My Love is a Killer (More on Sharath Jois death)
Oops, I guess I shot ya
My finger's on the trigger
I had a bullet with your name on it, click click
My love should be illegal
Real deal baby, I'm no counterfeit, click click
Line 'em up, knock 'em down
If looks could kill, they will
My body's fully loaded
And I got more ammo
Line 'em up, knock 'em down
If looks could kill, they will
You're an accessory to murder 'cause
My love's a revolver
My sex is a killer
Do you wanna die happy?
I let it bang, bang
- My Love’s a Revolver (Madonna and Lil Wayne)
{Correction: In my most recent post, there was this line: When Sokaku Takeda was, I think over 90, he became wheelchair bound (remember what we said about legs, up above) and he said something like: “I can’t even operate a can opener. All can do is throw people around with a single touch.” That name is obviously a typo, I mean to correctly attribut this qutoe to Sagawa Yukiyoshi. Though actually Sokaku Takeda, on his deathbed in 1943, expressed a very similar sentiment.
WARNING: This post will be considered controversial, possibly even triggering or offensive. If you don’t have the stomach for controversy and bold unsubstantiated speculations, turn back now.
As you all should know if you’ve been tracking this Substack, the so-called “lineage holder” of Ashtanga Yoga died suddenly the other day on a nature walk in Virginia, USA. He was 53 years old.
I’ve been interested in the Chinese reaction to this. While the Western yoga people are all hearts and flowers like “May his precious memory be forever cherished in our hearts” that kind of sappy stuff, on the contrary some Chinese reactions in their native yoga fora are sometimes more directly reflective of what ordinary people the world over might be tempted to think, namely WTF? Especially in China though, where there’s a particular and long-standing cultural emphasis on the idea of longevity, known as 長壽.
That’s why innovative practices like Tai Chi and Qi Gong were pioneered over there, it’s all in a quest for long life, or even immortality. This passion for racking up year count goes waaay. Take the 1st Emperor (Qin) who initially unified the Chinese empire more than 2,000 years ago. Having attained the Dragon Throne, this guy knew a great gig when he saw it (up to 300 girls in the Imperial Harem) and he became obsessed with finding the literal elixir of immortality. Not the Daoist philosophical idea of cultivating an ‘energy embryo’, this bro was like “Fuck that, just gimmie a cup of some medicinal gunk I can just guzzle down, done and dusted”.
So he ordered all the Daoist magicians and alchemists to the Imperial Court, and said you guys whip that up for me or your heads will pay the format. With that incentive, yeah they whipped him up a potion alright - intentionally or not it was thoroughly laced with mercury and far from living forever, it lethally poisoned him. Job well done, management takehome lesson is the carrot is sometimes better than the stick.
Anyway ever since then longevity has been a super big deal in the culture. So.. you can imagine that while some Chinese students of yoga, and Ashtanga yoga in particular are like the Westerners, all hearts and f lowers about the whole thing, others take a more jaundiced view. The boards and fora now include no small number of people saying basically “I’ve begun to think Ashtanga yoga is dangerous” or “What use is Ashtanga (or yoga in general) for health when even the most profoundly skilled exponent collapses dead at age 53?” or “Ashtanga is too tiring, it drains your life force out early”.
The reaction of some Western yoga masters, some who are familiar with China or who’ve taught there, is to kind of dodge this issue, saying some variation of “Those of us who remain must now work all the harder to make up for the loss of Sharath as the main ambassador of the tradition”. That’s fine as far as it goes, but this response smacks of marketing. It doesn’t specifically address the cited doubts.
Ironically, I happen to know the correct response. I just can’t really broadcast it because I’m not exactly any famous leading light of the global Ashtanga community. But I know how to both direct the finger of blame and doubt away from Ashtanga per se, and also maybe save some additional lives in the process. De una pedrada, dos pájaros!
The solution is not a vague marketing plea to bolster the reputation of the Ashtanga brand. Nope, something more technical, more concrete, even forensic (may I say) will be necessary. At least in the China context, where serious doubts are popping up.
So here’s how handle it: until and unless it’s established that Sharath never got the COVID vaccine (unlikely, he almost certainly did), the finger of doubt should be pointed squarely away from Ashtanga (which I believe is truly good for health) and should be redirected squarely toward the COVID vaccine, as mRNA rat poison. That’s what mostly likely struck him down in his prime.
