Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20 Yrs After

In 1987, as a teenager, I stood at the border with a friend. We peered down the highway past the guards and decided to go for it.

We split up and hitchhiked separately into the city, a 3 1/2 hr drive from the West German – East German border crossing. Later that day we made it to Berlin and met up with one another.

We passed the first night in West Berlin and then the next day we walked through “Checkpoint Charlie” into East Berlin. It was distinctly glum and gloomy – everything seemed old and depressed, especially to our young, western eyes. There was little food on the shelves, the mood was sullen,  and life seemed bleak. Outsiders could enter for a day, but the inhabitants could never leave – period.

Two years later all that changed drastically when the wall was torn down.

Now, here we are 20yrs after. While there are still a number of socio-economic points that need critical review and enhancement, at least the repressive and suppressive days of old are gone. And surely better days lie ahead.

Repression and suppression are never good – neither in individual life nor in social life. The entire aim of yoga is to tear down any and all barriers of narrow mindedness and open our minds and hearts to a wider  spectrum of life. Therein lies the health and growth of the human personality.

May we all continue to smash down the walls of differentiation and move forward toward a bright, new universal humanity.