Sutra 2.45: samadhi siddih isvara pranidhanat

Samadhi: contemplation. Siddih: power, accomplishment, realization. Isvarapranidhanat: through devotion to the Lord, positive behavior and the ritual act of devotion.

Contemplation and its powers are attained through worship of God. (trans. Bernard Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga)

QUINCE BLOSSOM, Fredonia NY (Barefoot Photos)

A final Niyama or lifestyle guideline, focuses upon one’s relationship with the Divine.

Many undertake yoga class as a means of physical fitness or mental relaxation. And that it is. In time, however, yoga’s effects reach deep into our sense of self.

Though yoga itself does not espouse a particular religion, and though most practitioners would not consider themselves the least bit spiritual when they undertake yoga, hopefully, they will find seeds of a higher power or at least an inner life developing as they continue yoga asana and meditation.

Moment by moment, practice by practice, breath by breath, we learn to relinquish our boundaries and all that limits us in this world.

As we “grow” our awareness in asana or pranayama, and with what is happening in our body in space, we also start watching what our minds and hearts are up to! The energy of the others in the room feels almost physical. Slowly, we understand how our energy is interacting with the other folks’. How did we miss all this before? With new found certainty, we understand that we are more than the group of isolated individuals we once thought we were.

After class we stroll outside and notice the grounded energy of the trees and the vibrant, vibrating colors of the flowers along the path. There is a creek nearby that flows, imbued with an unseen force that is not exactly alive, nor dead.

If we are Christian, we begin to see grace everywhere.

We can feel the creek, the trees, the flowers as a sense of kinship develops. A little unsettling at first, this humming inside grows gently blissful. The heart center blossoms open and limitless.

We ARE yoga now.

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1. Niyama 3, Tapas, Heart Fire Yoga sutra 2.43: kayendriyasiddhirasuddhiksayattaapasah Kaya; the body. Indriya: the eleven...
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3. Niyama 4, Swadyaya, self-study Yoga Sutra 2.44: svadhyayat ista devata samprayogah Svadyayat: through reading...

Yoga Sutra 2.44: svadhyayat ista devata samprayogah

Polish door (RKG photo)

Svadyayat: through reading and chanting sacred texts. Ista: desired, chosen. Devata: divinity. Samprayogah: union, fusion.

Union with the chosen divinity comes from the study of self through the sacred texts. (trans. Bernard Bouanchaud)

B.K.S Iyengar tells us in his Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali that “Traditionally, svadyaya has been explained as the study of the sacred scriptures and recitation of mantra, preceded by the syllable AUM (see 1.27-28), through which the sadhaka gains a vision of his tutelary or chosen deity, who fulfills all his desires.”

Barbara Stoler Miller in her Yoga, Discipline of Freedom, elucidates the function of mantra: “Through the repetition of and meditation on specific mantras, the yogi can commune with a chosen deity, who can then aid his spiritual practice.”

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Swadyaya—self-study—Sometimes an unwelcome task/sometimes an obsession.  If only I would learn everything I need to learn with each experience, but I never do and so I keep on repeating the lessons.

How is this sutra related to the practice of Tapas?

How important is it to work with a teacher or mentor? Will another person help me find clarity and guide me from possible self-destructive or egoistic tendencies swadyaya may induce?

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How do I define the canon of “sacred texts”? Is it static, ancient, or dynamic, evolving?

Donna Farhi, in Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit says that “Any activity that cultivates self-reflective consciousness can be considered swadhyaya.”

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How does knowledge of myself lead me to Divine knowledge and vice-versa, How does Divine knowledge lead me to understand myself? Is the Self a mirror? If so, what does it reflect?

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Bernard Bouanchaud asks us to ponder the implications of this sutra in the Modern Age: The Yoga Sutras were written in a time and culture that emphasized the sacred. Contemporary Western culture is secular and sacredness that does not conform to accepted religion is often rejected. In such a context, what word can replace “divinity” (devata) in this aphorism?

