How do you kill?

[celeste.kirsh]

I think there was something pretty profound about this question. Not "do you kill?" or "How can you stop killing?" But just flat out "How do you kill?" There was a subtle acknowledging of the reality that yes, we do all kill, and that often times this is not something that you can prevent or stop or change...but just something that you can become aware of.

In my conversation this week, I noticed that I actually spent quite a bit of time talking about how I kill myself. The little harmful things that I do to my body, my spirit, my happiness without even thinking or questioning what I am doing. I noticed that by not taking care of myself, by not committing to turning my computer off or taking a true day of rest away from work, I am not entirely practicing ahimsa.

There is so much to be said about thinking about how we contribute to the harming of the world around us, and perhaps this is an obvious first place to start...but if we can't even practice ahimsa to ourselves, then how could we imagine practicing it with others or the world?