Latest / Sutra Squad / Ep. 20 - Sutra 1.33 On the Locks and the Keys

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Ep. 20 - Sutra 1.33 On the Locks and the Keys · Sutra Squad

• Seth Barron: Don't know that we can have compassion for others if we don't have compassion for ourselves first. Hello and welcome to the Sutra Squad podcast brought to you by One Deep Breath. My name is Seth Barron, and I am here with a superstar Sutra Squad Sally Moore. Hello, welcome. And Sarah Page Hall. Hello, hello. Sally, what's one word that describes how you feel right now in this very moment? So funny because before we start, I was like anxious, overwhelmed, and then we get together and I'm like, gratitude. Beautiful. Surround yourself with good people. That's the T. That is power positive association. It's it's it's a it's it's real. It's a real thing. It's a real thing. Sarah Page, what's one word that describes how you feel right now? I got two wired AF. Absolutely wired. Absolutely. I love it. I feel really clear. I feel really clear. I was just talking about something and I like I like I just I don't know, I just like have a I I just have a sense of like, you know, what is what is not in in like this moment about some things that in the past I think I'd gotten a lot more stirred up about. And where I'm at from my most immediate experience is just like clarity of just like this, this. Not the same. That's kind of grounding. It's a blessing. It is a blessing. It is a blessing. All right. Last week, where we last left our sutra our sutra squad heroes, we were discussing om and the attributes of ⁓ the divine presence of om, the in immortal echo of om. ⁓ as the sound of sound, the sound of creation ⁓ beyond space and time. And the text now takes an interesting turn back to a little bit more practical guidance. ⁓ so it's like we got up in the clouds a little bit and we talked about the shortcut to yoga as that Ishvara Pranhitahanadva, like you c like you could just give it all to God and the nature of the divine of our understanding, how In this philosophical system, God isn't this like one fixed place, it's this deeply personal experience. And that almost is both the sound of that resonance and a deeply personal experience. And so Master Patanjali goes on to speak to like mental distractions away from that divine presence. ⁓ and we'll take another look at those a little later in the text. because then he gives ⁓ an an incredibly profound prescription. And it's the and it's the verse that we're gonna look at today. It's the 33rd, 33 verse in the first chapter. And again, this is the samadhipada, the chapter on the nature of you could say the result or the ⁓ the What arises from yogic, from dedicated yogic practice, ⁓ is this samadhi, it's the eighth limb of the Ashtanga yoga system. And it means bliss or enlightenment or nirvana or absorption or yoga. And so now instead of like this section that we were in in the last couple of weeks, that was like, what is this sense of surrender to something bigger? And how do we represent it and how do we manifest it? How do we embody it? It has these attributes. It's a deeply personal experience. It is manifested through the sacred sound of the so of of om. And and then like we get to this verse. And it's one of the most famous in all the Yoga Sutra, ⁓ 133. It's often referred to as the locks and the keys. I'll chant the Sanskrit and then we're gonna pull it apart and ⁓ Get into all of it. Sally said at the beginning of our little chat before we got on, she said, I think I could study this for a whole year. And I I I I think we all agree. Like this is ⁓ well, I mean, literally, this one framework that's also used to describe some of the ideas in this verse is that it introduces us to the immeasurables, like that which is immeasurably abundant. And it's the attributes that are listed in the sutra. So the Sanskrit, Yoga Sutra 133, Maitri Karuna, Mudito Pekshanam, Sukha Dukkha, Punya, Punya, Vishanam, Bhavanatas, Chitta Prasadanam. All right. So take a moment and just notice how you're sitting. And if it's possible for you to be still, we invite you to be still. Or maybe even just sit up a little taller. And if you'd like you can close your eyes for a moment and bring your hands together in front of your heart. Take a deep breath in. Let it go. And join me for one vibration of ⁓ inhale. Yoga Sutra one thirty three Maitri Karunya Mudito Pekshan Sukuna Punya Visham Bavana Chita Prasanam Matri Karuna Mudito Pekshan Sukadam Bhava chita Prasan. Aitri karuna mudito Paksam Sukad Vishaam Bahana chita Prasanam So in this case, I'm going start by reading one full translation, and then we'll talk about some of the definitions of these really critically critical component terms. By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked. The mind stuff retains its Undisturbed calmness. So the reason this is oftentimes referred to as the locks and the keys is the sense that there are these big locks of the heart. Happy, unhappy, vice and virtue. Right? That's sukha dukkha. Sukha is like happiness, ease, sweetness, goodness. It shows up in a bunch of places. Stira sukha asana. Later on when we get to the the most essential verse on asana in the second chapter. If you've ever heard Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhabantu, same root. May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my life contribute in some way to the happiness and freedom of all beings everywhere. That's the Jiva Mukti lineage translation. And then dukkha is here, it's translated unhappy or suffering or pain. It's sometimes translated as like dukkha, as in as in like the the the suffer the pain of life or the suffering of life. And then punya, which is virtuous, like like as in to be acting in good st with virtue. And then in Sanskrit, when that when that a sound, short ⁓ is put in front of a word, it is a negation, the not that, like himsa being to harm that one is that one causes versus ahimsa, which is to not cause harm. And in this case, there's punya, a pun punya and apunya, which the the grammar of the Sanskrit brings those two ⁓ sounds together. So that's when you hear. Punya punya. So there's this sense of these locks. And it's fascinating that happiness is included, right? Because it's that sense. Happiness is a fleeting state. And that when we chase it, it can be a very powerful distraction. It's not to say that we shouldn't welcome it when it arises, but we're not meant to be happy all the time. And so when we chase the happiness or when we think that it's the happiness that we're supposed to feel all the time, then it actually like negates all the rest. And it locks us out of the full emotion and all breadth and depth. And the dukkha sure is like the lock of suffering. Makes sense, like of pain. ⁓ and then v same with virtue and not virtue. That it's very easy to believe in our own virtue. It's very easy to get stuck in the rut of rightness about how right I am and how wrong they are. And those again, those lock us out. Of the depth available. And then we're given these attributes to cultivate. Punya, ⁓ excuse me, Maitri Karunio Mudito Upekshanam. ⁓ Maitri Karunya Mudito Upekshanam. Maitri is often here translated as friendliness. ⁓ in in Buddhist lineages, it's usually referred to from the Pali. As metta, and it means loving kindness. I actually kind of like that definition a little bit more for Maitri. Karunya is compassion, right? it's one of my favorite names. It's often if it's a name in some like in in in Hindu cultures. Like ⁓ I've met people named Karunya, also Karina. I know I actually had coffee with a friend Karina. And again, it means compassion, right? And compassion is that ⁓ ability to like extend it's not just empathy, right? Compassion to me goes deeper. Empathy is the ability to like intuit the emotional state of another person. Whereas compassion is the ability, I think, to I think it's a very it's very courageous in its real depth, which is the ability to bear witness. To suffering. It kind of feels for me like it starts with ⁓ empathy, but then compassion is the ability to take action, to stand with someone to, you know. That's I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's to certainly to express care. And then mudita sometimes it's just translated as joy, which is different than happiness, right? But I like the term sympathetic joy. Meaning it's the joy you feel like with the or for, not just the joy of like your own personal set like gratification. And then the last one, up or upekshanam. And this is maybe the trickiest because it's a word that I don't know if we have the right direct translation in English for it. Here, ⁓ and I should say I'm referencing ⁓ The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by ⁓ Sriswami Sachidananda. And ⁓ he translates this as disregard. It is often and even more frequently translated as equanimity. And there's an amazing book by a really wonderful author named Ethan Nicktern. ⁓ and he who comes from ⁓ Buddhist lineages, he's a Buddhist teacher, and he actually likes the term confidence for Upeksha. Or opectionam. And it's that unmessable withness, I think is the is one another way to frame it. It's this idea that like that like I know who I am, I know what I am, I know what I'm about, I know what I'm doing. Period. Like and you're and you're not gonna get blown around or like pushed around because when you have that sense of equanimity, it's ⁓ It's that deep-centeredness. And I just want to say this too. Equanimity is not neutrality. Because it doesn't mean that we forego discernment. Like this is my left hand, right? This is a pen. Like, like there's the discernment of this is not that. And even there, there's equanimity. Like there's just, it's just flat. It's just this is not that. ⁓ and I don't have to get all rattled and stirred up about it. Right. That's that's I think what what Ethan is referring to. Ethan, like I know it, but but I think that's what I think that's what he re when he says confidence, I think that's like really what he's speaking to. Right? Like not ⁓ different than arrogance. Very different than arrogance. It's like rooted in just study and questioning and really getting down to the big T truth for me. Yeah. And that like that truth as an embodied experience isn't by for or about anybody else. Right? It's a deep, deep, deep knowing. It's not bypassing either. Sometimes I think we think that there is a ⁓ a sense of bypass, you know, sort of a fiddly day, I won't deal with that today, or whatever it is. not dealing with and it's not, it's dealing with it very, very deeply, but very strateg ⁓ strategic's not the word I want, but very ⁓ Intentionally. There it is. Thank you. Intentionally. Yeah. I th I think that's great. I think that's right. I think that's totally right. so we're gonna keep going and pull all this apart, but are there other translations of the whole verse that that that really that you two find attractive or interesting? Because there's a lot to there's so much to unpack here. I have one. ⁓ and since I'm not in my home, I'm visiting, I could not bring my 12 books with me to Tallahassee, Florida. Shocker. So I brought Desika Char, which I've really, the heart of yoga, I've gotten very into this book. He says, in daily life, we see people around who are happier than we are, people who are less happy. Some maybe doing praiseworthy things and others causing problems. And I love how he puts that. Others causing problems. It's always the others causing problems. I know, I know. But also, you know, and whatever may be our and this too, I really love this. Whatever may be our usual attitude towards such people and their actions. And and and in my mind, what he's asking there, what is your usual attitude? And now he's asking if we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, as opposed to my mind is as opposed to envious or jealous. If we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, compassionate towards those who are out are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remained, and this is the word ⁓ that we were kind of figuring out. Undisturbed. Just undisturbed. And to me, undisturbed is is better than indifference, because indifference is is is to my mind bypass. ⁓ but undisturbed is Okay, we acknowledge, but I'm not going to be disturbed by it. ⁓ by the errors of others. Our mind will be very tranquil. And I like that because there's a there's an element of there's an element of friction. There's an element of ⁓ tapas in that because there's the work that's involved in this. There is no part of this that's easy. The locks and the keys are not, you know. We're gonna be happy for everybody. La la la la la. Right, right, exactly. No, it's not that. No, it's not. No, they no. These are sp they're ex now. This is the other thing. When I said the the immeasurables is some some lineages refer to these attributes as the immeasurables, as in they are infinitely abundant. We there is no fixed amount. And when we w need them, we can call on them and we ⁓ don't have to worry like is there's only so much compassion to give. Right. No, there's there is like truly there's infinite compassion. And you know, there's something else I just want to say too about like how we think about this concept of, you know, real yogic and and I I think probably most Buddhist compassion as well. ⁓ compassion is what we're called for or called to cultivate for those who suffer. Right. And the unhappy, compassion for the unhappy or compassion for those who are suffering. And it's also really important to discern that the compassion is not fixing or taking as our own. I think real compassion is and here's the here's like an embodied difference. When you're having a hard day and a friend starts just giving you advice or telling you, like, ⁓ Sarah Page, I know, I I know that's really hard. Do you know what you should what you need to do? And they they mean well. But like you probably don't want hear that. All right. Or don't feel bad. ⁓ I know, don't be unhappy. I know, don't be sad. Like, actually I don't think that's compassion either. And like I think real compassion is, wow, that sounds really hard, Sarah Page. It sounds really hard. And I'm really, I'm really glad you feel that I'm somebody who's safe to speak to