Yoga as truthfulness
When we read ancient texts like the Puranas, we come across human beings with supernatural abilities and phenomenal strength. We hear of women with amazing beauty and radiance, which used to attract even the gods. When we compare these beings with today’s humans, they seem like unbelievable stories and myths.
People call all this mythology, because it is not possible for the average mind in the present age to believe such facts to be true. If we carefully reflect on the lives and times of our grandfathers, we would see that they had stronger and healthier bodies than ours. Our grandmothers had beautiful skins even till the late years of their lives. Modern science now tells us that the human brain and body have shrunk over time. So if we project ourselves backwards, we would observe that the mythologies were realities and if we project ourselves forward the image that will emerge would be scary.
What is the reason? Being a student of yoga, I am convinced that the answer lies in the following.
From satyayug to the present-day kaliyug, we have progressively moved away from reality towards unreality and from light towards darkness. Let us take the help of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga to understand the process. Ashtanga yoga was conceived of 5,000 years ago, when the world was primitive and men lived in caves as hunter-gatherers, men who had descended from apes. At that time Patanjali gave us the “eight limbs of yoga” as yama, niyam, asan, pranayam, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Let us just look at the five yamas. Five thousand years ago, when the world was supposedly inhabited by barbarians, Patanjali understood the power of truthfulness and non-violence and the hazards of stealth, hoarding and excessive sexual indulgence. And, this is only one-eighth of ashtanga yoga. Obviously, the secret to health, beauty and glow lies herein.
Patanjali emphasises truthfulness or satya as the first yama. The one who speaks the truth under all circumstances has nothing to fear. It is fear that breeds negative emotions like anger, jealousy, insecurity, etc. In the absence of fear, there is no negative emotion. The body is perpetually bathing in positive prana and the food gets digested properly. So those who follow the yama of satya have a glowing complexion and radiant skin. In fact, the first siddhi of yoga, vak shiddhi (that is, whatever you speak manifests) comes with speaking the truth.
The next article will go on to the other yamas and their effects on the physical and spiritual makeup of a practitioner.
Yogi Ashwini, the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation, is an authority on yoga, tantra and the Vedic sciences
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