Wholistic Fitness

I offer prayers each morning to the Three Refuges: The Buddha, The Dharma, The Sangha.
I have been doing this for the past 20 or so years
in Respect of the Spiritual Warriorism of perhaps the greatest athlete of all time;
Prince Siddhartha who would soon renounce all of His Palace wealth,
and train himself to become the fittest multidisciplined yogi on the planet during His time,
and then, knowing that physical fitness is just a stepping stone to the REAL WORKOUT:
this ultra fit yogin had the unbelievable balls to do what no other human being has had the fitness
or the bravery to ever do since:
sit upon the ground,
legs folded in Full Lotus,
spine straight,
and
vow:
“I shall not arise from this position, nor fidget my mind nor body, until I have Realized the Nature of All Things.”

and then DID!!!!!

it’s easy to quote other poet’s words,
it’s easy to open a bible and mechanically recite handed down prayers…

to me,
however,
genuine poetry is that which spills forth from your own heart recollected from sweat and stillness

to me,
however,
genuine prayer is that which releases itself with your own words, from your own Beingness and is pelted out into the UniVerse as a cry for That Which Urges Us Closer Toward Enlightenment…

here then,
is my personal Prayer of Three Refuges For Those Of Us With Tight Hips and Painful Lower Backs…
which was inspired when i was paralyzed and could not walk, let alone sit in a yogi squat and pray…

As I Humbly Squat Here Now,
With Head bowed to the Buddha;
may i see and feel the pain in my hips and lower back as undone work from countless incarnations and as i continue to open my hips please grant me an endless chain of Divine Insight, Greater Clarity, Less Anger, No Fear, and Glimmering Guidance of my Next Shift Higher…

As I Humbly Squat Here Now,
With Head bowed to the Buddha;
My Heart opens to the Dharma; may the sound of life around me be Heard as the song of my own Liberation…

As I Humbly Squat Here Now,
With Head bowed to the Buddha;
I devote my Actions today to the Sangha; may my Actions of today Serve my Highest Self, my Highest Occupation, and the Awakening of All Beings Everywhere…

– by steve ilg
{do not republish this Prayer in any form without my consent, thank you.}

{photos of Coach praying to his “Backyard Buddha” during a part of his Early Morning Ritual which includes “Coach’s Three Refuge Prayer For Those Of Us With Tight Hips.” photos by Ananda.}