In the presence of one who is established in non-violence, enmity is abandoned.
Just to be clear, a saint exudes this quality that inevitably rubs off on his patrons; the yogic mind is pervasive and can penetrate others around them, countering the violent, aggressive tendencies.
At its core, Ahimsa does mean non-violence, but greater than that are definitions of love and non-harm. Love for yourself, your friends and neighbors and all beings can be hard when referring to the simplicities and lack of awareness we have in 2022.
You see, Ahimsa is the primary rule/reason dedicated yogis do not eat meat. It's not religious by any stretch of the definition. Eating meat has a tendency to be impure and gives us digestive distress. Painful digestion is harmful! Also, killing the animal is absolutely hurtful harmful. It's outlined very expressly that if you eat meat, you are simply just making up rules as you go to accommodate your agenda with your dedicated asana practice. It's explicitly thought out in Book 2 of The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali by Edwin Bryant: " ...All these exceptions may hold good elsewhere in other contexts but, for the yogi wishing to attain the goals of yoga outline in his text, say the commentators, this sutra emphatically specifies that any such mitigating factors or conditions no longer apply. Non-violence and the other Yamas must be practiced at all times, in all conditions, everywhere, irrespective of any considerations whatsoever." Does that mean you should give up your yogic path and not meditate or stop showing up to your vinyasa practice? NO, absolutely not. It's just something to consider and be aware of.
Based on Edwin Bryant's quote, it can't be more clear that if you kill a bug, you aren't following the 8 Limbed Path. The theory would go, if you killed a mosquito, you have harmed that mosquito. The yogic belief of perspective is that that mosquito had a soul, much like yours and you killed it. You caused harm to that mosquito and so now, this ripens your next karmic seed to grow and bud. The mosquito was put on this world on purpose? Why? We don't know. However, we have a food source for it and depriving that would be opposed to Ahimsa.
On the mat, Ahimsa could be interpreted as self love, not moving past a painful edge, sitting out a vinyasa to preserve a worn out shoulder or even choosing to attend a slower yoga class as opposed to a yang styled class. The Western athletic world has programmed young bodies to subscribe to the "No Pain, No Gain" mantra and this is exactly opposite of Ahimsa, but also how the dhatus or tissues of the body work. Anything that causes pain will cause inflammation and when the body lives with inflammation for too long, it becomes dis-eased and the whole point of asana, pranayama, mindfulness is to live a life full of ease.
Off of the mat, Ahimsa can be see in the way we speak, act and respond. Not responding with such an edge to our tone would be more loving. Ahimsa can be seen as helping a woman to her car with her groceries, taking an extra shift from a coworker with zero expectations, or letting the person in a hurry ahead of you in the car line.
To conclude, every single Yama and Niyama after Ahimsa are based upon Ahimsa. So, if there is a question about another Yama or Niyama, we resort to Ahimsa - is this problem in question aligned with non-violence, non-harm and love for all? Then we can deliberate more. If at anytime something causes there to be harm, violence, aggression or missing of love, then the action, tone, speech or thought needs to be re-evaluated and its origin needs to change.
I hope you are interested and living to the fullest expression of the Yamas and Niyamas. Check it out in January, when we spend a full 12 weeks practice the Yamas and Niyamas in our day to day lives in regards to the bodies healthy rhythms, sleep states, wakeful states, eating habits and relational patters.
Next on the agenda is Satya ...
Comments