The Yoga Lunchbox

Nourishing the Yoga Community since 2008

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Advertising
  • Yoga Articles
    • Starting
      • Foundations
      • Styles
      • Going to Class
      • Practices
      • Home Practice
      • Resources & Reviews
    • Deepening
      • Yoga & Parenting
      • Yoga & Relationships
      • Yoga & Life
      • Yoga & Healing
    • Teaching
      • Insights
      • Interviews
      • Training
      • Business
    • Awakening
      • Activism
      • The Process of Kundalini
      • The Process of Waking Up
      • KL’s Musings from the Mat
  • Yoga Videos
  • NZ Teacher Training
    • RSS
    • Youtube
    • Facebook
You are here: Home / Yoga Articles / Awakening • Creating a More Beautiful World / Musings from the Mat / How yoga supercedes the need for political correctness

How yoga supercedes the need for political correctness

November 24, 2009 by Kara-Leah Grant 7 Comments

The Buddha turns arrows into flowers

OK.

Here’s what we need to do to shift this whole PC thing that has infected our culture.

Let’s start by getting a few things straight.

If someone calls me a bitch, does that make me a bitch?

According to their world view, it does.

But I don’t have to believe them.

And more importantly, I don’t have to get upset about it either.

Advertisement

I can accept their perspective and allow them to have it.

Whatever, think that way if you like.

Isn’t this what the whole intention behind PC was in the first place – acceptance and tolerance for our differences?

Bitch isn’t that an inflammatory an example. Let’s try another one.

Let’s imagine you’re a short-haired, trouser wearing woman who prefers relationships with her own gender.

And someone calls you a “fucking dyke” in a nasty, mean kinda way.

Do you have what it takes to accept that that is how they see you, without getting upset about it?

After all – do they define who you are? ARE you a fucking dyke?

And what do those words mean anyway?

In the ever-shifting sands of the English language, words morph and float along a continuum of connotations.

While they might have been meaning to be nasty… the words themselves divorced of that intent are just words. Technically they could mean “a sexually active method of containing water”. Dyke has been considered offensive in the same way gay and nigger have been. Both have been “reclaimed” by their respective interest groups.

We put so much energy into getting upset about the words that people use, when it is really the intent with which they speak them that inflame our righteousness.

How dare he call me a fucking dyke?

I’m hurt, and upset, and wounded, and it’s all your fault.

Only it’s not.

For if I felt secure in my identity as a woman who loved other women, I would notice those words and those intentions as reflecting not who I am, but who the speaker is. And I would allow them to express themselves and their world view because that is what I wish for them to do to me – allow me to express my world view.

So where does this leave us?

With two different world views.

Under dualistic thinking, it’s impossible for us to hold two different ideas in our heads at once as both being true.

How can it be true that I am both a fucking dyke, and a woman who loves other women?

Surely one of these ideas must be wrong?

And this is what PC is all about – about supporting the world view that is right. This world view is tolerant and open and accepting and therefore good.

But from a logical point of view, it’s very inability to allow other people to express their intolerant, unaccepting world view makes PC… intolerant and unaccepting.

So – is it then possible for us to hold two ideas about one thing as both being true?

It is if we understand that an idea about a thing expresses a perspective, and there are as many perspectives in this world as there are people. Many of these perspectives will have similarities, but they are still as unique as the DNA of the person with the perspective.

And if we accept these two ideas about one thing as both being true, where does that leave us?

Well, we have one person speaking angrily to another, insulting them.

And we have one person listening with respect and accepting that person’s point of view.

There is quiet dignity in this. There is peace in this.

It is markedly different from one person being angry and insulting, and the other person being hurt and wounded.

Or from one person being angry and insulting, and the other person also getting angry and insulting.

To accept another’s perspective is not to deny our own, or to make their perspective right, or better than ours. It is just to accept that at this moment in time that is how they see the world.

That is all.

Is that so tough?

It’s not when you practice yoga. Seriously practice, both on and off the mat. When you understand that yoga is a path of awakening. And that awakening is not about changing the world, but simply seeing the world as it is.

As.

It.

Is.

There is great power in this.

For when you see the world

As.

