I’m starting here a serie on the yoga sutras, with one of my two favorites yama: Aparigraha.
Yoga sutra 2-39 : aparigrahasthairye janma kathanta sambodhah
Freedom from wanting unlocks the real purpose of existence.
It would be smart to stop trying to possess something desperatly. In a society
That is based on consumption, most of us believe that things can make us
Happy. This way of life prevents us to live in the present moment and prevent
us to seek the true source of happiness. Aparigraha doesn’t necessarly means
possessing stuff it could also be fame or even may be mastering a hard asana.
In my practice I’ve learned the hard way to let go if I can’t do a specific asana. I
remember I was obsessed with visvamitrasana and tried so much that I ended
up hurting myself. (ahimsa anyone ?), now I know how to let go. I don’t hold a
handstand more than 2 seconds ? it’s ok I will try another day, and may be it
will never happen in this life but does it really matter ? Is it a real source of
happiness ? We tend to complicate our lives with things we don’t really need,
and we suffer with the loss or lack of something. B !K !S Iyengar wrote : « By
the observance of aparigraha, the yogi makes his life as simple as possible and
trains his mind not to feel the loss or the lack of anything. Then everything he
really needs will come to him by itself at the proper time. » I live in a country
) where rich people comes to live in for security and tax reason, I
witness people with a lot of possession, are they happier ? Not at all ! They
focus (we all do) on what they don’t have (yet..) and forget about all they have.
Being grateful for what we already have and not suffer for all the thing we
don’t have is the fist step to happiness ! Keep it simple!
Cheyenne yoga 