Satya

The month of July our All Eight Limbs focus will be on the second of the five Yamas, Satya.  

Typically Satya is understood to mean TRUTH, but translated to English, Satya means UNCHANGEABLE.  Most of us are not there yet.  We change our perception of reality in split seconds convincing ourselves of anything we like, then disagreeing with ourselves, then agreeing again. This moving, contradictory truth can not be our Satya definition. Satya for a yogi means ABSOLUTE TRUTH of REALITY.

Even when we make a strong effort to see and live in real TRUTH it is difficult to say what that is.  When we look at truth we see that it is different for each person.  It is as if each of us wears a variety of tinted glasses which color our life experience causing us to see reality differently. When we realize this, we are more able to understand why others can feel so sure of something we "know" is untrue.  Truth is different for each individual ego, but for a YOGI, truth is ONE, ABSOLUTE, UNCHANGING.  The question becomes how to rise from our individual, ego centered authenticity to the larger interpretation.

There are levels of truth.

These days there are many voices telling us to BE TRUE to ourselves.  This has validity only when we look to the most inner part of ourselves which is in fact connected to the whole of humanity. There exists the little self and the larger self.  The little self says, "How can I be true to my wants and needs?"  The larger self asks, "How can I in truth serve others?"  Satisfying the little can lead to the large, but we should be careful not to mistake our ego authenticity for the ULTIMATE truth which is without ego and rests in love, and service.

Swami Vivekananda said TRUTH is "unselfish even unto death" and that "Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.

He said:


Do you agree?  What are your thoughts, feelings, struggles with TRUTH?  We want to hear. Share THREE images, quotes, or musings on SATYA each week for the month of July on Instagram. Tag us @landyoganyc and hashtag #alleightlimbs for a VERY special prize!