Yoga Sutras Week 8 *Bonus Blog* - The Yamas Cont'd
Patanjali is explaining the Yamas.
These universal principles that work now just as they worked thousands of years ago. Humans are going through the same predicament they always have. Suffering remains the same, happiness remains the same.
It doesn’t matter what your particular religion or cult is, their is something universal happening here. Let’s have a look at that…
Patanjali is offering the 5 Yamas because they are soul qualities that are inherent to us when you get down to it.
They might not be inherent to our mental fabric
But as far as our being is concerned, they are about as accurate as you could get
He is calling us back to the way we would naturally be if we weren’t operating through psychological conditioning.
If we weren’t operating through our small contracted self, then we would have certain perfumes that we would give off, these are the Yamas
But simultaneous to being a soul quality, each Yama also has the capacity in it to unpick all of our illusions from our psychology.
The first two he gives are Ahimsa and Satya.
Ahimsa means non-violence
Satya means truthfulness.
Being with truth means to be with reality.
To be with what is, right now, without putting anything on it.
Without needing to avoid it.
Grasp at it.
Or try and control it
Right now… is everything not simply as it is?
Can you do anything about it?
Right now
Now
Now
Now
It is simply as it is.
It doesn't matter what you think about it.
You can sit there and think a lot about what is
You can get very physically contracted about what is. But still — it’s there. You can think what you like, have all the opinions you want, fight it on the inside, fight it on the outside. I’m not saying you can’t. But you’re creating a condition inside yourself in reaction to what is.
And it doesn’t change a thing. It just is. These words are coming out of my mouth — and there’s nothing you can do about it. It just is.
So getting fundamentally okay with what is... that’s huge. Accepting what is.
Be honest. Be with it. Because from this place of acceptance, we’re no longer reacting from a place of hateness, of “againstness,” of agenda.
Doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything, does it? I don’t agree with everything that’s going on. Do you? No. But if I don’t accept that it is what it is, then I’m in conflict with it.
And this is what’s called himsa. Patanjali says, put an “A” in front — make it ahimsa. Cease being fundamentally in conflict with what is. Then you can work with it in an entirely different way. You can still march in the streets, protest, take action. But you can do it from ahimsa, from peace. Or you can do it from himsa — from conflict. You choose.
If you’re marching “for peace” and you are not at peace, you’re adding to the conflict.
Resolve these things inside yourself before trying to manifest them outside. That’s the teaching. That’s ahimsa and satya.
Satya says: get alright with what is. Ahimsa says: don’t be in conflict as your baseline setting. That’s a powerful unfolding — not another inner mess.
Different vibe, isn’t it? A bit sobering.
So: cease fighting what is. Also, stop putting up fronts with yourself. You meet your body in the Asana. And in that moment, you’ve got a choice. Always.
Moment-to-moment-to-moment, you get to choose. Tight hamstrings? Tight lower back after gardening yesterday? Accept it. Or create an entire inner condition around it.
Are you going to move into your body with himsa or ahimsa?
That’s what makes the difference.
Then we have asteya, which means don’t take what isn’t yours. Don’t steal.
In this context, it means:
If we don’t accept what is — and we keep trying to project something else onto reality — then we’re stealing the experience of our own unfolding. We’re not actually living what’s happening. We’re living something made up, inside our own mental fabric.
We are not with Life in the moments we are not accepting Life. So we are stealing.
We miss the moment. We miss the joy. We rob ourselves of the chance to grow, to open, to experience. It’s possible to steal your whole life from yourself — moment by moment — by not accepting what’s real.
Of course, life has a way of forcing us into those acceptance moments eventually, doesn’t it? Often there’s a kind of deflation. You know that feeling? That “oof” — the rug’s been pulled out from under you.
But that’s a positive deflation. It brings you back. Back to reality. Back to presence.
I get those moments regularly. I cast hopeful little stories onto how life’s going. Wishful believing. “Maybe this means things are getting better...” and then — boom. Reality.
