Another year has passed in my quest to live as a yogi, and another year looms with the chance for me, and you, to deepen that practice.
I recently had the great fortune to hear a discourse on wisdom from one of my spiritual teachers, Acharya das, whose wonderful lectures can be found online. He spoke of an amazing yoga master from past millennia, Bhisma, and his teachings. I heard something so simple, yet so profound, I knew this would be a most worthwhile topic for my meditation.
To attain freedom from anger, one should learn how to forgive.
A true yogi does not allow herself to be overtaken by anger. Whilst we breathe and bend, focusing evermore inwardly, it is easy to see how anger is a great disrupter of the peace we all seek to be our constant companion.
The dog barks while we’re in shavasana (corpse pose often done at the end of yoga exercise), the boss criticizes our work, the driver next to us cuts us off. There are many examples of miseries and ample opportunities in our daily lives for anger, or even irritation to arise. Yet we know we don’t feel good if we’re annoyed, aggravated or even infuriated. So the principle of forgiveness is a key to attaining peace and real fulfillment. Irrespective of whose “fault” something may be, forgiveness frees us from the burden of anger, which harms us more than the object of our displeasure. Continue reading “The Yogic Principle of Forgiveness”