| Yoga has always contained ethical guidelines and | | | | Communication: When you combine mutual respect |
| methods for people to co-exist in harmony. The | | | | with communication, you display loving kindness. This |
| Yamas and Niyamas have changed a little over time, | | | | has always been in short supply. Karma Yoga |
| but the guidelines are there to keep humankind in place. | | | | teaches you to give, but respect, courtesy, and |
| How often do you hear the following statements? | | | | showing appreciation to others, cost you nothing. |
| "Relationships are not what they used to be." "Dating is | | | | All you have to invest is time and take action. The |
| different nowadays." "Nobody wants to make a | | | | positive results of your efforts will come back |
| commitment any more." | | | | thousands of times. Every time mankind has "peace |
| Consider these words, "Children nowadays are tyrants. | | | | talks," a little progress is made. |
| They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and | | | | Tolerance: Unfortunately, there has always been a |
| tyrannize their teachers." Does it sound like a 21st | | | | shortage of tolerance. Human beings have made a |
| century problem? Guess who said those words? The | | | | habit of killing the Enlightened, the Prophets, and the |
| answer is Socrates! | | | | Saints. Use your best judgment and listen to your |
| People have not really changed much over that past | | | | heart. |
| 2,000 years. The birth place of Yoga is India, which | | | | Except for self-defense - you know in your heart |
| was, and is, heavily populated with people. It is said that | | | | intolerance, and killing, for any reason, are morally |
| in ancient times, the soil of the Indus River Valley was | | | | wrong. Think upon this: If a Holy Man tells you to |
| rich and produced heavily. | | | | oppress or kill the innocent, he is not a Holy Man. |
| Yet, you must realize that crowds of people who live | | | | God does not discriminate, and God loves you, so do |
| in the cities tend to be stressed. Stress is not | | | | not listen to anyone who tells you to commit crimes "In |
| something new to humankind and Yoga is the best | | | | the Name of God." |
| answer for a holistic approach to life. Cities, all around | | | | Forgive: Start with forgiving yourself first. This is a very |
| the world, and in general, have stressed populations in | | | | big step, but forgive others next; otherwise, you will |
| comparison to the countryside. | | | | become a prisoner to hate - and worse. |
| Mohandas Gandhi once said, "Interdependence is and | | | | Pray: Talk to God and you will not be disappointed. |
| ought to be as much the ideal of man as | | | | Open your heart and your mind to God in prayer and |
| self-sufficiency. Man is a social being." | | | | meditation. Bhakti Yoga is the Yoga of devotion to |
| His words are true, but what is the Yogic formula for | | | | God, which is no small matter. |
| peaceful co-existence? The following are some of | | | | Since the beginning, ancient man has struggled to |
| Yoga's solutions for peaceful co-existence between all | | | | define the creator of the universe. Thousands of |
| people and all societies. | | | | years later, mankind is still struggling to define the |
| Rules: Since the beginning, man has needed them. | | | | creator of the universe. We have only our collective |
| Every culture has them, because ethical guidelines for | | | | intelligence to define such power, so we are |
| all, do establish mutual respect within families, | | | | "handicapped." |
| organizations, and governments. The Yamas and | | | | Yet, all religions and Yoga, teach us to peacefully |
| Niyamas do not conflict with any religion or | | | | co-exist with others. |
| government. | | | | |