Door detail (RKG photo)

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Through meticulous attention on the sounds of the mantra, consciousness grows inward and focuses sharply. Further meditation on a chosen deity can provide a vehicle for insightful experience.This Niyama gives the yogin another powerful tool for transformation.

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Nischala Joy Devi in The Secret Power of Yoga suggests that this niyama challenges us to examine our beliefs and our attachment to our beliefs.She encourages us to allow our view of reality to grow and change as our hearts soften in practice.

There’s a parallel in zen meditation: I am not my thoughts. I am not my emotions. I am not my body.

Sutra 2.44 suggests that mantra and deity visualization can help us cut through long held beliefs.

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Yoga sutra 2.43: kayendriyasiddhirasuddhiksayattaapasah

Kaya; the body. Indriya: the eleven sense organs, including thought. Siddih: power, perfection. Asuddhi: impurity. Ksayat: by the destruction, elimination. Tapasah: discipline, asceticism, austerity.

By eliminating impurity, a disciplined life brings perfection and mastery to the body and the eleven sense organs. (trans. Bernard Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga)

White Starburst (carolyn grady photo)

Tapas, the third yogic niyama, or code for living well, is another means for personal evolution. We don’t embark upon these practices for the sake of austerity or novelty or egoic gratification. T.K.V. Desikachar (The Heart of Yoga) stresses that Tapas must not cause suffering, “everything about tapas must help you move forward.”

Tapas is the inner fire or discipline which keeps the yogin practicing. Lethargy would be its opposite. One of the definitions of the word YOGA is “discipline,” so it’s easy to see how  Tapas is related to daily practice.

What is it that draws me to my mat day after day, year after year? It’s the fire that burns in my heart center, awakening a sense of embodiment that yearns for asana to express itself.

Yoga Scholar, Bernard Bouanchaud, asks us to consider the relationship between contentment, santosha which implies acceptance and Tapas, the fire that burns impurities. I’d ask, how then does Shauca, or purity itself affect or deepen the Tapasic experience?

A tidbit of trivia I learned from Wikipedia: One who undertakes tapas is a Tapasvin.

A primary purpose of yoga is to become aware of, to channel, and to utilize energy. Yoga can be considered a form of Tapas. Certainly it is integral to the yogin’s life. In Yoga Mind Body & Spirit, the popular teacher and New Zealand yogini, Donna Farhi says that, “Far from being a kind of medicinal punishment, tapas allows us to direct our energy toward a fulfilled life of meaning and one that is exciting and pleasurable.”

The other elements of the ashtanga yoga are inter-related practices. Pranayama and Asana help to stoke the fire. Pratyahara assists the Tapasvin in focusing the energy. Brahmacharya, the moderation of one’s vital energy, is a natural extension of Tapas. Its practice helps keep the heart fire bright and pure.

Pink Explosion (carolyn grady photo)

Farhi quotes Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron,  “What we discipline is any form of potential escape from reality.”

It’s Tapas that helps me put some ooomph into a daily pranayama, so the practice does not become dull and listless. Tapas propels me and holds me on my dietary regiment. I pray for Tapas to light the flame of my teaching, service, and for inspiration for this blog!

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I write so much about longing and the un-contented parts of my life that it’s hard sometimes to acknowledge those areas of my existence that are perfectly or imperfectly just fine.  I often feel a sense of contentment after writing, especially in free writing in a journal—as if I’ve purged the “vritti” out of my system.  There is however, a sense of contentment that comes with acknowledgment of longing as a perennial aspect of the human condition. And a deeper contentment is possible through recognition of the longing as an expression of the Divine.

orchid (ckg photo)

II.42 samtosad anuttamah sukha-labhah

Samtosat:through or by contentment   Anuttamah:the strongest  Sukha: of happiness   Labhah: obtaining, gain

Contentment brings supreme happiness. (B.Bouanchaud)

The result of contentment is total happiness. (Desikachar)

From contentment and benevolence of consciousness comes supreme happiness (BKS Iyengar)

When at peace and content with oneself and others (Santosha), supreme joy is celebrated. (Nischala Joy Devi)

This sutra can be linked with Sutra 1.13 : tatra sthitau yatno’bhyasah

Persevering practice is the effort to attain and maintain the state of mental peace.

