ARTICLES MAY 2009

ANDREW THOMAS | JEREMY JONES | ELLEN LEE

 

AHIMSA MEANS “TO DO NO HARM” by Godfri Devereux

 Its fundamental, positive expression is being sensitive.  It is not the first quality of Yama, (and therefore of yoga), without reason.  As the basis of cellular intelligence and integrity it has permitted life to flourish on the basis of discriminating between pain and pleasure. As the basis of our attentiveness it is the fundamental expression of consciousness that is an exquisite sensitivity to whatever enters its orbit.  Sensitivity is the very basis of both life and consciousness.

Internally ahimsa means to be able to feel and know that which is actually happening within. It means to experience beyond the obvious and superficial into the subtle, satisfying depths of being human.  This includes physical, energetic and psychological events and that which reveals them.  Sensitivity does not mean being extremely fragile or over-reactive. It means being aware of, and responsive to, what is actually happening.

Externally ahimsa is compassion for others. Compassion does not mean treating people in the way that they would most like: but treating them in the way that most nourishes them. The fire of awakening is one that burns away everything to which we have been clinging for confirmation. Genuine compassion is based on the deep and clear realisation that there is no other; that all that appears to be outside of us is recognised as our outer face.

 If ahimsa is regarded as an aid for self-improvement or a moral imperative it soon becomes a whipping stick. We judge ourselves according to its presence or absence, and easily become snared in guilt, shame or pride. Becoming sensitive and compassionate is not possible through discipline - even though it may seem so for a while. Sooner or later, however, we will be forced, by our honesty, to recognise that insensitivity, both to others and ourselves is constantly happening. The more honest we are, the more insensitivity we experience, at least to begin with.

When ahimsa is used as a lens it allows us to recognise its absence, aggression, more easily. We begin to notice when we are being aggressive, manipulative or exploitative. In that noticing we are expressing, and reinforcing, sensitivity. In responding to it we nourish its offspring, compassion and love. Within the lens of sensitivity aggression, however subtle, begins to dissolve in the transforming light of awareness. This results in a flowering of the love that is inherent to awareness and is dependent on neither its object nor its subject.  Thus a self-perpetuating cycle of sensitivity and love is generated in expression of the integrating intelligence of life functioning freely and fully in conscious awareness. Therefore, without any effort required, we become more loving naturally and effortlessly. This is fundamentally because life fulfils itself more freely and more fully through sensitivity than through insensitivity.

 In yoga posture practice, ahimsa means being sensitive to our actions and their impacts.

 This means being able to feel sensations directly, clearly and deeply. Only then can we access the wisdom of the body, which speaks exclusively through sensation. By being sensitive to our actions and their impacts our practice becomes guided from within, and we become free from the false authority of received knowledge.  Physical sensitivity does not need to be cultivated. It is inherent in cellular intelligence. Without unerringly accurate sensitivity to physical distinction our cells would die. All we need do is use the sensitivity that we are endowed with and ahimsa, as the basis of life and consciousness will fertilise our practice and reveal the subtle, spiritual dimensions of the body and being human.

To find out more about Godfri’s work CLICK HERE.

 

JEREMY JONES | ELLEN LEE

 AHIMSA (NON-HARMING) by Andrew Thomas

When teaching yoga philosophy and especially ahimsa for the last few years, I have imparted these thoughts to my students…Violence is in the mind of the individual. It is part of the programme that all people will receive no matter where they are brought up—even if you are the Dalai Lama you will have witnessed violence and even the current DL has said that as a teenager he went through angst. It is important to acknowledge the presence of this characteristic as “normal” in the sense that it is common and often accepted as normal.  Man has never been able to escape from the programme as a species.  The aspiring yogi has two choices—carry on and ignore what is becoming more obvious within or fully embrace the heritage and accept that violence has been “bestowed” and therefore, one has not been responsible for its presence. Then one can set about changing the programme—the mind can be reprogrammed, gradually replacing that which resides in the mind as apparently immoveable with more appropriate thoughts.  It can begin with the most banal and simplistic—when driving, not becoming cross with other drivers no matter what the transgression and humbly accepting one’s part in whatever mishap occurs, by the simple internal act of saying that because I am here in this car there has been a problem and if I just smile and acknowledge to the offending or offended party that I am sorry all should be well.  For some this is an enormous revelation—the statement is often “well they deserve to have a fist waved at them for being so stupid”. This is the old programme and can gradually be ejected like rubbish into a bin. Taking a whole collection of daily events one can turn anger and internal violent feelings into feelings of intense compassion for those who have not yet realised this.

 Ahimsa starts here—inside every individual. There is no value in lamenting the state of the world since it is just 6.5billion people like ME and YOU doing what we do every day. Thus the need to work on self is paramount. By forgiving all those who have “trespassed against us”—no matter how grave the crime, we march confidently to non-harming as a way of life. So—begin by not criticising yourself and your family members. Start here since there will be lots of work to do here before moving on to solving the world’s problems.

 Love peace and joy…

To find out more about Andrews work CLICK HERE.

