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Gregory Ormson

Page sharing events and writing on yoga, motorcycling, and music from Gregory Ormson (MotorCyclingYogiG)

THE WATERS OF BABYLON: A PARABLE

  Once upon a time a mystical movement became water and moved from east to west. The gurus of this movement dreamed it would take root, grow, and change people in the new land. A bold vision drove their mission; they were certain and sure. The gurus taught students but were confused by them. They were tall, loud, and rich, but they listened to their gurus and absorbed the way of wisdom and ancient discipline.

The gurus were overwhelmed by bright neon lights and an infant culture. They misplaced prayer beads and lost their way. Their movement danced and shape-shifted. It wasn’t what the gurus expected but better than they could have hoped for. In a short time, the practice prospered.

Many in the new land feared it, but someone discovered it was good for prisoners, alcoholics, the sick, those suffering pain, and even angry youth. The rich and healthy began to think that perhaps the gurus offered good medicine.

Western teachers, overlooking spirituality of the way, taught their version. The culture moved fast, like a river’s rapids. Westerners,  motivated by money, fed off the illusion of freedom. The west land had great diversity and creativity; and when coupled with entrepreneurial spirit, energy drinks, and ambition, yoga flowed across the land. This was, after all, the guru’s original vision.

The movement became a symbol of youth, change, and the culturally hip. Athletes and celebrities endorsed the practice and photographs of yogis posed in peacock asana were featured in glossy magazines, billboards, and Instagram glossies.

But the Eastern gurus’ mystical remnant became a vanishing dream, a memory from a place and time long past. They didn’t like what the Interstate highways delivered; they didn’t understand how their sacred gift had been co-opted. Some gurus left the land of glitter and returned to the source. Other gurus had students, money, and food, so they chose to stay and lived through the movements’ ongoing metamorphosis, but alone, they wondered what happened to Brahman.

The gurus had landed on fertile soil. Their movement took root and was growing, growing, growing, growing out of control. The original vision grew faint.

One day at a gathering, a yogi at the ashram wept on hearing a passage from Shelly, “Life, like a dome of many-colored glass. Stains the white radiance of eternity.” Once upon a time the waters of Babylon moved fast, the gurus moved slow, and there was no direction home.

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About Greg Ormson

Gregory Ormson is a musician, yoga teacher, and biker. He plays music with Sat Song and teaches yoga for motorcyclists’ (Yoga & Leather) at Superstition Harley Davidson in Arizona.

As a free diver in Hawaii, he learned the importance of breath management and has translated that into teaching Yoga-Breath, Breath of Life workshops accompanied by Sat Song.

He’s traveled widely – starting in India - to study world religions and other non-formal spiritual expressions. His doctoral degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary focused on religious interpretation and the power of touch in ritual healing environments. He blogs on yoga, music, motorcycling, and landscapes under #MotorcyclingyogiG.

Gregory is a regular contributor to OM Yoga and Lifestyle magazine and in the last four years has published over 80 articles on yoga in 16 national and international publications and journals.
In 2017 he won the Lyric Narrative Non Fiction Award from Eastern Iowa Review for "Midwest Intimations," and in 2016 won Indiana Review's contest for 13 word stories. His nonfiction has earned finalist mention in New Millennium and The Bellingham Review.

Dr. Ormson is an alumnus of The Chicago Theological Seminary; Chicago, Illinois; The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan; and Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Connect with Greg on his website where he writes on yoga, music, motorcycling, and the Midwest.

gregoryormson.com Twitter: @GAOrmson Instagram:#motorcyclingyogiG

His yoga articles have reached millions of viewers through social media and have been translated and shared in Portuguese, Tamil, French, and Spanish.

Many of these article can be found in the following links:

June 16, 2019. Bad Yogi Magazine, “The Way to Sacred Being,”
https://www.badyogi.com/blog/the-way-to-sacred-being/

76 May 14, 2019. BadYogiMagazine, “Let It Be: When Your Yoga Becomes You.” http://www.badyogi.com/blog/let-it-be/

Bad Yogi Magazine, “The Way to Sacred Being,”
https://www.badyogi.com/blog/the-way-to-sacred-being/

BadYogiMagazine, “Let It Be: When Your Yoga Becomes You.” http://www.badyogi.com/blog/let-it-be/

https://www.badyogi.com/blog/yoga-jesus-and-healing/

https://www.yoganect.com/story/show/yoga-as-commencement-ritual/

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2019/02/conducting-the-awesome-what-ive-learned-from-7-years-of-hot-yoga/

