yoga for a peaceful society

"A peaceful Philippines can only exist if we are able to eliminate crime, and the practice of yoga can help in establishing a type of frame of mind that can make people peaceful. Yoga can even counter terrorism by making individual abhor violence,"

said lawyer Jose Malvar Villegas Jr., chairman of the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW) and the Philippine Confederation of NGOs on Human Resources and Public Safety (Phil-HRPS) when he intoduced this writer as guest speaker in one of their members' regular meeting held in Manila.

I was asked to talk about the subject: How to Control Vices through YOGA.

I started the lecture by introducing Yoga as "The Science of the Mind"or a way of life, developed 7000 years back.

Yoga comes from the root "yuj" a Sanscrit word which means "to unify",i.e., to reunite the unit entity with the Supreme Entity. Actually the word religion in its original significance, meant the same thing as "yoga", union with God.

"Religion," on the other hand, comes from the Latin word "religare", "re", again, and "ligare", to unite, or to unite again, to tie again to the Source. The fundamental basis of all religion is, essentially, yoga, the experience of God-consciousness.

Those who practiced the teachings of " yoga" found their lives transformed as they overcame the weakness and negative tendencies of the mind and experienced a deep peace and bliss within.

What is the scientific process to attain this experience?

First, by maintaining a healthy human body by proper food and exercises.

Then by adherence to the ten principles of morality (refer to previous blogspots of this writer, Cornerstone of an Ideal Society, Sunday, June 26, 2005) yoga practitioners may be able to develop readiness to practice "Yoga Meditation".

The participants in the seminar were taught basic yoga "asanas" or exercises to demonstrate different postures intended to maintain the youthful flexibility of the human body among other health benefits. Issues on the advantages of vegetarian lifestyle over non-vegetarian diet were were addressed.

A major part of the lecture discussed at length the process of attaining a type of mental frame of mind that can make people peaceful, which in effect is termed as Yoga Meditation. It is in this stage of mental purification or internal cleansing that questions like "I want to know what I Am ?" or " Who Am I ?", other than "Will there be food on my plate tomorrow?" will surface in the human mind.

At this stage human beings begin to use their own self-will, their own unit energy to accelerate the process of returning to the Cosmic Nucleus. This self-effort to complete the flow of evolution is called "sadhana"(from the root "sa'd," to do, to complete). The more sadhana is performed, the closer the unit entity moves to the Nucleus, the greater the force of cosmic attraction and the speed of acceleration, until ultimately merger is achieved. The unit becomes one with the Cosmic.

A humble contribution by the two-hour lecture towards promoting a peaceful society can be summarized by the following commentary:

"More and more people are now turning to the practice of the ancient yoga meditation. Even anti-crime groups are now applying yoga to their programs aimed at preventing crime and bringing about an orderly society." -Sanny Galvez, Manila Bulletin, Dec. 17,2004.