Getting Yoga Ready (9) - Svadhyaya

Svadhyaya means "self- study" and also "study of the self". Self study gently leads us to study of the self. Well, why is this self study and study of the self is needed. Even before that what it is that we must study?

As mentioned here already about the purpose of yoga, to know what it is that we are seeking, we need some pointers and directions. These indications indicate the level of consciousness - the state of mindlessness -when the individual ego merges with the supreme consciousness.

But even before our mind aspires for this lofty goal of God consciousness, it needs to be intellectually convinced about this pursuit. Existential questions like why am I here? What is the purpose of life? Why are we born? Why is this world as it is? Why is there suffering? What gives lasting happiness? What is the point of running behind power / money / things /experiences? Is there God? If so, why did he create me? Why is the God unfair? If he truly omnipotent, then why can't he end all suffering? Why why why why.... we all have so many whys  -either plaguing every waking moment and urging us to find an answer, or raising up only when things are not going our way. 

To intellectually understand the concept of creation, the concept of the self and the concept of God, we need some pointers and guidelines to gently goad our mind to unfold itself. All our scriptures addresses these questions -be it the Gita or the Upanishad or the Bible or the Buddist Sutras -they speak of this one Truth. Thus, by studying these scriptures, the mind slowly gets withdrawn from the world of objects, thoughts and emotions and slowly gets absorbed in the self.

Here, when I say scriptures, it is not simply the texts written in ancient times prattling about the glory of God, wrath of hell, love of angels, pleasures of heaven and so on. It is that which directly talks about the self -called "atma vidya"

As a seeker, three things are to be done by us -study of the scriptures, reflection of what we have studied and make the ideas conveyed in the scriptures into our own understanding, and implementing what we have studied in our lives. The more we study, the more the mind turns inwards and sharper the intellect becomes. This is self -study.

So what is this "study of the self"? Becoming a witness to our own self -observing the thoughts, desires and emotions that raise in the mind, looking at them without identifying oneself with the thoughts, being mindful and conscious of what we do, making our own body and mind the subject of observation and study. This is the study of the self.

Svadhyaya is the most rigorous disciplines in the yamas and niyamas. Unless the other observances and restraints are practiced diligently, the mind will never settle down for studying about the self. In fact, there will not even be an inclination for all this when the mind is constantly extroverted. The inclination to seek the Truth comes when we understand that we have been through all these dramas for so many hundreds of life times and there is a burning urge to escape and be free from this constant cycle of births and deaths.