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| Patanjali suggests five abstinences and five observances, respectively, Yama and Niyama. We are to observe: |
| Observances |
You might notice that in this list “cleanliness” is not located next to God, but rather on the
opposite end of the list. This is of no importance. It suggests that if we link the five into a cycle,
then the two virtues are indeed neighbors. This still has no meaning.
The central practice on that list of observances is “body-conditioning.” This is an area that has
long been flouted by some who proclaim spirituality. Hence the extremes of self-abuse: fasting to
the point of starvation, inflicting wounds, enduring heat and cold, doing without, reveling in
poverty.
In Yoga, the more balanced approach holds that the body is an essential participant in any quest.
Our senses and our thoughts have physical terminals, inputs, outputs, as well as the brain. This is
a direct route to the observance of “Self-study.”
“Contentment” has always meant a balance among appetites and energies. The urges to do and
to consume are mutually quelled. The desire to stay or to go is in harmony. We are always in
motion, about our homes, about our territories, about our planet’s axis, about the sun, about the
galaxy, about the cluster and about the universe.
Definitions of “Cleanliness” have forever varied widely. For instance, some would consider the
applications of various cosmetic oils and perfumes to be an essential part of cleanliness, while
others would include those products on the side of filth. For humanity, the pursuit of any form of
purity must go on within the bonds of what is allowed by the laws of physics and biology. Two
much food or too little can shorten the life of anyone. Digestion wears away the body, but the
body perishes without digestion. So we burn the candle, and if we like it, we do what we can to
make it last.
“Attentiveness to God” is the fifth observance, the fifth Yama. One remark with which I might
begin would be that atheists observe attentiveness to god. In contrast is the one who subscribes to
some faith but allows the practices of devotion and contemplation to be left to the professionals,
the priests and saints, the brothers and sisters of order.
The atheist looks at divinity from the natural starting point, the pit of ignorance, the awareness of
nothing. In the ideal universe, to know nothing of the unknowable is a position closer to the
truth than that of one who professes to know what cannot be known.
It must be hell for the unbeliever who clings to his lack of faith in the face of our science and
technology. The concept of “nothing” has gained status in the realms of mathematics and
cosmology. Nothing is not the opposite of everything. The pairs of opposites in all of their many
apparitions are all found within the realm of the real. Outside of everything is the vast womb
from which we are born, for there is no other source. Nothing is the source of everything. This
simple statement both confirms and denies the existence of God.
Perhaps that’s why the design of the sacred definitions of creation has so often come up with
ideas of deeper sources. The Titans were the parents of the gods. The virgin is the mother of
God. The Tao Te Ching tells us that the nothing that is within the outline of doorways and
windows, jugs and baskets, is essential to the utility of the opening or the container. It matters
not whether these are made of wood, stone, clay, brass, glass or reeds. It is the place that can be
filled that defines its function. That space can be a vacuum or it might be filled with gas, liquids
or solids. The presence of any of these cannot nullify the presence of nothing, for that is what
they are in and where they are going.
Of the five observances, cleanliness, contentment, body-conditioning, self-study and attentiveness
to God, the last three are known as the Yoga of Daily Life.
opposite end of the list. This is of no importance. It suggests that if we link the five into a cycle,
then the two virtues are indeed neighbors. This still has no meaning.
The central practice on that list of observances is “body-conditioning.” This is an area that has
long been flouted by some who proclaim spirituality. Hence the extremes of self-abuse: fasting to
the point of starvation, inflicting wounds, enduring heat and cold, doing without, reveling in
poverty.
In Yoga, the more balanced approach holds that the body is an essential participant in any quest.
Our senses and our thoughts have physical terminals, inputs, outputs, as well as the brain. This is
a direct route to the observance of “Self-study.”
“Contentment” has always meant a balance among appetites and energies. The urges to do and
to consume are mutually quelled. The desire to stay or to go is in harmony. We are always in
motion, about our homes, about our territories, about our planet’s axis, about the sun, about the
galaxy, about the cluster and about the universe.
Definitions of “Cleanliness” have forever varied widely. For instance, some would consider the
applications of various cosmetic oils and perfumes to be an essential part of cleanliness, while
others would include those products on the side of filth. For humanity, the pursuit of any form of
purity must go on within the bonds of what is allowed by the laws of physics and biology. Two
much food or too little can shorten the life of anyone. Digestion wears away the body, but the
body perishes without digestion. So we burn the candle, and if we like it, we do what we can to
make it last.
“Attentiveness to God” is the fifth observance, the fifth Yama. One remark with which I might
begin would be that atheists observe attentiveness to god. In contrast is the one who subscribes to
some faith but allows the practices of devotion and contemplation to be left to the professionals,
the priests and saints, the brothers and sisters of order.
The atheist looks at divinity from the natural starting point, the pit of ignorance, the awareness of
nothing. In the ideal universe, to know nothing of the unknowable is a position closer to the
truth than that of one who professes to know what cannot be known.
It must be hell for the unbeliever who clings to his lack of faith in the face of our science and
technology. The concept of “nothing” has gained status in the realms of mathematics and
cosmology. Nothing is not the opposite of everything. The pairs of opposites in all of their many
apparitions are all found within the realm of the real. Outside of everything is the vast womb
from which we are born, for there is no other source. Nothing is the source of everything. This
simple statement both confirms and denies the existence of God.
Perhaps that’s why the design of the sacred definitions of creation has so often come up with
ideas of deeper sources. The Titans were the parents of the gods. The virgin is the mother of
God. The Tao Te Ching tells us that the nothing that is within the outline of doorways and
windows, jugs and baskets, is essential to the utility of the opening or the container. It matters
not whether these are made of wood, stone, clay, brass, glass or reeds. It is the place that can be
filled that defines its function. That space can be a vacuum or it might be filled with gas, liquids
or solids. The presence of any of these cannot nullify the presence of nothing, for that is what
they are in and where they are going.
Of the five observances, cleanliness, contentment, body-conditioning, self-study and attentiveness
to God, the last three are known as the Yoga of Daily Life.
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |