In his book The Inner Tradition of Yoga, Michael Stone discusses how yoga is the tool by which we are attempting to find equilibrium in our imbalanced selves while existing in a world inherently out of balance. Since starting my yoga teacher training I have certainly begun to find more balance, but I have not been so focused on the whole "world out of balance" part. I continue on my quest to develop my most balanced self, but I am reminded today to remember the rest of the framework in which I live. I have been studying dutifully how to expand the universe of me, but I now have to ask myself "In relation to what?"
Today the imbalance of the world was demonstrated by the hundreds of people who died in a stampede in Cambodia. I cannot think of a more gruesome and eye-opening example of the destructive capabilities of mankind. Hundreds of people were trampled to death by the feet of neighbors and peers. Feet that once danced, feet that dug themselves into wet sand, feet that tiptoed past the doors of sleeping children took lives with manic and thoughtless steps. We have spent centuries evolving our war weapons, but all of it is completely unnecessary; we do not require any tools beyond our own limbs.
Nobody knows what started the stampede.
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So, to this context of consciousness called 'life': I see you, and recognize you, and thank you for everything you are. As you continue to expand and change, so will I. I can leave the footprints, but I can't create the soil - I need you for that.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
If you judge, investigate.
Far Away.
I have said it before: if we abolish the idea that such a place exists, we could end war, inequality, and hatred. But the story which makes me revisit this theory has little to do with physical place. What if this also applies to the quality of our minds?
In this article the lamentable stories are told of mentally ill Chinese citizens and the victims of their violent crimes. Many of the cases are those of untreated or ignored schizophrenia resulting in violent acts against children and the elderly. In the case of Yang Jiaqin, he has received only one month of treatment in the past five years despite obvious signs of schizophrenia. It should not have been surprising when he took a butcher knife and roamed around his home village slashing anyone he came across, including a group of children coming home from school and an elderly couple chopping wood.
It is so easy to make space between ourselves and these instances. In fact, it is our instinct to do so in order that we be able to continue on our way without being damaged. If we absorbed every terrible thing we came across we would all suffer from severe and constant heartbreak. In order to even survive reading articles like this, we must create a little air between ourselves and traumatic events described. However, if we carry this to excess then we enter the realm of judgment and the assumption that such things could never happen to us. So is this the key to curing the mind of judgment?
Winston Churchill said "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals." If we embrace our inner swine, then it will never have to prove to us that it exists. Accepting that insanity, misbehavior, and ignorance are right around the corner levels the playing field between ourselves and the recipients of our scrutiny.
Haha, I feel like I go through all this work to arrive at very obvious conclusions. I suppose that's part of the reality of definitions existing before words.
I have said it before: if we abolish the idea that such a place exists, we could end war, inequality, and hatred. But the story which makes me revisit this theory has little to do with physical place. What if this also applies to the quality of our minds?
In this article the lamentable stories are told of mentally ill Chinese citizens and the victims of their violent crimes. Many of the cases are those of untreated or ignored schizophrenia resulting in violent acts against children and the elderly. In the case of Yang Jiaqin, he has received only one month of treatment in the past five years despite obvious signs of schizophrenia. It should not have been surprising when he took a butcher knife and roamed around his home village slashing anyone he came across, including a group of children coming home from school and an elderly couple chopping wood.
It is so easy to make space between ourselves and these instances. In fact, it is our instinct to do so in order that we be able to continue on our way without being damaged. If we absorbed every terrible thing we came across we would all suffer from severe and constant heartbreak. In order to even survive reading articles like this, we must create a little air between ourselves and traumatic events described. However, if we carry this to excess then we enter the realm of judgment and the assumption that such things could never happen to us. So is this the key to curing the mind of judgment?
Winston Churchill said "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals." If we embrace our inner swine, then it will never have to prove to us that it exists. Accepting that insanity, misbehavior, and ignorance are right around the corner levels the playing field between ourselves and the recipients of our scrutiny.
Haha, I feel like I go through all this work to arrive at very obvious conclusions. I suppose that's part of the reality of definitions existing before words.
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