Latest / Sutra Squad / Ep. 28 Sutra 2.32-34 On the Niyamas, Personal Practices of Yoga, and Discernment
Transcript
- Seth Barron: Hi Sutra Squad family. Before we start today's episode, we wanted to extend a special invitation for you to join us at Sacred India 2027, our pilgrimage along the sacred Ganges River in India. We'll be starting in Dev Prayag, where the last tributaries connect and the Ganga begins. We'll go down to the holy city of Rishikesh. We'll go on to Praya Graj, where the Yamuna meets the Ganges and this mystical Sarasvati River is said to join, and ending the trip in the holiest of holy cities. Varanasi, and every day we'll offer yogic practice. I'm gonna be offering power. I'll be offering satsang on the Yoga Sutra. And I'll be offering restorative yin and nature practice. Plus, if you've ever wanted to see the magic of the Sutra Squad podcast, we'll be recording a few special live episodes along the way. So all the information is live at sutrasquad.com. Click on the link for pilgrimage. You can find everything you need to know, and we really hope you'll be able to join us. On with the show. When you awaken to negativity, you are to take the mind of an elevated place. Focused attention on thoughts that can counter negativity. We could reflect on peace when anger emerges, love when thoughts of intolerance appear, or contentment when greed arises. So it's about we're human. These things will arise. We're not wiping them out. Or erasing them as far as I know. So that's really different than if you're sad, think a happy thought. Hello and welcome to the Sutra Squad podcast brought to you by One Deep Breath. My name is Seth Barron. It is a tremendous joy to be joined here with the Superstar Sutra Squad Sally Moore. Hello, welcome. And Sarah Page Hall. Greetings, greetings. ⁓ Sarah Page, one word that describes how you feel right this very moment. Right now. Right now. I have some nerves. Nerves. Okay. Okay. Sally, one word for you right now. I'm going with intrigued. Mmm. Intrigued. That's a good word. ⁓ my word is joyous. We'll talk about this, but like there's there's stuff I don't love going on in my life, and there's stuff I do love going on in my life. And like, ⁓ I'm really j like, like I had a really sweet random afternoon with one of my besties, and then I get to do this, and my dog insisted on coming up into my lap, but but that's because he wants a little butt of love too, and there's n enough to go around. ⁓ and so I just feel like a real moment of joy. Okay, we are gonna get into some really good. Challenging sutra stuff today. as a as a the breadcrumbs of where we are. We spent some time at the beginning of the year in the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra, the sadhan, ⁓ excuse me, the samadhipada, ⁓ which describes like the nature of the enlightenment that arises in yoga or the the ultimate absorption and the the dynamics of the definition of yoga as the As the loving restraint of the swirl of our mind. So the true self shines forth, the dynamic of practice and detachment, abhyasa, practice as as dedicated, loving. I I remember rereading this just in the last like week or so, that like that like the the dedication to practice arises from the love we cultivate of it and with it and for it. And it's not like Because I have to, it's like a because I get to. It's like I do it because of I I see that it's like the love of the goodness. And I just, I don't know, it just like makes my heart happy. And then the detachment that like you got all, you know, you let go of the outcome. And we let go of the sensory gratification around it, right? The classic yoga teacher cliche of like what happens when you can do a handstand? Nothing. Nothing. You can stand on your hands. And it is not a path to samadhi. So like there's a detachment that we have to like let go, right? Love it, let it go. Love it, let it go. Love it, let it go. and the and just skipping along there, that like there's these attributes that we can cultivate in the mind. And we should actually, this is a really good one to remember because it's gonna well, we might reference it later. That the innate serenity of the mind is preserved by that cultivation, the intentional attention to Maidri, Karuna Mudito, and Maitri is friendliness or loving kindness. ⁓ karuna is compassion, mudito is sympathetic joy, like joy with the joy in another person's joy and happiness. And Upeksha often is translated as equanimity. A Buddhist teacher who I really enjoy, ⁓ his perspective translates it as confidence. It's the centeredness, it's the knowing, it's that the unmessable withness is upeksha. And that even in the face of vice and virtue, pleasure and pain, that these attributes, when cultivated, preserve that innate serenity. And then we get to the second chapter, which is the sadhanapada, the chapter on spiritual practice. And we're given a a a mini version of the niyamas as the as the elements of Kriya Yoga, the practice of action, tapasvadhyaya ishvara pranidhana, the austerity, the heat, the dedication, the commitment, and then the Study of the self and then the give and the surrender. the surrender everything to God. Ishvara Pranid Dhanadva is one of the greatest hits from the first chapter that like the there's a shortcut and you could just literally give everything to the divine. And we sort of talk then about and then and then there's obstacles that get in the way. And the root of those obstacles is our fundamental misperception or our misunderstanding of vidya. And that the the Avidya is born of this mistaken and again we'll come back to this too, of mistaken ⁓ identification of like the seen and the seer. Like when we get those mixed up, we inevitably suffer. And then we get to the like this, this living, breathing spine of yoga, the eight limbs, the ashtanga path of yama, the ⁓ moral observances of yoga, the niyama, the personal practices of the yogi, asana, the physical seat or practice of phys of taking physical positions of yoga, pranayama, the intentional direction of prana, of breath, of life force energy. Ratyahara, the bridge from the external to the internal of sensory withdrawal to support that inward journey. So that we get to tahana concentration on one thing, one job, one thing. And then dahyana, the ability to sustain that concentration, which you might call meditation. And then samadhi, the full absorption and the bliss of it. And then last week. We talked about how ⁓ we gave the list of the yamas, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and a parigraha, to not cause harm, truthfulness, to not to not take that which is not ours or not to steal, to practice a sense of continence, to direct our life force energy very intentionally. And then ⁓ a parigraha, not to reach beyond our grasp or not to covet. And