Inherent Good?

I was reading 'Yoga Journal' the other day which is a monthly yoga magazine my mom gets delivered to our house. She doesn't do yoga, at all, but she got some deal where she had to order a bunch of magazines, so she gets it for me pretty much. I really like it because it has a lot of good articles every month which are good at making it clear how much yoga can affect you in so many aspects of life. And it always has a section where a full sequence of postures is laid out with clear pictures and descriptions of how to carry out each pose. I feel like I learn many new things each month. Of course, I am a beginner so I have a lot to learn.
Another feature is the monthly interview. It's just a short interview on the back page, usually with someone who teaches yoga somewhere in the United States. This month it was with some guy named John Friend. Apparently he developed this type of yoga called Anusara Yoga. According to his website, Anusara Yoga is "a life affirming Tantric philosophy of inherent goodness" combined with Universal Principles of Alignment. Basically, there is good in everything and everyone and all differences are accepted. I tried to add the link to his website at the bottom of this post in case anyone wants to learn more about this type of yoga practice (sorry if it's not right, I'm not so great at that type of thing, yet). It seems like a good place for beginners because it's non-judgmental and he works mostly with alignment and it seems more practical rather than super spiritual. Not to say that the spiritual aspects of yoga aren't as important, they are. I just think that some people are turned off by the religious/spiritual aspects of yoga. They think they have to change their religion to practice; this of course is not true, but I can understand where the misconception comes from.
Anyhow, clearly this guy, John Friend, believes in the inherent goodness of all things on earth and beyond. So in this interview they ask him about his views regarding all the evil shit that happens on this planet. If everything is inherently good, what gives?

YJ: With your positivity, how do you reconcile the problems of suffering and evil in the world?

John Friend: "Everything in it's essence is benevolent, good, and auspicious. But we do actions that aren't skillful. Everyone wants to be happy, but we misbehave or misspeak and cause pain for ourselves and for others. There's karma and interconnectedness, cause and effect, reasons for everything. Sometimes things seem random and unfair. The interweavings of the tapestry of destiny and karma are beyond my view. Some mysteries we don't have to figure out. We just flow with them and respond in the best ways to connect with our spiritual essence."


So, even though he's a little whoopdy di doopty or whatever, he does have a point. I think everyone, even those who seem like they don't, have the intention of doing something good. Whether it's good for just themselves, or good for the whole, is another matter completely. But everyone DOES want to be happy. And I believe we all are connected. Because everything is just energy in different forms. So we are everything because everything is energy, right? And us as individuals are too small to see the greater picture. We can't see the whole web of human and earth energy from above. If we could, if we could see the bigger picture, I think it wouldn't seem so random and mean. I think there would be some patterns and understanding. And there is a lot to be said for the actions of humans. We often DO misspeak, or misbehave, even with the best of intentions. And that does cause pain. So to eradicate pain, as much as possible, we just need to become more aware of our actions. Right?

Sorry if this whole post is a little whoopdy di doopty. But I think it is a question we all ask ourselves all the time: Why do bad, evil things happen if there is a God? And I think people like this John Friend begin to answer that question for us. Of course, it will never definitively be answered in our lifetime. Maybe not even once we die. But we can try to understand as much as possible.

http://www.anusara.com/index.php?option=content&view=frontpage&Itemid=73

I know this is going to make me sound retarded, but I don't care. I've always had help when it came to using power tools. But recently there is no one around to help me. I never had an attitude of 'I can't do something', it was more like 'why should I?'. But now I feel like I just should be able to do everything. I should be able to change a tire, whether I need to or not. Everyone should be able to drive stick (that I've been able to do for a while), be able to pop start a standard vehicle, use a chainsaw, a screwdriver, a lawnmower, things like that. Most of those I can do. But I've never really used a power screwdriver before. But I just put up a piece of sheet rock in my room to cover up a section that wasn't done. And I put up two sets of hooks!!! Whoo-hoo!! I'm awesome.

National Healthcare - Common Sense

It recently occurred to me that if I were to come down with some terrible injury or illness, I would be totally screwed. I don't have health insurance. And you can't get health insurance once you've been diagnosed. And there is no way I could pay for my health care, especially for a long drawn out illness like cancer or something. This situation must happen to millions of people regularly. How many poor people are there out there who don't have health insurance? And it's easy to break a bone. Who knows when an accident can happen.
As I get older and seem to get sick more often, this has really begun to worry me. What if it turns out I have a really bad disease? It seems like only people with money get help. Or if you happen to be a cute child with e freaky new illness and you can be used to raise money. This is a terrible system. One I know that is trying to be changed as I type this. And I have to admit that I am extremely ignorant when it comes to the ins and outs of the argument over national health care. But from that ignorant standpoint, based solely on common sense, doesn't it make sense that everyone should have access to adequate health care? At least the basic emergency and preventative care? When I lived in Vermont we had a state health insurance system. If you made under a certain amount, insurance was free, after that you paid a deductible based on income. I thought it was great. It was better than private insurance. I got rehab bills taken care of, they paid for my methadone medication across state lines, and it was affordable. If it meant my taxes were a little higher, they weren't high enough to be noticeable. But the benefits were noticeable. How can people not want to pitch in to help everyone around them be healthier? Don't they realize we are all connected?