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       So the word “TRUTH” has been coming up a lot over the past week! I do not force one way (my way)on anyone… as I choose to believe that everyone’s truth can be different…that perspective comes into play.The practice of yoga puts us in the drivers seat as “Truth Seeker!”  Our truth can shift and change as we change (and hopefully evolve) especially in regards to relationships, and really isn’t it ALL about relationships…with ourselves, one another, our bodies, our spirits, our planet, our GOD!  With that being said, as a yogi the way in which we respond to each other never shifts and changes, it’s always from a place of  love. In yoga we practice “Ahimsa” (love, non-violence) and it is the first Yama. Ahimsa is considered the most important of the Yamas and Niyamas or “Ten Yogic Commandments” and most yogis believe that without the Yama and Niyamas there is no yoga…and as Dharma Mittra says, “NO YOGA, NO PEACE, KNOW YOGA, KNOW PEACE.”   As a  truth seeker,  I started by looking up the definition of TRUTH and this is what I found:

1. a archaic: fidelity, constancy

b: sincerity in action, character, and utterance

2. a (1): the state of being the case : fact (2): the body of real things, events, and facts : actuality (3)often capitalized: a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality

b: a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true <truths of thermodynamics>

c: the body of true statements and propositions

3. a: the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality

b:chiefly British: true 2

c: fidelity to an original or to a standard

4.capitalizedChristian Science: god

— in truth

: in accordance with fact : actually

Truth

noun (Concise Encyclopedia)

In philosophy, the property of statements, thoughts, or propositions that are said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to state what is the case. At least four major types of truth theory have been proposed: correspondence theories (see realism), coherence theories (see coherentism, idealism), pragmatic theories (see pragmatism), and deflationary theories. The latter group encompasses a wide variety of views, including the redundancy theory, the disquotational theory, and the prosentential theory.

WOW! the word “theory” is used frequestly, along with “standard”, “actually” and then the heavy hitter God…so what is it? Is “TRUTH” a theory that has actually become your own personal standard? Your own personal God?

In the practice of yoga we use the word Satya (truthfulness) and it’s meaning:

Satya or Sathya is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates into English as “truth” or “correct”. It is a term of power due to its purity and meaning and has become the emblem of many peaceful social movements, particularly those centered on social justice, environmentalism and vegetarianism.

Sathya is also defined in Sanskrit as “sate hitam satyam” which translates to “The path to ultimate truth or Sat is sathya (i.e. the real truth)”.

Hence all the deeds, words, and wisdom that bring us closer to the Ultimate Truth are the truth.

Philosophical meaning

The philosophical meaning of the word ‘Satya’ is “unchangeable”, “that which has no distortion”, “that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person”, “that which pervades the universe in all its constancy.” Human life progresses through different stages—from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to youth, and youth to old age. It is through these changes that people progress in the manifest world. That is why human life or its receptacle, the body, is not Satya.

In Hinduism, Truth is defined as “unchangeable”, “that which has no distortion”, “that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person”, “that which pervades the universe in all its constancy”. Human body, therefore is not completely true as it changes with time, for example. There are many references, properties and explanations of truth by Hindu sages that explain varied facets of truth, such as “Satyam eva jayate” (Truth alone wins), “Satyam muktaye” (Truth liberates), “Satya’ is ‘Parahit’artham’ va’unmanaso yatha’rthatvam’ satyam” (Satya is the benevolent use of words and the mind for the welfare of others or in other words responsibilities is truth too), “When one is firmly established in speaking truth, the fruits of action become subservient to him ( patanjali yogasutras, sutra number 2.36 ), “The face of truth is covered by a golden bowl. Unveil it, O Pusan (Sun), so that I who have truth as my duty (satyadharma) may see it!” (Brhadaranyaka V 15 1-4 and the brief IIsa Upanisad 15-18), Truth is superior to silence (Manusmriti), etc. Combined with other words, satya acts as modifier, like “ultra” or “highest,” or more literally “truest,” connoting purity and excellence. For example, satyaloka is the “highest heaven’ and Satya Yuga is the “golden age” or best of the four cyclical cosmic ages in Hinduism, and so on.

There is a more subtle meaning of the word, ‘Satya’, which is Citsvaru’pa (the Supreme consciousness) or Parama Purusha. In the field of Sadhana or intuitional practice, the meaning of ‘Satya’ is ‘Parahit’artham’ va’unmanaso yatha’rthatvam’ satyam i.e., Satya is the benevolent use of words and the mind for the welfare of others. This is to say that a benevolent sage must be truthful regardless of the meaning of satya.

The accepted interpretation however, is “the Truth which equals love.” This concept of truth is not merely a synonym of fact or correctness, but is more metaphysical, like the difference between brain and mind. This ‘bigger picture’ notion of truth implies a higher order, a higher principle or a higher knowledge. Satya is what one becomes aware of upon becoming a Bodhi (enlightened or awakened person). Thus, this is more akin to the sum of the rules of the universe or the universal reality. This idea of a universal reality is common in Eastern philosophy.

So, let me give the cliff noted version of all of this so far…. ok Truth is God, God is Love so it seems that we can not seperate the three…Truth, God and LOVE! That seems so simple and easy, so why do we continue to fight over varying ideas of TRUTH, when we should always do the loving thing, which would be the Godly thing, which in essence would be the TRUTH. If the Truth is never changing, always constant…then it seems always doing the loving thing would be a SURE THING.

Ok, moving on..

Combined with other words, satya acts as modifier, like “ultra” or “highest,” or more literally “truest,” connoting purity and excellence. For example, satyaloka is the “highest heaven’ and Satya Yuga is the “golden age” or best of the four cyclical cosmic ages in Hinduism.

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is written, “When one is firmly established in speaking truth, the fruits of action become subservient to him.”[1] According to Paramahamsa Yogananda, “During deep, dreamless sleep (sushupti), and in the samadhi meditation of the yogi, man abides in his true nature, the soul, and cognizes Absolute Truth (Paramarthika). It is a mistake to think that ordinary persons are never in communion with God or the Ultimate Truth. If all men did not occasionally pass into the state of deep, dreamless sleep, even if only for a period of minutes, they could not live at all. The average person has no conscious recollection of his soul experiences; but, as a part of the Universal Whole, from time to time he must replenish his being from the Source of Life, Love, and Truth.” [2]

If you made it this far, you may have gotten more than you bargained for in this blog entry, thank you for sticking with me…as we continue to follow this truth seeking path together and separately, may we both remember, AHIMSA, SATYA and Ishvara pranidhana (Surrender to God) ~ <3

I look forward to sharing my practice with everyone at THE SEDONA YOGA FESTIVAL!

 February 6-10, 2014

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