Ahimsa

Hello all. I just wanted to type a short post, based on somthing I have been thinking of as of late. Ahisma means non-harming. Our society is built around pushing. Pushing others to do what we want them to do, pushing out minds to learn, pushing ourselves to work harder. We are in a world that is focused on harm. When I think about it, all this pushing that we do, really does cause harm. We are not taght to be in touch with others feelings, with others thoughts, with our thoughts, and our feelings. We are very much rewarded for pushing ourselves, for working over time, for running that extra mile, for avoiding that second piece of dessert. I believe that this is somthing that we need to counter act in ourselves. If we want to live a happy and balanced life, we need to take this concepts of non-harming into our focus. We need to look at all that is, and we need to make peace with it. There is balance between moving forward, and loving what is. This is non-harm. We need to look at our goals, and figure out, are they a souce of harm, to me or anyone else? And if so, why? Is there a way to accomplish a goal that does not cause harm? Or should we maybe be looking at our goal, and doing some re-organizing? I want to end with this quote, that I think is a beautiful picture of self love, non-harm.
The rose; "When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it for being footless and stemless. We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don't condemn it as immature and underdeveloped, nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process that's taking place and give the plant and care it needs at each stage of its delevopment. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its full potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change, yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right, perfectly okay, just as it is."-W.Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game Of Tennis

Just somthing I would like to share

I am starting a yoga teacher training program, and I have been doing some reading in the yoga texts. My perspective of the body, from something that needs to be punished and shaped and subdued, into something that is divine and holy, has really changed how I feel. I have noticed that I am far less angry with myself, when I remember how hard my body works, in order to keep me alive. It works to extract energy from food. It is intelligent, and it compensates for my less that optimal choices. It is the ultimate optimist, in that it takes whatever I give it, weather it is great, or crap, and uses it to do its job. In "Light On Yoga" it says, "The Yogi realises that his life and its activities are part of the divine action in nature, manifesting and operating in the form of man. In the beating of his pulse, and the rhythm of this respiration, he recognises the flow of the seasons and the throbbing of universal life. His body is a temple which houses the Divine spark. He feels that to neglect or to deny the needs of the body and to think of is as something not divine, is to neglect and deny the universal life of which it is a part. The needs of the body are the needs of the Divine Spirit which lives through the body. the yogi does not look heaven-ward to find God for he know that He is within, being known as the (inner self) He feels the kingdom of God within and without and finds heaven lies in himself. Where does the body end and the mind begin? Where does the mind end and spirit begin? They cannot be divided as they are inter-related and but different aspects of the same all-pervading divine consciousness. The yogi never neglects or mortifies the body or the mind, but cherishes both. To him the body is not an impediment to his spiritual liberation nor is it the cause of its fall, but is an instrument of attainment. He seeks a body strong as a thunderbolt, healthy and free from suffering, to dedicate in the service of the Lord for which it is intended. As pointed ou in Mindakopasisad the Self cannot be attained by one without strength, nor through heedlessness, nor without an aim. Just as an unbaked earthen pot dissolves in water the body soon decays. So bake it hard in the fire of yogic discipline in order to strengthen a purify it. We must love our bodies, as they are a part of us, and we are divine.