“On being firmly established in honesty, all gems present themselves.”
This is a fun riddle regarding Asteya, offered in a translation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
Asteya is one of the 5 yogic ethics which make up Yama, the first limb of Raja Yoga. Yamas are 5 ways to be nice, and being a good person is the foundation of the yogic path.
Asteya is the practice of becoming a trustworthy person, a person whose word can be counted upon. When others sense that someone is a person of integrity, then they will entrust them with their resources. Wealth will flow to them. Gems present themselves in the form of good quality people, material resources, and joy.
Sutras have layers of meaning and many ways they can be translated and interpreted. Swami Satchidananda offers this slightly different translation of Patanjali's sutra 2.37: "To one firmly established in non-stealing all wealth comes."
What does it mean to be “established in non-stealing?” And what does Patanjali mean by “all wealth comes?” That part of the riddle sure is attention getting!
The impetus to steal comes from an attitude of “not enough.” If Asteya is the opposite of that, then Asteya is the practice of adopting a mindset of abundance, plenty. When we bathe our minds with the feeling that we have plenty, then we feel wealthy (“all wealth comes”).
Rather than stewing on what we don’t have, Asteya asks us to direct our attention to gems that might be hidden from our awareness by a mind typically clouded by thoughts of what's lacking. To practice the ethic of Asteya, we can examine our thought loops throughout the course of our days and weed out unhelpful thoughts related to lack, not enough.
Next, rather than focusing on what we don’t have or what someone else has that we might be tempted to take, we turn our attention to what we DO have.
If the spotlight of our awareness focuses on what we DO have for long enough, it can fill us with a sense of having plenty. Having plenty = wealth and abundance.
To one established in a mindset of PLENTY/ABUNDANCE, a sense of wealth is obtained.
Today’s pre-recorded practices incorporate reflections on a few ways we might tend to steal without realizing it. Hint: How do we steal time from those close to us, dignity from a person we don't know well, or resources from future generations?
Asteya: 28 min. Vinyasa Flow (suggested Spotify playlist is in the Vimeo description that you’ll see once you click the link.)
https://vimeo.com/656660146/056562d496
Asteya: 30 min. Gentle, Restorative, Yin sequence (suggested Spotify playlist is in the Vimeo description that you’ll see once you click the link.)
https://vimeo.com/656663451/dcc3254067
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Shala
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