Getting Yoga Ready (5) - Aparighraha

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Image courtesy www.doyouyoga.com

The last of the five yamas is aparighraha. Parighraha means grasping / holing on tight. So obviously a-parighraha means non-grasping.

What is the ultimate thing that I am grasping on to tightly? Isn't it my life? And how is it that I am perceiving this "life" right now? As this body -the gross physical form, and as the mind -the subtle astral form. I am holing on tight to these two as the only definition and expression of the "life" that is in me. Letting go of the misconception that the Self/Life is the body and the mind is the ultimate meaning and practice of aparighraha.

Going a little further, if I examine WHY I tend to hold on tightly, it is purely driven by fear. All of our thoughts, words and actions are driven either by love or by fear. If based on love, then the tendency is to expand, to share, to be open, free, happy. If based on fear, then the tendency is to hold on tight, to grasp, to contract, to hoard, to be bound and be less that who we truly are.

But this letting go is not easy! All my life, the body and the mind are the base from which I have derived all my identities. Daughter, wife, sister, friend, colleague -all these are the identities that I have because of this form...because of this body. Sincere, punctual, no nonsense, likes reading, hates bitter gourd -all these are the thoughts that I have about myself...because of the mind. How can I suddenly let go of all these ideas about myself? And if I let go of all these, then what will be left of this me?

Well, this is where the masters say that by letting go of the ego (identification that I am the body and I am the mind), we clearly get to see ourselves as nothing less than the grand and glorious piece of God Him/Herself -pure existence conscious bliss. Not restricted to this small physical form, but boundless and vast as the universe itself. Well, all this is grand, but it seems a bit too much right now. I am not even sure if that is what I want out of this life. So, why the hell should I practice aparighraha?

Let's step down a notch and see how this restraint is applicable in everyday life. The moment I say letting go, the first thing that pops in my mind is letting go of negativity, of unwanted thoughts, people, ideas, things, feelings. It is a natural tendency to grasp on tight to things / people / ideas we love and also we hate. Especially what we hate because we end up thinking too much about HOW MUCH we hate that thing or person or situation. I can try to let go of these first, by accepting them for what they are.

An understanding that nothing is constant in this life helps in not getting attached too much to anything. All that comes, must go. All that is born must die. All that falls must raise. This is the law of nature. Nature keeps shoving the truth that everything in this physical manifested world is nothing by cycles -summer following the winter and winter following the summer.

When I understand that I truly have nothing to lose, then there is no need to hold on tight to anything. There is no need to be obsessed with "Me" and "Mine". Practicing aparighraha makes me more generous, less greedy, more loving and thus happier and peaceful.

Om...peace...peace...peace.

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