Ethics and spirituality

             

Ethics, Spirituality, and Oneself           

At one point I felt as though this was all that I ever wrote about. When I started writing about ethics, behaviour, and such, at the time I had really "been through the mill", And I had experienced such bad times from so many people in the yoga scene, from day one. It had been relentless. And, I was so sad, and angry, at the lack of ethics with so many people in yoga. 

Yes, yes, I know. So-o-o unyogic to get angry.

Yet, so yogic, to be so honest.

And, I was beginning to feel like a moral watchdog, of spirituality. Not a good look. And, to be honest, whilst I do not believe in supporting bad behaviour, I also believe that each of us has our own journey, our own choices. It really was not up to me to point the finger of blame. There were enough people doing that. Pointing the finger of blame regarding

• ethics
• chakras
• thoughts
• doshas (ayurveda body types, to put it mega simply)
• koshas (the 5 sheaths comprising our entire framework of being in an incarnation)
• gunas (states of being)
• what a person says/said/did. Or didn't.
• how a person teaches

Phew! Totally ridiculous. Totally.

Choices

It was up to me, however, to not support bad behaviour. To remove myself from it. And I did. That old choices thing. The choice between being a decent person, or not.

Bad behaviour is every darned where

But, of course, it's not just within yoga, that some people do not have a code, nor behaviour, of ethics. We can find lack of ethics in every area of life. And, in every area of "spirituality", as well. It just seems to be a facet of human nature which some people gravitate towards.

And, weirdly, whilst I was wondering if I should write about ethics, yet again, a friend from overseas, contacted about me that very same thing. In this instance, it was "why are people following 'gurus' who have a history of abuse, manipulation, self promotion?" ...... the list goes on. She was, in effect, wondering about the mentality of the person who supports such behaviour. Which is a good point. Why do people do this?

Why do people do this?

I took this conversation as a sign, and thought..... better keep going with that post about ethics!

From the top

Another human frailty is 

• wanting to be At The Top. 
• The One Who is Adored. 
• The Great One. 

There is great power in having thousands directing their love, devotion, and money (money is very important) towards oneself. 

But, take it all away, and one is Nothing. There have been so many rise and fall, within spirituality.

Why do we support it

Ah. Another frailty. Yep, I did it, too. Before. Why do it?

• our desire to be loved
• our longing for spirituality
• wanting to be "special"
• power
• position
• fame
• fortune
• fear, and this is also a big one. Fear of

• not belonging
• being nobody
• losing position, fame, fortune
• having to stand on our own two feet 

In any abusive situation, and let's get over this rubbish once and for all. Abuse is abuse!!

• it's not bl---y spiritual!
• it's not for our welfare, nor spiritual growth
• it's not because we "deserve" it

These are really bad justifications of abuse. By seeing it for what it is, we start to "see" and "feel" things for what they really are.

And once you see it, you can't unsee it. 

Any form of abuse, is abuse.

What happens when we remove ourselves

Actually, it can be traumatic. B-i-g loss of identity. And heartbreak. And I am talking from personal experience here. Twice, I have walked from spiritual abuse. 

But... this is only a 1st World problem. It really isn't that important in the grander scheme of things. 

But, yes, at the time of leading up to separating from any bad behaviour, separating, and then the after-period, yes, it can be hard. And painful. We have to question everything. Everything that we believed. And did. (because, it truly does Take Two To Tango)

But something else happens. Something more important. Something unbelievably wonderful.

Rewards of integrity

We get self respect. We might have to rebuild our life, but, we get to like ourself. 

Priceless.