And I go, “Ah, good.” Because I’m back. Back on my arse. Back to what’s real. And from there... there’s always a more positive path moving forward with what’s real.
So when you get the rug pulled, celebrate it. When you feel hopeless — wonderful! Really! That’s the moment you’ve dropped your illusions. That’s when you’re with what’s real.
At first, yes — it can feel depressing. But underneath it? There’s brightness. There’s peace. That’s a happy life.
One teacher put it beautifully: Everyone is given what they need.
That doesn’t mean everyone’s life looks pleasant. Some people get dealt hands you wouldn’t wish on anyone. But trust — deeply — that Life gives every being exactly what’s needed for their unique unfolding. Even if you can’t possibly understand the “why.”
The karmic web is too complex. You’ll never know all the threads that wove a certain event together. So let go. Stay in a kind of divine ignorance. But stay trusting — that every life is always moving toward light, toward liberation.
Even the hard parts. Especially the hard parts. If I look back, it’s the bits I didn’t like that helped me the most.
So don’t steal your life. Live it.
And then there's brahmacharya.
This one is all about your deal — inside yourself.
Everything that's happening, is happening within you. That’s your responsibility.
If we haven’t taken full responsibility for our own inner condition, then what do we do? We start trying to use others — other people, other things — to fill the holes we haven't resolved in ourselves.
You see it?
So brahmacharya says: don't outsource your wholeness. Don’t go scattering your energy, hoping something outside will fix what’s inside.
Because here’s the truth: they never work. They never have. They never will.
You can still do those things, sure. But do them with awareness — that they don’t work. Not in the way you're hoping.
And gradually... gradually... it starts to shift.
And the last one — aparigraha. This one’s big.
First off: Life gave you your body. You didn’t create this body. You are not living your body.
If you're not sure about that, just try holding your breath. Seriously. Hold it, and find out whether you are the breather. You’ll see — Life breathes you. Against all your willpower, breath will return. Life insists.
So this body, this breath — everything — it’s been given. And eventually, you’ll have to give it all back.
That’s a reality check. A good one.
Because we have this idea — this kind of delusion — that we’re accumulating for some future, some security. But everything that’s given to you... if it doesn’t flow through you, if it’s not offered, not used, not given out — then it becomes a weight in you.
Parigraha means hoarding. Possessing. And whatever you hoard becomes a burden. It locks up your life force. You start carrying your own baggage — whether it’s your beliefs, your knowledge, your stuff, your wealth.
Whatever you hold onto becomes your bondage.
So let go. You don’t own anything. You’re a custodian, at best. Things come, they do their work, and then they go.
Ever complimented someone on something in their home, and the next minute it’s slipped into your bag? (laughs) You know those people — the really generous ones? They don’t even say they’re giving it to you. They just give it. Quietly. Because it’s already served its purpose for them, and now it’s bringing joy to you.
That’s love in action. That’s trust.
And yet... most families don’t trust each other. Parents don’t trust kids. Kids don’t trust parents. Why? Because of parigraha. Because of the holding. No generosity. No flow.
So the whole system — this great natural abundance — gets tied up. Knotted. And we end up blocking the distribution network of life.
Let it go. Keep things moving. Because when things flow, love flows. Always.
It’s just the nature of things. Receive. Release. Like your breath. Life is breath.
These five Yamas, they are unlockers. They help you fly. They unlock the psychology, open the inner space, and call forth the part of you that isn’t scared, your soul nature.
We’ve just skimmed the surface here. But we skimmed well, no? Like pro skaters with depth. Next season, maybe we take the skates off.
You excited for that?
Every session — even just sitting there — it’s deep work inside. It shifts things in the organism. The choice to sit, to connect... it configures you.
You know, the body is a yantra. Just like the ones you’ll see on the wall — those sacred geometric forms — but your own body is the ultimate yantra. A portal. An interface between the unmanifest and the manifest. Between light and form.
And all this work? We’re configuring the yantra so it can shine. So it can let the light through.
Stay with your practice. Stay loose, stay free, stay light.
Comments
Post a Comment