Music / Profiles
Muslims. When Abraham died there were no Jews. Even when Lord Buddha died there were no Buddhists. The gangs started after their passing. People came to give context to scripture that they were born into. Jesus was not a Christian. Mohammed not a Muslim. So, it’s interesting that they formed gangs based on these beautiful philosophies. It’s noteworthy for all those who are paying attention.
shit? What is wrong with you?” You’re like, “Fuck you; none of your business.” They may say “No, I’m just telling you, you’re going to fuckin’ die.” Hundreds of billions of animals are birthed into suffering and poisoned, and then they poison you, and it destroys the planet. None of us are enlightened, at least that I know. We are
I think it’s fantastic that people are doing asana as much as they are, because asana can lead to a real interest in the other seven parts of the yogic practice. The eight limbs of yoga are valuable and doing asana gets us somewhere. Every yoga teacher knows something and many of them expound on their practices. You know, we can get a certification so simply in America. It’s great to go to a 200-hour teacher training, and it’s great if you teach somewhere, but I encourage people to expound on their knowledge so they can understand all the benefits of yoga. That’s why I’m building a yoga studio, Tantris in L.A.
Why not New York? Because I live in L.A. That inner battle manifests in many ways. You’re very open about your past with drug use and partying. I’m wondering if you see that behavior in people that are in the party scene now, do you advise them against that sort of lifestyle or do you let them learn on their own?
But you’re from Queens, man! I am from Queens, but I live in L.A. now. I want to have somewhere to go that’s devotional every day, that was my selfish motivation. Then I also get to spread yoga. I would love to make it trendy. Not only the physical practice because that’s already trendy. It’s so easy to take the asana practice as a springboard because you do it every day. Many people do it every single day and they don’t know the eight limbs. I’m interested in the science, the philosophy, the texts.
I say things and think they’ll digest it; I try not to be too heavy handed. Sometimes I say something and they can’t digest it at the time, but it sticks in the back of their head and then someone says it in a compassionate way and they digest it...So there’s a lot of different routes through moving someone towards support systems. There was a Malcolm X, and there was a Martin Luther King. There’s always different ways to affect people.
I’m looking to get my 200 hour. Yoga and meditation have helped me through a lot and I want to
But needing nothing,
being FULLY
that is the key. Needing
Some people can easily get turned off by extremists. Some just don’t care about making a change at all. How do you approach that with compassion?
moving towards this state because we know it exists and because we know we are happy as we take the path on – whichever one – that moves us towards this more conscious state.
The angry ones have some validity. The compassionate one is probably happier and less judgmental, but the angry one can be effective too. If someone asks you, “Why do you eat that
You’re so passionate about traditional yoga and the traditional yogic values. How do you feel about the westernization and common cultural appropriation of yoga?
30
AWAKE,
nothing – that’s the state of
YOGA. That’s the fully
awakened, present state that we’re ALL
CHASING
YOGALIFEMAGAZINES.COM