The Niyamas are observances or mental adherences. Where the yamas are abstinence or restraints. If a person is harming, lying, stealing, or full of greed, their life force will be scattered. Through practicing the restraints, one can bring their life force inward to provide the tapas or self discipline to live life in a spiritual or moral manner. I liken the energy to be similar to integrity. The more one lives by a high moral code, they become trusted and grounded in this moral code. Their mind will know no other. Niyamas (purity, contentedness, austerity, self-study and devotion to a greater self) when observed can pull in pranic energy from the cosmic source. This pranic energy can then be used to balance the chakras and lift energy into the higher chakras. So the niyamas move us even farther on the path to spirituality and Santosha by balancing the chakras and moving up the chakras to the intellect and then even higher to a greater or higher consciousness.

 

It is said by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book The Yoga of The Bhavagad Gita, ‘The Power of Mental Adherence's provide the yogi with an army of positive spiritual self-discipline to defeat the battalions of evil misery-producing ways and the effects of past bad karma.’

 

Studying and practicing the Niyamas give us the strength and courage to move even farther along the path of a strong moral foundation to a place of receiving the great spiritual blessings of a blissful life. As we practice the Niyamas, we loosen the bonds of our karma so that we can make choices based on free will and direct knowledge. Remember, when we are asleep and unaware, we are emoting and acting from our karma, from our past experiences and from the old grooves in our mind. This creates more karma. When we become self-aware and we begin to see and understand our karma, then we start making healthy, spiritually aligned and volitional choices about our thoughts, words and actions, thus softening our karma. The practices of yoga and the SR program are all divinely designed to soften our karma and shine a light on the path to spiritual maturity and bliss. Once the Yamas and Niyamas have become part of our livelihood, we are supported and drawn to the deeper spiritual practices of attaining freedom from the confinements of our past karma to live a life of happiness, Santosha and bliss.

 

The Niyamas:

• Purity (shaucha)

• Contentment (santosha)

• Austerity (tapas, self discipline)

• Study of holy texts (svadhyaya)

• Attunement to God (Ishvar-Pranidhana)

 

Purity or shaucha is lifting your thoughts and emotions to a higher state of consciousness. On an intellectual level, it is thinking noble thoughts. If negative thoughts come into your mind, replace them with positive thoughts. Your thoughts are not who you are. Neti, neti, neti. Your thoughts are energy that linger around you because of past experiences, the people you hang around with and a big source-television and social media. But you can feed your mind noble thoughts. It will follow your lead! Intellectual purity can be achieved by not only giving your mind noble thoughts to think, but chanting Om or Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti or another mantra that brings you peace and happiness. Intellectual impurity can also be practiced and achieved by the practice of metta or loving kindness; or karuna which is compassion. Metta and Karuna are the two of the four immeasurable virtues of Buddhism.

 

Verbal purity is speaking what is uplifting, compassionate, helpful and kind. Where intellectual purity is moving from the third chakra or mars chakra up to the fourth chakra (heart center) or venus chakra; verbal purity is moving what is at heart, up to the throat chakra or the mercury chakra. Verbal purity also can be practiced by pujan or clear audible chanting of mantra out-loud.

 

Purity on the physical level is both external and internal. External purity is keeping the body clean and healthy with bathing, exercise and eating good food. And on the internal level there are what is referred to as shat kriyas. They include fasting, Nadi Shodana (alternating nostril breathing), colon cleanse, kapalabhati or other pranayamas that open and cleanse the astral channels. When a yogi has achieved external and internal physical purity, they have the capacities to perceive the light which is within them.

 

Shaucha also means in a larger realm that your thoughts, words and deeds are all consistent with each other. It is important that we purify our lives by being truthful and compassionate in thoughts words and deeds. With ourselves and with others. Our job as yogis is to see those thoughts that do not jive with our personalities as the subconscious mind that we need to heal. The ultimate goal of yoga is to join our states of consciousness (subconscious, conscious and super consciousness) as one so we can be one with karma and one with Life.

 

Santosha is the second niyama and considered to be the most vital. Santosha encourages finding contentment in Present Moment Living and letting go of the constant mind chatter that provides worry, anxiety, fear and stress. These two states go together. Neti, neti, neti. We are not our thoughts. We are the awareness that is aware in the present moment!! Santosha is also being happy and grateful with what you have; and not desiring that which is beyond your means or desiring that which does that provide for spiritual advancement. If good wealth and good fortune come to you, enjoy and share, but to desire or expect that which we think we deserve brings us back to aparigraha (greed) or the scattering of life-energies. And when the life-force is scattered, we will spend precious time reaching and grasping for outside enjoyment and temporary happiness, thus producing samskaras (unhealthy habits) and karma (cause and effect). When we are grateful in the present moment we begin to see all life as beautiful and divinely perfect, whole and complete.