that these constitute extra. Great universal vow, unconditioned by time, place, caste, or context of birth. That it being a yogi is not an a buffet where you just sort of take some of this, you can take some of that, and you leave that. I don't like that one, so it's not for me. No, you gotta take them all. It doesn't mean that like they're that they have to be perfected, but it means that the vow, the commitment, that great vow that all yogis take. Is to abide by these principles. And then we get to the series that we're gonna explore this week, which begin with Yoga Sutra three, excuse 232, the list of the Niyamas, and then a a fascinating commentary that Master Patanjali inserts here on ⁓ discernment, let's just say. And before I read into the Sanskrit, ⁓ We always like to take a moment to just turn inward and ⁓ and then ⁓ as a way of preparing to receive the the vibrational energy, the sound of the Sanskrit of one of the verses. I'm gonna chant Yoga Sutra 33, ⁓ 233. But before we do that, we'll sit up tall. And maybe just notice something that you can feel, something that you can bring your attention to whatever or wherever you are right now. And maybe you close your eyes. And if you can, maybe you bring your hands together in front of your heart. Take a deep breath in. Let it go. And join me will vibrate one ohm together. Inhale. Just keep us in the integrity of the text, I'll read verse thirty-two. Shoucha Samosha Tapa Svadya Yeshvara Prani Dha Nani Ni Yama. And that is the list of the niyamas. Ni is to put ⁓ to put within. And yama means ⁓ restraint or observance. So, like ⁓ one way to think about the yamas, niyamas as the two sides of a coin is like the yamas are like external, like outward practices, like how we are in the world. And the niyamas are the internal, like the personal practices or observances of the yogi. And we're gonna quickly run them down. Shou cha. What is shou cha? It's a tricky one to pronounce. It's like technically there's like a soft palette S in the middle of the back, like sort of like shou cha, I think. Who wants to jump in? I can go. ⁓ it's fun because I kept seeing purity this time and I used to always think of cleanliness, but purity. Yeah, cleanliness or purity, exactly. Of of physical and mental state, right? Santosha. Sir Page. Santosha, contentment. Yeah. And I always like to remind myself contentment is not neutrality, right? It's not ⁓ complacent, but it's contentment as in like it's just a fundamental practice of being with it as it is, and it being earthing. tapas or tapa. So once again, I've always ⁓ thought of it as heat, like the heat of life or the heat of the practice. But I I liked, I saw with Reverend Jagmap accepting challenge, self discipline. Ooh. Yeah, self discipline, heat, heat of the moment. You know what? I I wanna jump in here because I love this too, and I didn't see it. This is in the ⁓ Sachatananda, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Accepting pain. And it's then it goes on to say not causing pain to be purified by austerities and heat, but accepting pain. Interesting. Interesting. And I do think like for purification, all these translations, like there's a reason for the heat or the pain. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not for the sake it's not like pain for or heat to to ⁓ and it's it's it is worth taking a quick moment ⁓ into the subtlety. It's it's like it's not punitive and it's not ⁓ punishing. It's purifying, right? Fire is a great purifying agent and it burns away what gets in the way. And so there's something about like to be a tapa like to perform tapasya is to perform an austerity, but it's for spiritual purification. Right. So it's important to get into that little bit of nuance. Okay. Swadhyaya. Sacred study of the divine through scriptures, nature, and introspection. I got that one from Nishala Joy Devi. I like that. Yeah, it's nice. And it's usually just like also self-study, like study of the self. Right. So yeah, to that the scriptures are a framework for that study. Like what we're doing right now, we hope, is a practice of svadhyaya. In the in that like part of the way we hope to offer the Yoga Sutra is so that you can like study what this means for you. How do you take these ideas and live them right here in twenty twenty six, where or whenever you hear the sound of our voice. ⁓ and then Ishvara Pranidhana, Sally, bring it home. A dedication to God or something, wholehearted dedication to something bigger than you. Beautiful. And there's a sense too of like surrender to it, like like to give it to, to to be of service toward. ⁓ in some lineages it's said to like to pr to offer your humble obeisances to something bigger than yourself, right? Okay. And then we get to verse, so that's and we're gonna and the reason I'm just saying we're gonna go quickly through those is because We will spend an episode on each one of those principles. So don't worry. We will go deeper. We must go deeper. And we will. But for today, then there's this, you know, again, like I I'm endlessly fascinated by the structure as much as I am by the words of the Yoga Sutra, because it all communicates meaning. And so every verse and the sequence of these verses and every word and the sequence of these words matters. Like when we talk about these lists and how the first Item in the list is is usually somehow like like an origin or a grounding principle that like in the in the kleshas that like the obstacles the first is a vidya and that's the root, right? Or like the yamas, the first yama is ahimsa to not cause harm or nonviolence. And it's like you can't do anything if you are not intentionally reducing. The harm you cause to yourself and others. Like none of you can't go anywhere. And in the same way here for the, for the Niyamas, like you have to start from a clean palate, so to say. And if you're not cultivating that cleanliness of of body, of heart, of mind, of space, of space, I'm pointing at my head, all that space, right? Like if it's cluttered, you're never gonna get to like. Clarity. It will get it will continue to get in the way. It's reminding me I need to keep decluttering my apartment. ⁓ Okay. So, and then from that, all the rest, right? So in the structure of the verses, so we get this, we get the yamas, and then we're told there are these great universal vows unconditioned by time, place, class, context of birth. We get the list of the niyamas, and then we get two fascinating, we get two more verses about this, ⁓ Concept and I'm gonna chant the thirty third verse, which is Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksha Bhaavanam. Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksha Bhahavanam. Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksha Bhavanam. Vitarkahane pratipaksab ⁓ Vitarkahane prati Paksha Bahanam. Sriswamy Satchidananda translates this verse. When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite positive ones should be thought of. This is pratipaksha bhavana. And I'm not even going to read the Sanskrit for verse 34 because it's long and it's and it's a bit of a mouthful. When negative acts, this is also from Swami Sachidananda, when negative thoughts or acts. Such as violence, etc., are done, caused to be done, or even approved of, whether incited by greed, anger, or infatuation, whether indulged in with mild, medium, or extreme intensity, they are based on ignorance and bring certain pain. Reflecting upon this is also Prattipaksha Bhavana. And there's a bunch of words that show up if we were to have looked at the Sanskrit, like dukkha, like an annana. So jnana is wisdom, like jnanam yoga, or like to cultivate jnana. And then there's a word for annana, which the a is to negate, to like unwisdom or not wisdom or ignorance, you could say. You know, again, like part of what I always try to remember too is that like yoga is not a practice of That requires blind faith. We are not, there's no because I say so. It's more like F around and find out. As in like go and see for yourself. There's a a term actually in the in the famous Toyota way of ⁓ Japanese business culture. And in that context, it's Genshi Gambutsu. And what it means is go and see for yourself. And it means that if you're a manager and there's a problem and someone has a problem on the manufacturing line that you're responsible for, you can't solve it in your office. Genshi Gambutsu, go and see for yourself. And all these, all this wisdom, this is embodied wisdom. It's go and see for yourself. And so this, so and the, and I start this conversation from that place because I find that this verse, 33, is very tricky. Because in what can be a bit of a McMindfulness culture and moment that we're having, where everybody's an influencer and every influencer is gonna. There's this fascinating thing that I've been seeing. And I try to not see it because I don't spend very much time on social media very intentionally. But influencers give these like rants or these like treatises, but they do it while they're walking down the street. Have you noticed this? They give these like talks and they're like, Can you believe blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, well, if you care about it that much, wouldn't you care to stop and sit down and be thoughtful about your words as opposed to just like rattling them off while you're on your way from one thing to do another thing? And and I and the and I say that because, and I'm not trashing influencers. I don't know. Maybe they are not. I don't I try not to be influenced by that. by most. ⁓ I want to be influenced by wisdom, by by prop teachers, holders of lineage. ⁓ that's very that's meaningful to me. And that's a that's a discernment, and that's pratipaksha bhavana. And and it can be read on the surface as when disturbing thoughts occupy the mind, cultivate their opposite, which can like there's a a frame of that that can be a little toxic. Right. Like when you're sad, think happy thoughts. Or or somehow, like I think just like overly simplified. And and that's not what this practice is. It's much more subtle. It's it's that ability excuse me. It's the ability to say, I aspire to be a yogi and I aspire to live by these principles. I will have thoughts that are contrary to these principles, because I'm human. How do I discern the difference so that I take action with a deeper clarity of intention? And that's what we're gonna get into in trying to understand how we well, one is just understanding this idea of pratipaksha bhavana and and how do we start to live it? So I'm sure you both have had a lot of thoughts. I know you look like a bunch, you guys look at different translations and And who wants to start? Is there a translation, especially of 33 and 34, that that like really resonated, especially since we've talked about this before and it's always new and fresh every time because we're different every time? I found two that I really like because it's like you were saying earlier, earlier in my study of this, I thought, if you're sad, think something happy. And it's not that. So one was from Re Reverend Jagannath Carrera. And it said ⁓ when doubt or wayward thoughts disturb the cultivation of the yamas and niyamas generate the opposite, a counterforce of thought, images, or feelings that have the power to uplift, invigorate, inspire, and steady the mind. This is I'm going for it, pratipaksha bhavana. And then ⁓ he a little bit deeper into the commentary, he said this practice is not just for momentary first aid when the mind is disturbed. And that's I think where we can get into the I'm sad and I want to be happy. It's also a blueprint for transformation, a chance for new beginnings, a practice that can help us turn our lives around, opening new horizons and providing a clear path for spirituality prosperous for a spiritually. prosperous future. I love that paragraph myself. I'm so glad you read it. It's so good. It's a blueprint for transformation. Yep. Right. And then I so so good. Sorry, go ahead. Well just one more from Unravel a Thread with Ruben Vasquez. When unhelpful thoughts and emotions arise, cultivating uplifting thoughts and emotions. And in his commentary he says that this technique is a way To turn our ways around to the measure that is possible for us. Turning things around requires that you notice unhelpful patterns of moment, breath, thinking, emotion and behavior. And so I think a lot of it for me is like in the noticing. That it's in the noticing. It's like, and again, I'm using the word discernment really intentionally because judgment like is a projection of something onto versus discernment, which is like a curiosity about what it is. And that's really subtle, but it's a really, really powerful difference. Sarah Paige, how about you? Is there is there another framing of this that you really found meaningful? I I think I'm going to be the rebel a little bit tonight, in that I always struggle with this particular because it feels bypassy. Okay. And I know it's not, but if you look at it on the surface, and I was reading all the things, it's like, well, just think something different. Fiddly D, Scarlet, think something different. Tomorrow's another day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. You know? And I'm like the toxic variation. Yeah, I'm like, it can't be that. It can't be that. And that's when I tend to go to Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by BKS Ayengar because he's a lot, he has no fluff. Ayengar has no fluff. Just like his practice, there is no fluff. None. None. None. So I really get he has a huge commentary on