Stop Acting Enlightened! This Yoga Teacher is Calling You the F*ck Out
In the bigness of their hearts, yogis are some of the most judgmental fuckers on this planet.
“As a yoga instructor I truly don’t understand how promoting bone broth and paleo diets can possibly be seen as being in line with Ahimsa. And the truth is that it isn’t. Ahimsa is known as the most important Yama, and yet it is widely watered down or outright ignored by the Western yoga community. I encourage you to begin living and sharing the values you pretend to endorse.”
This comment was recently left on YogiApproved.com.
One of the most reliable – and hilarious – traps along the spiritual path is the ego trip of spirituality itself.
I’m a yogi/vegan and I need you to KNOW IT!
See how ahimsic (non-violent) I am!?
Funny how those trying their best to be ahimsic are often the last to actually show it . . .
At the risk of being labeled non-satvic (impure) or some shit, I’ll go ahead and be the one to break it to you . . . Yogis judge, because yogis are human too.
But the next time you judge (maybe it’s right now, and wouldn’t that be convenient for you?), we might all be served by considering our outward expressions a reflection of our inward intentions.
And I don’t mean in a “when you point the finger, there are 4 fingers pointing back at you” trite kind of way . . .
While you’re judging me, you’re really just judging those small qualities you like least in you.
Going out of your way to say or do something – the convenience of hiding behind a keyboard notwithstanding – to prove that you are just that much more _______ (insert currently trending Sanskrit word here) than me.
Tapas (austerities) aren’t about walking some rigid, razor’s edge for the duration of this existence, but about exploring the edges and touching the opposites so that a middle-path can be successfully navigated.
Crack the cover of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha before you cast your next stone.
Recommended Read: Why Every Yogi Should Read Siddhartha
Before the words come out of your mouth – the level of the mind which, Buddha said, matters most – consider that those who have really mastered non-reaction, loving-kindness, and non-judgment don’t need anyone to know it.
While we’re working at it, I’ll give us all a pass from one of the world’s influential greats. Mahatma Ghandi, Mr. non-violence himself, once said, “This world is inconveniently arranged for a literal practice of ahimsa.”
If GHANDI didn’t expect such a rigid, dogmatic adherence to one of the most judged, hurled, and maligned practices of simply being loving and kind, then maybe we shouldn’t either?
I see you in me
And me in you
Which is why I kid
The way I do . . .
Thanks for reading, and for not taking this shit so seriously . . .
Namaste, J