ANDREW THOMAS | ELLEN LEE | GODFRI DEVEREUX

MORE ON AHIMSA By Jeremy Jones

 

Strong emotions are not the same as violence.  Passion is healthy, violence isn’t.  A teacher who is not passionate about his subject is a liability, whether he is teaching yoga or mathematics.  Anger is OK, provided it is rational.  Violence is a different matter altogether.  There’s plenty of it about, of course, but we need to ask whether it is innate, “the nature of the beast”, like sex or is it an aberration, an indication that something, somewhere has gone badly wrong?  I believe strongly in the latter and I think there’s plenty of evidence to back up my claim.  Firstly, our nearest animal relatives are rarely violent and when they are, it’s when they’re threatened or hungry.  Secondly, if we look at our ancient, stone-age ancestors and the evidence they left behind for the prehistorians and archaeologists, we find absolutely no evidence of violence.  Contrary to the popular conception, they were not nasty, brutish and stupid.  No military-style weaponry (e.g. swords, shields, battleaxes) has been found from that era, at least in Europe, only hunting weapons.  Yet these same people were capable of producing exquisite artefacts - pottery, bone carvings, rock paintings etc. They probably practiced a form of meditation similar to that practiced by the Harappan culture familiar to yoga historians.  Further, all the evidence suggests a matriarchal rather than patriarchal culture.  You don’t believe me?  Read “The Language of the Goddess” by Marija Gimbutas – a visual feast, as well as historically enlightening.  Warfare (organised violence) came later, probably in the late bronze, early Iron Age.  Indeed, the Iron Age was probably ushered in by a military imperative, namely the need for “better”, more robust weaponry.

 

How did things go so badly wrong?  The whole sorry story is revealed in Saharasia by James DeMeo, available from on-line book retailers or direct from Natural Energy Works, Oregon, USA - www.orgonelab.org  A summary of this lengthy magnum opus would be beyond the scope of this article but suffice to say that there’s nothing new in climate change.  The great deserts of North Africa and Asia were once lush grasslands with year round lakes and rivers, supporting a flourishing human population.  A gradual desiccation of the area caused a hungry and brutalised population to expand outwards in campaigns of conquest and dispossession of other peoples living in neighbouring, more favoured lands.  Thus the concept of “right of conquest” and “the noble warrior” was born.  Some of the book makes for distressing reading but anyone who is interested in the origins of violence and warfare should set their squeamishness to one side and read it.

 

Not all harming is violent, of course.  The more intelligent and devious can do a great deal of damage without raising a fist in anger.  The domineering workplace bully and the office schemer are harmers, as is the manipulative sexual partner.  To understand the destructive nature of such workplace and domestic relationships and mind-games, we can do no better than to read Eric Bern’s “Games People Play”.  A little dated now and politically incorrect but still sadly relevant.

 

These days, life is so complex and difficult that a strict pursuit of Ahimsa is virtually impossible.  If I become a vegan, how do I know that my vegetables are ethically sourced?  If I grow my own, I kill something every time I push a spade into the ground.  What about the ethics of pets and working animals?  If my cat catches a mouse, am I responsible?  Perhaps the best we can do is to do as little harm as possible.

 

A final point where I think we can all agree – Ahimsa starts at home.  As Andrew points out, we can start by avoiding blame and judgement (of self or others) and destructive, unhealthy habits and mindsets.

 

ANDREW THOMAS | JEREMY JONES | GODFRI DEVEREUX

 AHIMSA FROM A YOGA TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE by Ellen Lee

“Ahimsa is not causing pain.  Some authors translate it as non-killing, but it is not that.  Himsa means to cause pain; ahimsa, not to cause pain.  Killing is different from causing pain.  Causing pain can be even more harmful than killing.

 Even by your words, even by your thoughts, you can cause pain” – from The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Words are powerful weapons; as teachers we have an abundance of words at our disposal to offer out to our students.  

As human beings, words volley forward and backwards between us, often without much thought to how we are using them, and the effect they will have.

Can you remember the last time you were “stung” by someone’s words? And how painful it was, and how lasting it was?

If Ahimsa is not causing pain, then we have to consider our words carefully.  

In the teaching of Yoga, we are trying to convey the subject as genuinely as we can.  I have often been a student in a class, where the teacher has not chosen words well, and the message they have been trying to convey has not come through clearly.    

Words are energy – energy is vibration; we feel the vibration of intention as someone speaks to us.  What are they intending?  What are we receiving?

Yoga is a process of self-realisation/Self-realisation – and if this is the journey we are encouraging students to take, then we need to choose our words sensitively.

Ahimsa is integral to that teaching and that journey.  Some students learn by watching, by observing demonstration or reading handouts/flipcharts etc., but many more students learn by listening – I have always been one of those students.  

I was very fortunate that I grew up in an extended family, with Celtic ancestry, where words were so important.  The Elders/Grandparents shared stories, poems and songs which had been passed down through the generations.  I remember fondly, my beloved Grandmother who developed Alzheimer’s disease – she could not hold a conversation with you anymore, but she could recite word for word, all those same stories and poems.  She could sing an old Scottish song word perfect.   

So, I believe strongly as teachers, that in order to satisfy the Yama of Ahimsa, we need to consider our words carefully.   I teach in mental health, where I am aware that patients/clients listen to every word – and often analyse every word!!

Where you have a group of people in front of you, maybe including people coping with addictions, depressions, disorders – believe me you really do have to consider Ahimsa in the form of careful wording!!

As a society in general, there is very little awareness of Ahimsa.  People often speak to each other without consideration, and without awareness of the pain it can often cause.  I would have been interested to “hear the words” at the recent Summit here in the UK!!  Ahimsa???

When I started Yoga at the age of 19 I was very touched by the way the teacher “spoke” – not just the tone of her voice, but the words she used.  They embraced the whole group – and it was a very diverse group; different ages, different abilities – unique people – and her wording touched each person.   

While I don’t need the language of Yoga to be what I refer to as “flowery” and “nice”, it does need to be genuine, it does need to be “kind”.  If Yoga is going to make a difference to people, and as teachers we know it can, then we need to share the teachings through positive, non-violent communication.   

ELLEN LEE

THE BUSHEY SCHOOL OF YOGA

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