The Great Dialogue

Hello,   For context, See article, "Beginning the Journey" by Judith Lasater at: http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/462?utm_source=Wisdom&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Wisdom The first yama is perhaps the most famous one: ahimsa, usually translated as "nonviolence." This refers not only to physical violence, but also to the violence of words or thoughts. What we think about ourselves or others can be as powerful as any physical attempt to harm. To practice ahimsa is to be constantly vigilant, to observe ourselves in interaction with others and to notice our thoughts and intentions. Try practicing ahimsa by observing your thoughts when a smoker sits next to you. Your thoughts may be just as damaging to you as his cigarette is to him. It is often said that if one can perfect the practice of ahimsa, one need learn no other practice of yoga, for all the other practices are subsumed in it. Whatever practices we do after the yamas must include

From the Writer's Almanac: "It's the birthday of science fiction  writer and Church of Scientology founder L.  Ron Hubbard, born in Tilden, Nebraska  (1911). He enrolled in George Washington University in 1930 to study civil engineering but was placed on academic probation because  of poor grades, and he left after two semesters. In 1950, he wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental  Health, which formed the basis of the Church of Scientology's  teaching. The book explains that humans have 'engrams,' recordings of  painful events experienced in the past, stored in their subconscious and that  these are the basis of physical and emotional problems. In order to be cleared  of these engrams and unwanted spiritual conditions, a person takes part in an  'auditing' session, where a counselor uses an Electropsychometer, or  E-Meter, to measure the mental state of a person, helping to locate areas of  spiritual distress so they can be address

Steve - I agree that there is a need for ongoing dialogue about this - in almost every case when the state has a endorsed a "State religion" problems arise...and even in America, where there is a lot of freedom to choose one's religious practice and to carry it out unimpeded, we still see many trying to use courts and legislative actions to limit or remove one or another group's rights [sometimes even private citizens rights] to practice their own religion peaceably.       I certainly do not have any easy answers: this country was designed to allow tolerance of diverse ideas and views, but our international policies and actions seem to me, at times, to belie that. and internally, many of us are very intolerant of other's worldviews...I hope the Dalai Lama's decision plays out as he hopes... As for the USA, If Christians would take the lead in promoting religious tolerance it might help...I find it hardest to be that person when it comes to my closest associa