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| I used this thread a lot lately thinking where I am on the morality scale then extrapolated even more--wondered if God appeared before me and sated--"OK, give me one reason not to strike you down here and now. Just what are you doing that makes a **** bit of difference to improve the world and the lives around you?" I really can't think of anything of importance. I try to do good and failing that, at least do no harm. But that's not enough. So it goes. |
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Location: Upstate NY | Om Namah Sivaya
Bruce,
I would say that you are not the person today that you were when you started your practice....(not knowing you personally) I would like to think that many of us are quite different today from our practices. I have grown myself in leaps and bounds....... I would be rather ashamed if i were to convey the way I used to be, the way I used think......... I was very ignorant. Today I am slightly less ignorant.......everyday i try just a little bit harder to be a better person and do good things. This all has stemmed from my practice and the people I now surround myself with. In regards to Rodney and the others mentioned I would consider it more dissapointment rather than anything else..... you would like to see someone of their stature practice more of what they preach......but when it is all said and done they are no better than I and struggle with the same "demons" that each and everyone of us deal with on an ongoing basis. I guess it is like when you are young and idolized superman or wonder-woman..... only later to find out that they were make believe...the same dissapointment then, is the same I feel when I hear these "stories/accusations" not anger just dissapointment.....which I already know I shouldn't be feeling...but do anyhow.
Bruce - 2007-01-11 7:42 AM
I used this thread a lot lately thinking where I am on the morality scale then extrapolated even more--wondered if God appeared before me and sated--"OK, give me one reason not to strike you down here and now. Just what are you doing that makes a **** bit of difference to improve the world and the lives around you?" I really can't think of anything of importance. I try to do good and failing that, at least do no harm. But that's not enough. So it goes. |
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| Wonder Woman is make believe???!!! Crap...seriously Ravi--apprecaite your insight and will incorporate it. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 1738
  
Location: right where I'm supposed to be | Ravi - 2007-01-11 8:33 AM
Om Namah Sivaya
Bruce,
I would say that you are not the person today that you were when you started your practice....(not knowing you personally) I would like to think that many of us are quite different today from our practices. I have grown myself in leaps and bounds....... I would be rather ashamed if i were to convey the way I used to be, the way I used think......... I was very ignorant. Today I am slightly less ignorant.......everyday i try just a little bit harder to be a better person and do good things. This all has stemmed from my practice and the people I now surround myself with. In regards to Rodney and the others mentioned I would consider it more dissapointment rather than anything else..... you would like to see someone of their stature practice more of what they preach......but when it is all said and done they are no better than I and struggle with the same "demons" that each and everyone of us deal with on an ongoing basis. I guess it is like when you are young and idolized superman or wonder-woman..... only later to find out that they were make believe...the same dissapointment then, is the same I feel when I hear these "stories/accusations" not anger just dissapointment.....which I already know I shouldn't be feeling...but do anyhow.
Ravi, that is very real. I couldn't agree with you more. I do like Rodneyy Yee's practice. Anytime I have taken a workshop with him he has not preached. It was more about connection to the physical asana and breath. I do not like him for his moral ethics or spiritual practice. I enjoy his physical practice.
When people are placed in high esteem, it's so easy to fall hard. We are all humans. Life is unpredictable. To think that anyone is above this to me is unrealistic.
I've had a lot of social difficulties growing up because women would make an assumption based on my physical looks. Over my lifetime, I have chosen to be less judgemental because I don't want to be wrongly judged. I also don't like guilt trips under any circumstances because I don't feel anyone should be made to do anything other than what their heart tells them to do.
How this falls under this topic, well, I won't judge another when this could possibly happen to me (not that it is going to) or a dear friend/family member. Every situation in life can't be controlled. I feel sorry for the person that lives their life thinking they can control all. My SIL lives this way and when something goes out, she is a wreck. I tell her this is life. You have to deal as each moment presents itself. It's how we choose to deal with it that is more important to me. Dealing with all situations with love and compassion is my ultimate savior and truely living yoga for me.
Rodney fell in love with another woman. Love is very strong. I really don't believe it was lust. But as I stated before, if this should happen again, well I would lose complete respect for the whole person.
Edited by mishoga 2007-01-11 9:19 AM
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| mishoga - 2007-01-11 9:17 AM
Rodney fell in love with another woman. Love is very strong. I really don't believe it was lust. But as I stated before, if this should happen again, well I would lose complete respect for the whole person.
I'll state it again, so that the discerning may begin.
Infidelity doesn't spring forth from a vacuum. This behaviour has been going on for a long time, but now is so obvious that noone can ignore it and it is being promoted because both folks are so photogenic. Simply stated, it has happened before, he just didn't leave his wife and children before, this is a habitual behaviour for Rodney Yee.
Lust and physical attraction is not love. Love does not leave wife and children.
I'm not a fundamentalist christian but, for me, this is a powerful portion of the my spiritual foundation that wraps up the definition of love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (English-NIV)
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If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
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If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
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If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
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Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
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It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
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Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
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It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
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Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
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For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
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but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
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When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
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Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Discernment is not judgement.
