Ahimsa - non-violence
Writer: Felix Quist Møller
23.02.23
“Men take to violence to protect their own interests – their own bodies, their loved ones, their property, or dignity. But a man cannot rely upon himself alone to protect himself or others. The belief that he can do so is wrong. A man must rely upon God, who is the source of all strength. Then he will fear no evil.” - B.K.S Iyengar
Ahimsa non-violence.
Dear reader. Welcome back to Healing Arts!
During the next few months I will take you on a deep dive into the yogic philosophy and how it relates to my own life as well. Hopefully you will gain some insights in what yoga is all about.
Last week we introduced The Eight Limbs, Ashtanga, which were written by Patanjali in a work called the Yoga Sutras. We also began investigating Yama which is the first of the eight limbs and it contains five principles of nature. They are like universal moral laws on how to behave in this world, much like the ten commandments. This week we will focus on the first one called Non-violence, ahimsa.
The a in ahimsa means not, just like it would mean anti in Latin, and himsa means ‘to kill’ or violence in general. However, its meaning is not so much to be interpreted as a negative rule like thought shall not kill, but more the opposite, meaning love. The first universal law of the first eight limbs is LOVE. Love the world, love your Self, love others. I can personally relate to the positive effect of that. It is a love that is to be understood as embracing the entire universe and all its creations, since we are all children born from the same Source. If you are wondering where you should get that love from, the love to everyone and everything and not just your family, it would come from this Source. Personally, when I turn to this source of universal love and pray to it, I call it God. However, it comes in all shapes and sizes. It could be in the shape of a person talking to me, or a number or an animal or an intuitive thought or even a vibration and sound. The aum-sound is said to be the sound of this universal vibration, permeating everything and resonating through the entire cosmos. So, the invocation of aum is also a direct prayer to the Source.
When I act purely according to my nature, I act like the animal-human I am; an ape with survival instincts, who will do whatever it takes to claim my space in the world. This part of me will steal, rob, and kill, if necessary, to get food or protect myself or loved ones from danger. This violence is a state of mind and can therefore be controlled and even harnessed like in martial arts. But just because I have fists, it doesn’t mean I will use them for punching. The same hands can also be used for healing like massaging others for instance, or creations like painting. Therefore, this principle encourages us to choose love and creation over violence and destruction if possible.
That was Ahimsa, Non-violence! Next week we will take a look at Satya, Truth
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Namaste
Felix
