Filmmaker Arthur Klein examines the philosophy and reality of yoga in a compelling documentary. After becoming a devotee of the ancient art in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, Klein traveled the world to explore how yoga has affected others. From a charter school in South Central Los Angeles to wrestler Diamond Dallas Page's yoga class for American soldiers in Iraq, Klein reveals how this ancient practice continues to bring harmony to the world.
Showing posts with label spiritual exercises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual exercises. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
I'll kick your @$$... once I finish this video game
V. Tran, Seven Dharmachari, Pat Macpherson (Wisdom Quarterly)
5:30 reveals why* we have difficulty mastering either martial arts or meditation (Tstyle9).
This short documentary explores the myth and reality of the "One Inch Punch," featuring interviews with Eastern master Dr. Ze Lo (instructor Jeet Kune Do) and Western Wing Chun master Will Y.
It highlights the acting of Buddhist actress Uma Thurman (pictured left), daughter of former Tibetan Buddhist monk Prof. Robert Thurman), in "Kill Bill." It deals with what Bruce Lee demonstrated years ago as filmed and edited by Victor Tran.
The core message is simple: It is not the physical aspects of the exercise but the mental (concentration, absorption, jhana, or zen) and "spiritual" (breath, chi, qi, prana, spiritus) aspects that actually matter.
Chi is what gives the punch its power. Internal chi is far more important than external fighting because, as karma teaches, misdirected chi always turns against the practitioner. Chi can be used in meditation to great benefit. Its use in jhana leads to a meditative counterpart sign (nimitta). This establishes one and makes fruitful mindfulness/insight (vipassana) practice possible.
Who is Robert A. F. Thurman? He is referred to by the New York Times magazine as "The Dalai Lama's man in America." Scholar, author, former Tibetan Buddhist monk, co-founder with Richard Gere of Tibet House in New York City, a close personal friend of the 14th Dalai Lama, and father of five children including the actress, Uma Thurman, he is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. TIME magazine named him one of the "25 Most Influential Americans." He has lectured all over the world as his charisma and enthusiasm draw packed audiences.
Quentin Tarantino exploits Uma, Asian culture, martial arts, Lucy Liu, and even the original Mr. Kung Fu (Kwai Chang Caine) actor David Carradine all in one gory action thriller.
*Video Games are Ruining Us
WARNING: This funny "Mad TV" clip alludes to a cruel prank on boys and girls.
Myths and Logic of Shaolin Monks (video)
(National Geographic/1309mw)
(Part 2) The origins of tong chi-gong based on yoga
(Part 3)
(Part 4) The importance of chi (energy)
(Part 5) Visitors train like Shaolin monks
(Part 2) The origins of tong chi-gong based on yoga
(Part 3)
(Part 4) The importance of chi (energy)
(Part 5) Visitors train like Shaolin monks
Thursday, September 1, 2011
September is "Yoga Month"
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Order your copy of TITANS OF YOGA now for only $15 incl. shippingMonday, May 30, 2011
Why yoga classes are mostly female
Jason Ashley Wright (tulsaworld.com, 5/30/11)
Misconceptions keep classes heavily female, instructors say
Despite the threat of tornadoes and hail, Jerry Lamp made it to yoga. Sirens started blaring by the time he made it out of class, padding barefoot from the studio to a bench at Inner Peace Yoga, 7718 E. 91st St., Tulsa, OK.
"I was in pretty rough shape when I started," Lamp said of himself when he started taking yoga in February 2010. "Blood pressure was through the roof. Just generally unhealthy."
Now, 15 pounds lighter with more muscle tone and greater flexibility, Lamp can't get enough of it. "I feel like a deadbeat if I don't do at least one set in a day," Lamp said. "It just keeps getting better."
Yes, he's heard the stereotypes and misconceptions about yoga that "It's for sissies," said Meghan Donnelly, Inner Peace's owner and instructor, who sat on the bench next to Lamp.
"That's a big misconception, that yoga is not manly," she said while we waited between classes, the next one at 8:30 p.m. with five or six guys in their 40s and 50s.
One who braved the storm was Mark Meese. "I always thought of yoga, before I started doing it, as something for women and little weird East Indian guys," said Meese, a general surgeon with Surgical Associates of Tulsa.
He knew yoga had a stigma. "Real men wouldn't do that," he said.
Funny thing is, men invented yoga, Donnelly said -- in India, as many as 3,000, even 4,000 years ago. It's only been in the past few centuries, maybe even as recently as 100 years, that women have been allowed to practice it in public.
