A Lesson for the Conflicted Yogi
"The enlightened man regards a nugget of gold and a piece of stone with equal vision." Bhagavad Gita
The Yama's are the first step in the eight limb path of yoga. The first of this first step is Ahimsa, which means to do no harm in thought word and deed; and yet as I finished watching the documentary Gasland, about the fracking of our precious land to extract natural gas, I wondered why someone hasn't taken out Dick Cheney, a leader of this destructive practice.
I know, I know, such terrible thoughts from an experienced practitioner of yoga, but the violent act of hydraulic fracturing involves injecting millions of gallons of water, sand, and toxic, dangerous chemicals, into the earth at such high pressures that rock formations shatter and release natural gas trapped inside. This leads to environmental contamination of the surrounding area on an unbelievable scale.
I had to wonder how Dick Cheney, with a well known list of crimes against the earth and humanity, is allowed to enjoy the freedom of his plunder and continue to shatter the very fabric of our culture. Where is the justice in not bringing this man to trial to be judged by the world for his crimes?
I was thinking that my explosion of outrage must make me a Rogi, or even a Bogi, so I put the question to a few other yogi's after the mornings yoga class.
"First thing that comes to your mind when I say, Dick Cheney and Halliburton?"
"Evil."
"I want to kill him."
"Put him away for a long, long, time."
These were such spontaneous eruptions of emotion I took a step back. It seems I am not alone in the all too human thoughts that grasp for aggressive action.
No doubt the Dick Cheney's of the world who are responsible for the rape of our land, the genetic manipulation of our food supply, the pharmaceutical take over of our minds, the theft of our water supply and the contamination of the air we breathe, would laugh at the dismay I feel for wanting to do them harm. What a lesson their destructive actions present to those holding the space for light and goodness to manifest in this world. My thoughts lower me to their level, but I will continue to think them as they surface unbidden at unexpected moments. As long as the mind functions, there will be thoughts which give me pleasure and some thoughts which give me pain; some thoughts which make me happy, some thoughts which make me sad or angry.
The difference however, is described by Swami Venkatesananda in his book, Philosophy, Psychology and Practice of Yoga, "A yogi's life is a normal life, as in all human beings. He is not a dead piece of wood. He is more human than all of us put together, but he recognizes that the structure of all experiences is precisely the same. When this truth is grasped there is sameness—which means effortless manifestation of appropriate action."
In other words, the emotions and thoughts will happen regardless of your state of grace, but the wise individual recognizes what is occurring and chooses not to act in a way that will cause harm.
As I began writing this blog thousands of people were making their feelings heard by calling the Governors of our surrounding five states to cease and desist the fracking of the Delaware Water Basin. What this means is the destruction of the Delaware River, considered to be the purest source of water in the world. Suddenly a friend called to say that the meeting in Trenton had been cancelled because the Governors had no choice but to hear the anger of the people.
And therein lies the lesson. No one had to physically harm another because we can defeat the greed driven CEO's of destructive corporations with our voices, with our stand for justice against the evil that these people do in the world. We may yet see Cheney behind bars, but it will be by his own doing in awakening the voice of each individual who is driven to take action by their very human emotions.
OM Namo Bhagavate, Divine Delia, thank you for sharing this. Certainly a yogi must control and transcend anger. However sometimes it is still necessary to physically fight. Not necessarily in the case of the former Vice-President, but even in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises Arjuna to fight and kill (in the middle of Chapter 11). After all, the whole Gita is about Arjuna's reluctance to fight, and Krishna guiding him to the realization that as a warrior, it is Arjuna's ordained duty to fight for dharma, which in this case means battling his kith and kin. (I'm using the Gita translation by Swami Sri Atmananda, available at www.SatPub.net.) Hari OM Tat Sat
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