here, and I'm not obviously going to read it, but I do like what he says. He goes, Principles which run qu contrary to the yamas and the niyamas. And he references the yamas and the yamas heavily in his translation and in his commentary, which I thought was interesting. And he also ⁓ d goes deeply into the eight limbs. He doesn't he's saying, and so but what he says is principles that run contrary to the yama and the niyamas are to be considered. with knowledge and discrimination. And then he said, ⁓ he goes, this sutra stresses that the yamas and the niyamas are an integral part of yoga. Sutras 11 ⁓ 2.30 and 32 explain that one should avoid doing one and what one has to do. Now the sadka is counseled or the the student is counseled to cultivate a temperament which can resist the current of violence and I love this because he goes into it later, ⁓ does the ⁓ the in in the ingala, pingala, and the sashini, which is all in the ⁓ the pranayama and the breath and the way that that goes in your body. And he said, ⁓ the current, which is breath, right? It's energy, it's pranayama. Falsehood, stealing, nonchastity, venality is practip ⁓ praktipaksha bhavana. And to go with the current of cleanliness, contentment, fervor, self-study, and surrender to the universal spirit, which is Paksha Bahabana. And I love that because he's using it as energy to go with the current, to use the breath. And he goes on and on and on. And then at the end of it, yeah, it's really and I that's what I love about Ayungar. He is just there's no gray. He doesn't work in gray areas. He works in black and white areas. And that's what I needed in this, because I wasn't as juicy as y'all were about it. I keep looking at it and going, it feels like bypass, it feels like bypass. And who's not going to ever bypass? Ianger is not going to bypass. And what he says is this blending of Paksha and Prataka, ⁓ Praty Paksha, sorry, in all aspects of yoga is true yoga. So what he does is he takes all of it and he says, This This sutra is true yoga, which I you know, I'm gonna sit and chew on it and chew on it and chew on it and chew on it, but I loved it. And I love the way that he for a lifetime. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, you know, listen, next week, maybe tomorrow, I'll see it as something completely different. You know, I hear my mother saying things to me like, just think happy thoughts. You know? And there's some validity to it. There is some validity to it. We can go down the bunny hole of darkness and negativity and top us, you know, that friction. or not. And sometimes that's self-inflicted. Let's play with this for a moment because I think it's really worth getting into this dislike. So Master Ayungar uses the term discrimination, and he doesn't mean in the modern context of discrimination as in the the default. Judgment of another by virtue of a of an apparent characteristic, so to say. He goes more that's why I'm using the word discernment. And he's saying discriminate, but he means it in the context of just to discriminate like this and that. Right? Like this is this is this and this is that. And while yoga operates in nothing but shades of gray, at the same time, it also operates in sometimes like very black and white constructs as well that we hold together. A Pyasa. Vairagya, stira, and sukkha, these opposing forces, not one of them being right or wrong, but finding that knife edge where they coexist. He has a wonderful quote by raising the weak or dull to the level of an intel of the intelligent or strong, the sadaka learns compassion in action. And I love that because to me, that's not bypass. That's action, right? So you you raise the action, the person, the the activity, whatever it is, the the thing that you're watching on TV, my murder podcast that I love, by raising the weak and the dull to a level of intelligent or strong, the sadka myself learns compassion in action. I just think that's beautiful. Compassion in action. Because it is compassionate, right? To lift people up is compassionate. Well, what's what's also compassionate is being able to acknowledge that you have a mind and it's gonna go in some weird places. And it's gonna it's gonna turn you around in some weird ways, and that that's just human. Maybe one day we'll expunge all the negative thoughts contrary to Yama and Niyama from the mind. But the reality is that they will arise. For all of us, right? Again, like for all of us, even for the for the wise. But what the wise cultivate is the discernment, the discrimination. One way to think of this too is like you have all these thoughts. Some of them serve you and some of them do not. Some of them serve you at a sense of self that is your highest self or your higher self, or that's aligned to this Mahavratam, that the great vows of the principles of yoga, of the Yama and the Niyama. And some do not. And the discrimination is not the like, no, those thoughts are wrong. But it's like, well, there's those thoughts. But I don't want to act on those thoughts. I want to put my attention back on on other thoughts because I'm capable of a lot of thoughts. You know, there's these moments in our cultural discourse where like people sometimes say you have to fight fire with fire. And then I think about what the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said. And I found the quote again. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. What happens when you fight fire with fire? It just gets more fire. Yeah. Until everything Everything combustible just burns out. And what and it's only destruction left. Fighting with fire, fighting fire with fire is the surefire way to destruction. Even that sense, I think as I'm reflecting in my own practices around this, that like we think about trying to purify the mind. Because that's p a huge part of yoga, right? The Chittavritinirodhaha. and this was such a big unlock in this year's study for me of like that image of swaddling the baby instead of like locking up the demon in the corner. I think I used to try to like for all the loudness of the voice of like my imposter syndrome, of my narratives of fat, stupid, and lazy, of my inefficiency, my inadequacy. And for all the time I spent like yelling back, none of those thoughts ever went away. I didn't actually, it didn't stop them. And then I went through this whole thing of feeling like a failure because I'm doing all this yoga and I can't stop these crazy thoughts. I still have this like crappy story about myself that I'm telling to myself. I am still meaner to myself about myself than anybody has ever actually been to me in my life. I am the fier fiercest. Most vicious critic. And yet there I am in a moment of meditation, being like, You're just sitting still, doesn't matter, whatever the story is. I have heard them