Be Kind to Yourself and Others in Thought and in Action, & Participate!

There’s a quiet truth that lives in the marrow of every person’s life, as constant as breath but often as unnoticed: we are not only creators of our world, we are participants in it. This truth, though simple, bears the weight of lifetimes of teachings, especially in the ancient wisdom of yoga and the perennial philosophies of Hindu thought. And yet, in our daily living—rushed, distracted, worn thin by longing—we forget.

We forget that it is not enough to merely wish for love, for peace, for healing, or for a sense of purpose. We forget that prayer, though holy, is not the end of the road. We bow our heads, whisper our mantras, and hope for change—but too often we don’t become that change.

I once found myself asking, again and again, “When is it my turn?” I asked the stars, the sacred texts, the silence after meditation. I asked out of exhaustion, out of longing, out of that soft, tender ache that so many of us know. And the answer, as answers often do, came in a whisper—not from the skies but from within: “When you take it.”

In yogic tradition, this is what we call Karma Yoga—the yoga of action. Not action for the sake of reward, but action for the sake of the soul. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that no one can escape action. Even in inaction, we are acting. But the wise ones, Krishna says, act without attachment to the fruits. They act because it is their dharma—their sacred duty. Participation is not optional. It is the very breath of the spiritual life.

To participate is to be alive. To step out of the spectator seat and into the muddy, aching, glorious field of life. And if we are to participate meaningfully, it must be with kindness—not just in the gestures we make with our hands, but in the landscapes we cultivate in our minds.

Because unkind thoughts are not silent. They shape the energy we bring into the room. They spill into the way we listen, the way we speak, the way we turn away from others—or ourselves. To be kind in thought is to begin sowing new karma, a new future. And to be kind in action is to nourish that seed.

This is not weakness. It is not passivity. It is courage. It is faith. And it is the foundation of fearless living.

Our spiritual texts do not ask us to retreat from the world, to watch our lives go by from the banks of the Ganges like passive monks who’ve left the world behind. No—this is the misunderstanding. The sages tell us to walk through the fire. To live in the world, with the heart of a yogi, the eyes of a mystic, and the hands of a farmer who knows that if you want to reap, you must plant.

We may sit and hope for the world to change. We may hope for a job, a friend, a healer, a windfall. But if our thoughts remain in fear, if our actions remain cruel or careless or paralyzed, and if we stay on the sidelines, what, truly, are we inviting?

Faith without action is a tree without roots.

And fear—let’s talk about fear. Fear is real, yes. But it is not the enemy. In the yogic tradition, fear is tamas—stagnation, heaviness, inertia. It is the state of being stuck. And the antidote is not force—it is movement. Movement in thought. In word. In deed. Kindness is rajas—it creates motion, flow, circulation. And from that motion, we find sattva—clarity, peace, illumination.

So we begin there. We think kind thoughts -- of ourselves first, then of others. We forgive ourselves for being scared. And then we act anyway.

We offer help. We speak gently. We take the opportunity, even when our knees shake.

And most importantly, we participate.

You are not here to watch life go by. You are here to be counted. To say, “Yes, I will.” To make your offering, however humble. To dance your dance. To tell the truth of who you are. The river of life does not pause for you—but it will carry you, if you step into it with both feet.

So, be kind in thought. Be kind in action. And participate.

Because your turn comes the moment you take it.

Hari Om Tat Sat