Infidelity is not a virtue.
or in other words, "You can't put a shine on manure."
Nobody likes to be judged or have their mistakes rubbed in their faces or have reality shoved down their throats, but sometimes this is part of GROWTH, and to be unwilling to embrace an experience and learn from it because it makes you feel disrespected or uncomfortable will not improve your chances of GROWING.
Yoga is more than physical practice.
I'll state it again.
Yoga is more than physical practice.
It's easier to market it as basically a physical benefits package, but if that's as far as the practice takes you, it's not Yoga, it's simply stretching and maybe some deep breathing.
So, I'm not sure that I could really call Rodney Yee a Yoga instructor, and I'm not absolutely sure that he understands what Love is.
Rodney Yee is a physical fitness instructor, he's good looking, he believes in the profit motive, and he's most likely making this marriage because it's good for business, or so it seems to me.
Call me a cynic, even condescending and judgemental if that makes you feel better about yourselves.
JALAIDAM
There are some things that I feel strongly about and one of them is what LOVE is, and another
is YOGA.
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Expert Yogi
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Location: right where I'm supposed to be | Yoga encompasses physical and spiritual (for me). Sometimes I can seperate that. Maybe it is my fitness background, I don't know.
We both have our views on life. It's OK to disagree.  I understand this and respect it. Truly!!!
You know the funny thing is, I agree with you 100% percent about love. I have a love such as that and I feel so lucky! My husband is my everything. I look at him and I feel butterflies in my stomach like the first day I kissed him.
I believe 95% of the population has skeletons in their closet. Only difference is that we are not in the public eye.
Edited by mishoga 2007-01-11 10:17 AM
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| shelly - before I begin this, I will say that I am in no way judging your remarks, simply adding a general observation about emotional extreme reactions because I have to deal with them regularly. There are a few places where I excuse self righteous fever. I was discussing this with a co-worker just yesterday. Since we work with very small children, sometimes they will bite, and there is something so intense and visceral about biting another person that just sends some people over the top. And child molestation is one of those things. Of course, I don't condone violence to correct the problem, but I try to be understanding of people's deep and instant reactions. I think we talked somewhere else recently about reactions of similar intensity over trivial matters like someone leaving a hat on a kitchen counter. If there is a freak out over something like that, it need to be examined, I think. And yes, Ollie is often the voice of reason  |
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| SCThornley - 2007-01-11 9:05 AM
Infidelity doesn't spring forth from a vacuum. This behaviour has been going on for a long time, but now is so obvious that noone can ignore it and it is being promoted because both folks are so photogenic. Simply stated, it has happened before, he just didn't leave his wife and children before, this is a habitual behaviour for Rodney Yee.
I am not so sure this behavior is being promoted, so much as some (such as myself) see it as being irrelevant with regards to what I would expect from Mr. Yee when I read his book or buy his DVD.
I seek instruction from Mr. Yee to improve my asanas, period. Who he sleeps with is really no concern when I am seeking help for my Ustrasana. I seek spiritual guidance from those who have the level of spirituality that I desire; it *apperars* that he isn't there at this time in his life. But I say "appears" since I don't know the whole story.
And I am not all envious that he has attractive women throwing themselves at him and I do not!  really!  well, maybe i'll be there some day.
Seriously, what I just joked about is one reason I am reluctant to rush to judgement. Yes, infidelity IS bad (at least for me). But it is rather easy for me to be faithful as, well, there aren't long lines of shapey yoginis ready to hit on me. The challenge is much harder for men who ARE activley sought after (e. g., CEO's, politicians, actors, successful athletes, etc.)
Though, as far as spiritual growth in yoga goes, I am attracted to the Dharma Mittra teachings that I have seen.
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Location: Upstate NY | From what I have read of Dharma Mittra I like very much also. I would consider him a Yoga teacher not a asana teacher. |
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| Hi Tourist, I think I was biting my tongue for a while, and when I opened my mouth to speak, I got a little impulsive. Let me reassure that none of our fine instructors at yoga.com were on that list. Although Bruce does have that weakness for blondes. Sorry Bruce, I couldn't resist, besides I think you can handle a little teasing. |
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| Ravi - 2007-01-11 10:53 AM
From what I have read of Dharma Mittra I like very much also. I would consider him a Yoga teacher not a asana teacher.
Roger that! |
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| i like dharma mittra too. that's why i go to visit him. it's enjoyable.
i remember one class where, before we started asana, we did this guided meditation where we were on a beach, at sunset, and the sun had just kissed the water, and then we would see the face of a lover in the sun, or the face of god, and i saw this image of durgha's face--one that i had seen in a picture--and the face was getting closer and closer and i was getting warmer and warmer. . .
and then we kept our eyes closed and staretd to move gently into various postures and then he kept reminding us to remember that we were offering our practice to that one in the Sun, and it was just this amazing flood of energy.
i don't know if i learned a darn thing about asana that day or not, but i know that it was an amazing practice. |
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Expert Yogi
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Location: right where I'm supposed to be | Isn't he based out of NY? I hear many speak highly of him here. I would like to attend a workshop, or at the least a class. Going to the city is a pain though. That's what is preventing me. |
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Expert Yogi
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Location: A Blue State | I love Dharma Mittra --- he has such joy in what he does -- and he starts each class with a Ganesha chant! I also find him a great role model for aging -- nobody ever teaches us how to get older. ... bg |
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| SCThornley - 2007-01-11 10:05 AM
Lust and physical attraction is not love. Love does not leave wife and children.
