What Is Satya? The Deeper Meaning of Truthfulness in Yoga | Yamas Explained | Yoga Philosophy Series

Transcript

What are the two meanings of satya the second 
principle of the first limb of yoga the yamas   stay tuned to find out how this meaning may differ 
from what you have learned in your yoga practice   hi my name is Michelle Fondin and I'm the 
author of the brand new book The Eight Limbs   of Yoga for Modern Times a practical guide 
to the yoga sutras of Patanjali if you're new   to my channel welcome thank you for subscribing 
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a thumbs up i teach meditation online on demand   you can check it out at the link below and start 
today welcome to my minieries on the eight limbs   of yoga this is good for you if you are a yogi a 
yoga practitioner a yoga teacher leading a yoga   teacher training program or you're just curious 
about Eastern and yoga philosophy this would be   the series just for you today we're going to 
talk about satya and to start I'm going to   read the yoga sutra that is pertaining to this 
principle of satya to one firmly established   in truthfulness his word becomes binding on 
objective reality yoga sutra chapter 2 verse 36   now this meaning in this yoga sutra is going to 
be pertaining to the much much deeper meaning   of the word satya which is translated 
generally to mean truth or truthfulness   i could talk about this principle for hours not 
just in this mini 15 to 20 minute video because   it's very much tied to the fifth chakra the 
throat chakra and it's something that I write   about in two of my books The Wheel of Healing with 
Ayurveda and Chakra Healing for a Vibrant Energy   because it was directly pertaining to me when I 
was 28 years old so truth truthfulness this is   an interesting concept let's start with the more 
common translation of Satya and then let's move   to the more spiritual concept of Satya because 
I think it's important we're humans we tend to   see things and we translate them as we see them 
right we we see the word truth and what comes to   mind for you when you see the principle truth or 
truthfulness typically you're going to be thinking   about something like honesty someone who's honest 
who says it like it is who's not sugarcoating   something who is not lying that's a big one who's 
not even stretching the truth or creating their   own reality so that they are gaslighting me 
for example and so when we think about truth   or truthfulness we're usually talking about one 
of those things honesty telling it like it is   seeing things the way they are and not making 
up stories to make things out to be something   different in other words lying but that is a big 
part of Satya of truthfulness now truth can be   very very subjective what is true for me might not 
be true for you and that's where we get into this   sticky and gray area of the meaning behind Satya 
my truth might not be your truth and therefore   we can get into some arguments we can get into 
disagreements so what Satia is really talking   about is your personal truth now this is the first 
meaning right we're going from the physical the 3D   world into the deeper spiritual meaning so this 
is the first one i'm really talking about your   internal truth how do you conceive of things how 
do you see yourself how do you think about things   and how do they translate into words so that your 
words align with your beliefs your words align   with your thoughts and that's really what Satia is 
pertaining to when it's talking about truthfulness   it's saying how are you aligned are you creating 
something different than what's in your head and   as humans we do tend to do this we people please 
we say things that others might want to hear but   that are not the truth that really resides within 
our heart it's not really what we think it's not   the truth that resides within our heart we're just 
saying things because we think "Okay I can fit   into society by saying this i can fit in with my 
social group by saying this i can even fit in with   a romantic partner by saying this." For example 
something as stupid as "Oh I like this sport."   When you really don't like this sport but the 
person you want to date really likes that specific   sport so you tell that person I like the sport so 
again it's a silly example it might be a stupid   example even but it all comes down to being able 
to be your authentic self to speak your authentic   truth about who you are what you think what you 
believe even if other people don't agree with you   now there is a more objective truth for example 
if you saw a car accident if you were a witness to   a car accident and you saw exactly what happened 
and then you were questioned on what happened as   an innocent bystander and you lied about it now 
why would you lie there's probably no reason why   you should lie about something like that but based 
on objective reality this is what you saw and if   you speak the truth then that is a better way to 
go about things than lying about it for example   so there is a more objective reality based on 
what your senses are telling you so that you   are operating in honesty right so that's what 
Satia is talking about from a physical level   the objective reality what you see hear taste 
touch and smell and how you're experiencing it   and by all accounts you're not going to be lying 
about yourself or about other people if you know   that it might harm someone now in fact Patanjali 
states that you must speak truth but if it's going   to harm someone then you might just want to stay 
silent now that goes back to the first yama the   first principle of the first limb of yoga which 
is a himsa now I just produced a video on a himsa   and I'll put that link right here so you can check 
it out after this video but as I mentioned even 3D   world physical world stuff is very relative right 
so my truth might not be your truth even in the   case of witnessing a car accident the truth from 
your standpoint from where you stand might be very   different from the people that were in the cars 
so what they saw what they felt what they heard   was very different from your perspective so it 
really is based on the perspective but if you know   for example that you were lying about something 
