Good day, Steemians!
At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first of eight limbs of ashtanga yoga are the yamas, or codes of conduct. Ahimsa = non-violence is the first of the yamas, so I invite a discussion of that principle with this post.
Personally, I don't care for dogma, nor do I subscribe to absolutes. I’m no pacifist; I believe there are plenty of justifiable reasons to use force against another person or creature. What about an instance where killing one person would save a thousand, or self-defense against a rapist? How about facing starvation vs. eating a fish? And what about the fact that our very own bodies are highly evolved to destroy invasive micro organisms? I doubt anyone would find it acceptable to sacrifice themselves so that Shigella bacteria could live undisturbed in their own guts.
Exceptions aside, I believe non-violence is generally an honorable value, and that a truly worthy discussion of violence begins by looking within:
Negative, angry, violent thoughts and emotions create an immediate reaction within the body that literally damage the systems and cause disease. This is karma! The one who hates is physically harming themselves.
This simple perspective, shared with me by my extremely wise and benevolent mentor, shook me to my core. It changed my life so drastically that I left an abusive relationship and devoted myself to reprogramming dysfunctions within myself. Happily, I found that unplugging from abuser/victim dramas frees up a shit-ton of energy to use for self-love and remodeling the inner landscape! I'm not responsible for how anyone else conducts themselves in this life; if I want to know real love and peace, then I have to cultivate it within myself.
To me, "love thy neighbor as thyself" is not a mere suggestion, but a demonstration of karma. If I love myself, I love my neighbor. If I hate myself, I hate my neighbor. Either way, I'm treating them the same way I treat myself; it's inescapable. It all starts with my own feelings, thoughts, and intentions.
It's nice to be nice to other people or whatever, but to me the real reason to practice non-violence is to love and honor my own health and wellbeing!
When I'm in love and honor of myself and my body, I do not subject myself to the disease that hate and anger and jealousy and judgment and other low-vibe feelings create. And when I'm in love with myself, I can refrain from punching an asshole in the face - even if "they deserved it" - because I don't want that karma playing out in my body, mind, or spirit!
The revolution begins within. -- @quinneaker
What are your thoughts on the yama of
ahimsa = non-violence?
ahimsa = non-violence?
💛 Sara!
This is one of my very favourite principle of action. the difficulty is to define what one understands as violence. for me thoughts can be violent, screams to others gestures of course and so on.
I'm so glad that you came to realize enough about it to leave an abusive relationship because we all win by you being in love with yourself. You light shines from within on and on outwardly for all to shed the darkness.
Thanks for sharing, namaste! :)
I think we live in a world where violence and force are really misunderstood and misused, and the solution lies in personal responsibility. I believe my people the Americans have become waaay too sensitive to what other people choose to say and do and even wear, and they blame others for their own emotional reactions. To me it's a worthwhile topic to consider, as self-empowerment is vital to the next phase of human evolution.
That is a beautiful statement that I fully agree with, @eric-boucher! The world is so much better when each individual stands firmly in love, which starts and ends with the self.
Aggressive or unnecessary violence is the quickest and most apparent way to invalidate yourself completely. I encourage many of the people I meet to adopt healthy habits as an efficient means to appreciate those around them. Nice post, I'm glad I read this.
Grateful you found value in it, @anabasisfitness~
I have known many "grown ups" who still throw temper tantrums. It's quite distasteful to me, and I would prefer not to be around them, but I live in a very unique community that attracts many people who need healing. I recognize that violent individuals are traumatized and stunted from who knows what happened to them in childhood. The best I can do is take their example for what I don't want to be, and be exemplary in love and forgiveness.
The more we love ourselves and are satisfied with who we are and are in linie with our values the more others benefits from us. Which creates a positive circel.
I agree with that, @flipstar! We have so much to shine and share when we root ourselves in love, and everyone is improved by those positive vibrations!
Yoga is also the foundation on which to grow spiritually, and growing spiritually will bring people closer to non-violence and spreading unconditional love. The solution to many world problems.
Love conquers all! 💛
Ahimsa = non-violence --- learned somthing! And I love that weaponized picture ;-)
Thanks, @sanjabudin!
It's an interesting topic and one that I feel we all most ultimately define for ourselves. We have to know our own willingness and resolve for peace and our own limits of what we accept and endure before retaliation is justifiable. Absolutes are absolutely ridiculous.
I agree, @philosophy-trail. Ideally, anyone who chooses violence is doing it consciously rather than simply reacting to external triggers.
Last time I did yoga I broke my smartphone from my backpocket.
Will so do again though.
Oh man, that's a bummer! Are you going to Steemfest 2, @skapaneas??
not gun - not war! ;)
I'm not a fan of war as it is a senseless waste of resources, but I recognize the value of a gun as a tool, and I believe everyone has the right to arm themselves as they see fit.
"A well armed populace is the best defense against tyranny."
This is by far the cutest yoga posing-gun holding photo I have EVER seen. Just look at those little hearts on your sweater. And your dimples! Thank you for being you Sara <3
I love that yoga begins with non-violence. It sets the pace for everything that is to come.
In my experience true love always comes from within, I can not love someone and stay in a relationship if I'm not loving myself first.
So by loving yourself 100% you not only make your own life better, but also that of everyone you are involved with because you can see your true self, that spark of consciousness, within everyone. So by loving someone else, in essence you are loving yourself.
Thanks for your input, @erikdenoorman - love is so awesome!!! How great that loving ourselves is also a ginormous gift to the entire world!
I wish I could do yoga as you do.
By the way: About your password you should check out this post:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@noisy/we-just-hacked-11-accounts-on-steemit-1158-sbd-and-8250-steem-is-under-our-control-but-we-are-good-guys-so
Thanks for the heads up, @steemit.nemesis!
I'll happily trade my yoga know-how for some mad cyber skillz if you're down to exchange our super powers...??
What would love do?
Love would do just that.
I think you touch upon an important aspect of the concept of non-violence here with the realization that ahimsa is not simply absence of violence, but something more positive and proactive than that.
While this can be uplifting on a personal level, it is slightly worrying in the broader perspective that—similar to how the Sanskrit word ahimsa is just the negation of the Sanskrit word for violence, himsa—none of the major languages in the world even have a word for non-violence.
The fact that the concept has been marginalized to the point of not even having a word which describes it, says a lot about human nature and our history on this planet.
Luckily the future is still in our hands.
I've worked hard to accommodate both non-violence and personal self-respect in my life. By that I mean that if someone hits me, I do not respond with violence (that would be revenge or punishment), but if they raise their hand to hit me again, I do what is necessary to respect my physical person by preventing that attack.
What was necessary for me, is to know a place where I can physically manhandle someone without hate or anger. I learned most about that by working in a Senior care center. My 2 decades of aikido practice were nothing compared to a couple of months restraining senior patients, whom I had come to love, to prevent them from hurting themselves or others. The balance between preventing their actions while taking greatest care not to hurt them was illuminating.
Fortunately, I have not had to be involved in physical combat in many years, but I'm starting to learn to bring that to internet confrontations... it's a learning process.