On Rats and Ahimsa

So the other night I woke up to noise coming from down stairs.  I got up, went downstairs and crept through the living room.  I could hear rustling behind some boxes (we are moving) in the dining room.  I grabbed a broom, and went over to the boxes.  The noise stopped.  Using the broom I pushed the boxes to the side when suddenly a rat jumped out and ran right at me.  I hit it with the broom twice, and it ran off to the the side.  Somehow I had ended up in the kitchen defending the rat hole with the broom.  The rat tried to run into the kitchen but I again landed the broom on it.  It flew off to the side and ducked behind the stove.  I pulled the stove away from the wall, but the rat wasn't there.  I looked under the stove, but it wasn't there... Then I heard it.  the rat had crawled up inside the stove.  I pulled the bottom drawer out of the stove and low and behold I could see the rats tail hanging
down.  "Scissors" I though, but luckily I couldn't find any.  I found a kitchen knife though.  With out

Yama and Niyama

Yama and Niyama are fundamental but often subtle energetic distinctions....  Simply these are the does and don'ts of a practice of awakening.  These are often mistakenly taken as moral guidelines or judgement.  Yoga practice is a practice of awareness of the non-dual self, or remembering that opposing forces which appear to be separate are non-separate.   Rigidly holding to ideas of "this" and "that", "right" and "wrong" can actually be an obstacle awareness of "this" as non separate.  In Yoga there is no "right" and "wrong".  These are relative terms... Something that is right for one person, may be wrong for another.  The archetype of the Goddess Kali, Destroys all that is in her path, but of coarse destruction becomes new life.  We might object to humanity being wiped off the earth, but animals on the verge of extinction might appreciate it....

The object of practicing Yama and Niyama is yoga.  Practitioners have found the the energetic effects of a the Yama and Niyama practices are conducive to the state we call Yoga.  Don't take these as dogmatic rules that you "have" to do.  Everything leads back to Yoga eventually, including action that in the short run (many lifetimes) may cause bondage and suffering.  These practices are meant for those seeking transformation, they are to prepare the way for greater energy and awareness to manifest in the experience we call life.....