In the 1960s and '70s, when yoga started growing in America, most teachers were male, Donnelly said. Now, most are women. And most of those taking classes are female -- 70 percent of her classes. More
Misconceptions keep classes heavily female, instructors say
Despite the threat of tornadoes and hail, Jerry Lamp made it to yoga. Sirens started blaring by the time he made it out of class, padding barefoot from the studio to a bench at Inner Peace Yoga, 7718 E. 91st St., Tulsa, OK.
"I was in pretty rough shape when I started," Lamp said of himself when he started taking yoga in February 2010. "Blood pressure was through the roof. Just generally unhealthy."
Now, 15 pounds lighter with more muscle tone and greater flexibility, Lamp can't get enough of it. "I feel like a deadbeat if I don't do at least one set in a day," Lamp said. "It just keeps getting better."
Yes, he's heard the stereotypes and misconceptions about yoga that "It's for sissies," said Meghan Donnelly, Inner Peace's owner and instructor, who sat on the bench next to Lamp.
"That's a big misconception, that yoga is not manly," she said while we waited between classes, the next one at 8:30 p.m. with five or six guys in their 40s and 50s.
One who braved the storm was Mark Meese. "I always thought of yoga, before I started doing it, as something for women and little weird East Indian guys," said Meese, a general surgeon with Surgical Associates of Tulsa.
He knew yoga had a stigma. "Real men wouldn't do that," he said.
Funny thing is, men invented yoga, Donnelly said -- in India, as many as 3,000, even 4,000 years ago. It's only been in the past few centuries, maybe even as recently as 100 years, that women have been allowed to practice it in public.
In the 1960s and '70s, when yoga started growing in America, most teachers were male, Donnelly said. Now, most are women. And most of those taking classes are female -- 70 percent of her classes. More
Friday, May 27, 2011
Better Than Sex (Yoga and Meditation)
Wisdom Quarterly and MeditationSecrets.net
What does the West imagine yoga is for? What is it actually for? What does Buddhism add?
What does the West imagine yoga is for? What is it actually for? What does Buddhism add?
“Yoga” has become a popular form of exercise and meditation. Many see yoga as just that. But yoga [spiritual union or yoking with spirit, prana, breath, energy] encompasses more than simply physical exercise and mental meditation.
Yoga is much more, a complete eightfold program for spiritual advancement. [Adding the Buddhist Eightfold Path brings it to perfection, to complete liberation from suffering.]
Yoga began in the East as a spiritual practice focusing on meditation. But in the West it is normally seen as one eighth of what it is, a physical practice for the benefit of health and vitality.
Hatha Yoga (or the union of Sun and Moon, male and female polarities, yin and yang) is a variation of yoga that focuses almost exclusively on strenuous exercise.
It is estimated that about 16,000,000 North Americans practice this form of yoga. These types of yoga classes focus on breathing exercises, physical poses, and with any luck some form of relaxing meditation. They are especially beneficial for people with heart, back, or breathing problems.
(William A. Huston/Flickr.com)
Studies show that yoga has helped young and old alike. Heart problems are made better with the lowering of blood pressure and increasing resistance to psychological and physiological stresses.
Yoga aids to improve physical flexibility, balance, strength, and endurance, which benefits practitioners with back problems. Yogic breathing techniques and meditative focus assist practitioners to better manage pain.
Male practitioners are referred to as yogis, whereas females are called yoginis. In the West yogin, which actually means yogi, is often used to describe both.
Yoga means to yoke or harness two things together. It may be translated loosely as “to join” or “unite.” It is a means of “union” with the divine -- the source of spiritual energy, prana, or breath. It is a discipline believed to be made up of eight limbs or factors, as popularly taught by the Sage Patanjali:
Yoga is much more, a complete eightfold program for spiritual advancement. [Adding the Buddhist Eightfold Path brings it to perfection, to complete liberation from suffering.]
Yoga began in the East as a spiritual practice focusing on meditation. But in the West it is normally seen as one eighth of what it is, a physical practice for the benefit of health and vitality.
Hatha Yoga (or the union of Sun and Moon, male and female polarities, yin and yang) is a variation of yoga that focuses almost exclusively on strenuous exercise.
It is estimated that about 16,000,000 North Americans practice this form of yoga. These types of yoga classes focus on breathing exercises, physical poses, and with any luck some form of relaxing meditation. They are especially beneficial for people with heart, back, or breathing problems.