In an earlier post, I wrote about practicing through emotions. Linking these two sutras, Patanjali says that the way to mental peace is through persevering practice and by practicing contentment, or mental peace, we’ll achieve happiness.

Santosha, or the practice of content-ment, is the ability to feel satisfied within the container of one’s immediate experience. (Donna Farhi)

Family gatherings often are times when I see sides of myself that I don’t like (a Living Mirror). They can be occasions of great dis-contentment for me. They are also the times of my greatest happiness. Trying to navigate them and remain centered is a worthwhile goal for anyone. Amy Weintraub in Yoga for Depression ties Santosha  with a quotation from Swami Kripalvanandji “My beloved child, break your heart no longer. Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.” She says that “both self-love and self-acceptance grow with practice.”

Is contentment the aim of yoga practice?

Is all suffering alleviated through contentment or do we look at the sufferings in our own lives in a contented fashion?

Does happiness imply a different vision of suffering?  Or can the two emotions exist simultaneously?

Is total happiness only possible through a practice of contentment?

If all life is suffering as the Buddha tells us, why should we bother trying to attain happiness?

Does contentment imply a turning away from the difficulties of life, an acceptance of poverty, cruelty, and violence in the world?

Won’t we be missing out on much of our human emotional range if we practice contentment?  Won’t we become zombies? Can one’s passions be ignited while one is content?

Are there any other effects or side effects of contentment?

Is it possible for contentment to exist on a greater scale, say in a community or in a nation?  Would this be the same as peace?

What is the relationship between contentment and peace?

Is there a relationship between contentment and the practice of svadhyaya (self-study)?

What is the relationship of asana practice and contentment?

The sutra tells us there is a direct relationship between contentment and personal happiness.  With contentment, one’s emotions are brought under an even keel, and the fluctuations of the mind are stilled.  Isn’t this the purpose of yoga?  I search for sukha in each pose, to feel joy while my body works on the edge of pain.  This has incredible implications for those suffering from emotional lability.  Can I learn to accept where I am at at any given moment? This is contentment and the sages say that by working on this, I will attain the supreme gift of happiness.

Patanjali tells us something profound, yet really simple: be content and you will be happy.  Want what you have and don’t want what you don’t have.

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Yoga Sutra 2.40: saucat svanga jugupsa parairh asamsargah

Purity protects one’s body and brings nonphysical relationships with others. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)

Yoga Sutra 2.41: sattva suddhi saumanasya ekagrya inddriyajaya atma darsana yogyatvani ca

Then, purity, clarity, and well-being of the spirit come to flower, as well as concentration, mastery of the eleven sense organs, and perception of the inner being. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)

Is cleanliness next to Godliness? Before I began studying the Yoga Niyamas I would have been scoffing in cynicism, eyebrows raised in disbelief at the *ancient* saying. That was something our mothers said that was soooo not relevant to the twenty-first century.

The yoga sutras push the whole cleanliness concept a whole lot further than, say keeping your room picked up. Patanjali links purity of body with purity of mind. No surprise there for anyone who has practiced yoga for even a month or two.

I am reminded of my Catholic school education. When preparing for the sacrament of First Confession, or Penance as it is called now we learned many ways that we can break our relationship with God. It is not only the body that can sin, but the mind as well, Sister Mary Grace would tell us. Though at times I have pooh-poohed this teaching as one that carried a truckload of guilt in its big flat bed, I now understand from my practice that pretty much EVERYTHING I do starts in my cantankerous MIND. Clearing my mind with a hard physical practice, or focused pranayama, or chanting a mantra can have amazing results with removing toxic thoughts and feelings. My body glows when my mind shines! This is shauca, or existing in a state of purity.

And no sense getting all bogged down in guilt either; shit happens as they say, and life is all about accumulating stress. A definition of life might just be that which acquires STRESS. Our job as yogins is to reduce and cleanse our systems so that pure energy can flow and energize us.

Taking another approach: everything starts with the BODY. If I clean and honor my body, my thoughts begin to flow purely and positively. Mike and I are turning our diets to the vegan side (ahh, it’s harder than I thought it would be, but more about that later). Only a couple of weeks in though, and we both notice a growing mental clarity and wakefulness. My insides feel cleaner than ever! My thoughts grow more gentle.

Amy Weintraub writes, in Yoga for Depression, that the Yamas and Niyamas (yogic ethics and observances) constitute a program for positive mental health. She suggests mantra for attaining a state of mental purity. Tat tvam asi, or You are that, a mantra from the Advaita vedanta tradition she uses, repeating the words, You are with me. Recognizing the nondual notion that there is no difference between You and That, the practitioner can settle into a state of equilibrium, if not ecstatic bliss.

Can you take one step today toward cleaning up your life? Making a committment to do it is the first step.

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Form and Meaning Arises (carolyn grady photo)

One who perseveres on the path of noncovetousness gains deep understanding of the meaning of life. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)

I DO pray for aparigraha to blossom in my life like a spiritual flower showering me with the clarity and buoyancy of a saint. This yama, suggests I relinquish that which I hold onto. I need to lessen my grip. It’s a manner of looking at the world, myself, my relationships, and of course, my STUFF.

This late December season which holds my birthday as well as the Christmas potlatch does tend to stoke the fire of WANTING. This wanting always throws me off a bit because I’m usually  contented with life and feel the need to GET RID of stuff in life-simplifying gestures.

As I grow older, less becomes critically important for me to own/do.  The years teach me what I can do without.  When Mike’s grandmother was in her nineties, she used to tell us “less is best.”  The year we lived in a small apartment in Bombay taught the whole family how little we could live on/with—and still have a happy life. It was a blessing that I didn’t always appreciate. After I returned to the States,my life in India took on a special radiance that I slowly realized came from simplicity and a lessening of the grip STUFF has on me. This awareness also grew from a growing sense of the riches present in my life, a sense of overflowing abundance.

Nischala Joy Devi ( The Secret Power of Yoga) discusses Aparigraha in terms of “awareness of abundance, and fulfillment.”  By meditating on abundance, noncovetousness naturally disappears. When practicing lovingkindness or metta meditation, I add abundance to the fourth line of the mantra: May I live in ease and abundance. It’s part of the process of evolving away from my poverty mentality.

A poem from my collection Barefoot & Upside Down:

the crumbling bark café

beneath an overcast sky

I lean against a tamarack

and spy the red-shouldered

hawk’s eyes on me

there is nowhere to hide

from her keen sight

we both keep still and watch and breathe

eventually her mate circles and cries

I feel so big and my body

growing earthen

overhead the clouds fly like planes

two red-breasted nuthatches in a dead jack pine

poke their beaks in decaying wood

it’s lunch at the crumbling bark café

I imbibe the tender wind

the moist air

splash in the ditch singing in overflow mode

wonder if I’ll see the garter snakes this year

a ball of glorious reptilian copulation

surprised me once before

seeking the specials du jour

I find a young sapsucker

tapping holes on a cottonwood bole

a chestnut-sided warbler intently feeding

in the old sap wells where insects

swarm to sugar

and a female oriole

so sophisticated  in yellow and black

explores hole to hole along a horizontal ring

slipping her slit tongue again and again

my belly growls

why do I never have enough?

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Bernard Bouanchaud takes us deep into the heart of this Yama: ” When the mind no longer worries about acquiring and keeping goods, we understand where we come from, where we are, and where we are going. We discover the meaning of existence….”

