Peace Shanti

As I was thinking about what I want to teach in my yoga classes this week, my thoughts keep coming back to to a quote I saw this weekend.

"Peace.  It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.  It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."
~ Unknown

The thought of peace had me turn toward Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to be reminded of what he says about peace.

Yoga Sutra I.33 - "By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness."

Patanjali is giving us keys on how to handle the happy, the unhappy, virtuous and wicked person while retaining our inner peace. Most people do fall into one of these 4 categories at one point or another.

If someone is happy, be friendly with them, don't be jealous or covet what they have. Being around that person can be a comfort.

If someone is unhappy, have compassion, lend a helping hand, be merciful. Keeping compassion will help your peace of mind.

If someone is virtuous, be delighted. Try to cultivate their virtues in your own life.

If someone is wicked, ignore them. Do not try to advise them since they probably will not listen and that will make you lose your peace.

May this week be a week of a serene mind and inner peace.

Om Shanti