Ahimsa
Ahimsa (non-violence) is the base of Yoga. It is not passivity, but an action of love. When one practices non-violence one is practicing Yoga. Mahatma Gandhi and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led movements based on non-violence. People who lead movements are not the only ones who have an effect on the lives of others. Personal acts of non-violence ripple through humanity regardless of the press they receive.
On Thursday, March 24, Desmond T. Doss of Piedmont, Alabama, died. Doss is the first of two conscientious objectors in United States history to receive the Medal of Honor. The 87-year-old was a Seventh Day Adventist opposed to killing.
During the Second World War Doss was drafted but obtained conscientious objector status because of his religious principles. He declined to bear arms but he served in the Pacific theater as a combat medic on Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa.
In Okinawa Doss found himself in the battle for a 400-foot-high ridge. As the Americans were driven off the ridge, wounded soldiers were stranded on top. Doss remained with the wounded, refusing to seek cover. He carried them, one by one, lowering each man to safety below the ridge. All of this while under fire. Doss was the last down and was not harmed in the battle. Over fifty lives were saved through his action of non-violence.
In subsequent battles Doss was wounded, once treating himself so that other medics would not have to be exposed to enemy fire. He never bore arms keeping true to his beliefs in non-violence. You can read about Doss in his New York Times obituary.
In present times Yogis are searching for ways to practice non-violence. Our two wars have become tiring to the American people. Over seventy percent of the military personnel in Iraq now say we should pull out within a year.
If the growing anti-war movement does not evolve into an actual peace movement it will forever remain a mere reaction to President Bush’s war.
My belief in Providence leads me to the conviction that there was a reason Yoga boomed in the 1990s and continues to grow today. We are here to help open the world to peace. Finding peace within ourselves is the first step. Private Doss found his peace. He withstood harassment from fellow soldiers and saved lives in the face of intense enemy fire. What ways large or small can each of us do to grow peace in our world?
On Thursday, March 24, Desmond T. Doss of Piedmont, Alabama, died. Doss is the first of two conscientious objectors in United States history to receive the Medal of Honor. The 87-year-old was a Seventh Day Adventist opposed to killing.
During the Second World War Doss was drafted but obtained conscientious objector status because of his religious principles. He declined to bear arms but he served in the Pacific theater as a combat medic on Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa.
In Okinawa Doss found himself in the battle for a 400-foot-high ridge. As the Americans were driven off the ridge, wounded soldiers were stranded on top. Doss remained with the wounded, refusing to seek cover. He carried them, one by one, lowering each man to safety below the ridge. All of this while under fire. Doss was the last down and was not harmed in the battle. Over fifty lives were saved through his action of non-violence.
In subsequent battles Doss was wounded, once treating himself so that other medics would not have to be exposed to enemy fire. He never bore arms keeping true to his beliefs in non-violence. You can read about Doss in his New York Times obituary.
In present times Yogis are searching for ways to practice non-violence. Our two wars have become tiring to the American people. Over seventy percent of the military personnel in Iraq now say we should pull out within a year.
If the growing anti-war movement does not evolve into an actual peace movement it will forever remain a mere reaction to President Bush’s war.
My belief in Providence leads me to the conviction that there was a reason Yoga boomed in the 1990s and continues to grow today. We are here to help open the world to peace. Finding peace within ourselves is the first step. Private Doss found his peace. He withstood harassment from fellow soldiers and saved lives in the face of intense enemy fire. What ways large or small can each of us do to grow peace in our world?
posted by John at 9:23 PM
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