Ahimsa (Non-Violence)

Ahimsa is Sanskrit for non-violence. I try to practice ahimsa at all times, though it is tricky when dealing with people.

In my vlog I talked about the various ways I’ve come across ahimsa. I’d like to elaborate on the triggering aspect.

To trigger someone is to cause an emotional reaction. This is usually because of past memories, emotional turmoil, or something else. Ever since college, I’d always liked to pick on conservative friends and poke at them, saying outrageous things to provoke a reaction. I didn’t know it was called triggering back then, but I did it nonetheless.

I told myself it was a service to the world. I thought that I was pushing my friends’ comfort zones and expanding them, creating a more liberal, open world. There was also the ego trip: I believed I was better than my friends (since they were so limited by their conservatism), so having the power to provoke them fueled my ego.

Even as recently as this year, I believed that triggering people was the way toward enlightenment. I thought that, if I made them emotional reactive, they would think, then perhaps spiritually grow. This wasn’t pure fantasy: a lot of my personal growth happened because I myself was triggered, followed by deep introspection.

Gwen Bell and Ev Bogue have been writing about non-violent communication (NVC) recently. Ev’s email, in particular, made me realize the violent nature of consciously triggering people. I had known since my NVC course that it’s not about who’s right: it’s about finding a way to satisfy all parties’ needs. But in the past I just thought, “Okay, don’t insult, don’t berate.” I still liked to lead conversations toward controversial topics for the sake of enlightening the other person. So I thought.

I’d like to say that I’ve figured out how to lead people toward introspection and spiritual growth without ever hurting them, but it’s a work in progress.

One more thing. A few months ago I came up with what I thought was an ideal trigger. Now that you’ve read all this, maybe it can be less violent and more helpful.

Why do you live?

I’m grateful for:

1. The NVC/Compassionate Communication course I took last year.
2. Gwen Bell and Ev Bogue for their insightful emails.
3. pretender5678 on YouTube, for being my very first vlog subscriber! Welcome!
4. Apple, for providing such wonderful technology for me to share with the world.
5. Dad, for providing so many opportunities to practice non-violence. I am not being sarcastic. It is truly wonderful to have someone so loving, yet who triggers me all the time. It is in this dichotomy, this paradox, from which I grow.