When we practise Yoga we interrogate the mind and our experience of what’s happening to develop an awareness of our thoughts, feelings and behavioural tendencies. What we may discover is that much of what we think and many of the things we say and do have been learned from our ancestors, families and friends and society. This adoption of behaviours and traditions, without questioning their impact, can lead us to do things that may not only be damaging to ourselves but also to others. We may also find ourselves denying that our actions cause harm or even seeking to justify our behaviour, just because we deem it to be ‘normal, natural or necessary’. We might even seek to defend societal norms, perhaps because they offer us benefits, privilege or just align with our preferences - i.e. the gender pay gap, not allowing homosexual couples to adopt children or the right to exploit certain animals.
As insight and awareness develop we may begin to see that we are not isolated from the world around us, in fact, we’re very much connected with everything else - we are political because our words and actions affect. When mindful of the impact we have on the world we can begin to behave in ways that contribute to the building of a more peaceful environment for everyone that lives here. We may see that it simply isn’t in our interest to think, say or do things that cause others to experience suffering.
Throughout the world, humans and other sentient beings are being exploited and oppressed. This oppression can go completely unnoticed as it is so ingrained in our belief systems. Invisible moral hierarchies permit the exploitation of some animals for transport, others for experimentation, entertainment or for food. In different countries, the acceptable species to exploit varies, but the same belief system of oppression remains the same.
In some areas of the world social progress has led to the dismantling of some oppressive political systems and legislation that restricted the freedom of choice of certain people. In other areas, however, oppression remains or is being exacerbated by those that currently wield power. Oppression shows that there is a dysfunction in our relationships, not just as individuals but also as social groups, or as nations. When we find ourselves wedded to a mentality that permits oppression we will not only continue to harm humans and nonhuman animals but we will perpetuate the environmental devastation of planet Earth, the place we depend on for life.
As Yogis, if we wish to work towards awareness and liberation from suffering we must see that our thoughts, words and actions are part of the bigger picture. In 1950 a father whose young son had died wrote to Albert Einstein asking for some comforting words. An excerpt from Einstein’s reply is below - it sums up very well the challenge we face as humans and how we should approach it.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
The letter was quoted in the New York Times on 29 March 1972 and the New York Post on 28 November 1972.
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