all. Not all. I've heard enough. And I and I would love to say ⁓ that I've found a path to expunge those, but that would just be an absolute untruth. That is contrary to the principles of Yama and Niyama, because it would be harmful to present as much. Harmful because it would presume that you are capable of doing something that is a pretty superhuman feat that has been done by very, very, very few. Maybe by the Buddha, maybe by a few realized beings, like maybe Nimkaroli Baba is said to have transcended the Guru to Ramdas and others. Maybe, you know, a handful of of great living spiritual great spiritual masters in the Iskan lineage, they believe that Lord. Lord Citanya, who is an avatar, they believe was an avatar of Krishna. And that that living being probably was like pretty far up there. But you know, these are not everyday people. These are that's why we refer to them as saints, right? In the Catholic tradition, like a saint who was like an a living embodiment of a dynamic or of a quality of the divine. ⁓ so like if I'm thinking about how I work with my own mind in the pratipaksha bhava, bhavana. It is not the like, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. Like with thinking if I meet that, if I meet the story about my my per my body image with just as much force of like, no, no, no, no, no. Like that's just fire with fire. And it has not changed the fact that like I still sometimes harbor a a totally Somewhat dysmorphic sense of my physical form, if I'm really honest. But started to shift though, is when I'm like, well, okay. This is the meat sack that I got served up this round. And this is the rental car I'm driving right now. And as in, like, you know, in the body, like it's it's a rental car, you know, trying to make the best of it that I got. It's not perfect. That's not my dharma, was not to be a fitness model. at least this runaround or yet. Not yet anyway. and like I gotta you know, like it's It's not perfect and it's what I got. You know, it's funny in listening to both of you and looking at these, like there's nothing about happy or sad. You know, I think that's like my past story because when I look at the words from even 2.34, which seems to be just going a little deeper into Paksha Bahavana from Ruben Vasquez, choose not to engage in negative and violent thoughts, emotions, or actions at any level that ⁓ prevents ever never ending pain imbalance and suffering. And I love where Jaganoff goes on about negative thoughts or acts referred to those that are in opposition to the Yamas and the Niamas. And I don't know that experiencing happiness or sadness opposes the Yamas or the Niamas. I don't believe it does at all. Yeah, and so then suppression is not used to eliminate negative thoughts like you were saying, since suppressed thoughts eventually return with twice the first. Force. You know, I remember saying to my son when he was a teenager getting in trouble in places I never thought I'd get to go. And I'm like, dude, go ahead. Because you know when you have children, they're gonna be twice as bad as you because you're this tea. You're not bad but this behavior and it's you know, he had a perfect plan. He's like, ⁓ no, I'm gonna ⁓ have Get married to someone who never got in trouble. So it's gonna wash it out. Like he had a plan. ⁓ He was running in some serious karma math right there. He really was. But I How'd that work out for him? Actually worked out great. He did what he said. ⁓ But I really wanna put the attention back on ⁓ because he said, you know, once again, when you awaken to negativity. You are to take the mind of an elevated place, focused attention on thoughts that can counter negativity. We could reflect on peace when anger emerges, love when thoughts of intoler ⁓ intolerance appear, or contentment when greed arises. So it's about we're human. These things will arise. We're not wiping them out or erasing them, as far as I know. So that's really different than if you're sad, think a happy thought. The miracle of our human birth is the ability to place our attention with intention and to cultivate action with intention. That's the pratipaksha bhavana. That like the sadness, like to fully allow yourself to embody it because it will pass. And it's not wrong. And it's not, now it might not be or like or the self criticism. Comes from like it doesn't come from nothing. Like it comes from something, but it doesn't mean you have to believe it. It's just that pulling apart of space so that there's observation as opposed to identification and reaction. When we have angry thoughts and we are not those thoughts. We are not. And I get that. Or when we have negative thoughts, all of that. I do think that it's important to look at it and to go, this is, you know, the why of it all. You might have an absolutely appropriate reason for being angry. You might have an appropriate reason for being hurt, jealous, mad, whatever, whatever it is, or sad. And then I think it's when we how do I flip the switch without bypass, without looking at it and saying, you know, without the bypass of it all. I mean, because these things happen, right? It it is people hurt people. And I and I don't love that saying, hurt people, hurt people. I don't like that. I really don't, because I think that we have, you know, a way of being human and still not hurting people. I just I think it's a I think it's a bypass. But anyway, so the that happens. Hmm. What's there for you, Sarah Peggy? That's interesting. Well, because I went through a year of people really hurting me, really hurting me. And it you know, I was getting that sometimes. Well, you know, pe hurt people, hurt people, and I'm like, yeah, but right now I'm hurt and my feelings are hurt. I'm questioning my myself, I'm questioning my judgment around, you know, people that I've trusted and put into my life. It made me it rocked me on my heels. And so when somebody says, Well, hurt people, hurt people, I'm No, I want to go b beat them up. I want to hurt them right back. You know? And that's just the fact that the sutras say about when the dot the doubt the really dot enter the mind. No, but I think that like true, but I'm as Liz. I'm trying to like this is a fact. And I know I'm not the only one. Yeah. Of course not. But my point is like And it's th then thank you for being so generous and being willing to share this way because it's I'm through. It's so well, I know you're through it now. Yeah. And and that like I think again, in the same way that like the it's useful to know the why and it is not useful to know the why. Bingo. I agree with that. Like it right? It depends on the moment and like the why as the Bypass is real. Like I have a tendency to intellectualize my own experience and I can get stuck in the why. The why can be a trap for me. It's a trap. like as