The world has become highly indifferent to pain and suffering of others, and we all know it. However, we fail to realize that almost all of us are contributing to it in a certain way. It is very easy to close our eyes and blame others. Who am I to change anything? How am I supposed to help people on the other side of the world? What can I do to avoid terrorism? Yes, you are one in a billion, and no, you will not change the world in a day. But imagine, all these people around you, sharing this planet Earth might have similar thoughts as you and this is the root cause of our dilemma. If only we were aware of how powerful our thoughts are, I promise you, the world would be a different place.

Let’s remember what happened in the USA. Ted Cruz made a comment about wanting to blow up the whole Middle East just to “see” whether “sand glows in the dark”. A presidential candidate saying this is a really big deal. He, and many others, made several insensitive comments during the elections. Why? They had confidence that ‘the people of America’ will like this and support them.

This ‘confidence’ shows how grave the situation is. And why is that? There is fear. Fear of terrorism, fear of existence, fear of the unknown in general. The media uses this collective fear and creates panic and hate. We don´t care if innocent people have to suffer in order to erase the so called ‘enemy’. But, unfortunately, ever so often the ‘enemy’ is not real, but just a creation by someone (most of the times politicians, governments, and multinationals) who wants to push their interests (resources, power, money) through.

Let’s come to a more local example. In India, we complain about the garbage on our roads and how the government isn’t doing anything. But we forget how the garbage got there in the first place. It’s people like us who throw garbage on the road. This shows our insensitiveness towards our surroundings.

This behavior translates to our indifference towards other’s suffering and our insensitiveness towards nature. The recent immigration crisis and the USA backing off from the Paris Convention are prime examples.

Directly or indirectly, big multinational companies, driven by greed and high profit goals, are often the root cause of environmental destruction. In the name of professionalism, MNCs are not only careless towards nature, but also indifferent when it comes to their employees.

Individual needs and emotions do not have any space in the corporate world. Everyone is expected to work like a robot and maximize the profit of the company. We are trained to function in this system from our childhood, but have you ever stopped and asked yourself what is in it for you? What is your outcome? Money? A career? Material gains? Isn´t it a more psychological and emotional distortion of individuals? And in the end, we spend our money on treatment and pills to fight against stress and disease caused by our daily life.

Isn´t it an extremely clever system? Not so much for us in the end though. All this stress, unease, and physical and mental overload will ultimately transmit deep down to the society, and lead to the creation of a collectively diseased community.

Why are more and more people restraining from caring for their community and ultimately for the society? The reason is not so much carelessness, but more the fact that we become more insensitive towards our own selves. Do we really care about ourselves? Aren´t we too often putting a thousand different tasks and people first? There is always something more important, someone who needs your support, or you have to finish this work project before taking rest. Ask yourself – are you taking enough time for yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you even know yourself?  This is a very essential, basic question, and most probably also the most difficult one to answer.

The fact is, if we are not sensitive towards ourselves, if we are not able to love ourselves, how are we supposed to be able to truly love others and how will we be able to care for others and for the society?

Only individuals who have harmony and love within will be able to create a progressive and peaceful world.

So, ‘what’s the way out?’, you ask.

Ask yourself, what is the path of salvation? How can you be redeemed?

The answer is Yoga. It is much more than just physical exercise. Even advanced practitioners are often not aware of the true power Yoga has.

Yoga means “union”. It teaches us to live in unity and harmony not only with the people around us, but with something more profound – nature.

As one of our articles “How to Practice Asanas”, uncovering the spiritual meaning of attaining asana, says – just attaining the right physical pose is not Yoga. It should come from within. Yoga makes us understand our oneness with the universe – the whole of creation.

Yogis have been striving to find inner peace, nirvana, within themselves for thousands of years. This infinite power and the attained knowledge is meant to elevate humanity.

Compared to other creatures human beings seem to have a “higher” conscious presence. This is not all. Unknown and untapped, we have a miraculous potential. Our inner energy source is required to unleash untapped “power chakras”. Through Yoga, we can awaken these dormant powers and realize our true Self.

Yoga is the path of love. It believes in Unity and Cosmic Harmony, rather than religion.

One God – the Supreme Consciousness

The word God should not be confused with a person, but rather be seen as the whole of our existence, the Universe, Unity of Love for Everyone and Everything – however you would like to call it.

One Aim – Salvation for the whole existence

The path of Yoga  is that of love. Bhakti Yoga is one such path. Its goal is to develop an intense love between the Yogi and the Cosmos which dissolves all boundaries. This produces the required “Oneness” between the Yogi and the world. This love destroys all indifference and insensitivity.

The more we realize who we truly are, the more we can see ourselves, the more we develop an understanding for the world around us and the fact that we are an actual part of it.

We have the potential to come to terms with our place in the world and contribute to the society like Swami Vivekananda and Gautam Buddha did. Their path was guided by Yoga in the first place. Their aim was to attain Nirvana and find salvation for themselves and ultimately for the society.

Absolute peace can only be strived for by recognizing our True Self.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to happen fast. The path of Yoga is a long one, full of distractions and obstacles, yet it is our immediate need. Oneness is our goal and Yoga is our support. We need to tap into our consciousness and access our dormant powers. Becoming one with the world is the path Humanity needs to follow. Only then can we eradicate indifference and insensitiveness.

Have faith in yourself, trust your own true power and start walking. The path of Yoga will unfold itself in front of you. The only thing you have to do is to take the first step.