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The Bhagavad-Gita (17.14-16) speaks of three kinds of austerity or tapas: Austerity of body, speech and mind. Austerity of the body includes purity, rectitude, chastity, non-harming, and making offerings to higher beings, sages, brahmins (the custodians of the spiritual legacy in India), and honored teachers. Austerity of speech encompasses speaking kind, truthful, and beneficial words that give no offense, as well as the regular practice of recitation (svadhyaya) of the sacred lore. Austerity of mind consists of serenity, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and pure emotions. 

 
According to the Bhagavad-Gita (17.17), a rounded spiritual practice entails all three kinds of penance, and it is practiced with great faith (shraddha) and without expectation of reward. Such tapas is informed primarily by the quality of sattva, which stands for the principle of lucidity in the inner and outer world. The kind of austerity that has a predominance of the quality of rajas, the principle of dynamism in Nature, tends to be practiced with an ulterior motive, such as gaining respect, honor, or reverence, or for the sake of selfish display. Because of this, it also tends to be unstable and of short duration. When the quality of tamas, standing for the principle of inertia, characterizes the practice of austerity, it leads to foolish self-torture or injury to others. 


Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three primary constituents of Nature (prakriti). All created things, including the human psyche or mind, are a composite of these three factors called gunas. Since tapas depends on the mind of the Yoga practitioner, it is colored by these three, as they manifest in a particular individual. Depending on the quality of a practitioner’s tapas, he or she will harvest the corresponding results. Unless the practice of austerity has a strong sattva ingredient, these results can range from physical pain and anguish to a complete failure of the spiritual process.
 

For instance, if a person practices tapas in order to acquire paranormal abilities (siddhi) that will impress or overpower others, he or she consolidates rather than transcends the ego and thus becomes diverted from the path. If, again, a practitioner confuses the balances self-challenge of genuine tapas with merely painful penance, springing from sheer ignorance and a subconscious masochism, he or she is bound to reap only pain and suffering that will undermine his or her physical health, possibly contributing to emotional instability or even mental illness.
 

Two and a half thousand years ago, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, learned the important difference between genuine (I.e., self-transcending) tapas and misconceived penance. For six long years he pushed himself until his bodily frame became emaciated and was close to collapse, but still without yielding the longed-for spiritual freedom. Then his inner wisdom led him to take the middle path (madhya-marga) beyond damaging extremes.


Gautama abandoned his severe, self-destructive tapas and nourished his body properly. His fellow ascetics, who had always looked to him for inspiration, thought he had returned to a worldly life and shunned him. Later, after Gautama’s spiritual awakening, their paths crossed again and his radiance was so impressive that they could not help but bow to him with utmost respect.


Genuine tapas makes us shine like the Sun.
Then we can become a source of warmth, comfort, and strength for others. 


- Georg Feuerstein,
from The Deeper Dimension of Yoga
(pp. 144-145) 



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

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“A yogi is one who leaves a place just a little nicer than when they arrived!”

"I like this statement for its simplicity and down-to-earth recognition of yoga being something that benefits not only the one practicing it but also the world around them. We may hear someone refer to another person or themselves as a yogi. But what is this statement based upon? One may practice asanas beautifully or know many Sanskrit texts or do much chanting, but those things in and of themselves do not equate to being a yogi. 
The act of practicing or following a path of regulation requires discipline, but that is only part of the formula. The preferred practice system or method that we perform, is really nothing more than a gardener tilling the soil to create a fertile plot of earth. The more we practice the more fertile we become, but it does not mean that we are spiritual or a yogi. It just means we are fertile. The choices we make next are the seeds that we plant in this fertile ground. If we choose to plant an ego there, it will grow even larger than the average person’s due to our fertility. Practice itself does not determine whether one is a yogi or not. It is what that person does with the positive energy they gained from their dedication that will determine their maturity of understanding. When one applies the benefits they have gained in a positive manner, then the aforementioned definition comes to fruition and the world around them is benefitted.

If we wish to ask ourselves if we are a yogi, I think the question could be this one:
“Is the world a better place by our presence in it?” "

- David Swenson


Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

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"Members of some Jaina sects in India wear a mask to filter the air, lest they should unwittingly inhale and take the life of small creatures. This is a religious custom that few of us would find practical to follow. Nevertheless, upon closer inspection this extreme discipline suggests a useful lesson: Our life is built on the sacrificial death of others. With every breath, we are involuntarily murdering creatures - a massacre that not even a mask can prevent. For, we constantly annihilate billions of invisible microbes, so that we may live. We ourselves are a link in the great food chain of life, destined to die and be food for microbic creatures.

We need not stop breathing or feeding ourselves, or constantly "turn the other cheek," but we must appreciate how we owe our life to other beings and how they owe their lives to us. When we truly see this vast interconnectedness, it becomes very easy for us to cultivate an attitude of reverence for life, which is essentially an attitude of nonharming and of ego transcending love. Yoga means to sensitize us to the fact that we are not alone in the universe but are interdependent cells of a vast cosmic body. Spiritual life is largely a matter of taking responsibility for our destructive aggression, as it reveals itself to us in ever subtler forms. As Patanjali states, nonharming must be practiced under all conditions, which means in thought, word, and deed. Our self inspection can begin with our active life."

