Today’s walkabout circumnavigated the Capitol, went down to the baseball stadium and then along the Anacostia River Walk past the Navy Yard, and then angled back to the Yes Organic Market for a few things.
This bumper sticker (on an enormous black SUV with suburban plates) is likely intended to have only a message about the current wars in which the US is engaged. I wholeheartedly support the sentiment at that level.
What if we took it at other levels? What if we applied it to spiritual-religious practices? We could interpret this as suggesting that we honor the great teachers who have gone before us, invite religious observance and spiritual practice to heal ourselves and others, and dissolve notions of differences among religions and spiritual practices as bases for conflict. How many wars between countries or civil wars would end if saw unity while still honoring difference in this regard?
Perhaps most cogent for the yogi: what if we thought of the exhortation in terms of our own personal practice? It would be an invocation to honor our ancestors, heal the wounds of our family and upbringing (samskaras), and release inner conflict. This is, I think the point of practicing (whatever the style of practice) so that true peace can abound.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Recognizing what a privilege it is to be able to do so, I daily educate myself about what is happening outside the walls of my house and ask myself is how can I best increase safety, health, and joy for all and not deplete my health. The answer is changing and expanding in response to the growing horrors and bravery. I am doing more of the practices to increase my capacity to stay engaged in the most healthful and mindful ways.
I wish for a world in balance, for equipoise. BTW, one of the meanings of samadhi, a key component of yoga practic Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, is equipoise.
Joseph
Thank you Joe. I have been giving to WWC since the late 1980s. When I was in my 20s and 30s I had close friends die of AIDs or go through the tribulations of the early drug trials for HIV. I like that I can now give in a more personal way.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