(William A. Huston/Flickr.com)
Studies show that yoga has helped young and old alike. Heart problems are made better with the lowering of blood pressure and increasing resistance to psychological and physiological stresses.
Yoga aids to improve physical flexibility, balance, strength, and endurance, which benefits practitioners with back problems. Yogic breathing techniques and meditative focus assist practitioners to better manage pain.
Male practitioners are referred to as yogis, whereas females are called yoginis. In the West yogin, which actually means yogi, is often used to describe both.
Yoga means to yoke or harness two things together. It may be translated loosely as “to join” or “unite.” It is a means of “union” with the divine -- the source of spiritual energy, prana, or breath. It is a discipline believed to be made up of eight limbs or factors, as popularly taught by the Sage Patanjali:
- postures (asana)
- breathing (pranayama)
- concentration (dharana),
- meditation (dhyana)
- restraints (yamas)
- sense withdrawal (pratyahara)
- observances (niyamas)
- absorption (samadhi)
The goal of traditional yoga is to achieve samadhi, a state of inward enlightenment. [In Buddhism, right-concentration or samma-samadhi is a means of preparing for mindfulness and insight-practices that lead to enlightenment. What is regarded as "enlightenment" in Buddhism is not the same. Similarly, liberation (moksha) is not the same. It is enough to reach bliss and rebirth in a heaven (or brahma-world).
Stages of yoga meditation - Patanjali teachers (yogameditationadvice.com)
But Buddhist teachings unambiguously state that rebirth in any type of world is not liberation from rebirth. Only nirvana means the end of suffering because only nirvana results in the end of rebirth. The Buddha taught that even brahmas (divinities) will eventually exhaust the wholesome karma that lead to a heavenly rebirth. Thus beings fall from that long-lived perch and eventually continue in misery.
Nirvana, on the other hand, transcends all forms of rebirth, and there is no falling back is possible. It is, indeed, final liberation from all forms of rebirth, unsatisfactoriness, and suffering. More
Stages of yoga meditation - Patanjali teachers (yogameditationadvice.com)
But Buddhist teachings unambiguously state that rebirth in any type of world is not liberation from rebirth. Only nirvana means the end of suffering because only nirvana results in the end of rebirth. The Buddha taught that even brahmas (divinities) will eventually exhaust the wholesome karma that lead to a heavenly rebirth. Thus beings fall from that long-lived perch and eventually continue in misery.
Nirvana, on the other hand, transcends all forms of rebirth, and there is no falling back is possible. It is, indeed, final liberation from all forms of rebirth, unsatisfactoriness, and suffering. More
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Regulating (or not) yoga
Yoga at the beach (healthyoga.com)
To regulate or not?
ReligionDispatches.org, Susan Campbell (StillSmallVoice, Courant.com)
A bill that's moving toward Texas Gov. Rick Perry would seek to exempt from regulation the training of the people who teach yoga in the Lone Star State. That has opened a whole can of worms of who -- if anyone -- should regulate yoga, writes Andrea R. Jain, at Religion Dispatches:
"Soul of Yoga" at Stake in Texas Regulation Push
Prof. Andrea R. Jain, Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ., Indianapolis
A vote away from the desk of Texas Governor (and potential 2012 Republican candidate for president) Rick Perry is a bill that has ignited a debate over the so-called “soul of yoga” and who, if anybody, is entitled to regulate it. SB 1176, which recently passed both the Senate and the House committee on Economic & Small Business Development, would exclude yoga from the definition of “post-secondary education,” thus exempting yoga teacher training programs from career school licensing requirements.
Prof. Andrea R. Jain, Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ., Indianapolis
A vote away from the desk of Texas Governor (and potential 2012 Republican candidate for president) Rick Perry is a bill that has ignited a debate over the so-called “soul of yoga” and who, if anybody, is entitled to regulate it. SB 1176, which recently passed both the Senate and the House committee on Economic & Small Business Development, would exclude yoga from the definition of “post-secondary education,” thus exempting yoga teacher training programs from career school licensing requirements.Saturday, April 30, 2011
Buffalo (New York) Yoga Fest
Yoga is truly for everyone -- from those who are mildly curious to those who are deeply into the yoga lifestyle, kids included. Need more strength? Maybe better concentration? Or what about connecting body, mind, and spirit? Need to be elevated and taken into a new dimension? Whether we practice yoga in the comfort of our home, at a neighborhood yoga center, or on Sundays at the Inner Harbor, there is no escaping a phenomenon that has swept through the country. More
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