Bad Seeds Good Seeds

Ever experience how when someone plants an idea in your head- even if you did not agree with it, this idea starts to take shape in your thoughts?? For example, if someone, says something not-so-nice about another person whom you thought was quite lovely to begin with. Soon, you find yourself starting to notice things that were not there to begin with (and to be honest, not there at all, just made up in the mind)

Unfortunately for me, it happens. The problem with me is that I love the people I love in a mad and crazy way and get a bit protective. Nothing wrong with this, but I tend to forget that some times, friends just need to rant and they don't mean to plant any awful seeds in your thoughts. I know this because sometimes, I do the same. In the heat of some not so ideal moment, I might rant about someone and then on some occassion, hear those opinions repeated and feel awful that I had gone and done that and then get into conflict with my friend since I am the one who had first said it and am now protecting them - ooops! My bad! 

spot the man in my blurry picture

I noticed another thing this week that came with the Oscar Pistouris' news. He has been such a champion in every way to me and this seed of hope and triumph had been so strongly planted in me that when he had that outburst when he lost the 100m, I defended him in my head despite disliking bad sportsmanship. And right now, feel so sorry for him. What I am saying is that equally, once the good seed has been planted, all you see is goodness. 




अहिंसा Ahimsa
The Yoga Sutra chapter 2.35 tells us to practice non harming. This is training our thoughts, words and actions not to cause any physical or mental harm. 

I guess this is about practicing loving kindness. If you practice loving kindness towards all beings, it would be difficult for anyone to plant any unwanted seeds in your thoughts. And even if they did, it would not cause you to react. And you are probably unlikely to plant any horrible seeds yourself.

This applies equally to ourselves. I thought i had written about 'matrika shakti' but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Basically, 'matrika shakti' (energy) stirs in our bodies. It is what vibrates with the energy of seeds that you plant over your life time - this could be from self criticism, low self esteem, etc, or of the opposites. So the words stirs the vibration, the vibration starts to come together and manifest as our thoughts and this then opens us up to the consequences of those words.

It is always helpful to start with ourselves. I heard this somewhere- "who else is more interested in you than you yourself?" So who else can help you best? We work on loving kindness towards ourselves. It is pointless to just eat well and exercise. We have to stop harming ourselves with our own words too. This is challenging. But from my experience (which is on going) when we can do this for ourselves, it is so much easier to do this for those around us.