I have no idea, and don’t really care, who this article (compliments of the Babarazzi) is about. I do embrace this quote, which is written about America, but I believe to be true in a much wider context:
“The point here is this: we are not one, in terms of ethics and moral values, how we carry ourselves in society and what we are trying to accomplish, or what we believe America should be, as a nation.”
I also followed the link in the beginning of the above mentioned article to this article which is an excellent read and a worthy attack on superficial spirituality and the resulting poor action it can lead to in the world (and off the mat!). What struck me most about it, early on, was this quote:
“Yoga teaches me that we are all connected and that issues like war, poverty, illiteracy, and violence exist because we act as if there is an “other;” an “us” and “them.” This is the opposite of yoga and is a collective misperception. If I want to be a change agent and participate in creating real healing and peace in the world, then I have to recognize the places in myself that perpetuate this limited belief of separation as well. I have to recognize (and heal) that the very thing I judge in others is something I too embody.”
The quote is properly disassembled in the article but there is one reference which I wanted to see mentioned in the article but was missed. As I read this I was thinking of Arjuna – the warrior that fell into depression because he experienced one-ness when in reality there was a fierce expression, a battleground with clearly drawn lines of of us-and-them. The advice he received from Krishna – god incarnate – was not to go and create “real healing and peace” for “them” but to go to war against “them” – to fulfill his dharma (a warrior) and fight for his values.
… and again this selective picking of teachings and truths and assimilation of them to fit the world you want to see …. all in eloquently words made to sound smart … is yet another expression of intellect run amok.