Atha Yoganushasanam

Now begins the discourse on Yoga...and other things...The classical eight limbs of Yoga begin with Ahimsa, or non harming, non violence. Peace, dawgs. Peace is more than the absence of war. Violence is a state of mind, it can begin with a look, a thought, an intention to cause harm. According to BKS Iyengar, violence arises from fear, ignorance, greed.

When we truly are in control of ourselves, when we truly understand ourselves, when we approach the world and its wonders with an open heart and mind and can see that a child in one country is exactly the same as a child in any other country, how can we possibly wish it any harm?

Once we know that the child is the same, we must then know that its mother must also be the same in any country, for what must any mother wish for her child but for it to grow up healthy, happy, and secure? Now that we know that all mothers are the same everywhere, we must then know that all fathers are the same everywhere - every father wishes the same for his children, doesn't he - to see them strong, to see them grow up and make lives for themselves, marry and have children of their own? Knowing that fathers are the same everywhere, then brothers and sisters must also be the same all over the world.

We are all human after all, one race, one people. We may speak different languages, follow different creeds and religions, have different customs, but we all bleed red blood, breathe the same air, drink the same water. When we die we all go back into the same earth, and while we may use different names for the concept of God, there really can be only one Giver of Life...

Daaiina...And so it is...