It.

Is. (not how you wish it would be. not how you think it should be.)

And you remain still, peaceful, loving, and open in the wake of

How.

It.

Is.

Magic happens.

The arrows of anger and insult turn into flowers of colour and fragrance.

So forget political correctness. It is merely the mirror of the hate/intolerance/anger/insults it seeks to erase.

Instead seek awakening.

That is all that truly matters.

Yoga is one path.

But there are many.

Find yours.

And watch arrows turn into flowers.

The Buddha turns arrows into flowers

The Buddha turns arrows into flowers

For another take on how we allow our perceptions to rule our reality, try this excellent article from Kenton Whitman:

  • Perception Equals Reality

Similar Articles You May Enjoy

  • NZ Yoga Community raises $8394 for Yoga Stops Traffic

    The Results Are In! Thanks to everyone who supported our effort, it was a massive success. You can also see photos and results from individual events on our facebook page. Thank you to everyone who was involved!

  • Sue Fuller
    Wellbeing World Online launches audio yoga classes featuring New Zealand yoga teachers

    Have you ever tried following a Yoga DVD only to find it difficult to perform the postures correctly whilst having to look at the T.V? Constantly looking at the screen can make it tricky to fully commit to the practice. This occurred to me whilst devising and presenting a series…

  • April 14 -17: Anahata Yoga Retreat, Family Yoga Retreat

    Family Yoga Retreat @ Anahata Yoga Retreat Come join us as Anahata transforms into a special place for the whole family. A perfect opportunity to be in nature, be natural and allow the freedom of self expression. This exciting retreat encourages discovery, celebration and coming together to laugh, share and…

Filed Under: Musings from the Mat Tagged With: Acceptance, buddha, compassion, Illusion, political correctness

About Kara-Leah Grant

Kara-Leah is an internationally-renowned writer, teacher and retreat leader. Millions of people have been impacted by the articles, books and videos she has published over the last ten years. Her passion is liberation in this lifetime through an every day path of dissolving layers of tension into greater and greater freedom and joy. You can find out more about her, including when her next retreats are, on her website. Kara-Leah is the visionary and creator of The Yoga Lunchbox.

Comments

  1. Kenton Whitman says

    November 25, 2009 at 8:39 am

    Dear Kara-Leah,

    I loved this post. The message is perfect — though rather radical =) PC has always seemed odd to me, though I’ve never put it together so clearly as you did above. To me, it seemed odd that the message seemed to be one of ‘tolerance’. There is even a sort of movement over here in the US to ‘teach tolerance’. Yet the message here is that we should ‘tolerate’ people — and imagine being in a room with someone you can ‘tolerate’. Instead, what if the message was ‘develop curiosity’ about people? Or any of a number of other messages that would urge us to explore differences, celebrate diversity, and discover our own connections?

    I appreciate everything you brought to this issue — I can imagine that some people can adopt PC practices with a heart that is truly open and curious, but it seems too often that it’s done in the sense you outline above. Let’s not worry about what our words are but instead concern ourselves with what’s in our hearts — then no matter what words we speak, they’ll always manifest in a spirit of compassion, love, and caring.

    Reply
  2. Kara-Leah Grant says

    December 1, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    Hey Kenton,

    Lovely to hear from you. I guess it is kinda radical… I love your idea about developing curiousity instead of reacting with judgment.

    Makes way more sense than trying to control words…

    Blessings,
    KL

    Reply
  3. Boat says

    December 28, 2009 at 9:20 pm

    Beautiful. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Peter says

    February 8, 2010 at 4:15 am

    Thank you! Very well put!

    Reply
  5. Keile says

    January 23, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    Just what I needed to hear today. As. It Is. Thank you for reminding me. Breathing my fears down and letting the magic happen.

    Reply
    • Kara-Leah Grant says

      January 23, 2013 at 2:00 pm

      Awesome – I’m glad Keile.

      Blessings,
      KL

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. On Being Disabled « kentonwhitman.com says:
    December 8, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    […] recently wrote a thought-provoking article on political correctness.  For those who don’t feel the word ‘disabled’ should be used, I’d […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme Ham on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in