Author: Darsh

Yogi

Niyamas – Svadhyaya

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In the second book of the Yoga Sutras, sutra no. 44 it says:

“By study of spiritual books comes communion with one’s chosen deity”

Svadhyaya then means spiritual study and one refers to the study of what can be called holy scriptures. As yoga has come to the West by storm, much of the wisdom has been interpreted and reformulated by people without competence or understanding. By searching on google and studying there, you will therefore most likely end up on the wrong track. When studying spiritual texts, it is essential to look at the source of the information.

Svadhyaya does not only mean to study texts, but also to perform your sadhana (Spiritual practice) in which you have been initiated in. Regular practice becomes study. By doing so we get the ‘ista devata samprayogah’ – the vision, or darshan of God.

Niyamas – Tapas

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In the second book of the Yoga Sutras, sutra no. 43 it says:

“By austerity, impurities of body and senses are destroyed and occult powers gained”

The direct meaning of tapas is ‘to burn’. By the physical tapas of fasting, we burn away excess fat along with other toxins the body has accumulated. At mental tapas, we burn old impressions. By verbal tapas, to observe silence, we control speech. When we burn, we feel some warmth and pain. We go through suffering. So tapas also means accepting suffering. When a person suffers, he or she can be considered blessed as he or she cleanses himself of impurities. If we are to create a clean and stable mind, we must accept pain, suffering and poverty. We get even more utilization if we can accept pain at the same time as we bring joy to others. Even a cloth must go through tapas to be clean. First it should be washed in warm water with soap, while it spins around in the machine, then it is dried in a dryer and then it may even have to be under the iron. We do not do this against the cloth out of hatred, but from a loving place where we just want to get the cloth clean again. In this way we can see that pain can also be a result of love. In the same way, we have to go through pain to be clean, and if we can adopt the same understanding of the cloth for our own pain, we can more easily accept it. When we can think like this we are true yogis. By this we meet pain and embrace it. By fully understanding this, we will never find fault with others who abuse, scold or insult us. If beautiful words make us happy, while insults make us sad, we know that our minds are not yet strong. Insults help us see our weaknesses. It is said that the highest form of sadhana (spiritual practice) is to bear an insult or injury with a peaceful mind. Anyone can repeat a mantra a thousand times. The power of controlling the mind and senses comes from practicing tapas.

Once upon a time there was a man who wanted to make a saint angry. He began to insult him. “Do you see how many lives you destroy with your teachings ?!” The saint smiles at the man. “Do you not understand my language ?!” Asked the man. “Yes,” replied the saint. “How can you be so calm ??” The saint replied, “What if you had come and given me a gift, but I did not want it. What would you do? ” “I would take it back,” the man replied. “Yes,” replied the saint. “In the same way, I do not want the insults you have given me. So you can have them for yourself. ”

Dealing with a situation in this way requires enormous strength and courage. A person who only attacks physically can be physically strong, but mentally weak. Mental strength comes from tapas, accepting pain. The pain is no longer painful, but fun because we have realized the benefit of it.

It is important to add that even if you change your view of pain, it does not mean that you should inflict pain on yourself or others.

Niyamas – Santosha

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Santosha is the second of the five Niyamas and it means contentment. To practice Santosha does not mean to be content with everything and for that reason not seeing a reason to do anything. The way I see it, it’s more about finding accept and not leaning your peace and happiness towards external factors.

I andre bok av Yoga Sutras, sutra nr. 42 står: 

“By contentment, supreme joy is gained”

When we talk about ‘contentment’, we are talking about being satisfied, regardless of what happens outside of ourselves. Our happiness does not come from outside, so external situations will not affect our satisfaction. What comes may come, and if it does not come, it does not matter..

One person is born in a big city and another is born in a slum. The reason is karma. It is our actions from the past that create reactions. So one should be satisfied regardless of the situations we are thrown into.

The first step to achieving perfection is to realize that no matter how we feel, it is our own responsibility. Many people blame everything for their own dissatisfaction and misery, but we must realize that we have created it ourselves. To blame anything but ourselves for not being happy and perfect is to relinquish responsibility for our own lives. If I were to make a recipe for how to get depressed, then this would be step 1. Once we have understood that our perfection is our responsibility, we must see that our problems and challenges are like the tests and exams we had at school. Once you have learned what you are going to learn, the exam is easy, and we finish the subject. If we have not learned what we are supposed to, the exam becomes difficult, we do not pass and we have to sit for the exam again. In the same way, you will notice that challenges may come more or less the same, time and time again. If life’s challenges remain the same, it only means that you have not learned what you need to get ahead. With this perspective, we can rather face challenges with open arms, and perhaps even with courage and curiosity. When we no longer have an opposition to life’s challenges, contentment will not be far away.

