ahimsa: a yogic perspective on 'the race that stops the nation'
Most well-known via the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the yogic precept of ahimsa, or non-harming, is often confused with a non-action; yet that limits the scope of its power.
The word harm comes from a Germanic origin and old Norse harmr, meaning ‘grief, sorrow’. Harm can be active, as well as passive. When there are plastic bags on our shared pathways, it can be dangerous for wildlife or creatures who may end up intoxicating their bodies. When we meet someone in need, yet we are too busy rushing out the door or flicking to the next email in screen-land, that too can harm our sense of trust and understanding. Over time, seemingly little wounds can turn into a divisive, misaligned impression of each other and ourselves. This creates what is referred to in the yoga tradition as maya (Sanskrit), the veil or illusion of separation.
The dissolution of this separation is the heart of one of the most sacred and widely shared Sanskrit mantras - lokah samastah suhkino bhavantu. It is offered up to invoke happiness and freedom from suffering for all life, without exception. Importantly, it is a dedication of our own thoughts, words and actions to contribute to this invocation. Within this mantra rests the spirit of ahimsa, the ethical precept of non-harming.
It’s not just look-away-and-don’t-get-involved. We must enquire honestly and deeply within to recognise:
How are my own choices and actions contributing to causes and events?
How is it I wish to direct or re-direct my energy for the wellbeing of our collective world?
The Melbourne Cup is this week. This is an event begun in 1861, which has morphed manyfold since its origin. It is no longer only about the victory of the most capable steed and rider. The event has complex impacts and creates great conflict in values and opinions. These words are not written to divide, but with the hope to enquire and unify, through a remembering of what lives through all of us.
A pervasive illusion we live in is that of superiority: that we as a human species are more evolved, advanced, more worthy than any other, when in fact life breathes as complex ecosystems of which we are a part. From this high horse we are taught a sense of needing to control nature, when we are only a human factor within far greater forces of change. There is also the illusion that power stems from human concepts like money, when true wealth is experienced in ways far deeper and more embodied than numbers on a screen or paper in our hands.
Much of the Melbourne Cup debacle is about animal welfare versus capitalist interest. Horses are deeply intelligent, sensitive and empathetic creatures. They should not need to be whipped up to 18 times per race, or bleed from their lungs because of the strenuous endurance they are forced into, nor be drugged or have their tongues tied to their jaws for the sake of performance. They do not know what money is, nor do they care. And yet, the livelihoods of racehorses are almost entirely dependent on human currency so abstract it is not in physical form, let alone stroked, hugged, or given crunchy apples to chomp on.
When did our attachment to power become more valuable than the mystery and amazement of life, in its many myriad expressions?
There are many many more nuances for all involved in the cup than can be touched on here - jockeys, breeders, those who bet, those who dress up, those who defend the animals, those who support the livelihoods this major event supports… there is a sense of ‘right’ possible from all perspectives. But, as comically and tragically true, I heard somewhere once this realism: ‘the world is divided into people who think they are right’. And it is this attachment to one-right-view which binds us to much of the suffering in the world.
Our foremost action must be to first understanding our own being (the niyama, or yogic observance, of self-study) and let our increasing understanding lead us towards the truth beneath any single perspective. Being accountable for our own being in the world is far more powerful than pointing a finger. One cultivates integrity, the other judges and divides. The deepest truth we can find in the moment will always lead us towards a state of feeling less attached, more peaceful, and spacious.
So, wherever you stand with regard to Melbourne Cup, I hope you will take the time, without rush or race, to contemplate. What is this day is about? How does the day’s impacts ripple out? How do choose to participate (through action and inaction), and what are we are collectively capable of changing?
Ahimsa is not a bypassing; it is being fully engaged in the contribution to the freedom and happiness for all.
Here’s some ideas from Animals Australia about ways to pay tribute to our horses, our glorious friend and ally through human history, on a national holiday. You can also support volunteer run organisations like Horse Rescue Australia - who take in creatures in need and offer them the rehab and care they all deserve.
May you - may we all - find the freedom for wind through our manes and firm soil under our feet, soulfully riding towards continual learning in our journey together.