Belated Happy Birthday to Karma King

This past Monday many had the day off in observance of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Karma King as I'm calling him this morning.

He truly understood the path of Karma yoga, which is that of selfless service. ANY of us can be on this path...no yoga mat required! You do not have to hold any belief other than the one that to do something for someone other than yourself is a good thing. Any time you do anything of benefit to another being or living system, you are on the path.

Here is a quote from King on service...

"If you want to be important, wonderful.
If you want to be recognized, wonderful.
If you want to be great, wonderful.
But recognize that, he who is greatest among you shall be a servant.
That's the new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it.
By giving that definition of greatness,it means that everybody can be great.
Because everybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.
You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve.
You don't have to know Einstein's "Theory of Relativity" to serve.
You don't have to know the Second Theory of Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace,
A soul generated by love,
And you can be that servant."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Click to hear the Audio Version

What cause are you serving?

Opening to Grace

So I do a little Anusara yoga and take a little trip to Trader Joes. Anusara means “flowing with Grace,” “going with the flow,” “following your heart.” The style was founded by John Friend in 97.

Anyway I've been practicing Anusara more regularly and after "opening my heart" as the practice does, people started opening up to me about all sorts of things. One older gentleman went into a very descriptive conversation about an old process of coating almonds (what?) I almost didn't get out of there because the cashier stopped scanning my groceries and just kept talking about the degradation of the environment and the fact that all the water was drying up. It was all a little too coincidental and bizarre.

Which leads me to my thoughts before all of this. Many, many people in the U.S. practice yoga. It's the trendy thing to do these days. However, most people practice the Hatha branch of yoga and do not know that there are 6 branches of yoga and 8 limbs (correct me if I'm wrong):

Branches/Types of YOGA:
Jnâna Yoga, the Yoga of wisdom/mind
Râja Yoga, the Yoga of meditation
Hatha Yoga, the Yoga of physical processes
Karma Yoga, the Yoga of service
Tantra Yoga, the Yoga of Rituals
Bhakti-Yoga, the Yoga of devotion

There are 8 limbs, one of which is the physical postures:

1. Yama: 5 positive ethical guidelines (restraints, or abstinences) that include non-violence, fidelity to the Absolute, non-stealing, truthfulness and non-attachment.
2. Niyama: 5 positive behaviors, including cleanliness, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and devotion to God.
3. Asana: Physical exercises that people usually associate with yoga.
4. Pranayama: These are the breathing exercises.
5. Pratyahara: This is detachment from the fluctuations of life.
6. Dharana: This is the practice of power ful and focused concentration.
7. Dhyana: Devotional meditation
8. Samadhi: Absorption of one's individual consciousness in the essence of God...ergo, enlightenment.

Most of I myself have just started branching out and I'm beginning to wonder if yogis have an inherent sense of how to take care of the environment. If the "suggestions" (remember, this is not a religion...there are no commandments) are followed, then the individual has a deep respect for life in all its forms and does not dwell on materialistic matters.

So in summary (because its late and I'm tired) a yogi is inherently an eco conscious person.