I was in the Sivananda Yoga Ashram. And all seemed to me like it all has stopped. Time was passing by of course but I was like no time, I just was -- being. I watched everyday life and practices of inhabitants of the Ashram, I was eating vegetables, practicing yoga, walking around, sitting… nothing else…
In Ahsram I met Ahimsa. Ahimsa: attitude of non-harming, non-injury. Sivananda – one of the greatest sages prescribed Ahimsa as a way of life. Ahimsa is a practice that develops love, true love – universal love and pure, divine breath. Where there is love, there is Ahimsa. Where there is Ahimsa, there you meet love and a kind attitude towards people and the world. Ahimsa is not a yoga position. Ahimsa is a state of being. This state, this attitude lies in the heart of the practice of yogis as well – I feel – actually, it lies in the heart of everyone. Ahimsa – the attitude not to hurt (self, others, the world, everything). A friend of Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation teacher, once said: If I can not do anything useful, I would like to hurt as little as possible. This attitude is worth living every day.
How would it be to live so as to cause the least injury, damage and suffering in the world? If we lived in such a way, we would be much more friendly and greater for ourselves.
The attitude of Ahimsa should start from ourselves and our own life. We do too much harm to ourselves, we hurt ourselves in many ways, criticizing, judging… And if to show kindness, love and nurturing to each other? And do the same to our beautiful planet?
Are you heavy-handed to yourself? Do you judge yourself? Show kindness to yourself, remember to practice Ahimsa. See what it can bring. Who are you to others? Be the attitude of Ahimsa, be good and kind. How do you treat our Earth, a place where you live? Love this place. Ahimsa. Do you go beyond limits of your strength? Ahimsa. Do you ignore yourself and your inner desires? Ahimsa.
Be kind. Do good. Love all.
An attitude not to hurt is the attitude free from fear. Free from polarization, beliefs, viewpoints, judgments and criticism (and all of this is based on fear). This attitude allows you to see your own fears and understand them, take responsibility for them, and release them as well as free yourself from them (transform).
Ahimsa is the attribute of the soul and therefore to be practiced by everybody in all the affairs of life. If it cannot be practised in all departments, it has no practical values. Mahatma Gandhi. If you can’t love King George V, say or Winston Churchill, start with your wife or your husband, or your children. Try to put their welfare first and your own last every minute of the day, and let the circle of your love expand from there. As long as you are trying your very best, there can be no question of failure. Mahatma Gandhi.
Let’s be good to ourselves. Just this. Be kind. Do good. Love all.
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