What I love about this video is that it really brings home the practice of Ahisma, non harming and non judgement. You can see when Susan first comes on stage that everyone has made a pre and rather harsh assumption about her ability. If they had the gong out on stage, someone may have gave her the boot before she even started singing, that is how palpable the tone was in the audience.
You never can be too sure. Be careful about the assumptions and judgements you make as you go through your day. Next time you judge someone, think about this video and how it demonstrates that the treasure isn’t always obvious when it is hidden in the chest.
I was contemplating how to end of the week in the practice of Ahisma, the first Yama in one of four limbs of yoga. Then this story came across my desk yet another time. I have seen this story in several different formats over the last year and each time it brings a smile to my face and opens my heart:)
Today is the day I move this story forward and share it with you. It is a perfect example of the practice of Ahisma, of non-harming and non-violence.
This is ‘Faith’
This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3
legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed
to be amputated. He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his
mother did not want him.
His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he
was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep’. By this time, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.
She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself.
Therefore she named him ‘Faith’.
In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements.
Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to stand up and jump around.
Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward.
After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.
Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows. There is even one book entitled ‘With a little faith’ being published about him.
His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul’.
It is a privilege and an honor to live in a place where technology gives us access to the special stories in the world. It is also a privilege to live in a part of the world where we are able to have the time, the resources, and space in our lives to do something so compassionate. Compassion towards this dog has transformed many lives, including no doubt, that of the current owner.
I have often said: It is difficult to imagine the positive aspects of right action over the long haul. Each time we practice Ahisma (non-harming, non-judgement) we acrue energy. It is said that the energy of every thought, action and deed is stored in the universal field. Through right action and right thought, one small piece at a time, your life can become almost unrecognizable. You may look back and and say I couldn’t have imagined the impact of this decision at the time.
For every person whose life has been touched by this story we give thanks to Faith and the one who had Faith and practiced Ahisma.
This week is for the practice of Ahisma. The essence of Ahisma is non-judgement and non-harming. Today I considered the practice of Ahisma as it pertains to your yoga study itself.
If you practice yoga, maybe you have noticed that not only are you struggling with some postures but you also struggle with the judgement you have about your ability to achieve the postures.
Yoga means “becoming one”. As long as you stand in judgement of your ability to achieve a posture or a practice within yoga, you will miss the experience of the integration that is yoga. We all have to experience boredom, discomfort, irritation, impatience, hesitation, and even distraction during the postures at some time. In a culture that promotes “full speed ahead, excellence at all costs, no pain no gain” we shall find it hard to just be observant of these feelings. We have not learned to watch them come and watch them go. Rather we sit in judgement, get discouraged and sometimes even quit.
In the western culture, the predominant focus is on the Asanas (postures) and this makes us susceptable to the ego’s process of continuous judgement. It makes us susceptable to quitting the practice due to the feeling listed above. We cannot sustain ourselves through the judgements of ourselves, our teacher, someone elses behavior in the class, the time of day and just about anything to keep us from the true learning in yoga: which is allow and let go.
We can learn that the development of some of the other aspects of yoga such as brahmacarya (meditation), santosa (contentment), and svadhyaya (self study) can make the practice more enjoyable. We can then take rest while in an active posture instead of reaching total exhaustion by fighting ourselves.
If you practice Ahisma: non judgment in yoga practice itself I and sure you will find the whole process a lot more enjoyable.
Whenever we are entrenched into negative behavior, the yoga sutras suggest we increase the amount of time and energy we spend on positive behavior.
This week is a week to practice Ahisma. The essence of Ahisma is the practice of non-judgement and non-harming. We have carried this into the subjects of judgement of oneself, judgement of others as individuals, and judgements of others as groups and on day 4, the practice of non-harming in regards to the enviroment.
Today the practice of Ahisma is with extension into compassion and forgiveness.
It is one thing to have a mind that is currently free from a negative thought or words. It is another thing to extend compassion not as a response following a negative thought you want to replace, but compassion just for the sake of it.
For today: “open up your heart to all living things” just for the sake of having a compassionate heart. I heard a story the other day, that I think represents the practice of Ahisma in this context.
