With all the sadness and bad news of violence this week (Beirut, Paris), I know many of us are feeling the heaviness and sadness. When these things happen there are two approaches: to live and generate more fear, more division, more disunity, or to be the change we wish to see in the world. As Martin Luther King said so well:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
In yoga terms we use the yama (one of the moral/ethical guidelines for the practicing yogi) of ahimsa, which translates as non-harming, non-violence. The free dictionary uses this definition:
Ahimsa-Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu doctrine expressing belief in the sacredness of all living creatures and urging the avoidan
We start on our mats and in ourselves by asking what it means to do no harm. Not to ourselves, and surely not to others. In my humble belief, we can only hate others and alienate others if we cannot find love and compassion within ourselves. When we recognize our own humanness, our flaws and failings, we see the same in others and we see it with gentleness and grace. When we draw lines in the sand and set up “them” and “us” scenarios we immediately remove ourselves from the collective of humanity. We no longer operate under the premise that we are all equal and deserving of compassion and love. Separation of ourselves from our true nature, which is one of union, of unity with the whole, is the only thing that allows us to see others as less than, or other than us. And it is the only thing that can lead to hate, and acts of hate. So lets keep our vision and our eyes on being part of the solution, and not get caught up in the layers of hate.
A friend shared this beautiful Fred Rogers quotation that reminds us where to set our gaze:
“when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’.”
Friends, let us find our love and compassion and use it to create more peace and unity than there is hatred in this world.
I’ll leave you with one last quotation that lingers in my head:
Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Daystar of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.
With Love,
Nura
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