Swadhyaya – studying the self

As with most of the yamas and niyamas, this week’s niyama has multiple layers of meaning. SWADHYAYA (often written as svadhyaya or svadyaya) is simply translated as self-study. It does NOT mean self-study in the egotistical sense of congratulating yourself on being so smart, good-looking, rich or powerful. However is DOES mean self-study in an egoistical 1 sense – discovering who you really are.

Most people’s introduction to yoga is at an asana class. Probably, the first instruction in that class will be to relax. This is also the introduction to swadhyaya, self-study. “ ‘Relax’ the teacher says. How can I relax in this stark room that’s too cold (or too hot), lying on a thin rubber mat on a hard floor, and all those other people so close to me?”

Unbeknown to you, you have just taken the first lesson in swadhyaya.

You realize – as you look around while your eyes are meant to be closed – that ‘all those other people’ appear to be relaxed. “If they can relax here, surely I can too! What do I have to do to my body and/or mind to allow me to relax?” Congratulations! You’ve just learnt something about yourself. (more…)

Tapasya – self-discipline

TAPASYA (sometimes written just as tapas) is the third of the niyamas (after saucha and santosha, and the five yamas: ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha).

I have had a notice stuck on my fridge for eight or nine years, so I don’t remember where I read or heard the words, but they were said – or written – by Swami Satyananda, the founder of Satyananda yoga. The notice says:

As one who is painfully aware of her many short-comings, these words strike me as particularly relevant.

“Austerity” is a common interpretation for tapasya, but, for me, the word austerity has under-tones of severe hardship and self-flagellation. It suggests that tapasya is all about cold showers, hard beds and bland food. (more…)

Santosha – finding contentment

At  first glance, SANTOSHA (contentment) sounds like a warm, fuzzy, 1970’s high-on-dope sort of virtue – like, yeah man, come sit and smoke with me and watch the world go by.

However, if you’ve been with me from the beginning of this journey through the yamas and niyamas – ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, aparigraha and saucha– you’ll have realized that NONE of the yamas or niyamas can be taken at face value. Each is multi-layered – including santosha, loosely and popularly translated as ‘contentment’. A better-fitting translation would be “inner contentment”, which is quite correct, up to a point.

Let’s see what the experts say. Georg Feuerstein speaks surprisingly briefly about this niyama, but in a few lines sums ‘contentment’ up as “an easy state of mind under all circumstances”. We need to bold the “all circumstances”, as it means a mind free from “anger, desire, greed, frustration, ambition, fear”. He quotes one commentary that understands ‘contentment’ as “not hankering after more than is at hand”. 1

A similar, but fuller explanation is “The inner state where exists a joyful and satisfied mind, regardless of one’s environment, whether one meets with pleasure or pain, profit or loss, fame or contempt, success or failure, sympathy or hatred”. 2 (more…)

Saucha – keeping it clean

Today we start on the NIYAMAS, the second of Patanjali’s eight stages or limbs, of yoga. While the yamas are about harmonising our relationships with others, the niyamas are about harmonising our relationship with ourselves.

The first niyama is SAUCHA (pronounced SOW-cha) which basically means “cleanliness” or “purity”. Like most ideas in yoga, there are many subtle layers of meaning to the fullness of saucha. At first glance “cleanliness” or “purity” seems straightforward and most people would agree that being clean is a good thing. After all, most people in our society shower or bathe every day and clean their teeth a few times a day and wash their hair and clothes regularly.

Saucha suggests cleanliness and purity both of our bodies AND our surroundings.

Further outside our skin and clothes is our environment. Saucha includes cleanliness and purity of our surroundings. Do we surround ourselves with clutter, junk, untidiness? Do we keep our utensils, cupboards and floors clean?

As I write this blog, I look over my laptop and I see the clutter on my desk. Though I access it regularly, this clutter has been here for several months. Saucha would suggest that by clearing this pile away, I am in some way clearing the clutter it represents in my mind, and by doing so, achieving greater peace of mind. And here’s my conundrum: the pile contains books and notes that I access regularly, so does this really make the pile “clutter”, or am I being too pedantic? (more…)

Aparigraha – letting go

The most common meaning for APARIGRAHA is “non-possessiveness”. Other popular interpretations are “non-grasping” and “non-greediness”, or “greedlessness”. These definitions are generally thought of in relation to material things; however, aparigraha is much deeper than that.