about it. Because I love you. And I know that you're going through something really hard. Right. Real compassion is, is that ability to hold the space for another with another without taking ownership of it. And I don't want to quite use the term validating as if somehow the other person's experience like requires your validation, because it doesn't. I want to say acknowledges and sees like clearly, wholeheartedly. Right. It's like the difference of the friend who says to you, Sally, you know, I can hear how how upset you are. I'm sure you are really upset. What would support look like for you right now? Or what can I do to support you through that experience? I love you and I know you're gonna get through it, but like how can I help you navigate getting through it? Right. I think that's a different kind of compassion. I think that's like the kind of compassion that I aspire to personally. The intentions are kind when somebody wants to step in and tell you how to do something or fix it or right. But ⁓ But I think the real compassion is is the first step of the acknowledgement, right? Like you said, it's not bypass. I don't know that we can have compassion for others if we don't have compassion for ourselves first. ⁓ You know what Mama Roo says at the end of every episode of RuPaul's drag race, RuPaul says if you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen? Amen. And I don't know how is it that we always can go from the sutras, the ancient text, to Rupal? I love it. I love it. It matters. Is one of my gurus for sure. For sure. ⁓ Sally, is there a translation of this one that like that you've been really looking at or calling or or like sort of touching into? So there's so much commentary, but real quick I wanna share Is this from this is from Reverend Jack Nath Carrera, just in line with what Sarah Page just said. In studying the locks and keys, we should remember to apply them to ourselves. We cultivate friendliness toward our own happiness, loving kindness to our own sorrow, be kind to yourself, joy when manifesting virtues, strength, patience, and equanimity when working to eliminate our weaknesses. I there was so much commentary. I can share so much commentary. Master Satchidananda, I love this one. He I'll just read this opening paragraph in his commentary. Cause it's so good. Whether you are interested in reaching samadhi or plan to ignore yoga entirely, I would advise you to remember at least this one sutra. It will be very helpful to you in keeping a peaceful mind in your daily life. You may not have any great goal in your life, but just f try to follow this one sutra very well and you will see its efficacy. In my own experience, this sutra became my guiding light to keep my mind serene always. I love that. I love that. I think it's the only time too that Setchatananda says in my own that he references himself. Deeply personal. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Well, I'll share I mean, I'll share the The favorite one I wrote down. I feel like the translations are all somewhat similar, slightly different words, but I do love this commentary. It's ⁓ cultivating the habit of friendliness, compassion, inspiration, and equanimity purifies mind, body, and heart. And that's Unravel the Thread by Ruben Vasquez. But let me give you a c a little bit more of what he says is he goes on to say that this afforism also provides ways to moderate your attitude. To yourself and the world around you by helping you notice your biases to remove judgment. This aphorism pertains to your emotions and heart. This sutra offers tools to clarify your internal environment and to promote inner peace through balanced interactions with the world around you. It gives you options to turn your reactivity. To res into responsibility. Like with any other practice, the tools will probably expose areas where there is lack of clarity or where there is high reactivity, without struggle. He says this a lot about yoga and I love it. Without struggle or strain and with no self-judgment, start by recognizing your point of view is individual. And that each person has their own individual perspective as well. He goes on to say doing what you know at the time to be best is the guiding principle for change. As you grow and learn, you discover better ways of doing what you are doing, adjusting and transcending your previous and incomplete understandings. This is a sign that you are evolving. What does he say about go back to that last I le the the last part again that's really where do you want me to start? The last paragraph, I think. Not the whole one, like the last sentence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So without struggle or strain or without no self judgment, with no self judgment. Start by recognizing your point of view is individual and that each person has their own individual perspective as well. Hold. Your own point of view is individual. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that each person has their own individual perspective as well. And I love that they're not making anybody wrong. Yeah. That's ⁓ that that's compassion. That's com that's real compassion. That's compassion. Yeah. No, it's And then can I share one other part? I I mean, to be honest, my note, I was just like I know I read this for every day, all day, all day. Every day, all day, again, again, again. But this one was from ⁓ Inside Patanjali's Word by Reverend Jagannath Kraira. And it says Sutra one point three three is not just specific techniques to be deployed in situations of happiness, unhappiness, virtue, and non virtue. More importantly, it's about cultivating an intimate relationship with friendliness, compassion, delight, and equanimity. And he goes on to say the focus is on practice and lifestyle rather than belief. Hold read that again. Read that again. The focus is on practice and lifestyle rather than belief. Okay, well that's gonna take me a year. Belief is a matter of accepting ideas. Practice and lifestyle are about self-transformation and direct experience of realities of life and spirit. How we behave is much more important than what we believe. I frickin' re ⁓ sorry, going off Sam, get rid of frickin' if that's a problem. But I had to reread this section over and over and I really sat and gave myself a generous dose of friendship, compassion, a little bit of delight, and a ton of freaking equanimity. A little crack where I could sit, consider like where my beliefs are locking me out and causing stuff. And where a deep practice and using these keys, like knowing, because I did read somewhere you learning to use the right key in the right situation, not confusing when it's time we were talking briefly, like when it's time to use compassion is not actually the same time as it is to use equanimity. You know, it's just when you see a non virtuous act, we are not being act, I think I read this on like we're not being acted asked to sit down and just let everything happen. Yeah, let's talk about that. Let's let's get into that. That's bypass. Yeah. Yeah. So this is another he carried on to talk about because I really dug into equanimity. Like to me, that's the