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rhododendron bud (carolyn grady photo)

So how’s your energy level lately? What is it that you’ve become manic about? Summer sports, writing, gardening, studying, a work project, yoga classes? Too much working, too much recreating, too much tweeting, too much online, too much shopping, too much eating ~ the list is endless, isn’t it? And to make matters worse, there are  possibilities to substitute one excess for another ad infinitum.

Or is it that you’ve become a slug and can’t seem to find the ooomph to get up and do anything? The day swings along each merry hour and you have not moved an inch – as if time stood still for you? Have you noticed your energy slumping more and more with each passing year? Ever wondered if there was a way you might reconnect with some of the juice of your youth?

Yoga sutra 2.38: brahmacarya-pratisthayam virya-labhah

Vitality appears in one who is firmly set in moderation.

The fourth principle of yoga ethics is Brahmacharya, aptly named after the god of creation, Brahma. It is linked to the energy which creates the universe. How can you harness this energy? That is the task of the yogin. We learn and practice continence of thoughts, emotions, movements. Wasted energy is like credit card debt; there is interest to pay long after the initial expenditure.

We begin to see and then to direct the flow of energy through our being. And we do so moderately. In the Secret Power of Yoga, Nischala Joy Devi uses the example of eating:

“If you are accustomed to eating three large meals a day and many snacks, begin to eat less at meal times and half as much when you snack. Instead of two handfuls of nuts, take one.

The tendency would be to eat only one meal and eliminate all snacks. That would swing the pendulum from one extremes to the other. Remember, the idea is to practice moderation. we already know how to be excessive!”

Classical Yogic scholar, Georg Feuerstein links Brahmacharya directly to the practice of chastity. He translates the sutra:

When grounded in chastity, [great] vitality is acquired.

Since the practice of yoga is such a demanding endeavor, Feuerstein suggests that “such vigour is indeed imperative.”

What does this really mean in our practice and in our teaching? Iyengar practitioner and teacher, Aadil Palkhivala discusses this topic in an informative article, “Teaching the Yamas in Asana Class.” I have excerpted his piece on brahamcaharya:

Brahmacharya

We practice brahmacharya when we consciously choose to use our life force (especially the energy of sexuality) to express our dharma, rather than to frivolously dissipate it in an endless pursuit of fleeting pleasures. Brahmacharya reminds us that our life force is both limited and precious, and sexual activity is one of the quickest ways to deplete it. As yogis, we choose to use the power behind sexuality to create, to fulfill our mission, to find and joyously express our inner selves. The practice of brahmacharya is not some archaic form of moralizing, but rather a reminder that, if we use our energy wisely, we possess the resources to live a fulfilling life.

We can teach brahmacharya by helping our students learn to use the minimum energy to achieve the maximum result. Teach them not to use small muscles to do the work of large muscles, and to bring their minds into the poses so that their bodies do not become fatigued. Also, teach your students to channel lines of force and internal power, which will add energy to their lives.

In all poses, teach students to keep the lift of the pit of their abdomen, and explain to them that this actually conserves the life force. Tell them that dropping the lower belly splatters our life force out in front of us. Once conserved, this pelvic energy can be channeled up to the heart. In this way, we can continually teach brahmacharya in class, encouraging students to lift the pelvic energy toward the heart center, the home of the indwelling Self. After all, isn’t this the true purpose of a complete yoga practice?

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Are there ways you have found to practice continence or moderation?

Have you noticed any shifts or increases in your energy level?

I’m going to practice by diminishing those handfuls of nuts I gravitate towards every afternoon, and by paying more attention to lifting the pit of my abdomen when I practice asana.

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Door from Malbork castle, Poland (RKG photo)

Even one life lived according to the third yogic principle, asteya, contains the seed of global transformation. Contrary to what contemporary culture would have us believe, greed is not written into our DNA.

Nonviolence remains at the core of the wheel of Yoga Ethics as codified by the Indian sage, Patanjali. Honesty, Non-stealing, Moderation and Non-Covetousness form the spokes of individual restraint. Practiced with whole-hearted effort, this wheel can turn humanity into a compassionate machine.

