Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ahimsa and Love for Self

One meaning associated with the sanskrit word "Ahimsa" is the word "Love." Love can mean so many things. We can love our families. We can love our friends. We can even love our pets.

When we hear the word love, we often think of romance but there is also love for humanity. This can manifest as a goodwill toward our fellow man, or in a deeper sense when we are moved by the desire to give our love to others in service. This is called "Karma yoga." Ultimately we cannot truly practice love for anyone else until we can learn to successfully love ourselves.

Loving oneself can also mean many things. It means compassion for yourself, forgiving our own weaknesses or errors. It means finding those things about ourselves that are loveable and then cherishing those things.

Today I want you to look inside and think of at least one thing about yourself that is beautiful and loveable. Sometimes this is hard. We are conditioned that there is grace in humility and that it is not positive to applaud ourselves but the truth is; sometimes we need to applaud ourselves. So find that beautiful thing inside of you, place your hands over your heart and be with it. Then take a moment to love yourself.