or misleading someone to believe that something   else happened than what you really saw of course 
that is telling an untruth and that would be going   against the principle of Satya okay i think you 
got the physical component of Satya truthfulness   telling the truth saying the truth living your 
authentic self saying who you are having your   thoughts and beliefs align with the words that 
you speak now let's go to the more spiritual   perspective which the yoga sutra really adheres 
to is the more spiritual perspective now I'm going   to read it again to one firmly established in 
truthfulness his word becomes binding on objective   reality oh my god this is a crazy assumption 
that Patanjali outlined in this yoga sutra now   I'm going to read to you another phrase that was 
written in the opening chapter of the upanachads   and it's really interesting because it's similar 
and it's from the mundaka upanachad and it says   satyam eva jayate nandam truth alone prevails not 
unreality truth alone prevails and not unreality   now this is a book written by Eknath Eswaron who 
is the translator of this specific translation of   the upanosads so both of these the yoga sutra and 
the phrase I just read from the upanosads speak to   the higher spiritual truth okay what is the higher 
spiritual truth what does yoga tell us about this   higher spiritual truth the higher spiritual truth 
is when you stand in reality and knowing that the   only thing that is real is universal source 
spirit that we are all interconnected that   we are not separate that there is no separateness 
that everything that changes is part of objective   reality right everything that changes is part of 
our physical 3D world but that which never changes   is reality okay that's that's a lot that's a lot 
i'm going to say it again everything that changes   in objective reality so meaning like we see the 
seasons change right that's objective reality we   see the seasons change we see the sun rise and 
set according to our planet we see the moon go   through cycles of the moon from the perspective 
of planet earth right we see that we understand   the law of gravity okay all of those things are 
changing in that if you go into space there is   no law of gravity you got it so we know certain 
truths based on objective reality on physical laws   on the laws in the 3D realm but everything that 
changes is not reality according to spiritual laws   the only thing that is truth according to 
spiritual laws is that which never changes and   we're talking about spirit we're talking about 
source we're talking about source energy now   what does it mean it never changes it means that 
the nature of source the nature of universality   does not change because it does not have physical 
components anything that we can observe with the   naked eye or observe with our senses or observe 
are things that change now what the yoga sutra was   stating is that if you are rooted in the reality 
that source never changes that infinite love   never changes that that is who you are if you're 
rooted in that fact that that is who I am that is   my divine essence of who I am then you can speak 
words and change objective reality you can change   the course of nature you can change things in the 
3D realm you can change things in the physical   universe so that's what the yoga sutra was stating 
it wasn't saying by speaking truth you're going to   manipulate people and objects and things just by 
saying the truth you can manipulate people that's   not what this was meaning what it was meaning is 
that when you are established in truth which means   I am universal consciousness right and I'm talking 
about you stating that from the perspective of I   am universal consciousness i am unity i am part of 
the universal whole that is reality when you state   that and believe that and live from that place 
then you have the capacity to manifest anything   you desire because manifestation takes place in 
the physical 3D world all right that was a lot i   hope you caught all that and if you didn't you get 
to watch the video again and it seems like all of   the yoga sutras because they are they all point 
us toward that one universal truth so whether you   start with a himsa whether you start with samadei 
they all point to that one universal truth that   that which changes is unreal that which never 
changes is real where we've got it all reversed   we have it all reversed don't we as humans we 
think that anything tangible anything that I can   taste touch smell hear feel that is reality right 
we all think that we all think that if I can't   touch it it's not real if I can't touch it taste 
it smell it hear it see it feel it it's not real   i need to be able to have that experience 
through my sensory input and what Patanjali   and others taught us is that that is not true the 
reverse is true everything in the physical world   is unreal that which never changes the spiritual 
realm is real that is the real reality and when   you understand the truth of that you're liberated 
you're free manifestation becomes so easy when you   realize that and when we look at the 3D physical 
realm and say that's really what's real we get   stuck because change in the 3D realm happens very 
slowly because manipulation of physical materials   is a much slower process and it vibrates at a 
lower frequency than spiritual energy which is   a very fastm moving energy and I hope I haven't 
taken it too far because if you're new to these   concepts it can be really hard to understand in 
the beginning but that is the essence of Satya it   is about aligning with yourself and your truth and 
being able to speak your truth without the social   mask without the ego mask without sugar coating 
things or people pleasing or saying what others   want to hear but it's also understanding from 
a spiritual concept that anything that changes   is unreal that which never changes is real so 
I hope this helps you on your yoga journey or   spiritual journey or whatever journey you happen 
to be on and please do share with others who are   studying yoga philosophy eastern philosophy is 
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