I'm not a fundamentalist christian but, for me, this is a powerful portion of the my spiritual foundation that wraps up the definition of love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (English-NIV)
Thanks for posting Steve, it's really moving. |
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| Bruce - 2007-01-11 7:42 AM
I used this thread a lot lately thinking where I am on the morality scale then extrapolated even more--wondered if God appeared before me and sated--"OK, give me one reason not to strike you down here and now. Just what are you doing that makes a **** bit of difference to improve the world and the lives around you?" I really can't think of anything of importance. I try to do good and failing that, at least do no harm. But that's not enough. So it goes.
I really can't justify my existence, there's really nothing I can say or do, or be that's going to be good enough I think. |
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| GreenJello - 2007-01-11 1:48 PM
Bruce - 2007-01-11 7:42 AM
I used this thread a lot lately thinking where I am on the morality scale then extrapolated even more--wondered if God appeared before me and sated--"OK, give me one reason not to strike you down here and now. Just what are you doing that makes a **** bit of difference to improve the world and the lives around you?" I really can't think of anything of importance. I try to do good and failing that, at least do no harm. But that's not enough. So it goes.
I really can't justify my existence, there's really nothing I can say or do, or be that's going to be good enough I think.
my children justify mine, before that.....????
wow, that's a hard one.......
my personality |
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| bstqltmkr - 2007-01-11 6:16 AM
Yay, Ollie, you make me proud to be a geek.
Sniff, sniffle...  that is the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me! My life HAS been of some use after all! |
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| ollie - 2007-01-12 10:16 AM
bstqltmkr - 2007-01-11 6:16 AM
Yay, Ollie, you make me proud to be a geek.
Sniff, sniffle... that is the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me! My life HAS been of some use after all!
I think most people's have, they just don't realize it. Like in "It's a wonderful life". Which is ANOTHER reason I refuse to justify my existence. I'm sure the things I did that had the most impact I'm completely unaware of. |
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| I am of the camp that does not care about Rodney Yee's sex life. Maybe b/c I never perceived him as a spiritual guide in my life. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Hmm.. but he peers off the shelf at me when I go grocery shopping, in that little Gaiam yoga display which sometimes even runs his videos. Therefore his sex life is of great importance, just as are the sex lives of all those folks on the magazine covers at the check-out counter (Princess Di, Britney, Paris, Angelina,... Brad, Tom,...) ... bg |
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| Oops Ollie, I thought I was speaking as one self described geek to another, but when I followed one of your links, there you are, a self described nerd. Sorry dude, but look on the bright side, at least in Hollywood the Nerds got their revenge. |
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| Kym - 2007-01-17 7:41 PM
I am of the camp that does not care about Rodney Yee's sex life. Maybe b/c I never perceived him as a spiritual guide in my life.
I don't consider him as a spiritual guide.
I understand him to be the center of much attention, and with this power comes responsibility.
Ethical behavior is a good example to set when the lime light is on you, heck it's even a good example when no one is watching.
Morality isn't something that was tamed and held by writing it down in some book.
If we don't practice it, daily, and expect the same from everyone, it ceases to exist.
I don't force anyone to do anything, I don't shove my expectations in anyone's perogative, however I do have hope, and I do have expectations, and when someone falls short of either one it is disappointing.
We don't live in a vacuum, everyone's actions affect everyone else, whether you recognize it or not, the responsibility is immense.
Edited by SCThornley 2007-01-18 10:07 AM
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| bstqltmkr - 2007-01-18 6:17 AM
Oops Ollie, I thought I was speaking as one self described geek to another, but when I followed one of your links, there you are, a self described nerd. Sorry dude, but look on the bright side, at least in Hollywood the Nerds got their revenge.
Well, Geeks and Nerds are, at least, cousins of the subspecies of homosapiens known as "insipidusmaximus".
From Wikipedia (I know, not a peer reviewed source):
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A geek is an individual who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination, usually electronic or virtual in nature. Geek may not always have the same meaning as the term nerd. The Merriam-Webster definitions are "1: a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake 2: a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked 3: an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity."
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also from Wikipedia
Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric interests - such as books and video games, rather than having a social life, participating in organized sports, or other mainstream activities. The Merriam-Webster definition is an "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits."
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So one may debate whether or not I belong to the geek strain, but there can be no doubt that I am a nerd.
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Location: A Blue State | SCThornley - 2007-01-18 10:05 AM Kym - 2007-01-17 7:41 PM I am of the camp that does not care about Rodney Yee's sex life. Maybe b/c I never perceived him as a spiritual guide in my life. I don't consider him as a spiritual guide. But he's on the shelf in the store! He guides us spritually to buy Gaiam products! |
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Rodney Yee Married
