It is said that Mahatma Gandhi had only one book in his possession, and that book is the Bhagavad Gita. It's a book important in the tradition of yoga, and one considered to be holy in Hinduism. We do not have to be Hindu to appreciate the teachings in this book, as they are relevant to our lives and individual situations.
The main character of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, is a warrior. His dilemma is that in the midst of the battlefield, he identifies as a peaceful person and does not want to participate in the fight, especially as it is his own relatives involved in this battle. God appears to him through Krishna, and it was only at that point that he felt helpless, completely uncertain of what to do, seemingly trapped in chaos and suffering, that he was able to truly listen to the message that it is his duty to fight. We too are caught in the midst of a battlefield. There is a so-called war on drugs waged by our government, but it is more accurately a war on the poor. Everyday we hear reports of state-sanctioned killings, executions without just trials. As yogis, there may be a part of us who does not wish to participate. We may not want to hear the news because they're negative, we may not want to be involved because we identify as non-violent persons, we may not want to look at the world outside, and we may wish to focus on our own meditation instead. The other day, I heard an activist speak, and he said that contrary to what we may think, he is not brave, in fact, he is one big coward. He now speaks up against the extrajudicial killings because all the fear that he possesses as a coward is being depleted. "Nauubos na ang takot ko", he said. And so it is, that peace is not attained by inaction or apathy or indifference or denial. If we truly want peace, we must be willing to bear witness. More than that, we must be willing to participate in the fight. We must be active citizens speaking up when we see injustice. My teacher Sharon Gannon said that we cannot help but be political, because it means we care about the way we live, the way we share this space with others. We now have a choice to make, to fulfill our duty as Arjuna did, to be warriors in this fight, to stand up against injustice, to be active citizens of the world we live in.
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Everywhere you look, you see what you're looking for. What you fill your heart and mind with is what you are devoted to, what you are committed to experiencing in this life.
If our minds are filled with our egos and smallness and triviality, that is what we will see. We'll see chores as something we need to tick off a list, our job as something to do simply to survive, our days to be filled with activities to pass the time. We see situations as competition, differences as separation. We constantly try to get ahead of others. If our minds are focused on something bigger than us, be it a cause we are pulled towards, or a connection we have with other beings, or our devotion to the divine or God, then that is what we will see. We'll treat our chores with joy bec we enjoy doing them every moment, we'll see our jobs as an act of service, we'll use our days by filling it up with actions that help bring more peace and happiness in the world. Differences become small miracles, as they both fascinate us and draw us in. Ram Dass said, everywhere you look, you see what you're looking for. So why look for trivialities, when we can see the divine? Why be stuck in smallness when we can choose greatness? Why focus on ego when we can bring our hearts and minds to devotion to what is bigger than us? |
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