Yoga Meditation – 2

The five observances (niyamas)

The five observances in Yoga Meditation are: purity, contentment, austerity, study, and attentiveness to higher principles.

1. Purity (saucha)

This includes specific methods to purge the body of poisons and to maintain hygiene. It includes advice about eating pure and appropriate foods. It is based on the idea that to purify the body helps to purify the mind.

2. Contentment (santosha)

This reminds us that meditation, whether or not practiced as an integral part of yoga, is accompanied by serenity of mind and greater harmony within ourselves and with our surroundings. Contentment is both a result of meditation and a psychological state that will help prevent us from being distracted during our meditation.

3. Austerity (tapas)

This term has often been mistaken to mean excessive asceticism or even deliberate self-inflicted mortification. It really refers to the application of sufficient self-discipline to achieve your goal, which in this context is samadhi. It is equivalent too the Buddhist ‘middle way’, which encourages the avoidance of extreme laziness on the one hand and extreme overexertion on the other.

4. Study (svadhyaya)

This has two aspects. One aspect is self-enquiry, leading to such questions as “who am I?” or “what am I?” to be addressed repeatedly until the ego is finally stripped away, leaving one’s essential being exposed. The other aspect includes the mindful study of appropriate written material, which in the context of traditional Indian yoga would include classic texts such as the Upanishads. Buddhist yogis would study the Buddhist Sutras and Tantras, and yogis within other traditions would study the appropriate texts related to that tradition.

Next Post: The last observances "Attentiveness to higher consciousness".