Humans have murdered well over a couple hundred million people by warfare and torture in the 20th century alone. When is a different course of action going to be taken? More people would be genuinely inspired if somehow more of us could cultivate non harming and pacifism as a viable lifestyle. Cooperative living communities have worked beautifully in different areas around the world.The intention for Cooperative living would not be for any spiritual or money making purpose but simply because it may be the only survival choice that will work in the future. Perhaps, I am too much a wishful thinker. Many people cannot get along with the few people who do live in the same home.
In social media we hear and meet people who have actually reached the inner feeling of unity with everything...reverence for life. Moral development involves non harming. Unity and non harming are not a romantic ideal. Look at Gandhi. He inspired people through demonstrations, petitions, strikes, pickets, sit ins, teach ins, go-slows, hunger strikes and more. Today, there are dear souls who are attempting social reform through trans-formative and socially healing power of non harming. Wouldn't it be a hopeful situation if more people would examine and translate the ideal of non harming into daily practice for ourselves, our local community and our global society?
As Patanjali suggested long ago, non harming must be practiced under all conditions, which means in thought, word and deed. More self inspection needs to happen on a regular basis. People are very aggressive today. Abuse is experienced on every level. Even being depressed will bring the energy down in our environment. Coldness and indifference is a form of harming but yet we cannot go around crying all the time by what we see and hear.
We are made kind by being kind. People attend the very popular woman Indian teacher's events simply to receive her hug. That really says something about how people are touch starved. We have progressed remarkably in the area of technology but the heart of humankind needs to be opened. Compassion literally means to "suffer with." I have often thought that collectively humans have a terrible record when it comes to compassion for animals. In that same vein of thought, there always are stories in the news or other printed materials on compassionate acts demonstrated by animals toward all who need it regardless of the kingdom.
Years ago, Adrienne Clarkson, a former Governor General of Canada, said, "For all and everyone we must have compassion because it is in compassion that life consists." I have many close friends who exhibit genuine compassion so much so that they often experience compassion fatigue. Wouldn't it be a life changer if compassion was a 24-7 attitude, which embraces everybody?
I do my best to avoid the news and election discussions. I wish there were narrators who would speak like Lao Tzu spoke of "three treasures":compassion, moderation and humility. The collective mind of humanity needs to be transformed through training. Followers for the most part ignore what all major religions state. The message of religion is love, compassion, forgiveness, contentment and self-discipline. Many people must be deaf and blind.
I will close with an excellent quote from Albert Einstein. "Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive." Wouldn't life be an ongoing miracle if people with a similar consciousness would be elected to government offices?
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