chanting with elegant posture and playful breath,
from the banks of the Western Ganges…

om namah shivaya,

i bow to you on this Day of Days…
om so ti,

the mountain yogi and father of a Great Saint Blessed Family

photo 1 – Desert Palms, my parent’s backyard in New Mexico. photo by ilg.
photo 2 – Mexican Evening Primrose,my parent’s backyard in New Mexico. photo by ilg.