This auspicious shot was taken by myself on the sunset of Dewachen's first day of being alive. Though this photo from our 3rd story hospital room does not allow the Pranic Golden Saturation to be seen, the entire scene was permeated with a surreal, etheral Golden Light literally pouring off the Sacred Peak toward our hospital room. Moved to tears for i Recognized the Light as being an Om So Ti from Dewachen (the Golden Lit Pureland of Bliss Abode of Amitabha Buddha for which my daughter is named). rushing over to my tiny girl and urging Ananda to come with, i stood transfixed with my Clan, looking out at this Miracle streaming, streaming, streaming...Dewa opened her eyes and each eye became as large and shapely as Lotus Pedals as she must have thought, "Good Lord Buddha; i did it! i made it through the Bardo and have taken a new life in Dewachen!"
Most Noble Sangha,
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most urgent question is; What are you doing for others?"
I created Wholistic Fitness as my unique way of helping others. WF remains in fact, to this very m(om)ent, my Karma Marga or, my Path of Service Before Self.
Why, as all the Great Masters, Saints, and Teachers like Yogi King Jr., is this release of egocentricity is our most urgent issue?
Why can't we just schlep, dance, or compete our way through life gaining and accumulating more and more layers to 'our notion of self?' Isn't that why we go to Church or Temple on Sundays? Aren't we already on God's good side if we gesticulate a prayer or two toward Him on Sundays, or perhaps before a meal? Can't we just grab and grasp for money and material gain as our Song To The UniVerse and be okay when we die?
Well, let me put it this way; You know how sometimes you might try to buy something with a credit card and the clerk looks at you with a surprisingly deep sense of compassion saying,
"Oh, I am terribly sorry, we don't accept that card."
Well, the Bardo does not accept Egos.
That is why Yogi Jesus Christ taught us, "To find me, you must first lose your/self."
For the same reason why we love the innocence of babies, we too, must strip naked everything we've built up as "I", "me", or "mine" as we enter our Death Processes. Turning our egocentric tendencies inside out to help others diminishes the return on our ego investment. The sticker shock is huge; it actually feels GREAT! (I loved it when Mahatma Gandhi described the joy of doing Karma Yoga as, 'selfish altruism'!).
As the great yogi, Saint Francis* taught us,
"For it is giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
We must be careful, however, when attempting to perform such lofty, lifelong judo throws with our ego (self fortification). You and i are not Avalokitesavara. Our rate of thought is not yet slow enough for monastic work, let alone Sainthood. So just keep your diapers handy for you and i are infants on the conscious spiritual journey. Prioritize your Practices first and foremost, for if we are ourselves are not fit, if we ourselves do not yet glow; how can we ignite others on such a difficult swim upstream, against the torrential tides of selfish, gaining actions?
I will return to this pulpit of sweat and stillness
and to my Online Services
on Wednesday.
I bow to your Practice of Patience for allowing me
one week to be 100% present with my
new born baby girl
and her mommy.
there is yoga in everything,
if
yoga is in everything we see.
Until Wednesday, do this for coach:
observe the rate of your thoughts
and practice enough calmness to witness your thought units.
and...thank you for allowing me to help in this small way,
your Trek up the Steep and Direct Path of Self Transformation and
possible Realization...
that is all,
from the rookie dad that can now stop a crying baby in an average of 45 seconds using WF Teachings combined with Teacher Karp's astounding techniques,
abba ilg
photo #2; Ananda and i during one of our PreNatal Fitness Walks across the street from the WF Temple H(om)e. photo by
MelissaGrimesPhotography.com
this shot is one of my mom's favorites,thanks Melissa!)
* it is in honor for this great Yogic Saint of children and animals that the San Francisco Peaks which hover, often cloud hidden, above the WF Temple H(om)e are thus named.
