Ahimsa
Dear friends,
Some people are perhaps familiar with the term “ahimsa.” It is known, in part, as Gandhi’s practice of non-violence. While strictly following the path of non-violence, he was able to dislodge the British from India and set his homeland free.
But what really is ahimsa? In Sanskrit, "a" means 'not' while “himsa” means 'injury', so it is the avoidance of doing injury to any other living being. But I’d like to go a little deeper.
There is a story about Paramhansa Yogananda and his guru Sri Yukteswar. They were together outdoors and Yogananda was just about to swat a mosquito that had landed on his arm. He refrained, not wanting to do harm. Yukteswar surprisingly asked him why he didn’t finish the job as he had already killed it in his heart!
The point is that Yogananda had already committed violence. It is the consciousness of wanting to do harm that is the issue. After all, we are Spirit, not matter.
The mind, of course, immediately goes to the extreme. “What if the mosquito has malaria? What then?” This has nothing to do with what is in our hearts because the physical act is secondary to our consciousness of anger and the desire to destroy what is unpleasant for us.
Had Gandhi tried his tactics on the Nazis, he and his followers simply would have been executed. It worked on the British because of their high-minded nature.
The idea is always to act with an open heart and love. If that requires an act of aggression, so be it. I do not believe that when Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple he lost his temper in a fit of anger, or that he accrued bad karma. If you notice the movie theater is on fire, yell, shout, and push. Where is your heart? Are you defending your little self and ego, or doing what needs to happen? The physicality of the act is always secondary.
To be fair, it is extremely difficult to act aggressively while maintaining nothing but love in the heart. This is not a recommendation to try. But we need to understand that it is our intention and our consciousness that determines whether an act is appropriate or not. If done with truly pure intentions, even if it turns out badly, there is no karma involved.
A great prayer of one of Yogananda’s devotees was, “What comes of its own let it come.” And, “Change not one whit of my circumstance; change only me.” Once we are firmly anchored in freedom, ahimsa is a natural state of mind regardless of whatever physical acts are needed.
May we each work to become free enough always to act without anger, responding only to the call of Spirit.
Blessings,
David G., manager
for the Gang at East West