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This lecture by Ron Katwijk is the first in a series
of audio recordings from the Teacher Training Basic Course at Magic Pond Yoga School, located at World Gym in Seoul, South Korea on 17 Feb 2011.
LESSON 01 BASIC COURSE
AHIMSA
Yamas are moral principles.
A = Not
Himsa = violence
Ahimsa = the practice of Non-violence
Yoga is synonymous to non-violence. Non-violence is important for relaxation.
We do a wish/vow of non-violence and from that moment on we try to practice non-violence. Be mild with yourself, do your best and that is all you can do. Success lies within the efforts you make, not in trying to be perfect.
Asana means standing still. That is what we pursue in the yoga poses.
The 1st principle to stand still is: To be (actively) soft and non-violent
Ahimsa is one of the five yamas: Ahimsa - Non-violence
Satya - Truthfulness
Asteya - Honesty
Brahmacharya - Chastity
Aparigraha - Non-desire (coveting)
We need these principles in order to obtain peace of mind and to improve the quality and the results of our meditation and of our daily life in general. They are moral principles and are actually expressions of natural laws. You could also call this common sense. Intuitively we know/feel that they are right even without ever being made aware of them.
In the case of Ahimsa we simply refuse to take part in the agression that surrounds us in our daily lives and we try to avoid being the cause of any. Such attitude will cause us to feel better and will add to our happiness and well being. Mostly it is our most important tool to achieve Sattva.
In yoga-terms this comes down to avoinding making new Karma (the law of action and reaction/cause and effect) and in the process to get rid of Karma gathered sub-consiously throughout our lives so far.
Before the universe started to materialize there was total harmony, which is called Brahma (visualise as a straight line without interruptions). Then a Samskara (impression), caused by karma disrupted the harmony (the straight line is waving like restless water) and the universe started to materialize.
Look at it in this way: You are in total peace and harmony, just existing, completely happy and having no sense of time. Impressions from outside are being picked up by the senses, desires arise, disturb the harmony and cause you to act. The nature of your actions will decide to what extent you will lose your peace of mind.
Actions that go against the Yamas or natural laws will create bad Karma and you will end up in a spiral of violence, not only spreading but also attracting acts of violence. It may be clear that these collisions of energy, because that is in fact what Karma is, disrupt your inner life. It works like the domino effect theory or like the ripples that spread when you throw a stone in the water. This will continue until you are being stopped by outside factors (self-destruction) or when you decide to refuse to carry on in that way. This moment is the start of self-realisation and awareness. It is also the end of darkness and the beginning of light.
When we are born we are in this state of Brahma. People who can remember their life from a very young age often start to become aware of themselves through an act that deeply impressed their psyche. This is often an act of violence, mental or physical, but it can also be a very impressive, positive impression. Children who live relatively harmonious lives have their earliest memories of awareness often from the age 7 or 8.
There are three levels of violence: - in deeds
- in words
- in thoughts
Keeping your cool, using your intellect, prevents violence from occurring on all levels. You have a choice: you can concentrate on the disharmony and have yourself dragged into the violence or purposely choose not to go along in the violence. To act in the latter way often causes perpetrators of violence to stand with empty hands being robbed of their reason to be violent.
The sage Patanjali says about this matter: "Go into the vibration, become one with the situation, follow it until you have the feeling that you can control it. Then you manipulate it in the direction that you want."
