Satya

Satya is one of the yamas of the 8-limbs of ashtanga yoga. Lately, this has been put to the test for me. Quoting the sutras of Patanjali, satya is truthfulness, not lying. Follow the truth and the truth will follow you. A vow of absolute honesty means we can no longer tell white lies either. If by being honest we will cause trouble, difficulty or harm to anyone, we should keep quiet, which ties in with the first yama, Ahimsa. Satya dictates that you speak only truth. Anytime you speak a falsehood, no matter how trivial, it takes you away from the Truth of your own Beingness.

It’s easy to read the sutras and agree with it, but in practice, in the real world, when faced with a challenge of whether you should tell the truth, or how to phrase it in a way that doesnt cause Himsa, I find it really perplexing. Alas, after much contemplation, I chose to be upfront about the truth, albeit not very timely, which still caused friction and emotional upheavals. It led me to thinking if I should have lied about it, which would defintely go against my conscience, or was my execution done poorly? The former was ruled out. So, it has to be the latter. I should have kept quiet about it totally knowing that it would have avoided hurting anyone.

But, the milk has been spilt, and there’s no point lamenting about the what-ifs and the past. Paradigms might have shifted, but I still treasure our friendship very much, and I’m really sorry for not exercising enough sensitivity with my words, or lack of. I am quite disturbed by the whole chain of events, but I don’t think that will get me anywhere. I’ve only to learn from my mistake, move on and not beat myself up over it. A breath at a time, and let it all go.