My teacher Sharon Gannon said, “If we want to predict the future, we make history now.” Our actions now determine what the future holds, just as our past actions have determined our present reality.
The Sanskrit word karma means action. According to yogic teachings, there are 4 basic laws of karma: (1) karma is certain (2) karma is expansive (3) if you do something, it will come back to you (4) if you do not do something, it will not come back to you. And so, to apply this, we can think of what kind of future we want for ourselves, our society, and the world as a whole, and we start creating those actions now. Intention creates the seed of the future. Think of what it is that your heart truly desires. If we want happiness for ourselves, then we give others their happiness and do not ever deprive them of it. If we want freedom for ourselves, then we give others their freedom and do not ever take their freedom away from them. The laws of karma are very simple, and indeed very empowering. We create our future reality based on the actions we choose to take now, and what better way to create good karma than making vegan choices— to create a present that is kind to others that pave the way to the future of our heart’s desire.
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There’s a woman named Colleen Patrick-Goudreau whose body of work is rooted in compassion. She teaches how to live compassionately, how to eat compassionately, how to interact with others compassionately. In one of her podcast episodes, she tells the story of how she and her friends stood outside the boundaries of a hunting ground. Their intention was to save the animals whenever they can, whenever they are able to get to the animals first. She said that she consciously chose her stance. Instead of having her arms crossed, glaring at the hunters as they pass by, she chose to stand tall, in what seemed to me almost like a tadasana position— feet grounded, chest open, arms alongside the body. And while the hunting was going on, even as they would hear the gun shots, she would recite a mantra inside her head: May my heart be open so I could open the hearts of others. While none of the hunters stopped hunting that day, she was able to talk to some of them, and hopefully that was a seed planted in some way.
The way we interact with each other these days is often devoid of compassion. Many times, when we talk to people, we don’t even see them. We don’t see their facial expressions; we don’t hear the tone of their voices. It’s very easy to feel disconnected and deduce people into the mere disagreement we have with them. It’s far too convenient to ignore our deep-seated similarities and look at the surface differences instead. But for us human beings to survive and thrive in this world, we must create a world where compassion is the norm and not the exception. If we were to be the tribe of the future, we badly need to treat each other with compassion now. Think of a person or a group of persons you disagree with. Practice seeing them for the whole persons that they are. Say to yourself: May my heart be open so I could open the hearts of others. May my heart be open so I could open the hearts of others. May my heart be open so I could open the hearts of others. The tribe of the future is made up of those of us who boldly see that compassion is the path— unconditional compassion that embraces even those whom we disagree with. |
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