- Georg Feuerstein, from Yoga Morality


Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

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As an integrated way of life, Yoga includes moral standards (traditionally called "virtues") that any reasonable human being would find in principle acceptable. Some of these standards, known in Sanskrit as yamas or "disciplines," are encoded in the first limb of Patanjali's eightfold path. According to Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra, this practice category is composed of the following five virtues: nonharming (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), nonstealing (asteya), chastity (brahmacarya), and greedlessness (aparigraha).

In other key scriptures of Yoga, further moral principals are mentioned, including kindness, compassion, generosity, patience, helpfulness, forgiveness, purity, and so on. All these are virtues that we connect with a "good" character and that are demonstrated to a superlative degree in the lives of the great masters of Yoga.

Thus, it seems appropriate for contemporary Yoga teachers to endeavor to conduct their lives in consonance with Yoga's moral principles, particularly because teachers have a great responsibility toward their students and should be expected to reflect the high moral standards espoused in Yoga. At the same time, we must acknowledge the complexities of our contemporary society, which makes it necessary to appropriately adapt the moral standards originally designed for the conditions of pre-modern India. Also, we need to take into proper account the looming environmental crisis by adapting a sustainable lifestyle.

The following guidelines are put forward as a reasonable adaptation for our modern situation, which also takes proper cognizance of the wisdom contained in the heritage of Yoga.

1. Yoga teachers understand and appreciate that teaching Yoga is a noble and ennobling endeavor that aligns them with a long line of honorable teachers.

2. Yoga teachers are committed to practicing Yoga as a way of life, which includes adopting the fundamental moral principles of Yoga and making their lifestyle environmentally sustainable.

3. Yoga teachers are committed to maintaining impeccable standards of professional competence and integrity.

4. Yoga teachers dedicate themselves to a thorough and continuing study and practice of Yoga, in particular the theoretical and practical aspects of the branch of Yoga that they teach.

5. Yoga teachers are committed to avoiding substance abuse, and if for some reason they succumb to chemical dependency agree to stop teaching until they are free again from drug and/or alcohol abuse. They will then do everything in their power to remain free, including being accountable to a support group.

6. Yoga teachers especially embrace the ideal of truthfulness in dealing with students and others, including accurately representing their training and experience relevant to their teaching of Yoga.

7. Yoga teachers are committed to promoting the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of their students.

8. Yoga teachers, especially those teaching Hatha Yoga, will abstain from giving medical advice or advice that could be construed as such, unless they have the necessary medical qualifications.

9. Yoga teachers are open to instructing all students regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and social or financial status.

10. Yoga teachers are willing to accept students with physical disabilities, providing they have the skill to teach those students properly.

11. Yoga teachers agree to treat their students with respect.

12. Yoga teachers will never force their own opinions on students but rather will appreciate the fact that every individual is entitled to his or her worldview, ideas, and beliefs. At the same time, Yoga teachers must communicate to their students that Yoga seeks to achieve a deep-level transformation of the human personality, including attitudes and ideas. If a student is not open to change, or if a student's opinions seriously impede the process of communicating yogic teachings to him or her, then Yoga teachers are free to decline to work with that individual and, if possible, find an amicable way of dissolving the teaching relationship.

13. Yoga teachers agree to avoid any form of sexual harassment of students.

14. Yoga teachers wishing to enter a consensual sexual relationship with a present or former student should seek immediate counsel of their peers before taking any action. This is to ensure that the teacher in question is sufficiently clear about his or her motives.

15. Yoga teachers will make every effort to avoid exploiting the trust of students and their potential dependency, and instead encourage students to find greater inner freedom.

16. Yoga teachers acknowledge the importance of the proper context for teaching and agree to avoid teaching in a casual manner, which includes observing proper decorum inside and outside of the classroom.

17. Yoga teachers strive to practice tolerance toward other Yoga teachers, schools, and traditions. When criticism has to be brought, this should be done with fairness and focus on facts.

The above ethical guidelines are not exhaustive, and the fact that a given conduct is not specifically covered does not imply anything about the ethical or unethical nature of that conduct. Yoga teachers always endeavor to respect and to the best of their abilities adhere to the traditional yogic code of conduct as well as to the laws current in their country or state.

For a more detailed account of Yoga's moral teachings, see Georg Feuerstein's book Yoga Morality (2007).
You may copy these guidelines on your website providing you use the copyright notice below. No prior permission is needed. Copyright 2002, 2006, 2011 by Georg Feuerstein. All rights reserved.



Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/

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The practice of Yoga helps us connect with the part of ourselves that is always virgin and untouched:
the place within us that can never be damaged.

While pain may be the catalyst that brings us to Yoga practice, it is joy that renews our commitment.

As our glimpses of calm and clarity become more frequent, and as our response to the challenges of life becomes more skillful, we wish to practice not simply to get ourselves out of a fix, but also to strengthen our connection with this base of contentment.

The joy that I refer to is not the climactic high we associate with excitement or stimulation, but a deep sense of awe and wonder that can suffuse the most ordinary things and the most ordinary moments.

- Donna Farhi, from Bringing Yoga to Life


Dana Wyss Healing Arts
Breathe deeply, practice often, be well.
http://www.danawyss.com/