Marya Mann : Blog : FINDING COMMON GROUND - ETHICS

FINDING COMMON GROUND - ETHICS

As people all over the Earth begin to wake up to the climate emergency and demand change, and in honor of all the children of the Earth who are inheriting our only planet, let’s look honestly at our predicament.

While climate change is an ecological issue, an economic issue, and a social issue, we know that human actions expressing the human heart are really at its root. Climate change then, is an ethical issue.

Climate change is happening because of what we have valued in the past, and how we conceived our identity as separate human beings on a planet that was our slave. The values have come from a dominant industrial ethic that has an odd sense of justice. The values we hold most dear form the bedrock of our actions. Most of these are learned before the age of reason and assimilated by the dominant culture.

Each of us — as individuals and communities — can influence the values upheld by our society. Climate change is a warning that life isn’t just a matter of what we want to do, but it’s what we ought to do in service to the planet and social justice.

LIVING THE SACRED LIFE

Contemplative traditions like Yoga teach moral reflections on our thoughts, speech, and actions. Love and compassion arise from a commitment to non-harming, gentleness, and simplicity which motivate effective and sustainable action
If we place our love for the planet and activism in relationship to the earth high on our list of priorities, we are more likely to see with sacred eyes, and to stay focused on the issue, not out of obligation, but out of genuine commitment. We make our activism not about what we are working against, but what we are working for.

SACRED EYES

From the sacred point of view, there is some blessing inside both a child’s smile and a criminal’s cover-up, for each is a lesson, a blessing, or a warning of our collective ignorance. Changing our eyes is often more potent than changing events, for how we see a thing, a moment, a chance occurrence, will ultimately color its effects. Our beliefs hold the key to making our lives exceptional or anxious, delightful or difficult, a continuum of blessings or just one darn thing after another!

Once we begin to observe not only what we are seeing, but how we are seeing, what we are looking with, our perceptual apparatus, we begin the journey of mindful living. Are our eyes gazing with the expectation of woe and worry? Is the worry in the way we hold our eyes or mouth? Or can we soften the eyes and allow them to rest in their natural state of loving kindness?

The universe itself, I believe, is waiting for us to leap up from the ground laughing at the conditions we call woeful. Our feeling for the sacred comes from a preference for seeing the good inside even the most horrible circumstances.

When the tears have cleansed our eyes and softened the gaze, when we make room for the sacred in our hearts, our lives change.

The problem arises when we don’t see the sacred for ourselves; we may need a mentor, family member, or friend, an experience in nature, a book, or a work of art, to point out that even the thorniest bushes have the most fragrant and beautiful roses.

We may need a daily practice that reeducates the brain, body, and especially the eyes to see the sacred right in front of us, what is beautiful and exhilarating in being human.

PATANJALI

Before he set down in writing the ways that Yoga could rejuvenate the Soul, Patanjali and the ancestral yogis had been watching what happens when people take up a sacred practice that includes intention, breathwork, and meditation for many years.

They witnessed that those who aimed their minds toward Ahimsa – kindness and consideration – infused their bodies and relationships with the quality of sweetness. The more pleasant and friendly they were, the more their very presence engendered kindness in others. Everyone was happier.

THE YAMAS

So, somewhere between 200 BCE and 200 AD, Patanjali wrote the Sutras. Sutra means “stitch,” and choosing that particular word to title the ancient book must have been an affirmation of how in each moment, with every breath, we stitch together the fabric of life. Weaving together the discoveries of ancestral yogis into 196 brief aphorisms for living a wholesome life, they described the first Yama, or ethical principle for social harmony, as Ahimsa, non-violence.

The more energy we devote to being kind instead of being indifferent or violent, the more truth we will discover, so the second Yama, Satya, is specifically not-lying. Truth-telling requires us to be true to the real situation, our real feelings, and the higher mind’s intention. When we always speak the truth, then everything we say will be truthful.

There is a fiery story from the beloved Indian epic, the Ramayana, on the theme of Satya. The monkey god Hanuman, Prince Rama’s servant, sets out to look for Sita, his master’s wife. He travels to Sri Lanka where she is being held prisoner. Toward the end of his time there, he is caught by the evil captors and his tail is set on fire!

When Sita sees Hanuman’s pain from his burning tail, she calls out: “Let the fire cool!” Hanuman’s suffering immediately stops.

He shouts, “What happened? Why doesn’t the fire burn me anymore?”

Because Sita always spoke the truth, her words had great power and could extinguish the flames and pain. For those who are always truthful, speech and action fly like two birds courting and blending in the sky.
Yet it is not always desirable to speak the truth if it could harm someone unnecessarily.

