Day 45
Whatever your religious orientation, yoga works wonders.
Ahimsa is the foundation of yoga. The message of benevolence, compassion and loving kindness is the one message that unites all saints, sages and religions. Practice of ahimsa is non-harming in thought, word and action. Not to cause harm, but to live in harmony. This is the root of Yoga.
Julia Butterfly Hill is an activist who lived in a tree named Luna for 738 days in order to save the tree from being cut down.
Julia Butterfly Hill shared that a better definition of ahimsa is “To live so fully and presently in love that there is no room for anything else to exist.” I shared her quote back to her recently and she wrote back:
“That is one of the greatest teachings ever that I received up in Luna. I was on a deep search to figure out how to talk about it in a way with at is what we are FOR vs what we are against and to find positive words instead of negative ones (non-violence) to describe what and who we are committed to being.”
My teacher Father Joe Pereira (A Catholic priest who sometimes calls God, “She”) worked for decades with Mother Theresa of Calcutta and BKS Iyengar) calls Jesus the ‘Supreme Yogi.’ He says, “He (Jesus) became one with the force that propels the universe. “
Click below to see Father Joe in action in the documentary One Day at a Time at Kripa Foundation:
Jesus taught ahimsa. He asked people to, “love your enemy” and “turn the other cheek.”
“Jesus recognized the need for blending opposites. He knew that his disciples would face a difficult and hostile world… he gave them a formula for action, ‘Be ye therefore as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.’ … We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.”
~ Martin Luther King
Krishna Das shares a great story of going to India to get away from the western way of life, organized religion and Christianity in search of the truth. Along with Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) they eventually met their Guru (Neem Karoli Baba). Imagine his surprise when his Guru said, “Hanuman, Krishna and Christ are the same.” Krishna Das says with a smile, “Terrific, just what I wanted to hear.”
Click below to listen to Krishna Das tell the story himself.
“One day a Canadian man arrived for his first visit with Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji). He didn't know much about Maharaj-ji but had heard about him. Maharaj-ji didn't give lectures or formal teachings; didn't write books; and, as far as I know, didn't formally initiate people. He just kept shining like the sun. Flowers don't need to read a manual on how to bloom in the sunshine. So when Maharaj-ji asked this man why he'd come and what he wanted, he was unsure how to respond. Finally, he replied, 'Can you teach me how to meditate?'
“Maharaj-ji's response was: 'Meditate like Christ. Go. Sit in the back of the temple with the other Westerners.'
“The guy came to the back, and we asked him about his darshan. He told us that Maharaj-ji had said to meditate like Christ. At first we were surprised. 'What! Meditate like Christ! What does that mean?' But then we thought about it. We were always trying to get Maharaj-ji to tell us what practice to do, but he'd never give us any specific instructions about yoga or meditation. Now he'd said this. If he said it, he must know how Jesus meditated. We decided to ask him about it. We were so excited — we were going to get the secret teachings at last!
“Later in the day, when Maharaj-ji came to the back of the temple to hang out with us, [one among us] broached the subject that had us all buzzing. 'You said to meditate like Christ. How DID he meditate?'
“It seemed as if Maharaj-ji was about to answer, but instead his eyes closed and he sat there completely still, completely silent. It felt like he'd totally disappeared. In all the time I'd been with him, I'd only seen him sitting motionless like this a couple of times before. It was extraordinarily powerful, as if the whole universe had become silent. Then a tear came down his cheek. We were in awe. After a couple of minutes, his eyes half opened and, with great emotion, he quietly said, 'He lost himself in love, that's how he meditated. He was one with all beings. He loved everyone, even the people who crucified him. He never died. He is the atman [soul]. He lives in the hearts of all. He lost himself in love.'
“Once again, Maharaj-ji had gone right to the heart of it all. I was stunned. There was nothing I wanted more than to be able to lose myself in love, but there was nothing that seemed farther away. As Kabir once said, ‘It is easy to bear the heat of fire and likewise it is possible to tread the edge of the sword. But to sustain an unchanging love is a most difficult business’.”
~ Krishna Das, in Chants of Lifetime
“This practice is an attempt to love your body back to life and make of it a pleasing offering to god. Yoga helps in conditioning the body’s that is the temple of God’s spirit to be in a state of preparedness, which is deep inner stillness of being.”
~ Father Joe Pereira
Missed Ryan’s Sunday Session: ONE LOVE?
Click below to replay, valid until Monday at midnight PST.
“For me, my true silver spoon is the tradition of education, hard work, and perseverance my family practiced long before I came into the world, and instilled in me from the moment I was born.”
~ Bennie Fowler, Silver Spoon: The Imperfect Guide to Success
Enjoyed Bennie’s talk yesterday?
Check out his coaching offerings here:
THE DIGITAL STUDIO CLASS SCHEDULE
Today, Sunday February 14th
7:30-8am PST KIDS CLASS with RYAN LEIER
8-9:30am PST Sunday Session: ONE LOVE with Ryan Leier
10-11am PST Vinyasa with Sarah Manwaring
12-1:15pm PST Vinyasa with Mari Dickey
6-7:15pm PST Active Yin with Risto Duggan
Tomorrow, Monday February 15th
7:45-8:30am PST Power Flow with Amy Chalmers
9-10am PST Flow + Restore w/ Christine Chénier
6-7:15pm PST Slow Flow + Restore with Ariffa Lalani