It is said that once the student is grounded in ahimsa, (nonviolence), the other practices fall into place naturally.

Nevertheless, contemplating the ways we can put the universal principles into practice in our twenty-first century lives, will afford us a deeper, happier, and in this case, a more just existence.

Sutra 2.37 says (trans. by Feuerstein, THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI):

When grounded in non-stealing, all kinds of jewels appear for him.

One fortunate aspect of the economic downturn is that folks are cutting back. It’s a necessary frugality that our parents had and it’s a benefit to the spiritual life of the society as well as our pocketbooks.

There are myriad opportunities to practice Non-stealing, and I’m including Over-Consumption here,  in our rich world.  One of the fortunate benefits of the global economic and environmental crisis is the burgeoning of a frugal mindset, once possessed by those who came of age during the Great Depression in the US. Simplicity is starting to go viral in the younger generations. As individual after individual begins to examine and then alter their consumptive habits, it won’t be long before this way of life is taken for granted. It is the only JUST way to live.

It would be beneficial if, TODAY, we each walked through the door leading to a simpler lifestyle and thought up at least one way we could lessen our carbon footprint, whether it be by delaying another trip to the store, walking to a friend’s house, or growing some summer vegetables in the backyard or on the rooftop. I’m going to place my canvas bags in the car so I will have them available when I go to the supermarket.

Recently my book group tackled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s the story of how her family lived for one year as localvores. WHY did they do this? Several reasons, but a big one was to reduce the dependence upon petroleum products due to shipping.

I’ll never eat another meal or whip through a grocery store without thinking of the ramifications of where my food has come from. Living in a farm-rich area, I vow to make a bigger effort to find and procure food and other cottage products from local sources.

Asteya includes mentally coveting to the usual physically taking another’s goods — very Catholic from my perspective — since I was taught that I can sin in the mind. I never got off the hook! How often do I act unconsciously striving for GOODS GOODS GOODS. In this culture, contentment—the polar opposite of covetousness—is a tough garden to cultivate—asking myself the question, how much is enough? Because whenever I cross the border beyond my needs — I stray into using what another could have used—I steal.

The MEDIA does not advocate for asteya. For me, it is a continuous challenge to develop a “non-wanting” mentality. My parents definitely mastered this much more deeply than me or my generation.

Lake Erie stone (carolyn photo)

Swinging the discussion around to yoga practice and life in the typical yoga class, here are some questions that help deepen my thinking regarding asteya:

* When I am not paying attention in class, from whom am I stealing?

*When I arrive late for class, from whom am I stealing?

*When I miss practicing, from whom am I stealing?

*If I push beyond my safe edge, from whom am I stealing?

*If I don’t work at my edge in practice or in class,from whom am I stealing?

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Yoga Sutra 2:36: For one established in truth, the result fits the action.

Yoga Sutra 2:37: All the jewels appear for one who is firmly set in honesty.

Asteya includes intention behind all actions, speech and thought—not just truthfulness.

Most of the time I exist, unaware of my intentions. Yoga, however reinforces just how powerful intentions can be. Practice on the mat becomes a strong lesson in mindfulness that has begun to weave into my life off the mat. To become aware, truthfully aware of intentions is one of the most difficult lessons of my life. This means I have to deal with my blasted ego identity—yuk! who wants to deconstruct? Who wants to really admit that even when I think I’m being altruistic, I am simply feeding my ego!

Cormorants in Galveston Harbor 2008 (NateGrady photo)

TRUTHFULNESS: It’s a matter of communication — to myself and to others. It’s a way of looking at life from the perspective of “the real me” unadulterated by a lifetime accumulation of others’ voices, pressures, and agendas.

Am I truthful in my self-talk?

How can I change what I say to myself?

Do I honestly believe that what I say to myself will effect change in my perspective or actions?

What would help me speak more honestly in group situations?

What would give me courage to speak up about perceived injustice?

How often have I been silently dishonest?

Whose truth am I reflecting when I speak to myself or when I chat with my friends and coworkers?

