Yoga for world peace - The absence of ideas and activities deriving from ignorance and egoism

Yoga exists for world peace, and world peace is only possible via the absence of ideas and activities deriving from ignorance and egoism in the minds that are occupying this space of the universe that doesn't belong to anyone, upon the minds are free from ignorance and egoism via self-awareness, self-effort, self-discipline, self-reliance, self-inquiry and self-realization. It's not even what many kind and loving minds think and believe and propagate that "The world doesn't belong to me, or you, or them, but it belong to all of us. We need to unite and stand together as one big family to prosper and protect our world under one similar vision," as that is what passionate egoism, survival instinct, possessiveness and desire is about, and that is why there are never ending unrest and man made problems and suffering in the world.

Even when people, particularly those who have certain influential power on influencing and determining the local and/or global general condition and situation, who also think and believe that they love yoga and they are practicing/teaching/promoting yoga, are aware of yoga is for world peace and have the great 'enthusiasm' and 'aspiration' and 'good intention' to be 'promoting world peace' under the name of yoga, but out of ignorance and egoism, not only that they are not really promoting peace and harmony among the vast diversities via the annihilation of ignorance and egoism, but either wittingly or unwittingly, intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly, they are empowering ignorance and egoism in the world, promoting attachment, identification, desire, comparison, judgment, expectation, greed, selfishness, separateness, discrimination, prejudice, anger, hatred and violence.

Although there are many people are interested in learning and performing some form of yoga asana, breathing, relaxation, concentration and meditation exercises under many different branding and styles regularly that give them some momentary health and fitness benefits, however, not many are interested to hear or learn about the essential teachings and practice of yoga, and even might be strongly against the teachings and practice of yoga about the annihilation of ignorance and egoism by freeing the minds from being conditioned by worldly passionate egoistic family, social, cultural, religious/spiritual, commercial, national and political ideas, thinking, belief, values, practice and activities.

In the many different kinds of family, social, cultural, religious/spiritual, commercial, national or political ideas, thinking, belief, values, practice and activities under many different names and forms in the world, there is something in common, where most of the ideas and activities are deriving from passionate egoistic minds under the influence of ignorance and egoism and survival instinct, and all of them emphasized on 'grouping' and the empowerment of egoism of attachment, identification, craving and aversion, comparison/competition, judgment and expectation, in order to be empowered, surviving, expanding or prospering.

'Grouping' begins from two or a few people ganged up together sharing the similar vision/ambition/desire/aspiration/intention, and then, they invite, recruit, convert, tempt, manipulate, conquer or threaten more other people to join their 'group', in order to gain 'all kinds of support' or 'power'. Such as family want to have more family members in order to help out everyday living physically and financially and to expand the genes; or a gang/tribe/association/community wants to have more active and patriotic members in order to be strong and powerful for expanding/prospering/sustaining, defending themselves or conquering some others; or a business needs to have more and more labourers and customers in order to sustain and grow bigger to bring in more profits; or a nation want to have more hardworking, empowered, ambitious and aggressive young people to pay tax and spend money for promoting the economical growth, and be their labourers, servants, army and soldiers; or all and everyone are being inspired and empowered to be desireful, ambitious, discontented, superficial, materialistic and prideful to be chasing after name, fame, admiration, acknowledgement, recognition, success, wealth, possession, pleasurable enjoyment of the senses, higher social class status, luxurious privilege, VIP treatment, or higher spending power that support and empower the economy that give rise to many corruptions, prejudice, discrimination, labour and natural resource exploitation, and destruction to the environment; or a political party needs the support of the majority to be in power under the democracy system; or a dictator needs a huge army of obedient and heartless soldiers to be in power; or a religion needs as many followers/supporters as possible for surviving/sustaining/expanding, and so on. All these need as many people as possible to be engaging in the game in order to fulfill their respective goal/desire/ambition/aspiration.