hard one. When I perceive someone as being doing something so-called wrong, ⁓ it's hard for me to stay grounded. And I he says, when confronted with any non virtuous non-virtue, yogis are asked to not turn away and not jump to conclusions. But to remain clear, focused, and centered in order to correctly perceive the event and its ramifications. Clear perception and a tranquil mind also foster creative solutions where none were apparent before. Equanimity strengthens our capacity to accept life as it is, allowing us to work with and not against inevitable change. It helps us to serenely accept loss and gain, praise and blame, sorrow and happiness. Equanimity helps open the heart and is the remedy of resentment. Hello, Sally. Resentment is a reaction as a result of a real or imagined wrongdoing. Equanimity teaches us to stand firm in our center, knowing who we really are. Also knowing that who we are is not determined by what others think of us or how we're treated. So we are being let's say that one one more time for the people in the back, because that's really good. Reverend Carrera really nails this point. I think it's so powerful. Equanimity teaches us to stand firm in our center, knowing who we truly, the big truth of who we are, I added that. The ⁓ who we are is not determined by what others think of us or how we are treated. You know, and I it's so easy to say how others treat you is about them. But it's hard to see this is where I was talking about the bypass. It is so easy to say those words. And intellectually, I can't imagine any one of us don't believe it, like we know that, but to actually embody it, to actually live it. We all know who we are. You know, we all know who the F we are. We know who we are. But when the world happens and we get taken out of our moorings, then we get set adrift, you know? And that and and and to really you know, so I'm listening to all of that and I'm like, ⁓ that's really pretty sounding. Putting it into action is where the you know, the capital W O R K comes in. Because that takes time. Yeah, I'm really I'm really chewing on this this this, you know that that the sense of like a the remedy for resentment. And there's also something like and I'm I'm gonna paraphrase from from some of the commentary from Master Carrera as well. Like repeat, right? Like if we think about like again, like we we use words a lot and we don't always get really Like into like what they mean. So like that word resentment, right? Sentiment is a feeling, is like a sense is like a, you know, like a I have a sentiment about something. And then resentment, like fascinating how different the our culture, like how we take the word so differently. Because now we're talking about repeating it, replaying it, spinning it around, obsessing it. Resentment. is like that re sentiment, right? Like a resentment like the re feeling it over and over and over and being attached, holding it. And this idea of like Upekshanam has that like remedy, so to say, or is like the the key to the lock of that that lack of virtue about which I often feel resentment, if I'm really honest. Like right, like let's get real. Someone someone has like every single one of you listening out there, I'm sure, can tell a story of someone doing you wrong. I know all three of us have some good stories about people who have done us wrong. And and first of all, like Nothing in these texts tells us that that experience is wrong. Our experience of it. Okay. Or not real. Or not real. That that like we are, and we'll talk about this later on. There's a beautiful verse in the second chapter that speaks to this exact idea that ⁓ sometimes it's translated as when when thoughts contrary to the yama and niyama occupy the mind, cultivate their opposite. And often it's like a super Toxic, kind of like when, you know, when when you're sad, think happy thoughts is sort of how it can be spoken to. And that is not at all what that verse means. What the verse means is that we are capable and we are called in our yoga, in our practice of embodied yoga to cultivate the discernment to be able to say with clarity, without judgment. From a place of like upeksha, right? Undisturbedness, unmessable withness, confidence at center, ⁓ like knowing who we are. That is this is aligned to my beliefs and to what I believe these practices teach. And this is not aligned to these practices. And so, like when I said before, like equanimity is not neutrality, like it it's that. Right. Equanimity, like neutral would be to say, like, if I held up, if I held up this pen again and you say it's a pencil, and I say, Well, no, it's as ink. And we define a writing instrument with ink as a pen. And so, like, it's a pen. And part of our like shared reality means that we have to be able to generally agree, like it's a pen. And so another one of those points of shared reality is that we generally agree, like it's wrong to violently take another person's life. Right, pretty much every faith tradition in the world has some prohibition against what we in English would like call murder. So Ukektionam equanimity is not like, ⁓ it's okay that you murdered someone. That is not it. It's the ability to to like go like if you really pull all the discernment a apart, it's to say, first of all, the act of murder is not aligned to what I believe. Are the virtues of a good life and of ⁓ a of a happy or of a of a good life, let's say a morally and ethically good life? But it also calls to us and gives us the space to get even more curious and say, wow, I wonder what led to the moment where that's what someone acted. Right? What was the delusion? What was the ⁓ suffering? What did that person endure in their childhood? What what is this person missing from? in their life that they felt that they had to lash out in anger and it got to such an extreme heated moment. Now that that's like not in any way absolving the person for the accountability of their action, but it's just like the curiosity that says, well, first of all, that person's actions are not my actions. And I don't have to be in reaction to anyone else's action. I can cultivate the discernment that like this is Right, this is wrong from a behavior, right? The behavior. But also that, like, I don't know the whole person. I know the snapshot of a horrible moment. I don't know how that person got into that horrible moment. Probably from a place of real suffering. So, like, there's the possibility, just the possibility that we that Pekshanam is that space of curiosity. So instead of just judging this person is wrong and and dismissing them, we get real c we can get curious. Doesn't mean that it's it doesn't mean that it's okay. It doesn't mean that it's like that we welcome it in or have that person close to us. But it's the cu I think there's a deep curiosity. Because the other thing ⁓ sorry, you wanna say something, Sarah Page? Yeah. Yeah, real quick, because ⁓ something that you said, Sally, and I was I've been chewing on it and you're you're hinting at it, and I think it's it's good to bring in here. It also asks us to what you're saying, Seth, the curiosity is to also question our beliefs. Do we still