 

Contentment is understanding Karma and Dharma. If you buy a big pleasure boat and the boat sinks, and then you buy another big pleasure boat to replace it and it gets stolen there may be is a message there. Will you keep fighting your big pleasure boat karma and have endless suffering or could you maybe change your attitude on owning a big pleasure boat and enjoy the water in a canoe or paddle boat? This is an example is seeing the karmic forces of your lifetime. An example of understanding dharma (purpose); if you know that your dharma right now is to be a mother, then everything you do in life will be focused to do the best at caring for your child. There is no question on where your priorities lie and you can feel strong and content in doing so. If the time in your life is to heal from an alcohol addiction, then the focus becomes clear that your decisions made right now in your life will flow harmonious with your goal of sober living. Your choices will be focused on getting through the day without drinking. And when this happens you have won over the forces of the addiction, or the karma, and you can celebrate a good day! The decisions we make in life vary according to when in our life we are making those decisions and according to our dharma and karma at that time. By having self-awareness and self-knowledge we can come to know and live harmoniously according with the karma and dharma of our lives and this brings contentedness into our lives. It is not saying life is always going to be easy but when we find acceptance and willingness to keep learning and growing lie responds back to us in unimaginable ways. Aham Brahmasmi!!

 

Contentment is understanding the nature of life. If you are going to have a celebration in Minnesota in the middle of spring, you better have it indoors or plan for outdoor rainy and windy weather. But how many people do you know who constantly complain about the weather and how it ruined their special event. They act like they had no idea it could be rainy in the spring months and life just dumped a truck load of bad weather to ruin their party. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment! Be in the flow of nature. Be in the flow of karma. Have a tent set up up or have a back up plan!! See life’s events as karma. See addiction as karma. It just is. Accept it and then do something about it. And the more awareness we have and the more knowledge we have, and the more practices we have, the more we can have the tapas or self discipline to do what we need to do to soften the karma. Life will change for you. Your attitude towards life will change! Karma is attitude! Attitude is all!

 

The founder of this program chose Santosha as the name for this program because without a positive and content attitude, people will always be seeking outward for happiness and cussing the world or cussing themselves for their unhappiness. But to be truthful about it, everyone is the architect of their own destiny. Aham Brahmasmi is the sanskrit term for “I am the creator of my own life”. There is more about this in the Karma Teaching. Santosha is knowing that where you are in your life is where you ought to be and where you need to be to evolve and mature. There is no failure in life. Sometimes it is damn tough to move beyond the forces of karma, but every time you do go beyond the restrictions of the mind you grow in spiritual maturity. Every time you become self aware of your proclivities is an opportunity to go beyond these proclivities and choose to think a new thought and choose attitudes and actions that provide happiness and contentment.

 

Verbal contentment could include listening rather than giving in to superficial talkativeness. When you have contentedness you have to prove yourself verbally less and eventually not at all. You feel comfortable in your own skin to the point of not having to prove yourself to others but instead willing to develop deep listening skills resulting in a better understanding of others and a better understanding of the nature of the human condition. This will aide in the study of the nature life and of karma.

 

Physical contentment means having the physical body content. This includes the physical postures that is outlined in the Third Limb-Asanas or physical postures section of the teachings. The Asanas are designed to encourage the body to be the perfect container for the spiritual aspect of our being. Physical contentment also means giving the body the right food to thrive. There are so many addictive foods out there that make the body crave more. Sugar is among this list. Sugar inflames the body and the brain therefore causing pain and brain fog. But also finding the right foods and supplements that bring balance to your body. Ayurveda which is the health system of yoga states that imbalances are caused by not eating the correct foods for one’s body type at the given time in their life. Ayurveda is a holistic study of health that encourages one to live their best life.

 

Austerity or tapas is the third Niyama and is defined in the text books as the power to withstand thirst, heat, cold and other un-pleasantries. I define it as the self discipline it takes to do the practice everyday. It is the heat generated by great self discipline. It is this heat that will burn off impurities of the mind/body complex and burns off the seeds of karma. When you have the self discipline to avoid your addictions for a day, week or month, you build strength and more control; you may get a feeling of empowerment. This is tapas. And each time that you use your self discipline, your karma softens as does the grooves in the mind. Tapas feels like the power you get when you are totally on in your game and your choices are reflected by total mental awareness and balance. You feel strong and in control. Tapas can be acquired by going beyond your comfort zone and entering into a realm of 'when I let go of who I am, I become what I might be'. ~Lao Tzu. This would include trying something new to you that you normally would not try for whatever reasons. Or going out of your normal routine to do something that you normally would not do; introduce yourself to a neighbor, open the door for someone at the grocery store or acknowledging that someone else was right and you were mistaken. Tapas can be acquired by simply doing your daily practice. Your Daily Practice may include asana, some breathing techniques and a short meditation. Acquiring and doing your daily practice is two-fold. The discipline from the practice will help burn the seeds of samskaras and karma but also doing your daily practice will fortify your foundation so that you will be able to sustain higher states of consciousness for longer and with little effort.

