“Turn your thoughts to God with the intention of living in harmony with divine love, the law of your being. Then simply be present. Love will guide you. Love itself will introduce you to Supreme Love.”
~Yogacharya O’Brian
As we continue to witness injustice and acts of hate across our nation and the world, feelings of anger may arise. Kriya Yoga teaches us that anger is desire thwarted. Our desire for social and racial justice is thwarted. Our anger is simply telling us something is wrong. If we try to deny it, bury it, or let ourselves be carried away by it, our words and actions can erupt without conscious thought and we may end up contributing to the cycle of hate and injustice. When we pause, acknowledge our anger and turn our thoughts to God, grounding in our true self, we can then make a soul inspired choice on how to respond.
I remember many years ago, I was receiving acupuncture from a woman who told me that I was holding much anger. I, of course, denied this and told her in an indignant voice that I was not angry. I told myself that I was only frustrated. Eventually, I realized that frustration was one of the guises in which anger shows up. I was not acknowledging my anger, but trying to suppress it, and letting it build inside.
As we take action to right the injustice we see, we must do so grounded in our spiritual principles and practices. We must guard against letting our quest for justice lead us into thoughts and acts of hate. As Gandhi told us, “Man and his deed are two distinct things. “Hate the sin and not the sinner” is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.”
Let us hate the deed but not the person. It may be hard sometimes to see the divine in someone who harms others. How do we hold that person accountable for their actions yet see the divine within them no matter how much that light is obscured? We do as Yogacharya O’Brian tells us above and let love lead the way. When we do this, we live in harmony with “Supreme Love”, letting it guide us in all that we do.
“In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate
Only love dispels hate
This is the law
Ancient and inexhaustible.”
~ Buddha
Rev. Nita Shankari Kenyon