By mastering contentment, one will achieve the highest form of joy.

Niyamas – Saucha

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Saucha is the first of five Niyamas in the 8 limbs of yoga. When we talk about the Niyamas we talk about practices regarding ourselves. The word Niyama is often translated as ‘positive duties’.

In the second book of the Yoga Sutras, sutra no. 40 it says:

“By purification arises disgust for ones own body and for contact with other bodies”

A sentence that may seem scary, but let me elaborate. When purity is observed one will feel that even our own body is unclean. Impurities are eliminated every second. Through the breath we excrete carbon dioxide and through the skin comes sweat and then we have urine, feces and saliva. No matter how much perfume we put on, it only hides the impurities. No matter how well we try to hide it, it will come back. By realizing this, we create a new relationship with the body. We do not neglect it, but our bodily focus will disappear. Our attractions for other bodies will diminish, which will save us a lot of time and energy. As we spend more time on deeper aspects of life than our bodies, and go into the spiritual, we will gain an understanding that we are not our bodies. The real unity is not created between two bodies. What we call a masculine and feminine body are just two different pieces of meat. We will not achieve nirvana by putting two pieces of meat together.

People misunderstand Tantra yoga as something that has to do with sexual unity. In the Tibetan tantric system, shiva and sakti are discussed – where shiva is the masculine aspect and sakti the feminine. It is not about our physical form, but about the positive and negative forces in each individual. In hatha yoga we call it sun and moon. Ha means sun; tha means moon. The inner sun is in our solar plexus; the moon is at the base of our spine. To be united, these must come together. This is known as the ‘Prana-Apana union’. The energy that flows down must turn up and be returned to its source. The heat produced in meditation rises and affects certain glands, which then produce ‘nectar juice’. This flow from the bottom of our spine through the nerves, builds them up, makes them more alive and helps them become almost immortal. The word nectar (amrta in Sanskrit) means ‘immortal’. The body will be filled with light (ojas and tejas and will be converted into a ‘yogic body’).

The second book of the Yoga Sutras, Sutra No. 41 states:

“Moreover, one gains purity of sattva, cheerfulness of mind, one-pointedness, mastery over the senses and fitness for Self-realization.”

First you understand the body, then the heart becomes pure as well. When your heart is pure, you are always happy. Concentration of the mind happens automatically, without you having to try. Only an unclean mind runs from end to end, forcing us to bring it back again and again. The senses are also controlled and then comes ‘atma sarsana yogyatvani’, ready for Self-realization. These are all benefits of following Niyama’s first compliance.

Yamas – Aparigraha

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Aparigraha is the fifth and last of the five yamas in the 8 limbs of yoga. It means non-greed, non-possessiveness and/or non-attachment. The essence of this yama is to take only what we need, keep only what serves us in the moment, and let go when the time is right.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says ‘Let your concern be with action alone, and never with the fruit of action. Do not let the result of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction’.

If we do things because they are the right things to do, the outcome does not really matter.

The second book of the Yoga Sutras, sutra no. 39 states:

“When non-greed is confirmed, a thorough illumination of the how and why of one’s birth comes.”

Greed and gathering of things you do not really need reinforces the feeling that life is not already complete. This is also about receiving gifts. Often when you receive a gift, it comes with an underlying expectation that ‘since you received it, you can do something for me’. By receiving gifts, we often bind ourselves and lose our neutrality. If, on the other hand, we are strong enough to withstand the “obligation” we can receive gifts. This obligation can often be very subtle and difficult to detect. As we have seen in the other Yamas, it is not just about the materialistic things, but it could also be about our behaviour. We can be greedy for attention, affirmation, love, compassion etc. If we dont find fulfilment within ourselves we will start looking outwards, and since this will only give us temporary effects, we become greedy for more. 

The vast majority of us have much more than we need. We keep things longer than we need, and we collect more than we need. There are several reasons why we have things we do not need. Some things have sentimental value, other things remind us of something from our past, other things we have not used in 20 years, but it could be that some time in the future, we would need them again, or maybe it’s just nice to have.