believe the same way that we did? Because it asks us not to get so stuck in what we have lovingly called the rut of our rightness. And sometimes our beliefs our our beliefs because we think that they are right and everybody else is wrong in that particular system. So what that what you're asking is to get curious around I c like what you said, we can all agree that murder is wrong. Or is it? You guys jumped right into like the full like hard topic, but it's interesting. No, let me f let me finish this one thing because it's interesting w because as soon as I said that, ⁓ there was a A case that just happened. And it's interesting because it was a mother who killed her boyfriend who was abusing her 11-year-old daughter, and the judge let her off. It's something to chew on. Moral certainty is really, really tough, right? And it and it tends to, and it does challenge maybe your belief system. And it does, right? Like one, you know, where I tend to cultivate, where I've been cultivating that Urpekshanam, is is ⁓ I used to really like feel like ⁓ ⁓ unresolved when it seemed like like I have a strong again. There's a beautiful virtue to this, which is that I have a strong sense of like like right and wrong. Like I'm I'm a I'm a Libra. A Libra. I'm a Libra. No, my dad was an attorney, like, and he like he really, my dad really one of the gifts of of my father is that he instilled a deep sense of like right and wrong, of moral and ethical ⁓ discernment. ⁓ I that's a real ⁓ something I really an attribute of his that I've I've I've embodied. And yet, like it's there's always some room for the curiosity in that discernment. Because like, you know, the fixed state gets really tricky. And again, like this is where we we're in and we're really talking about very subtle, deep, deep, deep work here. That it's like, you know, it doesn't equanimity Is that place that like not letting other people like don't let other people tell you who you are. Because I also don't want to gloss over. I want to make sure we also bring in the last two words of this verse, which I find just super fascinating. And ⁓ so it's just a reminder the whole thing, Maitri Karuna, mudita pekshanam, sukkaduka, punya, puna. Right. So there's this first four keys or the But these are also the Brahma Viharis, which are the divine abodes of the Buddha, or like the highest attributes of the Buddha. ⁓ Maitri Karna Mudita Pekshanam, right? Loving kindness or friendliness, compassion, joy with or sympathetic joy, and Upekshanam as equanimity for lack of a better term that we've been exploring. Sukha Dukkha Punya Punya, right? Happiness and sadness, vice and virtue. And then Vishhayanam Bhavanatas. is it's like to then be in the abode or then to cultivate bhav bhahav is like mood often so bhavanathas is like the ac cultivating the attitudes chitta prasadana So we've talked about chitta before, right? Yogash chitta vritinirodha as the content of your mind. But here it says chitta prasadhanam. So let's just quickly like prasadhanam. Master Satidanam that translates it as undisturbed calmness. I want to go to Reverend Carrera's here we go. Reverend Carrera translates Prasadnam as calm, clear, bright, rendering clear, soothing, cheering, gratifying, rendering gracious, tranquility, grace, a gift from God. To be satisfied, the opposite of dukkha, to be kind or gracious, from Pra P-R-A, right? The root, which is before. Prasarita to like fold forward, right? Pra sadhana. Sadhana sometimes is referred to as spiritual practice. Here, to cause, to settle down, offer grace from sad to sit, dwell. But fascinatingly, in some cultural lineages and religious lineages of of Sanatana Dharma, of Hinduism, prasadhana was also used to to ⁓ is food. It's food that has been blessed and offered to a deity so that then when we eat we what we're in what we're in what we're ingesting is made holy. It is of of of that like ⁓ it is infused, imbued with that ⁓ auspicious blessed quality. And so here like This it's like it's so interesting that it's not like the the term used to describe I I like the innate serenity of the mind as one translation of chitta prasadhanam. But it's this idea like your chitta, your mind stuff, its true nature is blessed as if it's been made to be an offering before the before a deity of your own. of your of your highest worship. And that in its preparation, usually like if you ever want to go have dinner with me in New York City and ask if I want to go to Divya's kitchen, I will say yes. Diviya's kitchen is amazing. I will say yes. It's right next to the Bhakti Center. And they literally like they chant mantra in the kitchen. It is prasad. They like the food they are making there is prasad in them. Sarah Page and I had the unbelievable like one of the unbelievable gifts of India was that for one night we We were hosted for dinner by our guide and his wife. U I I think they might be living saints. They're just such wonderful, beautiful, wonderful people. Amazing, amazing, amazing human beings. Chanchal and Mukeshji. Chanchalji and Mukeshji. And Chanchal had been cooking all day and Mukesh has this very funny sort of like like talk about Upekshanam. Like nothing seems to bother Mukesh. I was gonna say he is the locks and the keys. He is. He is, and he's always ⁓ no problem, Safi. Like everything. Everything is no problem. Everything he has a solution. And he's never, I think I saw him a little bit pressed, like one time. One time. But otherwise, he was just like not unbothered, as in like un ⁓ unaware, very aware. But just like, you know, not just like unshakable. And and so before anything else, so like we we they welcome us so graciously. Chen Chao ties up. Chenchal is also a healer and a deeply, deeply ⁓ devout practitioner of of of ⁓ her of her lineage of of of of you know in in service of her guru. And and they have a small, you know, they have an altar in their home. And before any of us were fed, Chenchal made a portion and she looked at Mukesh and she said, Very s she just, I did you catch this, Sarah Page? She looked at him and with a lot with a very serious look, she goes, For Guru. Like, don't feed these white people. You put the food down and say the mantra for the guru. And she did. And he did not make a show of it. He just presented the prasad. And he stood there and he said a moment you could you could see and like and then he put the food down and like that's it. And it wasn't about making it a show, but it's like but like and then like by so by virtue of like this belief, like that like everything we ate then was prasad, was prasadnam. And this idea that like our chitta can be made to be a holy offering by the virtue of our practice. Because that is its actual true nature. Right. So sometimes in the ancient commentaries when describing the nature of the mind, the analogy, I love this analogy, is of a c a perfect clear crystal. Right. And it said, if you place this perfect, unblemished crystal. In front of a red flower, the crystal appears to be red. But that is the illusion of Maya. That is the illusion of the material world. Because its adjacency to the red flower has nothing to do with the actual nature, the