Yoga and Ayurveda Quotes

“ahimsa, often translated as "non-violence."
More accurately it means "non-harming," having an attitude of mind that does not wish injury to any creature, not merely for human beings, but for plants, animals and the entire natural order. For it to be complete, ahimsa must extend not only to action but also to speech and to thought.
Ahimsa is the most important observance in the practice of yoga and the basis for mental peace, which is not possible if we harbor thoughts of harm for others.”
― David Frawley, Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization

“The Plant Kingdom exists to bring feeling into manifestation. On the
plant level, feeling exists in a pure and passive form. The animal and human
kingdoms manifest this more actively, more separately, but often with less
beauty. Consciousness in plants is on a primal level of unity; therefore it is
more psychic, telepathic.
The earth, like a gigantic receptor or radio-station, inhales and exhales
stellar and cosmic forces, the absorbed essence of which grows and unfolds
as life. These forces are not all material, but include subtle energies of an
occult or spiritual nature. Plants transmit the vital-emotional impulses, the
life-force that is hidden in light. That is the gift, the grace, the power of
plants.
Plants exist to transmute light into life. Human beings exist to transmute
life into consciousness, love. These three–light, life and love–are one, each an
expression of the other, three dimensions of the same existence. Plants
transmute light into life through photosynthesis. The human being transmutes
life into consciousness through perception.
The seers, through the yoga of perception, let plants speak to them. And
the plants disclosed their secrets–many of which are far more subtle than a
chemical analysis could uncover. Approaching plants in the same way today,
not as objects for self-aggrandizement but as integral parts of our own unity,
the true value of a plant will flourish for our unselfish use.”
― David Frawley, Yoga and Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization