Above is an interview with Dorian Yates, an athlete who remained at the very pinnacle of his sport for six straight years, winning the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding championship from 1992 through 1997 -- and winning the 1997 contest despite having a torn triceps and biceps.
The interview is especially noteworthy in light of the subject we have been discussing this Summer Solstice 2014, which is the "crossing" in every man and every woman of the material component (symbolized in the ancient esoteric system by the horizontal line running between the two equinoxes) and the spiritual component (symbolized in the ancient esoteric system by the vertical "pillar" or "column" running between the two solstices).
Bodybuilding contests, whether for men or for women, clearly involve extreme focus upon the material, physical aspects of the human body -- the material aspect of who we are. And yet, we all instinctively know and feel that this human body is not all of who we are -- not even the most important part of who we are. In the above interview, conducted by the team at London Real, Dorian Yates demonstrates that there is a lot more to him than just his superlative muscular development and the discipline that enabled him to reach the pinnacle of the bodybuilding world for so many years -- as impressive as that achievement is.
In fact, not to throw any "spoilers" at those who haven't yet seen the interview, he even discusses techniques of transcending the body -- traveling outside the body -- and entering into the other realms: what I would argue is indeed the world of the shamanic.
He also discusses ways in which, while he wasn't paying particular attention to these areas of investigation while he was immersed in the intensely competitive world of professional bodybuilding, he has since come to realize that many of the conventional narratives which are fed to us constantly through schooling and "the news" and the media are absolutely false, and he discusses what I would call "walking out of the Truman Show" that the designers of these false narratives want to keep us in.
It is also interesting to note that some of the contests at the summit of the sport of bodybuilding have titles such as "Mr. Universe" or "Mr. / Ms Olympia." While it is probably a stretch to make too much out of the title chosen for these contests, it can be argued with substantial evidence that one of the central esoteric teachings of all the world's ancient sacred traditions is the concept of the "macrocosm / microcosm," or "as above, so below" -- which includes the teaching that each individual man or woman is a microcosmic embodiment and reflection of the entire cosmos.
In other words, a contest which is absolutely all about the human body (and, incidentally, the proportions of the human body) is also about the universe.
The interview above with Dorian Yates is absolutely fascinating, and it is also enlightening. Special thanks to my good friend David Y. for alerting me to its existence. And, thanks to Dorian Yates for sharing his profound thoughts and personal views. Kudos must also go out to the team at London Real, for the way they allow the many amazing people on our planet (and in their particular corner of the planet) to tell their story.
The interview is especially noteworthy in light of the subject we have been discussing this Summer Solstice 2014, which is the "crossing" in every man and every woman of the material component (symbolized in the ancient esoteric system by the horizontal line running between the two equinoxes) and the spiritual component (symbolized in the ancient esoteric system by the vertical "pillar" or "column" running between the two solstices).
Bodybuilding contests, whether for men or for women, clearly involve extreme focus upon the material, physical aspects of the human body -- the material aspect of who we are. And yet, we all instinctively know and feel that this human body is not all of who we are -- not even the most important part of who we are. In the above interview, conducted by the team at London Real, Dorian Yates demonstrates that there is a lot more to him than just his superlative muscular development and the discipline that enabled him to reach the pinnacle of the bodybuilding world for so many years -- as impressive as that achievement is.
In fact, not to throw any "spoilers" at those who haven't yet seen the interview, he even discusses techniques of transcending the body -- traveling outside the body -- and entering into the other realms: what I would argue is indeed the world of the shamanic.
He also discusses ways in which, while he wasn't paying particular attention to these areas of investigation while he was immersed in the intensely competitive world of professional bodybuilding, he has since come to realize that many of the conventional narratives which are fed to us constantly through schooling and "the news" and the media are absolutely false, and he discusses what I would call "walking out of the Truman Show" that the designers of these false narratives want to keep us in.
It is also interesting to note that some of the contests at the summit of the sport of bodybuilding have titles such as "Mr. Universe" or "Mr. / Ms Olympia." While it is probably a stretch to make too much out of the title chosen for these contests, it can be argued with substantial evidence that one of the central esoteric teachings of all the world's ancient sacred traditions is the concept of the "macrocosm / microcosm," or "as above, so below" -- which includes the teaching that each individual man or woman is a microcosmic embodiment and reflection of the entire cosmos.
In other words, a contest which is absolutely all about the human body (and, incidentally, the proportions of the human body) is also about the universe.
The interview above with Dorian Yates is absolutely fascinating, and it is also enlightening. Special thanks to my good friend David Y. for alerting me to its existence. And, thanks to Dorian Yates for sharing his profound thoughts and personal views. Kudos must also go out to the team at London Real, for the way they allow the many amazing people on our planet (and in their particular corner of the planet) to tell their story.
Now man is distinctly a creature compounded of two natures, a higher and a lower, a spiritual and a sensual, a divine and a human, a mortal and an immortal, and finally a fiery and a watery, conjoined in a mutual relationship in the organic body of flesh. Says Heraclitus: "Man is a portion of cosmic fire, imprisoned in a body of earth and water." Speaking of man Plato affirms: "Through body it is an animal; through intellect it is a god." To create man God incarnated the fiery spiritual principle of his life in the watery confines of material bodies. This is the truest basic description of man that anthropology can present. All problems spring from that foundation and are referable for solution back to it.
Man is, then, a natural man and a god, in combination. Our natural body gives the soul of man its baptism by water; our nascent spiritual body is to give us the later baptism by fire! We are born first as the natural man; then as the spiritual. Or we are born first by water and then by fire. Of vital significance at this point are two statements by St. Paul: "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural"; and, "First that which is natural, then that which is spiritual."
-- Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Lost Light. 6.