Aparigraha – the fifth and final yama – can be seen as the culmination of the first four yamas: Ahimsa (non-harmfulness), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (honesty) and Brahmacharya (not being ruled by the senses). It is the final letting go of attachments which learning to not harm, be truthful, to not steal, and to not be ruled by our senses, has been preparing us for.

In our modern Western society, a large collection of material things is seen as a sign of success. People who own a large house, a big expensive car, fine furniture and furnishings are generally admired as successful. They are emulated: “ordinary” people want to have those things too – whether they like them just as objects or so they, too, can be seen as successful. One problem with this is the huge debt burden that many people live with – people living way beyond their means.

Remember that yoga – and in this context, the yamas – is/are ALL about peace of mind. Living with debt is not conducive to happiness or peace of mind. (more…)

Brahmacharya – controlling the senses

There are many interpretations of BRAHMACHARYA – the fourth yama. The most prominent one for our modern times is not being controlled by our senses. Brahmacharya offers us a way to freedom by honouring and respecting our bodies and its senses, but not being ruled by them.

I believe that one of the great lessons of life is understanding that there is a difference between “happiness” and “pleasure”. Pleasure is a momentary experience – it is a sensuous enjoyment. Happiness, on the other hand, is concerned with a deeper sense of contentment, peace and fulfillment. Giving into our senses only gives us fleeting pleasure, not true happiness.

In the West we indulge our senses – we follow our pleasures – by eating too much, eating unhealthily (my weakness is chocolate!), being bombarded by too many sights, sounds and smells. Some effects of this are that plain healthy food comes to be seen as boring, and silence as unacceptable.

One interpretation of brahmacharya suggests that we should not run after pleasure; a person who runs after pleasure cannot acquire the deeper knowledge that yogis seek. (more…)

Asteya – living without stealing

Continuing with our little investigation into Patanjali’s “Yamas” and “Niyamas”, we come now to ASTEYA, non-stealing and non-cheating. This third yama follows on from the theme of “truthfulness” in the previous yama, Satya.

“Stealing” means to take something from somebody without permission. And unfortunately, in our current society, our views of stealing have become blurred.

Like it or not, we live within the economic system of Capitalism. (In one of my former lives, before becoming a yoga teacher, although I worked as a sociologist, my degree was in economics.) The very basis of Capitalism is the “profit motive” which – in theory at least – was intended to lead to “progress”, which would result in benefits to everyone. Whether we look at this issue on a micro or macro scale (these are words that economists like to use) we see that for many millions of people it has NOT worked out well.

But an economic system that encourages the pursuit of self-interest has fostered a culture of greed.

Our Western way of life is greed-based and greed-driven; and greed and theft go hand in hand (Feuerstein). When we grab all we can, it impinges negatively on many others – whether in our own society or in other parts of the world. “Wealth at the expense of others is a form of theft” (Feuerstein).

Teasing asteya out a bit further, we discover that it often encompasses “fairness”. (more…)

Satya – developing truthfulness

The yamas and niyamas constitute the first and second limbs of the ancient Indian sage, Patanjali’s, eight limbs of yoga. I said in the previous blog, Ahimsa, that people generally think of the “yamas” as social codes of conduct and the “niyamas” as personal codes.

But they are much more than that.

Swami Niranjanananda, the guru of Satyananda Yoga in India has said that the yama and niyama “are tools to improve the behaviour of the mind”. They help us to compensate for the negative, limiting, confining and destructive aspects of the mind. Frequently people try to meditate but they have not learnt to control their fears, insecurities and aggressions (Niranjanananda, 2016).

This is where our discussion of the second yama, SATYA begins.

Satya focuses on our cultivating truthfulness. Truthfulness is a fundamental virtue, essential to a healthy society and healthy life (Feuerstein). Unfortunately, our society comes close to the opposite of this – a society in which we have come to expect lack of truthfulness: for example, cheating the tax department, false advertising, the commonplace lies of politicians – and now, it seems, the banking sector. And no one is surprised, because lack of truthfulness is so commonplace. (more…)