This week I am especially excited to reflect upon the second yama of the yoga practice, satya. Consider this review a continuation of one of my previous compositions, Truth.
Not to say that one yama is greater than the other, but this has to be the most revered of the yamas at this point in my life. Truth (truthfulness) has been the luminescence of my spiritual journey and has altered my entire state of being for my greatest good. My upbringing exposed me to many falsehoods about my self and the world around me. My overall perception of life had become distorted…and my mind, dysfunctional.
The moment that I realized that I had been living a lie for the greater portion of my life, if not my entire life, constitutionally became a huge transition for me. It was almost as if I died and a lighter being emerged from the darkness. Truthfulness has mostly been a process of unlearning many of the things that I’ve become very knowledgeable about over the years and re-rooting myself in not only practicing truthfulness through my physical and verbal articulations, but also BEING Truth.
Not only was the calling, Truth, assimilated during this period of my life as the light to my spiritual journey, Truth, serves as a conscious daily reminder to live authentically. For me, truth has been a path of healing and self-realization, hence my love for the practice of Reiki. It is for this reason that I cannot help but experience gratitude for how my truth has transitioned over time. Just as what was true for me before no longer regards me now, what is true for me in this moment may not be true for me tomorrow. I am still learning. I am still growing. In fact, my title as an Usui/Holy Fire III Karuna Reiki® Master only means that I am a skillful student. I am forever a student of all things.
Within The Yamas & Niyamas by Deborah Adele, the author cited a dictation from Modern Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Yung which reads, “Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life; worse still, we take this step with false presupposition that our truths and ideals will serve us hitherto. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the programme of life’s morning – for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie.”
I view satya as a virtuous compliment to ahimsa within all aspects of life as it aides in cultivating a non-harming environment for self and others. Satya is also a great practice that supports being present in the moment.