How much does pride or previous damage inflicted shape my present speech?

Are there habits I’ve acquired which keep me in a state of dishonesty with myself or with others?

Have I noticed a deepening of a self-inquiry regarding the embodiment of satya?

Where and how do I support this practice?

Other than nonviolence to myself or others, is there anything more important for me to devote my life to at this very moment? How does dishonesty affect the eightfold path? What ties Satya to Astheya (generosity), Brahmacharya (energy moderation), or Aparigraha (abundance)?

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Clematis flower, Fredonia NY (ckg photo)

The first Yama is AHIMSA,  nonviolence.

I write this first yama post on nonviolence while Superbowl43 is on in another room….just to add a tad of irony regarding bringing nonviolence home.  OK OK I know that football is not intrinsically violent…but the ads often suggest a way of life that, well, can be improved upon!

Bouanchaud begins his discussion of these precepts by saying the “Respect for all beings and all things must permeate all levels.”

Ahimsa  shines like a luminous flower in the center of the circle of our practice, penetrating through and illuminating all other areas of the eightfold path.

Georg Feuerstein, preeminent yoga scholar, says in The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali,  “They are not only the first steps on the path but form the very foundation of the whole yogic enterprise. At first the practice of these moral principles requires conscious effort, but as  the yogin’s inner being becomes more attuned to the  higher realities, the application of non-harming, truthfulness, and the other virtues becomes habitual.”

Yogini-writer Nischala Joy Devi (The Secret Power of Yoga, A Woman’s Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras)) underscores the importance of Ahimsa in the practice of the other Yamas:

“When we revere all as ourselves through Ahimsa, the other four qualities of Yama: Satya (truthfulness), Astheya (generosity), Brahamacharya (moderation), and Aparigraha, (abundance) are naturally present.”

Ahh, such a place to begin our yoga practice from! And yet, how many of us begin with an underlying sense of violence to our own bodies? How often do we  speak in a derogatory tone or words to our Selves? How often do we compare ourselves to the yogi or yogini practicing next to us, or to the teacher, or some other image we have seen in a magazine?

from my journal:

Ahimsa —all of the other principles flow from this

the biggest challenge here for me is to not harm myself

I am really working on caring for myself

mentally, physically, psychologically, spiritually.

Not overdoing anything

finding the optimal, healthy balance

drinking enough water for goodness sakes!

If I harm myself, I harm others

we are connected

being proactively healthy for myself means doing good for others

it means keeping the link whole

do not take the connection lightly

Meanwhile, I reread Farhi’s early pages (YOGA BODY MIND & SPIRIT)  for the umpteenth time and today I make a vow of practicing ahimsa toward myself. Aren’t all of the precepts summed up in this one word?

The popular Buddhist nun from Gampo Abbey, Nova Scotia, Pema Chodron suggests a practice of ultimate friendliness toward oneself. This is ahimsa, lovingkindness, metta.

Can I allow myself to float into …..myself ….without trying to tie myself up?

Can I begin to act as if I love my self?

Can I become devoted to my own spiritual and physical and mental health?.

What is the relationship of me to me?

I am working on my own dear negativity towards myself.

Do you believe in PEACE? Inner…Outer….in your community…..family- with your kids, parents, sisters….World….

Is peace the same as nonviolence – can one be at peace and be violent or self-injurious at the same time?….can they exist without each other?

Are there levels of violence and self or community-injury? How much am I willing to put up with? Do my yoga and meditation practices take me to deeper levels, so that I accept less and less injurious behavior from myself and others?

Do I truly feel this way towards all beings, or only to a certain *level* of being?

What can I do to wake myself up to a deeper practice of AHIMSA? Are there already supports in my life that will encourage the development of this ethical principle in my life?

READ MORE:

Taking these thoughts to the international arena, see the excellent Huffington Post blog piece by

Ed and Deb Shapiro – Gitmo Or Gandhi: How Does One Deal With Violence?

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