Satya asks us for honesty, tempered by the kindness of yama 1 ahimsa. Although I note that Brene Brown is teaching that clear is kind.
More deeply, when we talk about truth, whose truth do we mean? Yours, mine or is there something more universal? The religions would have us believe the latter, but then why do they all have differing versions of the truth?
These are the big questions that Satya asks us to contemplate.
As a recovering seeker of ‘the truth’ I know there are many paths you can follow. I’ve explored some of them, but the most powerful teaching I ever received, that cut through all the books, workshops and talks was from Satyananda, who holds Satsang sessions from his base in England and lately Spain:
You are looking from what you are looking for.
Satyananda
Many years after I first heard these words, I still think about them and contemplate their profound meaning.
What are we looking from? Consciousness? Life expressing itself? Our hearts yearn for an answer that will help us make sense of our lives and yet Satyananda seems to be saying that our awareness, our beingness, is that answer! Could it be so simple? If so the search has surely ended!
I will leave you to contemplate what truth is for you.
To support you, as always, there is the experience of yoga, and I’m thinking specifically of standing on our two feet in tadasana, mountain pose or standing pose. There is an honesty to saying ‘this is me, this is where I stand, this is how a feel right now and I’m owning it all, experiencing it all, without judgement’. In yoga – and other traditions – this is ‘witnessing’ or noticing what is happening in ourselves as if we were watching a film. It is powerful, because when we notice our bodily sensations, our emotions or our thoughts, without getting involved or judging, we can start to know ourselves with so much more clarity. We gain perspective and take more ownership of our own experience.
I also like this blog from the Daily Om about the energy of honesty.
Breathe Aotearoa 