in, I can just I can like talk my way out of it. And by it, I mean like an uncomfortable feeling, emotion, an explanation of it that is a bypass. Out of the depth of the experience of it. As opposed to The why as the pratipaksha bhavanam to say like Hurts, I feel hurt. I feel like I have an emotional experience of this experience that is real and valid and does not require anybody else to tell me anything about it. And the why is interesting from a point of discernment and observation. Like the hurt people, hurt people can be said as an excuse. Or it can be said from a place of deep compassion. Well, and is the work in hurt people, hurt people, and what you did or said or whatever, your actions hurt me. But then is this asking us to take care of ourselves? You know what I mean? Not like that excuse hurt people. I can say all the time, hurt people, hurt people. I see it every day in my life. I experience in my own life when I'm triggered that I But I think what this is asking us not to excuse anyone's behavior, but then what do I need to do here and now to care for myself? And there's one last sentence, and then Sarah Page, it's all you, girl. ⁓ this it's from Reverend Jagannath Carrera, and he said, This sutra leaves no doubt that yogis are called upon to be responsible citizens. They are not passive bystanders on the sidelines of life. I love that. And and we were talking about lessons, and this was a lesson that I had to learn because the universe is never gonna give it up, right? She's gonna come back around and around and around and around. The lesson was set those boundaries. Set the boundaries, Sarah Page. You're not setting the boundaries. You know, you knew, you didn't listen. I'm gonna bring it back to you. I'm gonna bring it back to you. So when I went through the topics of all of this, which was deep tapas, I really and it was hurtful to me. Meaning like that work was painful because it was like an excavation. And I I took responsibility for my part in it because you know it takes two. And when I got to on the other side of it, now I'm able to say, Okay, well, be with God, the God of your understanding. I'm sorry that you're going through whatever it is that you're going through. And though, thus far, no further. I don't hold a grudge against you. I completely don't, but I had to go through that year's worth of excavation and, you know, spagyaya inner, you know, that inner stu study. And it's never all that pleasant until it is. You know, and I guess too part of this is that we have the choice to st you know, because I always reference, because I love food, I always reference food. But it's kind of like that dog with red meat, you know, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right. Do you want to be right or do you want to be free? You know? And so I hey. And so I just said, I'm gonna go through this and I'm not gonna bypass it. I'm gonna go right through it. I am not ready to hear hurt people, hurt people, or think happy thoughts. I'm not happy. I'm gonna go through it. The ick of it all. And then I got to the other side. And now I'm fine. And I can genuinely say, I am so sorry that. There's something there for you, but it's not my responsibility to fix you to help. But it's not for you. It's not mine. Right. Exactly. I thought this was so fascinating, right? That like, well, there's there's two things that I'll remind us of too. That like part of that definition we talked about of like the suffering that can be avoided should be avoided, is that it arises from that misnowing, the avidya of mistaking the temporary for the permanent, the sa the the self and the not self. Like what is this about me and what is this not about me? Like, you know, ⁓ and like and and like fighting the fire with fire, fighting the hate with hate only makes more hate, only burns more down. And it doesn't mean the hurt people, hurt people is like, well, so it's okay. That is not what it means. And the same way that the think happy thoughts, like cultivate that when disturbing thoughts occupy the mind, cultivate their opposite. Think just think happy thoughts. Nah. Cause that's actually like just as toxic as fight fire with fire, I think. I but I right. And I also think my work is to f look at what does this what is this? Triggering within me, like you said, Sally. And that's my healing work. And it has nothing to do with what anybody else does, says, lives, believes, or anything else that is purely mine. And that's actually very empowering, deeply, deeply empowering. That the healing work for me to do is by me, for me, to be of best service to my Dharma, right? To give to the world that what I have to give me at my best. Tadadrastusvarupe vastanam. To allow the true self to shine forth. But we get confused. We make the mistake of the immediacy of the emotion. And we think it'll always be like this, or that person is being so mean to me. And I want to hurt them as much as they're hurting me. And it's human. It's, it's, it's natural, right? There is a law of like karma is nothing if not cause and effect. I used to really care a lot about justice. I'm a Libra. And my dad was an attorney. And like I had a lot of stuff around justice and fairness, but it's not fair. Something that has shifted is in all of this study is ⁓ some surrender that like I just don't know what that person is going through. I just don't. I just don't. I can never know the content of another person's mind. I never can. I know that my experience of them engenders or incepts an emotional state within me that is unpleasant. Doesn't bring out me at my best. The thoughts, these thoughts that arise in that space or from that stimulus are contrary to the Yama and the Niyama. So it's probably not the best association for me. Right. And so that's thus far no further, as you say it, Sarah Page. Like, I I I truly wish you well and like you that it like and and I'm gonna wish you well from like five steps back. Maybe, right? That like, but that doesn't mean we cultivate less compassion for them, but it also doesn't mean we have to do so in their immediate physical presence or allow them to continue to direct that energy toward us, intentionally or unintentionally. The pratipaksha is to say, like, my healing is my own by me for me. And I will put my attention, like again, the miracle of our human birth is the ability to put our attention. And to place our attention with intention, and that is hard work. That is hard, deep spiritual practice. And then to take action in alignment with those principles, agnostic, in the presence of vice or virtue, pleasure or pain. Because therein lies the innate serenity of the mind. And that it's like what arises from Pratypaksha Bhavana as a practice. It's a lived practice. It's like, how do you actually take the keys out of your pocket and put it in the lock for that maitri, karuna mudito upekshanam? Like it is pratipaksha. Well, I'm just actually putting this together as I'm about to say this. The pratipaksha bhavana is the path to be able to use the keys. That are given to us in Sutra 133 in the locks and the keys. Like that's what's possible. It is always possible, even if difficult, and even if we don't like in in the Buddhist lineage, it said that those four attributes are the immeasurables. As in that they are like infinitely available attributes to every single one of us. You can always, always, always call in Maitri, Karuna, Mudito, and Upeksha. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. But we have to be able to find the pause, take the space, and make a choice. And it's really hard. It's really, really hard because we're human. And we make that mistake of confusing the see, the the seer and what is seen. I am ⁓ hurt. Well, you feel hurt in this moment. And your emotion will change because emotions change. But making the emotion wrong, repressing it, ignoring it, just thinking happy thoughts does not resolve it. And that's the that's the double edged sort of why. Hurt people, hurt people. And it can be said in that way of being like, it's not about you, right? And like again, that one's really tricky too. It's like it's not about you. Well, it's not about you, but it feels like it for right now when that person is being like, there's act like I have a person who's being very not nice to me. And I like every day I have to like I have to I have to be really calm and like like like give myself actually take into the thought of like giving myself a mental hug when that I there's some video effect that's happening when I just did that. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's video. Like, I know seriously. Like I have to like give myself that hug and be like, okay, Seth. Like it's like it is and it is not about me. Like it is being directed toward me for sure. Right. So there's this exercise with my with my Zen Sensei therapist that I've now we've I've now, you know, lovingly coined as like rug table chair. Like we have to be able to discern, discriminate that like that's a rug. And we have to agree that that's a rug, that's a table, and that's a chair. Like that's just that's the is-ness. It doesn't make the rug good, bad, appropriate for the room, beautiful, filthy, ugly, clean, dirty, but it's a rug. And I have a story about that rug, and the table belongs to my grandmother, and that's the chair that I used to sit in. ⁓ And it's a rug table and a chair. Like all of it, right? It's all that. It's that. It's like that, it's not the hurt people, hurt people as the bypass. It's not just think happy thoughts when you're sad. It is the the the compassionate moment of pulling ourselves out of the immediacy of experience and remembering that hurt people hurt people. Well, I'm hurt and I don't want to hurt people. Because I made a vow to not cause harm. And I made a vow to to find or seek the truth. And go I could go on. And so how do I, how do I intentionally place my attention so that I take action in alignment to the values? Do am I who I say I am? And in your words, Sarah Page. Two sentences that I feel wrapped up, wrap up everything you both were saying from ⁓ Ruben Vasquez. The Yamas, Niyamas, and Pratipaksha Bhavana are an efficient energy management system so that your energy is not generating more agitation, but instead contributing to enhance the quality of your life. As a result, you can allocate the energy you were investing in reactivity and suffering toward flowing gracefully with whatever changing movement of life. Is happening inside you and around you. You know what you just you just brought up something that reminded me of my college advisor, C. Robert Jones. I was having something and he said, Sarah Pei, I can't believe this is coming up. I just graduated college two years ago. But anyway, he came in and he said ⁓ He came, but he was he was so deeply, deeply instrumental in my growth. And he said, take all of those neg he's a yogi. Take all of those negative thoughts and all of the things that are negative right now and put it towards something that is positive. And that's exactly that's it, right? And I and I literally doesn't negate the experience of the thoughts. Yes. Yeah. He's just like put it towards something positive. This is negative. It is what it is. How can we elevate? Yeah. Rug table chair. This is great. Like these thoughts are arising. And they hurt my feelings. And are you gonna sit in it? Of course it is. Are you gonna sit in it or are you gonna move forward growth and and come into a sense of enlightenment? Yeah, yeah. Now I don't now I don't have such a little a little bit of awakening, you know, like just even a little bit. Here's what Jagana here Reverend Jagannath Carrera says. I think again, like it's just to me, it really just is like just wraps this up. Prattipaksha Bhavanam works because it reflects back to us what is true, deep, and abiding. It provides opportunities to transcend an ego hampered by desires for limits, boundaries, and the need to always be in control and to be right. Rather than in right as in productive relationship with truth. So it's really subtle and it's really powerful and it's really important. And and so let's quickly give ⁓ a point of teaching like how can you bring this into class? If you're an asana teacher like us, like we love to inspire, we want to inspire you to teach from this place of this wisdom. And in any lineage of yoga, by the way, in whatever way is meaningful, ⁓ and if you're a student of yoga asana or of yoga, of yoga, all of the yoga, ⁓ you know, you're a teacher. You're teaching yourself. No, really, like No, I agree. All the yoga. Yeah. All the yoga. So what's a teaching tip? Who wants to start? Sally, you go. Okay, teaching tip. ⁓ practice letting go of the unhelpful habits and choose a new and uplifting way of being. Maybe physically pull the pit of the belly in and up. Emotionally lift your thoughts up, spiritually lift yourself and each other up. Totally different than what I was going to say, but I notice when you get triggered in class. Notice when that happens, when somebody's not doing what you want them to do. When they're going, you know, when they have their own practice in the middle of the room or their, you know, whatever it is. ⁓ notice what that brings up and why. And is it is it ego? Or can you just let it be and say, this must, you know, how can you turn that negative thought that you're having into something positive and maybe more loving towards the student? I'm gonna offer a a little continuation, you know, I think of last week, or I've certainly said this before because it's one of my favorite things to look for in