We consider, what we say, how we say it, and how it may affect others. If it will harm another, be creative. Come up with another way to speak your truth and uplift the situation. In the Mahabharata, the Indian epic, says Krisna, “Speak the truth which is pleasant. Do not speak unpleasant truths. Do not lie, even if the lies are pleasing to the ear. That is the eternal law, the dharma.”

With the union of kindness and truth, the third Yama, Asteya comes into play. Steya means to “steal.” Asteya is the opposite – take nothing that does not belong to us. A person established in non-stealing will receive all the jewels of this world, but this person often is not terribly interested in material wealth. They will have access to wealth, but most importantly, they will have the most valuable things in life.

The more we recognize the meaning of the search for truth, the easier it becomes to relinquish what is temporary. We don’t become distracted as easily, and we develop a non-grasping attitude, Aparigraha, the fourth Yama.

Yoga builds strength but requires your stamina, your return again and again to the breath, to balance, to separating out what is real, Vidya, from what is unreal, Avidya. What is true from what is not you.

With the fifth Yama, Brahmacarya, we ask ourselves to move toward the essential, the Vidya. Composed of the root car, which means “to move,” and the word brahma, which means one essential truth, we achieve a moral compass, even as we make mistakes, fall, fail, get up, fall again before rising.

Brahmacarya can be interpreted as abstinence from sexual activity, but that is not quite the whole of it. This Yama encourages us to sustain our direction toward the Highest Self, and if sensual pleasure is part of our relationships, we take care to be responsible, respectful and careful of our and others’ Higher Selves, keeping the other Yamas that begin with non-harming and truth-telling.

With the Yamas, the fruits of Yoga practice begin to grow, and we find ourselves not devoid of passion, but more discerning in the choices we make. We can live a life of wonder and clarity because we are gaining the strength and vision to do so.

When we have strength, faith comes. When we have faith, strength can grow. The Yoga Sutras say that the more strength we have, the more energy we have to pursue our goals. This leads us to sraddha, deep trust that things are right on track and we are moving in the direction of our Dharma, our life’s purpose, or in the Hawaiian language, our Kuleana.

We are living a sacred life.

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“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller
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QUANTUM HEALING & PSYCH-K

Whatever you wish to materialize into physical reality, whether that is world peace, awakening to your true embodied nature, or more friends, wealth, health, creativity, and/or the ideal relationship, knowing your innermost essence is the first key to accomplishment.

The second key rests in the power of the creative imagination to cultivate visionary experiences. Sages, yogis, shaman, and healers all around the world from the most ancient of times have participated with the continuum of dreaming and multi-dimensional reality to reshape their health, communities, and the future.

You are invited to experience one-on-one and group sessions to engage this continuum, clear the subconscious of false beliefs, and ignite your inner light. This work engages your true nature to tap into intuition, invigorate all your relationships, and communicate with your Higher Self for guidance and direction. You will

- Find and strengthen your connecting inner light.
- Restore the nervous system to its peaceful, fulfilled state.
- Learn practical ways to bring your gifts into the world.
- Relinquish toxic thoughts.
- Deepen your personal presence and natural joy.
- Explore ancestral lineages for healing, wisdom, and creativity.

At Kona Coast Yoga and Wellness, we offer experiences of liberation and love.
In sessions at our center in Kealakekua or at Royal Kona Resort’s Lotus Spa, through Skype or phone sessions, you learn to engage the wholesome body, refine the mind, and invigorate your Soul Cluster.

To be liberated from false beliefs in the subconscious mind unplugs negative circuitry and recharges positive polarity so that more vital life force runs through all seven chakras and five bodies – the physical, pranic, emotional-mental, spiritual, and soul bodies. Learn how to love all of yourself, both your physical and subtle being, and watch how that love remakes your world.

All you have to lose is your suffering. All you have to gain is reconnection with your soul.
Call Kona Coast Yoga and Wellness Now #808.345-0050 In-Office, via Phone or Skype, or enjoy a session at the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua Call Lotus Spa #808-334-0445

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WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

“Best class I’ve had in 20 years.” — E.P.

“You are the most gifted yoga teacher I’ve ever known.” – S. K.

“Your Yoga healed my back. I feel ten years younger — better than ever.” – J. I.

“I am being healed one class, one minute at a time and so here is an opportunity for you as I know Marya, ‘the yoga shaman,’ might be a solution for your tired aching body as well.” – E. P
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Please mark your calendars and register early for the integrative yoga workshops to be held on these Saturdays at Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary.

September 28 – Restorative Yoga
October 26 – Fascial Fitness
November 23 – Soul Medicine

Hold your place by calling 808-345-0050 or registering at www.maryamann.com.

Me ke Aloha Pumehana!
With Warm Aloha!
Marya

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Bhakti is a path of goodwill. Look beyond the faults and judgments that may color our relationships with others. Letting go with love in our hearts, we can rescue a relationship that is innately good, but has gone bitter, by returning to it with love in your heart.
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