true nature of the crystal. So yogic discernment, like all the stuff we're talking about, this is a beautiful analogy for this, that like is to know the difference. No, the crystal is not red. There is red passing through the crystal because what is behind the crystal is red. So it appears as though the crystal is red, but that it does not change the nature of the crystal itself. It just allows like there's an equanimity in that crystal, right? Like the crystal just allows it to pass with no judgment or distortion because its true nature is that clarity, is that purity. And I think this is. I think this is an interesting like framing of this idea that ⁓ the chitta prasadhanam is like that clear, unblemished, perfect crystal. That it doesn't its nature does not change. We're just trying to like like clean it and get the gunk off of it so that we might more clearly perceive that the nature of the crystal itself is that perfect clarity. And so this idea of chitta prasadhanam as like what Like what is behind these doors, right? The locks. And when we open them with these keys, what is possible? And what's possible is to see that crystal and the flower as distinct and separate, and that one is in front of the other, but that they are not the same. Right? That's like again. That equanimity is not neutrality, right? That like we still have to be able to exercise that discernment. That's a crystal, that's a red flower. I can put the crystal in front of the red flower and see the red through the crystal, but that's just passing by. No, Jagannath Carrera has another basically saying that what you're saying. It says this sutra demonstrates how the mind can retain its peace in any situation. The locks are the challenges we face daily. And when the right key is applied in the right situation, the mind remains in its undisturbed calmness. Right. Und exactly. That's exactly undisturbed calmness. And I was just looking this up because I have to I don't have all my books with me. So it's kind of interesting to get something completely other. And this was pretty just basic. But one of the things that says ⁓ Chitta ⁓ Prosadinum, radiant mind. I love the idea of radiant. And and the word, I know beautiful. It's like it's a mental state that is pleasant, clear, free from disturbance, often described as a radiant mind. And I think we've heard the words over and over and over free from disturbance and blah blah blah and blah blah blah. But I love the idea of radiance. I mean for me as soon as I yeah as soon as I read that I ⁓ the visual for me, I'm very visual, was of just a glowing headspace, you know. Well what if each and every one of us walking on this earth has a radiant mind. Right. What if that is the true nature of every single person? Yeah. Right. Right, right, right. I love that. Yoga is is like imagining Everybody has this radiant mind. You're here for a reason. You have a radiant mind, and just starting to peel off all the distractions. Yeah. Right. That the even the murderer, even the murderer, right? Because this is also like it's the same. Like again, in the Buddhist traditions, is it said every single human being by virtue, the by the by the virtue of your birthright is your fundamental goodness, your true. Buddha nature, your goodness. Again, in the Hindu or yogic experience, you would maybe call that like paramatma, right? That each of us is a spark of the divine within us, and that every single human has that birthright of loving-kindness, that birthright of ⁓ clarity, of a radiant mind. And for some of us, some of us more than others, right, there are extremes that it gets so. So distorted. Sometimes that's by virtue of illness, physical, psychological. I don't know if there's a difference, right? As in like the psychology is physiology, emotion is a physical experience as much as it is a ⁓ energetic experience, right? Like the physical body, the mental body, the emotional body, the energetic body, the spiritual body, it's just different manifestations on different planes of awareness. But that at its core, at the root of All the way back is that chitta prasadhanam, that radiant mind, that inherent fundamental goodness. And it can be really hard to see it sometimes. And and again, that like that I think that equanimity is also like sometimes people do terrible things to good people. You know, it's a funny I I just yesterday in the mail got the postcard that says you're being called to jury duty. ⁓ whoa. And I just I've never that's a lucky defendant. On a jury. Like I've never been on a jury before. Every time I think I have this equanimity and then I even get called into the potential box and they ask me a question where I have a strong belief about it and they're like, Okay, see you later. You know, without you said something, Seth, that I wanna rec I this is where compassion for me personally we've spoken about the fact that you've asked me not to engage several times. I will walk I into anywhere. Give quick context of that. Yeah. I I I will walk with Seth in the city and there will be somebody, you know, who isn't obviously in a deep, deep, deep psychological, you know, spiral. And distress needs to Distress. Yes. And and Seth will see it. I'm looking at the person and I'm walking over and he's like, do not engage. Do not engage. Will Robinson, Will Robinson, danger, danger. Don't engage. And it's and it's true. And in that moment, I have such compassion. But what you were touching on, and it's something that I go back to over and over before I was even doing this work. It's just part of who I am. I will say, what happened? You came into the world the same, it's gonna make me cry. You came into the world the same exact way, maybe not the same socioeconomic, maybe not the same family, maybe not, but we all are born exactly the same way. Where is the samsskara? Where is it that it turned? Right. And for those who really weren't born in or were born in really sad or difficult circumstances, like, ⁓ how sad. Like how right? Like if you think about for a moment, and we could all do this take this on, right? Think about someone with whom you disagree or who maybe has done wrong, maybe by you and maybe they caused harm. And it doesn't mean that we this is not about forgiveness. That's a whole other topic. And this is not about acceptance. That's also a whole other topic. This is just about how do we get how do these keys unlock our heart? And and could you think like I I've tried to do this sometimes, like I think about that person as an infant. Think about that person that like that person, that human who I've made to be this awful villain. That person, like something happened between that perfect little infant and maybe if it was imperfect, or if it was born in difficult circumstances, or if it was born into a circumstance of suffering. First of all, born into addiction. Right. Like how like, you know, that that's like there there's not a concept of original sin in in like Hindu or yogic, you know, in let's let's not confuse those two. In Hindu spirituality, there's it's not but there is generational karma. Right? There is generational and inherited karma. So so it's