Once you find or experience austerity, you can use it to reject the inharmonious mind stuff that is constantly knocking at your door and begin to see life as it is so that you can move away from ego into higher states of consciousness. Tapas or self discipline is what is needed to move beyond the limitations of your karma. This is important; what it takes to soften the karma of your lifetime is tapas. Without tapas your mind will be constantly fluctuating and seeking gratification from outside sources. Without self discipline, living a life of contentment and joy will always take effort and will be met by resistance.

 

What you can do to gain austerity or tapas:

• Prioritize your practice. Put it on your calendar.

• Do your practice everyday. Even if it short or not exactly centered, your mind will respond. If possible do your practice at the same time everyday; for example ten in the morning or before lunch or before going to bed. Your body and mind will begin to see that time as time to do the practice. 

• Set goals. Make a plan. When you do not have a plan, your daily habits will take over. 

• Positive affirmations and/or mantra.

• Write out the benefits of doing your practice. 

• Go outside your comfort zone. Do something that is fearful or that you normally would not do. After you do that which you fear, you feel a sense of ‘wow, I did it’. This is tapas.

• Do a kind deed for another and don’t tell anyone about it. Quote from unknown: To act morally while no one is looking builds Integrity.

• Ask for help. Om Ganapataye Namaha!

 

Self-study or svadhyaya is a niyama and is the study of scriptures (The Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Upanishads), the study of Om and other sacred Mantras while meditating upon them. It is said that as you meditate on a mantra you could see a symbol for the mantra at the third eye and each time you meditate on this symbol it enlivens your connection with the mantra. Om is not just a word; when chanted it encompasses all sound and all creation. You are part of this creation. Can you find yourself in the mantra of Self as the one creator and the one created?

 

Self-study is also study of the individual self. Maybe we can say ego-self. We are here on Earth to learn, to love and evolve as humans to eventually release ourselves from the limitations of karma and become one with Self, or God or Karma, whatever your name is for higher divine power or Source. But to have oneness with Self you have to find the little self or the individual self and see your role in cosmic consciousness. Goswami Kriyananda says ‘to know a drop of water is to know the ocean.’ When we begin to become self-aware of our own proclivities, thoughts and actions; then we can begin to study life. If we are not self-aware, we are constantly under the influence of the fluctuations of the mind, chitta. “I am not good enough”, “it is your fault”, “I can’t do this”, “I will be happy when…..”. There is an entire separate teaching on Self-Awareness as it is one of the most important steps in learning about yourself and how you interact with life. Self-awareness is key in having the self-discipline to soften your karma of any addiction.

 

How to study your role in cosmic consciousness:

• Study your natal astrology chart. Your natal chart is the karmic map of this lifetime. There is an introductory teaching in astrology; Astrology and The Language of Symbols. Your natal chart encourages you to learn how to flow with cosmic consciousness in this very lifetime. It tells us how to be in the flow, not against it. The SR program also has an astrology group that meets once a month. Please see the Santosha Recovery FB page for more information or email Deb at recoverysantosha@gmail.com

• Tarka or reflection. Did you react to anyone today? From what past experiences do you see and react to life with? What thought patterns contribute to your constrictive karma and which thought patterns soften and remove unhappy attitudes. You can perform tarka by journaling or by mentally reflecting upon your day before you go to bed. 

• Vipassana meditation, which means to watch your thoughts in a meditative state. Sit quietly in meditation and see what thoughts come into your mind space. If you are truly in meditation, you won’t react to those thoughts but instead see them as thought forms that enter your mind space; chitta. You can then learn much about yourself and how those thoughts contribute to your reaction to life.

 

Ishwara-Pranidhana is the fifth niyama and it means centering your life around God or in more modern terms; Devoting your life to spiritual growth and finding equanimity and love for all sentient beings.  Here is a clear example of centering your life around God: Two friends are going to medical school to become a doctor. The one friend wants to become a doctor to make good money and have all the cool toys and because they think that everyone will think them a miracle worker. The other friend wants to go to medical school to become a doctor so that they can unselfishly help others when they are sick and feeling down. They want everyone to have the cance to be healthy so that they can be the best that they can be. It is this simple, devote your life to doing good! Devote your life to sharing your gifts with others for the purpose of serving Life, not necessarily to gain anything! Ram Dass says 'When the faith is strong enough, it is sufficient just to be. It’s a journey towards simplicity, towards quietness, towards a kind of joy that is not in time. It’s a journey that has taken us from primary identification with our body and our psyche, on to an identification with God, and ultimately beyond identification.'' This is Santosha. When we have faith and contentment, life becomes ridiculously simple and free. See God in everyone. Devote your life to being a guardian of all sentient beings. Devote your life to being a guardian of all Life.

 

All the yamas and niyamas have led up to this last niyama. To devote your life to God-consciousness. Call it what you like; Universal consciousness, Nature, Love, Ganesha. Goswami Kriyananda says “Remember this thought: Whatsoever you do, do it gently and with love….and only after forethought. Whatsoever you do, seek out your own illumination with greater diligence! Om shanti, shanti, shantih”.