This is something very common that exists in family, siblings, friends circle, tribe, ethnicity, culture, society, business, association, religion, spirituality, politics, village, town, state, nation, region, democracy, dictatorship, anarchy or monarchy, and even in the world of yoga and/or buddhism.

There are sets of rules and regulations generated by the top leaders or the law makers, where all the members in the 'group' need to follow, respect, carryout, practice, or 'obey', in order for the top leaders to be in control of many things within the 'group'. Those who don't follow, respect, carryout, practice, or 'obey' such rules and regulations, would be judged, criminalized, prosecuted, punished, penalized, threatened, persecuted, or expelled. Within the group, everyone are being empowered to be mentally and emotionally dependent on one another, and everyone need to be equipped with certain 'qualities', comply with certain 'acceptable and appropriate way of thinking and behavior', engage in certain group activities, or contribute certain contribution to the group, to be acknowledged, recognized, approved, accepted, authorized, sanctioned, praised or loved by the leaders and all the others.

Corruptions exist in everywhere is the responsibility of the minds themselves being corrupted under the influence of ignorance and egoism. The diverse existence of the many different kinds of family, tribe, ethnicity, culture, society, business, association, religion, spirituality, politics, village, town, state, nation, region, democracy, dictatorship, anarchy or monarchy, are neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong. The main culprit is the presence of ignorance and egoism.

'Grouping' that is deriving from and empowered by the attachment and identification towards 'we all are one (in this group)'/'togetherness makes us strong and powerful (to be defending/protecting us and ours from the others that are not one of us)' and having particular vision/aspiration/ambition in order to be sustaining/prospering/expanding/empowered, and many other kinds of corruption exist everywhere even in the world of yoga and buddhism that are solely about freeing the mind from such corrupted passionate egoistic ideas and activities, is due to most minds are very much functioning under the veil of ignorance and egoism.

It's a normal phenomena in the world of yoga and/or buddhism, as these corrupted minds are the minds that needed the teachings and practice of yoga or buddhism (the annihilation of ignorance and egoism) the most, however, they are not at the point of having the basic mind purification or correct understanding yet. Minds that are void of ignorance and egoism don't need the teachings or practice of yoga and/or buddhism. The teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism exist along with the existence of ignorance and egoism in the world. If there's no ignorance and egoism existing in the world, the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism have no cause to be existing.

That's why the very basic teachings and practice of both yoga and buddhism is about non blind-believing, non blind-following, non blind-practicing, non blind-agreeing/disagreeing, non blind-propagating, self-reliance, self-discipline, dispassion, renunciation, seclusion, solitude, self-investigation, self-inquiry and self-realization towards the truth of everything, to know Thyself, to realize what is 'I', to realize selflessness.

Those who truly understand and practice yoga and/or buddhism never see or treat the teacher as 'an authority' or 'a superior entity' or 'a healer'. The genuine practitioner or the authentic teacher of yoga and/or buddhism don't project themselves as 'an authority' or 'a superior entity' or 'a healer'. It's unfortunate that there are minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, who are desperately looking forward to be free from certain doubt and suffering, who are lost, who are craving to be loved and comforted, who want to be accepted/acknowledged/recognized/approved/praised by some others, who want to be 'healed', who want to believe in, experience or witness 'miracles' or 'transcendental experiences', who want to feel "I am good enough, I am deserving, I am successful, and I am very special," who want to have shortcut to 'enlightenment', were ignorantly being taken advantage, exploited or abused by those who are corrupted, who are also under the influence of ignorance and egoism.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and other genuine teachers and gurus of dhamma never claimed to be 'a healer of anything', or 'a sin/karma remover', or 'a special VIP', or 'an authority', or 'an angel of love and affection', or 'a giver of enlightenment', or 'a skillful magician', or 'super extraordinary miraculous powerful being that provides miracle healing touch/hug/treatment or brings back the dead, changes the past and controls the future', and so on.