not quite like clean slate. It's not quite original sin. It's a different idea. But something Karmic or not, no matter what you believe, I think it's pretty fair to say that like no baby deserves to be abused, no baby deserves to be hungry, no baby deserves to be in pain, and no child deserves to be abused, no child deserves to be in pain. And yet, for the people who have done a lot of wrong in the world, something probably happened along the way that clouded that chittaprasadhanam. In which they've maybe got themselves so convinced that they have to lash out, they have to, they have to do this thing, this person's my enemy, or or or any number of terrible manifestations of suffering. And it can both be true that the actions are not aligned to a sense of values that we are okay with having close or intimately connected to us in our immediate life circumstance. And We can just look and feel into some of that sadness, some of that deep pain and trauma, unresolved trauma, un disintegrated experience. This is what Setchatananda says it speaks right to it, right to it. Like right to it. He says, And what of the next lock of the unhappy people? Well, Swami said, people have their own karma. They must have done some wretched thing in their last birth, let them suffer now. That should not be our attitude. Maybe they are suffering from previous bad karma, but we should have compassion. If you can lend a helping hand, do it. And not at the expense of your own safety and not at the end of like your own experience, right? Put on your own oxygen mask before another's, right? Like, like, you know, if you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? And there's an e there's a bypass there too that we should be really curious about. Like if we're constantly extending that compassion out, but we never turn it within, then it's a little bit hollow, right? It's like it's not as rich, it's not as fully formed, it's not as ripe. as when we both look inward and then use that to radiate outward. Well, and there was one more thing. I don't know exactly where I found it. I try to keep this. Clean, but it I don't know. It's an equanimity or disinterest when a sinful act is acting act is taking place. It's not about sitting back and watching any non virtuous act. It's about evoking the feeling of disinterest or equanimity and then choosing actions to contribute to lessening the unjust act. Choose to help or better the situation. You know, so we like we can't we're not responsible for everything and everyone, but we can take responsibility for ourselves and what we add to the situation. We could literally do this all night and all day and all night and all day and all night. This this verse, I mean, this is there's a reason what this is one of the most famous studied, quoted, ⁓ and referenced verses. I mean, I've thought to I've actually thought there's there's another verse later that is probably the first yoga verse sutra tattoo, but like I have thought to myself that like it wouldn't be the worst idea to tattoo these four words in a visible place to me on my body as a reminder of Maitri Karuna Mudito Pekshanam because they are always available. There is no fixed amount of them. We can always call on them in the face of any challenging circumstance and in the face of a joyous circumstance. ⁓ I'll tell one quick story. I went one of my best friends, ⁓ Is a big fan, ⁓ I think I've taught I think I've told the story. I'll tell I'll do it real quick. As a big fan of Fish, the band, right? P A P H I S H. ⁓ is that how to spell it? Right? Fish? Yeah, okay. ⁓ it's 100% not my thing. Like, it's not my jam, the jam band. It is not my jam. ⁓ and they do a residence every year for New Year's at Madison Square Garden. It's self-like New Year's Eve included, they they do like five shows and they sell out in like five minutes. Okay. And so My buddy texts me and he's like, What are you doing tonight? My friend is sick, she can't come to the show. I would love to take you to your first fish concert. And there's a part of me that was like, I didn't really want to go. I had no desire. But I love this guy. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm like fully obsessed. And I love how much he loves it. And I went. I I literally recognize zero songs. like zero times that I know what was going on in a with the music, right? But I have never felt a moment of like of the volume, this kind of like volume of this is that mudito, this is that sympathetic joy. Because it's literally if you've never been to a concert in Madison Square Garden, it's a singular experience. Like the place just when it's full and like there's an a great band, it just the place bounces. And the You know, here's this band who people have followed for years and years and years and years. The people there are fans, right? People know every word. And they just like play one guitar, like just like, and the whole place is like wow, like the whole place explodes. And I remember looking at my buddy, looking at my friend, and he's like, like having the time of his life. And it was like this unbelievable moment of like sympathetic joy. I was like, this is not my thing at all, but I am just like gonna basque. In all of the joy, the pure unbridled joy. And so there's like, there's just there's always a reach out to this. And it doesn't have to be like that's a sometimes it's just useful to think of like a really extreme example. Have you ever just walked down the street and seen somebody who is clearly just like crushing it, living their best life? And like, ⁓ or like if they're wearing something that makes them look amazing, and you just say, like, this, this, that, this, yes, yes, thank you. Thank you for giving this gift to the world of yourself. ⁓ that's one of my favorite small moments, right? That's like sympathetic joy. Like we can always call it in. Can always call it in. Cause if we know who we are, there's the there's the upeksha. And if we can keep our front soft, the heart soft, is the space for compassion and just remembering like the fundamental goodness within every single human, no matter how much I disagree with them, no matter how much horrible things they've done. No matter what, that that person started out in this world as a little baby who needed someone to take care of them and feed them. And then maybe something not so great happened along the way. But we can always come back to these ideas. Okay. I gotta wrap it up. I don't wanna, but we gotta. So let's do let's do a teaching tip and then an inquiry. Sarah Page, what's one teaching tip for any other Asana teachers out there or any other teachers of any modality, but who want to think of how to bring this verse into ⁓ into their ⁓ teaching? I would go to compassion. I'm just sitting here thinking about it. I would go to compassion. ⁓ we teach power classes, most of it, you know. And so how do we yeah, how do we ⁓ how do we bring a sense of compassion and ease into the ⁓ power? And how can we be compassionate on ourselves when we fall and crow and we fall out of equanimity? How do we find that compassion? That's it. Yeah, I love that. I love that invitation. Thank