my own practice is and in my own practice of teaching, is drop every drop the extra. Just drop the extra. Drop the extra word, drop the extra. Drop the extra. Like to students, invite them to drop the extra and just move from the pose to the next pose. With the absolute least amount of flourish, embellishment, fancy, just just one class, just do the class. Not because I'm such a brilliant teacher, but because there's a practice of like, like there's like every one of us, these students who always take that bind. Whether you call it or not, they always do it. And by the way, like half to three quarters of the time, like they take a more disintegrated version of the pose, at least in my experience, because they have it in their head that, like, well, the advanced version is this. And like, I've come to see that like the advanced version is actually usually less and looks like less. ⁓ I practice next to this woman who's like a lifelong dance instructor. And She once turned to me after class and she said, like, this is it's so sweet and so simple. And she it was like one of the most beautiful compliments I've ever received. And I to turn my practice, she said, You move so lightly on the mat. And like it, like it brought a tear to my eye. She didn't say, like, ⁓ my God, this you can put your foot behind your head. ⁓ my God, I can't believe you do that split. It was so beautiful. Like, no, what she said to me was Seth, like, you just move, you move so lightly on the mat. And the reason, if you're not as into asana, but like what she was saying, like what that means is like, like, you don't have to do so much. Like you see, some people who like it's like like one way or another way to here's a teaching tip. Also, listen to your practice. Do you thud when you put your foot down when you step forward to warrior one? Or do you place your foot? Right? Do you does do is there a lot of noise? Do you hear the scrape of the foot on your mat when you press when you pull back in or out of the pose? Like all of those things are great like clues. So that it's not about it's not like bad, but it's just the like, are you placing your body or are you throwing yourself into something? That's what I'm trying to get at. And that's not because I'm I have such a beautiful backlash. Like, but it was just like that, it's like a such a nerdy yogi, beautiful compliment to give to somebody. And I just like obviously it really stuck in my heart. But like, like, like invite students into that. And okay, an inquiry. So much inquiry. I have so much inquiry. I have so much inquiry. ⁓ Sarah Page, what's some inquiry around this idea of Praty Paksha Bhavana? Where are you bypassing it? Where are you not really, you know, where are you bypassing? Where are you where is it just easier to s kind of put the work behind you as opposed to doing the work and feeling truly happy, loving, caring, kind? Cause if you're not doing the work, you're it's gonna come back and slap you in butt. Just is. Every time. Every time. Yep. So good. Every time. Yeah, we're gonna keep getting the lesson until we learn it. Says someone says something who's Who's also chewing on some lessons that I thought I'd learned before and then I thought I come around. I know. I mean that's life. ⁓ I guess Ooh, more to do. Do you notice when you are affected by negativity in your body, mind, or spirit? Do you believe in your power to turn things around and your ability to keep your heart and mind open? And maybe what is one practice you can begin now to contribute to the quality of your inner and outer life? ⁓ right. That's beautiful. I mean, mantra, by the way, is nothing more than like a practice of pratipaksha bhavana. The point of mantra, it's a tool. It is a tool for your mind. Because it it's the point of mantra is a touchstone. It's a touchstone so that you know. Like when my mind starts to spin, I have a mantra, I have a touchstone. In the Jivamukta Yoga lineage, they suggest a mantra for meditation of just say the word let with the inhale and go with the exhale. Inhale, let. Help. And when I first was exposed to that, it felt so it almost felt too easy. It felt too silly. And I was like, lack go, lack go, lack go. And now I I have so much reverent respect and love for Sharon G and David G, the creators of of Jivamukti Yoga, because it's so rich, actually, those two little words. Let, allow, welcome. Like let it be and br and call it in. Like let. Let it, let it affect you, let it work on you, let it be with you. And then go. Go with clarity. Go with purpose. Go with a sense of capital as self. Go with you at your best self. So that could show up in class in a bunch of ways. One is you could teach that mantra. The Jivamukti Yoga meditation methodology is very simple and it's very accessible. And it can go very deep, right? ⁓ or offer a mantra like so hum, I am. Very simple. So hum, so hum, and so it goes. Right? ⁓ so. Another one, like, ⁓ there it is. Like, ⁓ so, mmm, ⁓ so. It's hard. ⁓ so. Before you react, before you move, before you come out of the heat. ⁓ so this is hard. It's hard. Still hard. It's not getting easier, but I'm still here. I'm doing it. It's hard. Just because it's hard. Like we can do hard things. You're, you know, I say in class all the time, you're New Yorkers. You didn't come here to do easy. Like you didn't move to the city to do easy. So, like, do hard. So, yeah, those are some thoughts about like how to bring in this idea of Pratipaksha Bhavana in like an accessible way without getting into all the subtlety because there's so much. Woo! Okay. ⁓ we could do another hour on this one, especially. Like we say that all the time, but like this one, you know, it's very deep, it's very powerful. And we're gonna keep coming back to, you know, how do these ideas, I hope too, we try to weave these things together that, like, you know, again, pratipaksha is like a path back to the locks and the keys, like to that, to those big attributes. And and it's our hope that we offer this in a way that is living, embodied, not perfect, not an answer to the question, but just Some support in your discovery of what those things look like for you in each for each and every one of you. ⁓ for each and every one of you two. I will say thank you. Thank you, Sarah Page. Thank you. Thank you, Sally. I love y'all too. Endlessly so much. All right. For the Sutra Squad, I'm Seth Barron. It has just been an absolute delight and pleasure and privilege. If you have received any benefit from these words, from our from our thoughts and our actions, please consider taking an action yourself and liking, subscribing, giving a comment, sharing this podcast with someone who might find it interesting. And until then, until next time, love you so much. And we'll see you soon on the Sutra Squad. Bye-bye. Bye.