Recently an extremely unfortunate incident took place in one of the world’s most developed nation that shook the world to its roots. George Floyd passed away after a police officer’s atrocious and inhuman behavior got too much for his respiratory system and burdened soul. His last words were “I CAN’T BREATHE”. Just the thought of this incident makes us breathless too.
The present-day way of governing societies lacks a human touch. Citizens are seen as national identity numbers rather than living and breathing beings. Does that mean that governments are responsible for this catastrophe? Yes, we believe they are but, not 100 percent. We must not forget that these governments are elected by us citizens and politicians are essentially just another human mind that works in exactly the same way ours does. So, we all are as much responsible for this hate and oppression as are our politicians.
We believe we all have a duty to try to figure out how we got here in 2020 and gain a better understanding of how we all end up falling for this kind of behavior.
Here is a little test that will tell you if you endorse such kind of behavior directly or indirectly:
No matter which country you belong to, what culture you are from, and what language you speak, ask yourself, “Have I been given the idea of supremacy by my family, my society, my politician, my teacher, my friends or my mentors – Have I ever in my life looked down upon a particular religion, sect, community, country and never thought its discriminatory because I have been told that its normal as there are other people who think in the same manner?”
Politicians and governments are not be blamed as they are the product of the same society whose edifice of compassion is standing on the burial ground of millions of victims of racism, slavery and minority oppression. Politics never were and will never be inclusive, however, societies can be if we root out the idea of difference from our minds. The idea of I versus you.
Appearances and projections are different, however, deep inside we are all the same, with the same blood compositions, tissue structures and endocrinal and organic structures. So every time you are given an idea of supremacy by anyone, stand up and call them out on it and refuse to be a part of it. This could save thousands from getting butchered in the name of supremacy which instills a sense of normalcy in our conditioned minds so much so that we see state oppression, genocides, mob attacks, police manhandling as deserving acts for the oppressed and minorities.
A few moments of quiet everyday can help us understand and inculcate sensitivity, compassion and acceptance. These qualities are the essential requirements of the new age as we see our mindsets getting drifted to the far extreme. We have seen these radical shifts in the Second World War era and we understand fully the atrocities which were meted out to humans based on these discriminatory behavioral patterns. Let’s turn within and not allow anyone to transform us from a conscious human to a national identity number.
The human race will definitely survive after George Floyd, however, humanity dies little by little after every such unfortunate incident that may take place in any part of the world.
Salamba Yoga pays tribute to George Floyd. May his soul rest in peace and may his death become a messenger to all of us. A messenger that says that death and life are eternal realities but no one deserves to die without respect. A messenger who shows us the mirror wherein we see how low we have stooped as a society. A mirror where we see the head of our gods hung in shame and despair.
Here is one short meditation to invoke the conscious human in us and to end the age old conditioning of discrimination:
- Sit in a comfortable pose preferably in swastikasana (crossed legged link….) so that your sit bones are evenly placed on the ground.
- Push the sacrum in a little and try to locate and feel your tailbone (coccyx)
- Sit straight by lengthening both the sides of the trunk and keep the head straight by bringing chin in a little
- Arms should be relaxed with your palms facing up to the sky or you can keep hands one over the other in your lap in Bhairava Mudra( for females left hand on top and vice versa for men)
- Close your eyes and become aware of the full length of the trunk along the spine from tailbone to the crown of the head. Spend few breaths here.
- Become aware of the coccyx and feel your connectivity with the whole earth for few breaths. Become aware of crown of the head and feel your connectivity with the whole cosmos for at least couple of minutes.
- Inhale and feel the awareness moving from coccyx to the crown of the head and from crown of the head to the coccyx. When you reach crown of the head imagine earth getting merged into the cosmos and when you reach coccyx feel the whole cosmos getting merged with the earth. As you connect both these phenomena’s slowly with regular practice, a sense of greater connectivity will dawn which will help reducing the conditioning of supremacy based on difference.
Only in the moments of deep quiet can we understand our real nature which is essentially pure consciousness. It pervades and permeates every cell of creation with love and acceptance. The yogic way of living urges us to see the differences as the basis of celebration and not hate mongering. Difference of color, clothes, language, accent, food, appearance should be respected and worshipped as an indicator of intelligence of creation which is reflected in the diversity of mother earth, and should not be used to create a me versus you mentality.
We hope that this meditation will help us all to heal and evolve, Namaste.