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Physical and spiritual toning are the twin pillars of a blissfully trendy gym in Venice, California, built around the embodiment of the Buddha. Members dig the low-key approach to getting centered by getting buff.
by George Wolfe
VENICE, Calif. — When you enter Buddha's Gym, hanging purple drapes, flickering candles and a mural of Shirley Maclaine bring your attention to an inscription on the far wall: "Embrace suffering — and move on."
THE EYES HAVE IT:The colorful facade of the latest Venice gym fits with the neighborhood's funky, unglued-from-time architecture.
Patt Chouli, the gym's founder and manager, is a 37-year-old woman with raven-black hair, eggplant frame and "Get Over Your Self" inscribed across the seat of her hempy sweatpants. She hustles through a tour of prospective members.
"The first illusion you've probably already encountered is that because of the image of the Buddha, you must be fat to get in here. That's simply not true — chubby works just fine." "We also offer a popular 'BuddhaSizeIt' class... and 'Dharma and Spinning,' featuring the dreaded cycle of Samsara... and our 'Karmaerobics' classes are catching on, too."
— Patt Chouli, founder/manager, Buddha's Gym One tour member asks about the female-male ratio. Chouli responds, "We're about 60-40. In fact, many of our female clients admit they come here because they're tired of the leers they get at the mainstream meat-market gyms. The vibe here is totally chill, totally hip, 100% shanti."
OMMM...NIPOTENCE!:Products like this one, sold at the gym store, promise an uplifting boost of cosmic energy.
On the way to the workout room, we pass a food and juice bar with esoteric names emblazoned on the menu overhead: Lotus Power Shake, Himalayan Smoothies, Tibetan Drink of the Dead, Nirvana Nutritional Bars, Chakra & Okra, Tofu or Not Tofu, Dharamsalad, Tantric Toast & Cosmic Egg, and Kundalini Alfredo.
Chouli brings us to the first workout machine, where a muscular blond young man wears a shirt which depicts the Buddha sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, eyes shut, curling dumbbells with his wrists. "We call this step machine the Eightfold Path. Each of the eight levels gets increasingly difficult, but when you get to the top, you'll see that it's well worth the work." In fact, as we sneak a peek at the exerciser's monitor, it shifts from level six, "Right effort," to level seven, "Right mindfulness."
We pass another step machine which simulates climbing 108 steps to the top of a Buddhist stupa while chanting is piped into the person's headphones. As the exerciser walks along he gazes into a screen image of the so-called "third eye."
At another station, a man grunts as he tries to turn a giant brass "prayer wheel" cylinder around a steel pole. Each rotation changes the digital number on a nearby monitor.
"In L.A.," admits Chouli, "not everyone will make time to meditate, but they'll make time to go to the gym. So we kill two birds with one stone — but no birds were really hurt. You know what I mean.
"We don't like to get too hung up on machinery. That's why in these other rooms you'll see we also offer a popular 'BuddhaSizeIt' class… and 'Dharma and Spinning,' featuring the dreaded cycle of Samsara… and our 'Karmaerobics' classes are catching on, too."
The end of our tour fittingly brings us to a sign over the exit which states simply, "If the roots are strong, the tree will flourish — but sometimes things just die... so prepare for whatever."
Chouli clasps the palms of her hands together and bids us all a shanti day.
SUFFER... THEN MOVE ON: The new Venice, Ca. gym builds upon the Lord's Gym Christian franchise.
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