Yoga for Peace 2009

An interview with dr. David Frawley, a Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedanta teacher, author of more then 20 books.

By Madu Cabral

1. Why do we have so much violence nowadays?

The human race as a species has a long history of violence as any study of history quickly reveals. The history of our species is largely a history of wars and conquests that has frequently led to genocide. Today this aggression still continues in spite of outward developments in civilization through science and technology. It is manifesting in the economic, political and even religious realms worldwide, as humanity competes for dwindling natural resources and energy sources. The media also prefers to highlight and promote conflict and violence, which gets better coverage and attracts more viewers. Our modern society that is so linked together world wide in terms of economics is also more vulnerable to terrorist attacks that in the past would only have local action.
So violence remains prevalent throughout our world in spite of all the peace keeping missions. But we ourselves create and promote this violence where it suits us and then try to reduce it when it becomes a problem for us. What we need to do is seek to reduce violence overall, which is to remove the roots of violence in our society and in ourselves.

2. How can we bring more peace to our lives? Can you give a practical example?

First of all we have to confront our inner violence and remove it from our minds and hearts. Peace is always there. It is the universal reality. If we don’t have peace in our lives, it is because we are in some way promoting violence and not valuing peace. What we do in life reflect our intentions.
One of the best things that we can do is begin and end our day with prayers for peace for all beings, not just one human community or even just for human beings. If our minds and hearts are rooted in the wish for peace, then peace is more likely to manifest in our lives. But such a wish must be deeply heartfelt, not just a passing urge or effort to gain good grace in the eyes of others.

3. How can Ayurveda help us get closer to peace?

Ayurveda is a system of medicine that is based upon regarding all life as sacred and helping us access the universal power of peace. A natural and vegetarian diet helps bring calm and peace into the mind. It also reduces the violence brought into the world from killing animals for food. Using herbs and massage to detoxify the body, helps removes drugs and pollutants that agitate the mind and senses and make us more violent and aggressive. The more we live in harmony with nature, respecting all life as sacred, the closer we get to peace.
If our medicine is rooted in violence, then peace will be very difficult. Yet if our medicine reflects peace then peace will be much more easy to achieve. Ayurveda provides us this medicine of peace.

4. What about asanas practices? And Yoga?

Asanas help us calm the body and release the patterns of agitation and aggression stored in our muscles, bones and nerves. Pranayama, yogic breathing practices, helps turn our vital energy within, neutralizing our patterns of aggression that direct our energy to the outside. Yoga teaches us to turn our mind and senses within to create healing and transcendence of our outer urges.
Yoga in the broader sense of meditation is necessary for creating a lasting inner peace. Without meditation in our lives, it will be difficult for us to find peace whatever else we may do. Yoga is all about the pursuit of peace. Yoga is the power of peace. Through Yoga we are bringing peace into ourselves and into the world. What is important is to be conscious of the process and spread the peace that Yoga naturally creates. Gathering in the name of Yoga and Peace we can spread the peace of Yoga for the benefit of all.

5. What can meditation do for your health?

Real meditation is not done in order to get something. It has its own value. It is a resting in inner peace. So it is important that we don’t approach meditation trying to get something good for ourselves out of it, which are ego impulses that strengthen the powers of division in the mind.
Yet meditation is a very important force for healing. Meditation allows the mind to naturally heal itself and for negative emotions to be neutralized. Without cleansing the mind through meditation, like an unclean body the mind will accumulate toxins that will inhibit its function and promote physical and psychological disease and malaise. So meditation should be part of a daily regimen for optimal health, just like taking a bath.
However, meditation has many more benefits than just for health. It helps us bring lasting value and understanding into our lives.

6. How can an individual behavior influence the whole world?

The world is the manifestation of the behavior of the individuals within it. We are born and die as individuals. The individual holds the consciousness in the world.
First of all we should make sure that the world does not control our individual behavior. Otherwise whatever we do will reflect the compulsions of society, which are seldom enlightened, particularly in this consumerist age of advertising. Once the individual breaks away from social compulsions, he or she can bring a higher light into the world that can awaken other individuals and gradually form enlightened communities that can change the world.
Yet we cannot wait for the world to change. We must change ourselves first in order to change the world. This requires that we look beyond the human world to the spiritual powers of the greater universe and the higher consciousness that pervades all existence. Then the transformative power of peace can enter into our lives.