In Yogic philosophy, something that has brought such clarity to my life as of late, it is believed that the Divine is found in everyone. The "divine" or light exists in all beings, this is why at the end of a yoga class the teacher says and students repeat "namaste" - the light in me honors the light in you. In Christianity is is believed that we are "created in God's image". To me the two beliefs have always been one in the same. Yoga, in its purist form aims to put this belief into action- the idea that we are all one and that we all possess a divine light, however difficult it is to see, and because of this we must honor all human beings everywhere. It is the rejection of this idea- separateness which creates the idea of "the other" and causes basically all of the problems in the world from war to racism to tyranny and oppression. YOU are separate from Me therefore I can hate you/kill you/oppress you etc.

Where am I going? Lately I have been dealing with some difficult people, let's be honest, a difficult person. And I am remembering my teacher trainers saying when you find it impossible to get along with someone, when there is so much hate and disgust between the two of you that you can't even stand them- try to see the light in the other person. Because they are here, they were created by God and there is a light in them. This is what I am TRYING to do. It is difficult.

Another teacher said recently "you can not practice nonviolence without violence". You can not practice patience without the presence of impatience. It makes sense, if all we ever knew was peace, there would be no opportunity to practice peace.  It is when we are met with opposition that we practice the opposite.  This is called Pratipaksha Bhavana.  I don't know how this turned into a yoga lesson...I am really trying to look at this otherwise horrible situation from this peaceful, and quite empowering yogi perspective.  And I have wonderful teachers.  The end.