A woman was in a car accident and was about to die, having an out of body experience. As she was experiencing this phenomenon, she could hear and see the thoughts of different people in the cars who were being retained by the traffic jam caused by the accident.
Coming out of various cars were the following thoughts: I’ll be late for work! I hate when this happens! I should have stopped for a bite to eat before I got on the road today, now I won’t have time. I hate when they don’t have enough help at the scene, because traffic is blocked a lot longer etc etc.
Strangely enough though, out of a single vehicle was the following thoughts: I pray for the safety of the people in this accident. May they be healed, may their pain be resolved. I pray for their families. May they not suffer.
The woman then explained that in that very moment, she was taken back into her body and the licence plate number of the car where the prayer originated was permanently melded into her mind. Pretty strange stuff I know, but it gets better! She was then ushered into the ambulance only to spend months in hospital, physiotherapy, in and out of various surgeries etc.
It was not until over 1 year later, that the woman in the car accident tracked down the woman who sent prayer to her during the accident. She just wanted to say thanks. She felt that the woman’s prayer was the reason she didn’t die that day.
So, in that moment, not only did the woman in the car refrain from negative thoughts-she extended Ahisma even further and extended love and compassion towards someone she didn’t even know. Who would have ever thought, her actions would impact the life of another just by the extension of thought.
It is said that all actions and thoughts are recorded in the energetic universe forever. So what will be the impact on the world of the thoughts you had today? Let it be love and compassion. It may impact someone you don’t even know, in ways you cannot even understand. So for today, practice Ahisma in the context of love and compassion extended to someone else for no reason. Just walk by someone in the hall and in your mind send them compassion and a prayer that says: may their life by happy and joyous, may they not suffer and have everything they need.
You can even try it right now. How about sending this man a prayer. We don’t know him, his situation, or even if he is alive. Let us extend compassion and love in a prayer for him, his family, his pets or whatever. Just practice Ahisma, the exact content doesn’t matter, it is the compassion that counts.
This week is a week to practice Ahisma. The essence of Ahisma is the practice of non-judgement and non-harming. We have carried this into the subjects of judgement of oneself, judgement of others as individuals, and judgements of others as groups.
Today , consider the practice of Ahisma as it relates to the enviroment. The practice of non violence, non harming towards the enviroment is essential to the preservation of our livelihood on earth. One way to consider the practice of Ahisma with reference to the enviroment is taking a break away from excessive consumption. No matter how much advertising and marketing says you must partake, you have the free will to say no, if only for today.
Each and everyday we are taught, pressured, lured into the belief that we are what we do, what we have, and how successful we are. The level of consumption we have is equated with the level of success. The bigger the house, the fancier the car, the more gadgets and games we possess, the bigger the vacations, the more cell phones we can hook together in one plan…..are all indicators of our level of success. In a competitive world, we think we are in the lead if we have all these things. But really, are we?
Do you go through your day with a sense of accomplishment and peace because you have accumulated these many things? Or do you always have a sense of never enough, always chasing, always moving and yet never arriving? It is easy to see that joy and peace will never follow consumption, no matter how much we have been brainwashed to believe it is so.
The truth is, we are all vunerable. In the words of Byron Katie: Life is as it is. The only thing we can control is our attitude and actions. When you practice Ahisma, there are many obstacles.
So, for today, only for today: practice Ahisma or non-harming towards the enviroment. Take a break from buying something today, disposing of something that is still useful, or destroying something that no longer pleases you but is still functional. Consider a walk in nature and give thanks for the things the universe gives us for free everyday. We all get oxygen to breath today, the earth still has trees and water for us to drink and use and enjoy.
If we practice Ahisma towards others today, we can even enjoy what the universe offers us in terms of love and joy. Get out of your head and the ego’s need to get more and rest in the moment: looking for what has been graciously given for you to enjoy. No matter how rough it is for you, there is always something to be grateful for today. If you had a shower give thanks. If you had water to drink say thanks. If you had a home to live in says thanks. If you had some food today give thanks. It is said that if you have a dish full of change on your dresser night stand, you are more wealthy than something like 80% of the worlds’ population.
Today is a good day to practice Ahisma towards the enviroment. Have a great day.
Whenever we are entrenched into negative behavior, the yoga sutras suggest we increase the amount of time and energy we spend on positive behavior. 