Impeccable with your word?
What does it mean to be impeccable with your word?
Well it all starts with an impeccable thought…but what’s impeccable anyway?
It’s defined as flawless, faultless, irreproachable – coming from the latin impeccabilis – meaning sinless.
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali wrote that the very first step in the eight limbs of yoga is – ahimsa – non-violence. Over the years, I’ve shared many meditations on ahimsa and taught webinars to yoga students on the subject. Ahimsa is the cardinal rule of our existence – flowing through this world with non-violence. We have an obligation…a responsibility to step lovingly in the world. Every day, from the moment we awake, we touch hundreds of things…people, animals, plants, our sweet mother earth, the air we breathe, cars we drive, the ground we walk upon, the foods we eat, and even the liquids we pour into our system.
In addition to the teachings of Vedanta, these principles flow through the oldest and most revered wisdom traditions –Buddhism; Taoism; first nation and native American philosophies; including the Incan, Mayan, and Aboriginal basic understandings of life.
Walking through the world with an understanding of ahimsa offers you the opportunity to lead with love – to be aware of the footprint you make in each moment.
There are literally hundreds of opportunities each day for us to assess our impeccability with our interactions.
Just today – from this moment forward, ask this question in every interaction you have (including interacting with yourself):
• Are you adding value to the moment? Or taking it away?
• Are your words, thoughts, and deeds constructive or destructive?
• Is the universe better off for having your interaction?
• How would the person you most admire respond to your words, actions, and behaviors?
• As you move through the air around you, are you graceful and easy with your thoughts, the tone of your voice, your non-verbal communication, your gaze out into the world?
Are you doing NO- HARM?
If not? Don’t beat yourself up (that would be violent!). Give yourself a hug and choose non-violence in the next moment. You always have the chance to be peaceful and loving with your next words and your next actions – and it all starts with your next thought! So meditate…start from a place of peace and then flow it into the world and see how the day unfolds.
See you in the gap! Peace. -davidji
Listen to davidji’s AHIMSA Guided Meditation NOW!
