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Enemies, Divisiveness, and Yoga

by Nina

This year—2016—I found the California primaries so stressful (in an unusual turn of events, my own block in Berkeley, CA seemed to have an equal number of Bernie and Hillary signs just on a single block) that I not only did an extra long Legs Up the Wall pose, but I actually went on a media fast. The media fast was interesting. It took a lot of will power, and my son and I actually supported each other through it by texting. But, of course, when that was over, and I woke up, there was still so much divisiveness and anger that I continued to be troubled. (I will say this, however, at least on my own block, everyone has continued to be very civil throughout—whew!). And that made me remember a post I wrote for this blog almost four years ago after another US election that at the time seemed particularly divisive. It was very interesting for me to revisit it, so I thought it might be interesting for you readers as well, especially because we've gained a lot of new readers since then. So with this preamble, here's the original post.

Yoga Philosophy of the Day, Part 2

Almost immediately after I published my post on Monday Yoga Philosophy of the Day, which was about cultivating equanimity in the face of difficulty and “enemies,” I was sorry I hadn’t mentioned the United States election (post posting remorse?). Because for many of us Americans, this election has been extremely divisive, with the feeling on both sides that those in the opposing camp were our “enemies.” I even know people who stopped speaking to those who disagreed with them over candidates and issues. And I confess that I, too, got swept up in some very negative feelings.

Now, this morning, after very intense night, the results are in and the battles are over, for now at least. However, I find that there is still a great deal of intense feeling remaining, on both sides. Gloating, anger, bitterness. Even Big Bird wasn't being as nice as usual. So maybe it’s not too late to add to what I wrote on Monday after all!

If we practice yoga the way The Bhagavad Gita defines it, we’ll need to step back from these negative feelings. As I quoted on Monday:

He looks impartially on all:

those who love him or hate him,

his kinsmen, his enemies, his friends

the good, and also the wicked.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work for the political causes we believe in. As The Bhagavad Gita says:

He who performs his duty

with no concern for results

is the true man of yoga—not

he who refrains from action.

And, after all, it was Mohandas K. Gandhi, one of the great political activists of all time, who called The Bhagavad Gita his “mother” and believed in its message of “skill in action.”

The wise man lets go of all

results, whether good or bad,

and is focused on the action alone.

Yoga is skill in actions.

Now the challenge for all of us is to put this into practice. (See my original post Yoga Philosophy of the Day for information about what The Bhagavad Gita recommends as the way to achieve this.)

I was also thinking about how cultivating equanimity in the way The Bhagavad Gita recommends pertains to healthy aging. Of course, maintaining equanimity in the face of difficulty of all kinds helps make our lives better (and our bodies healthier). But also, as older people, most of us want to make a better world for those who come after us, whether that means for our own family members or for the next generation as a whole. And this will only be possible if we can all work together, friends and enemies alike.

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