Consider: if Sharath had been shot by a mugger or gang banger in the Bronx, nobody would have batted an eye. That would not impugn or implicate yoga in any way, shape or form. Neither passive blame (why didn’t yoga prevent/cure any underlying heart issue!?) nor active blame (Are some yoga practices actualy dangerous?) could possibly arise. It would be inconceivable. The same applies to the redirect of blame to the COVID 19 vaccine. Nobody would even think to fault or doubt Yoga in general, or Sharath’s teachings and practice in particular. It would be recognized as a terrible, egregious crime, full stop. Then all the accolades and mourning would be unmixed with any skepticism whatsoever about yoga as we saw above - even in China.
That’s my considered advice to all professional Ashtanga people at this critical time: start muttering doubts about vaccine safety, demanding an autopsy, etc. instead of making vague proclamations about the need for even more aggressive marketing of the style to shore up the damaged rep.
Just my lousy 2 cents. Many will disagree (to put it mildly).
I’m still mystified why yoga mavens, of all people, love that dog shit vaccine and defend it literally to the death. When it comes to food, for example, why they never be caught dead with a Big Mac in hand! Or anything like it. Swilling down a Mountain Dew for example would be regarded as unspeakably gauche after a hard Ashtanga sweat session. Not the done thing! And why? Because all the processed food is so unnatural, known to be spiked with god knows what chemical residues and radioactive industrial cleaning agents. And they’re perfectly correctly to be so skeptical and keep themselves clear and clean, nowhere near those poisons. Your serious Ashtangi hardly eats anything daily beyond a few spoonfuls of certified organic pea soup anyway.
They are into the concept of Sattvic foods. Sattvic foods (from "sattva" meaning pure, light, or harmonious) are a key concept in traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda) and yoga philosophy. Here's a breakdown:
Core Concept:
- Sattvic foods are believed to promote clarity of mind, physical health, and spiritual well-being
- They form part of the three gunas (qualities) in Ayurveda: sattva, rajas, and tamas
- These foods are considered the purest diet choice for yoga practitioners and those seeking spiritual growth
Typical Sattvic Foods:
1. Fresh fruits and vegetables
2. Whole grains
3. Legumes
4. Nuts and seeds
5. Dairy products (fresh, not fermented)
6. Honey
7. Pure water
8. Fresh herbs
Key Characteristics:
- Naturally grown/organic
- Freshly prepared
- Minimally processed
- Light and easy to digest
- Free from artificial additives
- Vegetarian
Foods to Avoid in Sattvic Diet:
- Meat, fish, and eggs
- Onions and garlic
- Fermented foods
- Overly spicy foods
- Processed foods
- Alcohol
- Stale or reheated foods
Benefits According to Ayurveda:
- Promotes mental clarity
- Enhances meditation practice
- Supports balanced emotions
- Increases energy and vitality
- Aids spiritual growth
- Improves digestion
Got all that? And yet the same people who are literally religious about all that, are often total Jonestown-mode fanatics about pushing vaccination - COVID in particular! Gimmie a break. Totally untested in any scientific protocol (read the Pfizer papers on their “trials” that they sought court order to have suppressed for 75 years LMAO!) on human subjects, killed every ferret upon whom it was visited for prior 10 years at about half of a normal ferret life span, manufactured and marketed by the most criminally sanctioned corporation in history (Pfizer), aggressively promoted by the same government and media that lied the USA into the insane Iraq war which killed literally millions of Iraqi children, and tens of thousands of USA soldiers - *pant* need I go on?
And yet the yoga community blithely swallowed that camel with nary a qualm, while straining at the comparative gnat of overly processed food and drink.
I sometimes think that people don’t really mind being poisoned as long as its done by a duly constituted authority. Modern people are lonely. Being requied to get shot up, even if its rat poison, is I think taken emotionally as a sign that somebody, somewhere, no matter how impersonally “cares about me”. Wow a powerful authority is paying momentary attention to little old me. The demonic governments and corporations of the world have learned how to sell that feeling. Poison as a sign of caring, even love.
See lyrics on top of the post.