The corrupted minds or the pseudo 'teachers'/'gurus'/'friends'/'father figure'/'mother figure'/'brothers and sisters'/'life advisers' are those who project themselves as 'an authority that disciplines/judges/punishes others', 'a superior entity that deserves highest respect or admiration and entitled to special VIP treatment from others', 'a healer of anything', 'an affectionate angel full of over-flowing love to be giving love and affection to others who need love and affection', 'an enlightened being claiming one can take away or reduce other's suffering, sin or bad karma, or provide shortcut to enlightenment', and so on, to be taking advantage, exploit or abuse those who are lost in suffering, doubt and desperation under the influence of ignorance.

And more unfortunate is that, those who are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, who are the ones that need the reflection of dhamma to be free from ignorance and egoism, are the ones that would generate intense disappointment or aversion towards the world of yoga and/or buddhism due to the inevitable existence of corruptions in the world of yoga and buddhism.

Those who have certain degrees of correct understanding, would not be taken advantage, exploited or abused by the ignorant corrupted minds, as well as wouldn't be disturbed, distracted or disappointed by the corruptions generated by the corrupted minds in anywhere in the world of ignorance and egoism. There's no expectation towards certain minds should already be free from ignorance and egoism, or there shouldn't be any corruptions existing in the world of yoga and buddhism that is 'expected' or 'supposed' to be a pure and safe refuge for the suffering ones.

Swami Sivananda - "Do not mix. Do not associate. Do not build ashram. Do not hoard disciples. Live alone. Eat alone. Walk alone. Meditate alone."

Only through the direct realization towards the deep meaning of that, one can be truly embracing all diversities as they are, free from separateness, discrimination, prejudice, intimidation, defensiveness, offensiveness, interference, intrusion, possessiveness, attachment, identification, expectation, craving, lust, mental and emotional dependency, dissatisfaction, disappointment, greed, unrest, disharmony, fear and violence. Although most minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism would interpret that as a form of 'selfishness', 'madness', 'wrongfulness', 'abnormality' and/or 'anti-social/community', or even, 'dangerous or intimidation towards their vision/desire/ambition/aspiration of a world that is built on 'grouping' via the empowerment of egoism of attachment, identification and desire. Those who want to be in control of everyone and everything and the world to be and not to be in certain way, according to their particular vision/desire/ambition/aspiration would not like or agree with this. That's their freedom of thinking, action and reaction.

And that's the way of the world it is, the by-products of ignorance and egoism, as everyone with different vision and desire are trying to achieve 'peace and prosperity in the world that they claimed ownership as their world/home/land/country/community' via 'controlling' or 'regulating' everyone and everything to be and not to be in certain way according to their particular vision and desire. Let it be.

It's a very simple inquiry towards peace. If one desires to have peace, but would be determined, disturbed or distracted by the noises and activities in the surrounding environment, and only would be able being in peace provided if the surrounding environment is void of any kinds of noise or activity that oneself doesn't like and doesn't desire, then that is not really peace. If one is able to be resting in peace, being undetermined, undisturbed and undistracted by all kinds of noise and activity in the surrounding environment, without trying to change or control the surrounding environment by getting rid of something that one doesn't like and doesn't desire in order to allow oneself to have the peace that one desires, then that is real peace.

The world is not perfect, and it will never be perfect. There's nothing wrong and it's okay that the world is not perfect, where there are many minds are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, as well as there are minds that are lost completely, or mentally very sick. It's unfortunate that many of those who have the influential power influencing the general condition and situation in the world are not aware of the ignorance and egoism in themselves, where they want to interfere, convert, change, punish or get rid of anyone and anything that they don't agree with, don't like and don't desire, that are against their desire/vision/ambition. Yoga for world peace is not about building a perfect world where all minds are absolutely void of ignorance and egoism, but existing for those who genuinely want to be free from ignorance, and hence, be free from being disturbed by all kinds of ignorance and corruption in the world, to have peace in oneself, and naturally, radiate peace and harmony into the world selflessly and intentionlessly.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.