“True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.” — Aadil Palkhivala
Satya, in The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali, is referenced as being truthfulness. To be specific, this is more easily defined as, don’t lie, tell the truth, be honest, don’t fib or white lie, etc. This is the ever seeing eye when is comes to “fibbing and white lies.”
In Satya, the conversation of honesty comes up, honesty in the subject of plagiarism, honest works, using other’s ideas, etc. As the Yamas go, Satya says that when you are honest in saying where you learned something or who you borrowed it from, then reaping all of the benefits will come to you because of your honesty. This is especially great since there is a theory in yoga that pretty much says that nothing we are teaching hasn’t ever been taught before, it’s just the method and delivery that is unique to us and - I believe this. The Sutras and Yamas have been taught for thousands of years, it’s just this is my first time delivering them. Good thing, I honestly mentioned these are from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali!
Again, in Satya, is truthfulness - this could be being truthful and honest to your inner self and whole self. Maybe not believing you are something you aren’t. Ego talk. Negative self talk but also delusions and fabrications of the truth go against the flow of honesty. I believe this works hand in hand with authenticity in character! If you are authentic, then you are being aligned and truthful to your True Self.
In its simplest form, “do not lie” comes to mind and “tell the truth” especially when teaching children right from wrong. My mother used to tell me “Don’t lie! You’ll just have to lie to keep up with your lies and then you will be caught living a whole lie,” and the book echoes this. “One need not be afraid of anybody and can always lead an open life. When there are no lies, the entire life becomes an open book. But this comes only with an absolutely honest mind.”
From a perspective on your yoga mat, I believe Satya can be interpreted as, being honest with yourself, in your body. If you know you have had shoulder surgery and you are attempting an arm balance you have never had success in, odds are you are doing it for your ego, not the progression of your practice. Perhaps you'd like accolades from the instructor and an "atta boy," or maybe you just need a boost of confidence since you have struggled with pain for so long. Most likely, this action and arm balance will cause pain too and that will jus cause more inflammation and before you know it, you will be at the doctor’s office again. All because you weren’t honest with yourself in your abilities on your mat. This directly reflects to Ahimsa too, which all Yamas and Niyamas are based upon. Ahimsa is the keystone, if this action causes you pain and it's because you were dishonest with yourself, we need to go back to the drawing board and redefine the best decision. Also on your yoga mat, Satya can be observed in the honestly of a self and at home practice. Are you honestly practicing everyday or are you "fibbing?" Are you staying in poses for 5 breaths or 5 minutes or are you skipping out around 3 or 4? You've heard this before, when you cheat, you only cheat yourself out of the reward.
From more of an internal perspective, I also subscribe to honesty in your character or being. If you are in a conversation with someone and they are blatantly lying, being dishonest, putting words in your mouth or you frankly disagree with them.. holding back and not saying something could be dishonest. Speaking up for yourself, defending yourself or truthfully engaging is absolutely better than sweeping a conversation under a rug and for the assumption bus to start up. This principle urges one to speak YOUR truth at all times. If you are hushed or feel hushed, this goes against the all truth bearing Satya. At the same time, the first principle of Ahimsa must be honored.
On the strength of that, there is one very small consideration to make with honesty - Satya says to tell the truth but the first Yama is Ahimsa, which is non-violence. Non-violence extrapolates to love, non-harm and loving kindness. If a truth you have been asked is harmful or causes unnecessary trouble, we should keep quiet. If your truth will create violence or harm another, it needs to be edited so as not to intentionally hurt ones feelings. This doesn’t mean that you can protect a criminal if you know they are out to harm. By turning the criminal in and that person accepting whatever karma is deserving, this improves your karma and prevents another innocent from being harmed.
Living your truth creates respect and those who know your true path will honor this upfrontedness.
In the heart of Satya is true confidence, trusting the philosophy, trusting your intuition, authentic representation of yourself, not lying, leading an honest life and and all of this is in support of the heart forward first Yama, Ahimsa.
If you enjoy yoga philosophy, stay tuned for my class that arrives in January as I lead you down a guided course of The Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita The Chakras and The Upanishads! Comment below if you want early access!
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