you, Sarah Page. Sally, how about you? What's a teaching tip? Similar. I just suggest in a moment of frustration, stop and ask your key with yourself. Which key does this situation need? You know, it's the locks and keys in your own mind and your own body and just begin to fact that like for me, this is a Big practice. So when you feel happy, practice happiness. When you notice your suffering, practice compassion. When you you know, just really figure which key could I put in right here. Yeah, sometimes I actually like I'll ask students, like, just notice the story you're telling yourself right now about yourself. Like it's happening. And ⁓ consider. That you could tell yourself a story about loving kindness, compassion, joy, or equanimity or centeredness. ⁓ and in and in practice, I think ⁓ part of what that looks like is reminding students, and I try, I I'll offer this sometimes, is that ⁓ I'm gonna try to make some suggestions to the best of my ability based on the best of my experience and knowledge. And that doesn't mean they're right. Just means it's like the method and the lineage that I've found to be most effective so far. And ⁓ I certainly encourage you to try it. But I also encourage you to stay really curious and and and like you know, you do you. You're here for you. You're not here to do this for me. You're not here to do this for anybody else. You're not here to do this because it looks good and like ⁓ no one, like your phone is away, hopefully not even in the Austin studio. So no one's taking a picture for Instagram. Okay. Like, what if you let go of all that? What if you let go of all that? And what if this practice was like giving yourself a big giant hug? Like you you did the hardest part is that you came to class. And now what if you surrendered to it and you called this in? Right? The loving kindness, the joy, the compassion, and the and the equanimity, the the acknowledgement of just like this is how it is today. Like what would practice look like for you tonight if that's what you called in right now? And then let's close with like an an inquiry. ⁓ Sarah Page, what's an inquiry d inspired by this conversation? And for those of you listening, that can this, you know, take this as as it's valuable to you, right? Write it down, journal on it, noodle on it. Don't, you know, it's intended to just give you something to ⁓ I know I always like sort of chew on this stuff for the week. Sometimes I journal on it, sometimes it's just like I'm gonna just think about that. Okay. ⁓ what I would want to do, and what I am gonna do, I think, and so I invite, you know, the four people who are listening to do is to ⁓ anyway. Write down one person you really dislike. Write it down. I mean, you really dislike they did you wrong or they're doing wrong or whatever, but you don't like them. And then draw a line. How can you find compassion for that person? How do you find love and compassion for that person? Because they were and they are loved. By somebody. By somebody and by the universe. They were brought here. Yeah, they're here for a reason. And ⁓ So like I I have a name and then over here it it's almost like the antithesis, where is the compassion? ⁓ Yeah. And and write it down. That doesn't mean you have to ever tell them. No. It doesn't It isn't for them. It isn't for them. It's it is for Like we're not suggesting that you then go and say And it's not a bypass. It's not a bypass. No, it's not. It is for you to for you. If to find the compassion because once you find the compassion in them, you'll find it for yourself and you'll find forgiveness. ⁓ preach. You know, so I'm back in the south. Maybe that's where that's coming from. Sally, what's some inquiry that this has inspired for you? So what I've been thinking about this week is what or where are your opinions or assumptions locking you out? And then if you carried the keys, I think it was Sarah Page that said it once. If you carried these keys in your heart, embodied in your heart and use them appropriately, could you see yourself having more peace in your life and more love in your interactions? Yeah. Wow, I said that. That was a big thing. Sounds right. Sounds like it. Yeah, I think my inquiry, ⁓ very similar, I think I would just say, is to just like Could make a post-it for yourself. Sometimes I do this too. And I just put it somewhere where I like walk past it with the Sanskrit or the English. Just the four words, right? Compassion or excuse me, friendliness or loving-kindness and ⁓ compassion, joy, and equanimity. Or like, I've done this for myself too. Like, I'll just like I'll write it. I'll write a couple versions of it and then I'll just like leave it random places, intentionally hide it for myself. So I have to find it later. I do. I love that. and then you're like, ⁓ wait, look, what's in the pocket of those pants I wore last week? And like because there's something really beautiful about like finding it in an unexpected moment. And then you get to say, like, yeah, like, like what what what could I call in right now? Like just oop, well, there it is right now. And again, this is for you. And I'm not suggesting you like talk about this in a way that's inappropriate, but like also like what if you wrote that on your work computer and put that little post it. Right next to the trackpad. Mm-hmm. What would happen? Which is what I plan to do for the week. Well, ⁓ it's a little bit of a longer episode, but like this is a this is a big verse. And and again, like, you know, I think we've this is at least the sixth, seventh time that we've talked about it, and it still feels like so fresh and rich. And that we could literally study this verse all year. We could. We could just do nothing but like make the whole sutra squad about verse one thirty three. ⁓ we are gonna move on. But we ⁓ we'll never move on because we'll always be in practice and in study together and of and this is one of those real touchstones of the whole text. But for right now, for right now, there are fewer things I do in my life that make me feel like I am in a kind of resonant service to the Chitta Prasadhanam that I hope to cultivate for myself. And I just wanna say that ⁓ you know, to both of you, Sally and Sarah Page, that ⁓ our journey in this work together is just an absolute joy and delight of my life. And I feel ⁓ it is and my life is made so rich by our practice of study together. And so I want to just thank you. And to any one of you, maybe more than four. I don't know. I'm not looking at the analytics not closely. ⁓ but I know it's more than four. like, but the the the the squad of our sutra squad out there, thank you. ⁓ if you have found any value in these words and this time. Consider sharing this podcast with someone else who you might think would enjoy listening to a conversation about the Yoga Sutra. ⁓ subscribe, like, comment, ⁓ as well. As that also just aids with organic discoverability on all the big platforms. I think that's all the things I'm supposed to say. Except except thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a beautiful day, night, life. And we'll see you again very soon on the Sutra Squad podcast.