When the world feels out of control, what can we do?

I write these words, as always, as a reminder to myself as well as for the purpose of sharing with you too.

It’s hard not to notice the immensely challenging times that the world is passing through right now. An unleashing of aggression, violence and harm appears to be unfolding across broader and broader swathes of our planet. Although the most explicit form of these expressions may be in unbridled war, this is not its only form of its expression.

In more subtle, yet no less powerful ways, we are seeing this breakdown of compassion towards our fellow beings much closer to home too. Through the rising polarity of our perspectives and views, enabled by hyper personalised news feeds, social media and now, of course, AI, we find ourselves increasingly divided against each other. These artificial lines of division encompass religion, race, gender, sexual persuasion, political outlook and much more still. 

We are persuaded to find common ground with people who appear to be similar and to reject people that don’t conform to a limited and narrow alignment with a few of our salient views. The result? It is becoming more and more acceptable to speak in derogatory terms of ‘others’ and to feel increasingly inclined to believe that the group to which we belong is on the ‘right side’ of the equation.

Alongside this we find a crescendo of these views broadcast out in to the world. Not just by ‘major’ news organisations but also by our fellow citizens who have been ‘empowered’ by access to relatively cheap technology and platforms that give us access to the ears and eyes of the world. Selecting ‘facts’ that enable a particular narrative to be launched as ‘truth’ and defending these views with vigour and often violent, harm filled language.

Due to the strength with which we identify with and attach to our world view, defending that view feels at times like we are fighting to preserve the very essence of who we are! Having a view gives us some comfort that we understand what is going on. Having a view allows us to find a space in the spectrum of perspectives that makes us feel like ‘good people’. Unfortunately, being enmeshed with a view that our identity depends on, and that always needs to be defended, can take us to some dark places.

What started out as standing up for a certain apparently ethical or moral stance, leads us quickly towards aversion, hatred and displays of aggression to others (this can be verbal and not just physical). This of course the leads to the stoking of harmful energy flowing out in to the world and sowing the seeds of further division and the diminishment of compassion for our fellow human beings.

In this world

Hate never yet dispelled hate.

Only love dispels hate.

This is the law,

Ancient and inexhaustible.

Dhammapada 3-5, The Buddha

This quote is the reminder that we all need in our lives each and every day. We have also been blessed in recent times, though not recently enough, with beautiful practitioners of this wisdom.

If we look at the work of Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King, we see a grace in their interactions with the world that is in short supply today. Both of them in their own way understood that if hatred arose as a consequence of seeking beneficial change in the world it would only lead to further disharmony. Their peaceful resistance movements allowed their followers to articulate and protest their concerns whilst at the same time without violence and with a central seat dedicated to compassion for all. 

They chose language that was not alienating of certain groups. Their causes didn’t seek to place one group of people above another but sought to bring about equanimity and freedom from oppression for all. It is telling that both men succumbed to a bullet from an assassin’s gun as their peace projects were so fundamentally challenging to the status quo. 

Of course in the context of this blog, the next question you might expect me to ask is: What does yoga say about all of this?

I often describe yoga as a radical reckoning with the realities of our existence. Yoga does not ask us to sweep inconvenient truths under the carpet. It asks us to face up to and accept the certainties of life, death and suffering as a way of bringing peace and equanimity to our minds. The practices are all fundamentally aimed at stilling the mind and, at the deepest level, the removal of the causes of suffering that reside in the mind.

Develop friendliness toward those who are happy, 

Compassion to those who are suffering,

Appreciation to those who do good and

Non-judgementalism toward those engaged in ignoble actions,

The mind will find tranquility.

Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali - I.33

The above sutra describes one of the practices that we can undertake in our daily lives to bring about a more peaceful inner state. I invite you to read the sutra a few times and reflect on, from your own experience, how much you are truly able to abide by these principles.

What is often misunderstood about some of these practices is that they are not coming from a ‘holier than though’ kind of place. This is not about moralistic one upmanship, they are all about bringing the mind to peace. If we can implement these practices in our lives they will bring about a peaceful mind.

Consider this from a different perspective. If each of us practiced this, what would be the net effect in our communities and in the world more broadly? Would we naturally not see a decline in violence and hatred if our intentions were all fuelled by a disciplined effort to live by these principles in each and every moment in our lives. Maybe we start with in the circle of our family and friends, in someways the hardest place to start? It’s very easy to be friendly and smiley with each other for an hour in a yoga class or on a retreat….much harder still to practice this with the ones closest to us who challenge, annoy and trigger us each and every day! Yet try we must - world peace is literally at stake here.

If we are unable to instil values of compassion, kindness, friendliness towards ourselves and all other beings, how can we expect anyone else to? If we go to a protest with good intentions and end up using harsh language to call out another group and end up feeling angry in ourselves and angry at others, how does this link back to Buddha’s proclamation mentioned above? Aren’t we then becoming the source of more hatred rather than the source of love?

We must be clear, as Gandhi and Dr King were, that this is not shirking from our responsibility as concerned citizens, to protest that which needs to be opposed. It is a subtle yet powerful recalibrating of the way we go about it. Recognising that until we can all let go of the fear, hatred and divisions in our minds, then the violence that we so abhor in the world today will continue to perpetuate, even from ourselves.

Do you think the leaders of our world today, who are merely more powerful versions of ourselves, follow these practices? Are they more likely slaves to power, money and the need for unending levels of control? If they had the inclination to step back take a few deep breaths, reflect on some of the above wisdom and set a different type of intention, would we see wars and the human suffering that ensues, raging in the way we do right now?

So the reminder to myself and as a reminder to all from these ancient teachings: peace begins with ourselves and in each and every relationship we cultivate. The teachings invite us to cultivate an intention be a beacon of peace, compassion and love that shines bright in the world. An intention to allow these energies to be the substrate of our thoughts, our words and our actions. It may, at some level, not seem like much but the more we can accumulate the energy of genuinely peaceful intentions in our lives the more hope we bring to the world.

And….of course…this is the reason we practice.

Thank you as always for reading.