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/nexus-of-a-new-identity-namaste/

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/embraced-by-joy-and-bliss/

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/the-delight-song-of-a-new-architecture/

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/yg-nothing-to-lose-everything-to-gain/

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/intention-your-golden-egg-for-change/

https://thehealthorange.com/stay-fit/yoga/six-yoga-tips-most-of-your-class/
https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/mantra-for-me-and-you/

https://www.asanajournal.com/slow-down-breathe/

https://www.asanajournal.com/tradition-rumps-rendiness/

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/10/how-yoga-ruins-our-lives/

https://www.asanajournal.com/true-presence/

https://www.asanajournal.com/4220-2/

https://www.asanajournal.com/truth-force-on-your-mat/

https://www.yogitimes.com/article/what-you-give-to-yoga-
https://tribegrow.com/key-yoga-teaching-attitude-approach
http://boayoga.com.br/por-que-precisamos-de-yoga-agora-mais-do-que-nunca-gregory-ormson/

https://www.asanajournal.com/enter-the-master-enter-the-child/

http://www.asanajournal.com/the-honorable-yogi/

http://www.asanajournal.com/finding-your-depth/

https://medium.com/tribe-grow/e01a4b508d14/

https://helloyoga.com/midnight-hour-yoga-personal-healing-transformation-4a6369255770#.gkk4n43m6/

http://www.asanajournal.com/gift-from-the-core/

http://www.release-into-savasana/

http://www.asanajournal.com/by-a-thread/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/5-tips-one-requirement-for-coaching-yoga-newbies-93326/
http://www.asanajournal.com/my-beautiful-feet/

https://seattleyoganews.com/5-coaching-tips-for-yoga-newcomers-and-one-requirement/

http://www.asanajournal.com/making-heroes/

http://www.asanajournal.com/the-immigrant-asana/

http://www.yogitimes.com/article/discovering-emotional-body-practice-yoga/

http://www.asanajournal.com/sphinx-pose-to-rise-in-righteousness/

http://www.asanajournal.com/storage-wars-and-yogas-emotional-rescue/

http://www.asanajournal.com/a-parable-of-unmaking/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/a-new-planting-a-new-harvesting/

http://www.asanajournal.com/asana-back-to-the-innocent-age/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2016/09/the-year-of-the-monkey-yogas-counter-cultural-mathematic/

https://www.asanajournal.com/the-missing-link/

https://www.yogainternational.com/article/view-my-portable-home-finding-refuge-on-my-yoga-mat/

http://www.asanajournal.com/yogi-heal-thyself/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/lessons-from-yoga-and-freediving/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/the-three-stages-of-a-yogis-transformation-59820-97291/

http://www.yogitimes.com/article/peace-just-a-pause-present-now-accepting-practice-yoga/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/relinquishment-how-a-trip-to-India-can-redefine-our-lives/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/why-bad-prayers-are-good-prayers/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/yoga-and-the-place-of-soul/

http://www.yogitimes.com/article/yoga-covenant-agreement-vow-commitment/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/03/how-yoga-makes-us-kinder/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/why-yoga-should-bring-us-to-social-action/

http://www.yogitimes.com/article/who-moved-the-yoga-mat-practice/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/4-reasons-teachers-should-use-touch-in-yoga/

https://www.yogitimes.com/article/story-of-yoga-poem-parable
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/12/the-yoga-pose-that-healed-my-lower-back-injuries/

http://www.theyogablog.com/favorite-quote-practice/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/mantra-the-power-of-word/

http://www.theyogablog.com/doing-yoga-30-years-now/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/10/ego-injury-10-questions-for-yoginis/

http://www.theyogablog.com/find-silence-yoga-practice/

http://www.doyouyoga.com/how-yoga-moves-from-it-to-it/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/09/mapping-yogas-breathcentric-diamond-body-gregory-ormson/

http://www.theyogablog.com/take-inventory-yoga-yoga-like-aa/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/08/the-savasana-cloud-gregory-ormson/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/07/the-importance-of-living-in-alignment-gregory-ormson/

http://www.theyogablog.com/reality-check-yoga-teachers/

http://www.theyogablog.com/yogas-hidden-benefit-unconscious-mind/

http://www.theyogablog.com/365-days-yoga-completely-changed-life/

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