I loved this story that Kellee told the class the other day, so I asked if she would share it again for the blog. Thanks for sharing Kellee!
@ Bikram Teacher Training in the Fall of 2000. I was one of the
worst students in the group of about 120 people. I stood in the back,
trying to hide from the eagle eye of boss Bikram since I came to the
training after only doing 20 classes in my entire life. He of course
found me and singled me out several times and each time he would
ridicule and tease me, even calling me out by saying: "hey you with the
fat (bleep)", meaning my butt. At the same time he was doing this
though, he was also teaching us, as a group, something very important
during his lectures which was this: "if anyone can steal your peace it
is your problem" and "don't listen to people who talk (bleep), don't
listen to them". He would tell us how, in this life, a yogi is only as
yogic as their ability to hold a single point of focus, without reaction
to the externals at any time. He calls this "cosmic consciousness". He
shows us how by focusing on ourselves for 1.5 hours every day in the
mirror, in our Bikram class, that this is the power we get, we get
immunity to irritation. He calls it becoming "bombproof, bulletproof,
emotion proof, theft proof, windproof, sex proof" meaning Bikram Yogis
don't react to anything, get seduced or damaged by anything. This is
his big promise if we do as he says.
Anyway, at the end of the 9 weeks, after all our
sweat, suffering, humility and intense learning, with me being, not the
teacher's "pet" but the teacher's "pest", it was the final day of
training. Bikram gathered us all together in the main room for our
final group together, where he called on his best and favorite students
to show their skills to him, to sing to him to immerse him in the
bounty of the fruit of his labor with us all for the past 9 weeks. It
was a beautiful reflection of just how magnificent we all were as a
whole. As the meeting drew to a close and we prepared to go get ready
for our graduation, Bikram's eyes once more scanned the big room, found
me in the back, as usual.....he pointed his finger at me and yelled out
in the irritated rude voice he would speak to me in: "YOU" I recoiled
inside to think my last exchange with Boss might be another chiding but I
was ready. "YOU, how come I can never make you mad this whole time?" I
took a deep breath and bravely replied: "because you taught me not to
listen to bull(bleep)" to which he replied: "That is 100% correct, good
job honey"
that was the end of my teacher training.
Namaste
