Wholistic Fitness

ENEMIES, MORE ON MALA’s, SHIVA AS KATRINA, and…ONLY IN WF…

Dudjom Rinpoche used to tell the story of a powerful bandit in India, who, after countless successful raids, realized the terrible suffering he had been causing. He yearned for some way of atoning for what he had done, and visited a famous master. He asked him: �I am a sinner, I am in torment. What�s the way out? What can I do?�

The master looked the bandit up and down and then asked him what he was good at.

�Nothing,� replied the bandit.

�Nothing?� barked the master. �You must be good at something!�

The bandit was silent for a while, and eventually admitted: �Actually there is one thing I have a talent for, and that�s stealing.�

The master chuckled: �Good! That�s exactly the skill you�ll need now. Go to a quiet place and rob all your perceptions, and steal all the stars and planets in the sky, and dissolve them into the belly of emptiness, the all-encompassing space of the nature of mind.�

Within twenty-one days, the bandit had realized the nature of his mind, and eventually came to be regarded as one of the great saints of India.

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Message: I very much look up to Steve Ilg and Wayne Dyer. I have been in the fitness industry for 22 years (teach and train every format imaginable including my newest endeavor:Yoga!) and feel stongly influenced by these two souls:)
Namaste,
Janine V.

***

Most Noble Ones,
Speaking of Malas, only a true WFer could get away with wearing (or even saying in the same sentence) mala beads with running shoes 😉

Could this be another Coach Ilg Trademark? LOL

I bow to the Wonder Full Path that is Wholistic Fitness,
student lees

Most Noble Student Lees,
classic!
i LOVE IT! Running shoes with Malas baby! HOW PERFECTLY WF! “Sweat and Stillness,” baby!!

i bow to you creating a little ‘pad’ for which Grace (your malas) can rest…wait a sec, is Grace’s tassel TOUCHING your SHOES?!?!?! OH MY GOD!!!!!! OUT, OUT OF MY TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!

just kidding!
it is however, most AA (Appropriate Action) to always HANG your malas whenever possible with the Meru
dangling closest to the earth or, if a neck mala must be laid down, do so mindfully, cleanly, and in a right-spirally
manner in honor of the “Right Spiraling Conch” which is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism and it is
said that the hair whorls of the Buddha spiraled toward the right after His Enlightenment.

om tat sat,
coach ilg

***

Dear Teacher,
i am sharing this with you with the Intention that you may consider it for DL; that it may help reduce the emails and inquires you are receiving regarding hurricane Katrina. after reading Teacher Ananda’s posting on DL, and the emails and questions i’m getting…well, i’m sure your getting hammered over this.

i Pray this may be of help.

oh, one more thing. couldn’t you come up with a better Way of getting a “ripped” calf? ouch!!! i guess i’m just glad you weren’t wanting “shredded” calves. sending the Love and Chi to ya, BABY!

Love,
ko
***************************************

Dear Teacher

“Without opening your door,
you can open your Heart to the world.
Without looking out your window,
you can see the essence of the Tao.

The more you know;
the less you understand.

The Master arrives without leaving,
sees the light without looking,
achieves without doing a thing.”

Verse 47 of the “Tao Te Ching”, translated by Stephen Mitchell

having read the “Tao Te Ching” several times, i often turn to Her for In-spiration, In-sights, Chi-hits, etc. intuitively opening and reading a verse, i all-Ways dis-cover the Appropriate message for the moment.

verse 47 found me the other day. in Light of the events Shiva has delivered via hurricane Katrina, It seemed the Appropriate Verse to help Guide my Sangha. many of my Students are talking of feeling Power-less, as though they feel they should be “doing” something other than, say, donating money. they fear �what this all means��. it occurred to me, “rather than doing, we would be of more help to those suffering by Be-ing”; that if we attend to our Practice, sit in stillness, sweat, and breath consciously, then MAYBE we can truly “open our Hearts to the world”, MAYBE we will realize what is the Appropriate Action.

i taf this Verse also speaks Directly to the Wisdom you have shared many times; including a recent missive on DL, that we do not need to go to India, to the Himalayas, or to New Orleans. we need only to remain devoted to our WF Practice; It is All right there. it’s that damn easy, it’s that damn hard.

then again, i know nothing…

Much Love (and happy to Be Here Now, with you, in this Kali Yuga),
Ko

***
WHY JUST LOUISIANA?

Dear Steve,
time to stop bowing before me beneath the sacred mountain and get all of the wealthy people who buy Sunrider products to fork up some dough for Lousiaiana. Come on, now, time to get beyond ourselves here.
– DH

Dear Friend Along the Path…

you are assuming much in your reactive words.
trust that there is a Higher Perspective to outer world ‘disasters’

During Difficulty; keep Practicing for it is precisely the most Ripe time for spiritual growth.

as the Masters have taught for eons;
the best, most effective and important way to as you say,
“get beyond ourselves”
is to
go as deep into ourselves as possible.

Why just Louisiana? (corrected spelling)
Because it falls within an arbitrary boundary of humanity called,
The United States?
What about Ethiopia?
Tibet?
Iraq?
Should my coaching of Love through Fitness be limited to just the U.S.?
My Sangha,
my Work,
my dedication is to ALL humanity…not just Louisiana.

Unfortunately, since i am a very feeble yogi,
my powers to help effect change must be by changing YOU,
one person at a time.
This is what Gandhi taught,
“Social Revolution must start within each individual; one at a time.”

since you are not a Formal WF Online Student,
i can only share this limited morsel;
my Teachers told me very clearly to keep my Sangha centered on their Practice
during outer world “disasters” such as Shiva dancing in Louisiana.

For there is appropriate karma unfolding in a ‘sleepwalking’ City whose mayor and people
are not only Addicted To, yet are (were?) proud to have Profited By Marketing and
Embellishing Adhesion To Lower Chakra Pleasures. The AP reports, “Amid the tragedy, about two dozen people gathered in the French Quarter for the Decadence Parade, an annual Labor Day gay celebration. Matt Menold, 23, a street musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung over his back, said: “It’s New Orleans, man.” Thus, in a city where the most unfit and
most fat people live according to National Statistics, now, the value of being fit and living a healthy lifestyle is being realized through intense suffering. My heartspace winces as i witness another example of the karmic pendulum doing what it must; swing the other way for Party Town, USA.

if you wish me not to bow to your Practice,
then let me close with this;
heart open to your duhkha and your in-Stance along your own unique Journey of Awakening.

May all Beings reflect upon the importance of Awakening and know Happiness,

coach ilg
ps; the Wholistic Fitness Temple is donating to the Animal Rescue Mission of Katrina

ps 2;
many of us SUNRIDERs stave off rent to buy our herbs,
we are far, far from “wealthy” in the monetary sense…
we are interested and devoted something far more important;
jiva mukti!