The Horror of Danicia, the flesheater II

[Guest guest]

Nearly 10 years later, after retiring from

competitive swimming and embarking upon Ashtanga Yoga as my

form of physical and spiritual exercise, as well as my

career, I admit to keeping my diet exactly the same as it

was; I eat meat. I EAT MEAT I EAT MEAT. For all those

shaking your head in disgust that I could write any type

of meaningful article on ahimsa and could never

claim to practice all the limbs of Yoga as delineated

in the Sutras, there could be nothing farther from

the truth. I consider myself incredibly aware of the

violence perpetrated in this universe on a daily basis,

and spend a great deal of my meditations on this very

subject. For those who come to class you have seen me

curse at the many Evian bottles left in the studio

after classes. Plastic is a material that when not

recycled inflicts irreparable damage to the environment

and it's creatures. I don't have enough recycling

bins available to me at Prana, and would consider

myself irresponsible if I did not lug all the bottles to

my apartment, where I have many lovely recycling

bins. I have most recently noticed that in a few of my

friends' offices, they were using Styrofoam cups for their

coffee. Styrofoam! Yikes!! You may have started to guess

that I became pretty friendly with their office

managers and those offices are only using cups that are

made from recycled paper. Ahimsa? I think so.

Non-violence has to start at keeping this universe suitable

for anything to live in. <br><br>I should stop and

give acknowledgment to the Ashtanga practice for

teaching me to feel connected enough to the universe, and

it's well being. By learning to appreciate the breath

and the miraculous effort that ujjaji breathing

requires, I no longer underestimate the small actions I

choose to do or not to do. Perhaps I am representing the

'backlash' of the whole Yoga popular culture, with it's

vegetarians wearing leather jackets and snake-skin boats.

Killing animals for vanity? For the perfect color

lipstick? If one does not actually ingest meat, but lives

blind to the fact that their beautiful ivory necklace

resulted in the death of a matriarch elephant, the

subsequent death of her baby and consequent splitting of the

entire elephant family are they practicing non-violence?

It may disgust vegetarians to see a piece of

chicken, but I am actually brought to tears in the thought

of an elephant dying a slow painful death so a

necklace can be made. I write this newsletter not to

defend those enlightened ones who choose to be

omnivorous, but rather to make individuals think of the many

other ways to practice ahimsa in their lives. For too

many, they have this idea that their karma bank account

is clean because they dine on Tofu and Tempeh.

<br><br>As for those still convinced that clean vegan living

is the only way to really actualize non-violence, I

will only say this- Please write a REALLY GOOD

COOKBOOK that even a traditional Italian mom would love.

Peace. Namaste. E-mail me back comments... Or

questions!!Danicia >><br><br>El Senor, Ole!