सत्य - Satya (Truth)
What does it mean?
Satya translates to the truth. Not just spoken but eternal. Most of the time we think of it as what to speak to others, but it is so much more than that. It doesn't apply to what we speak only but our whole being. What we think of others, what we think of ourselves, what we do, everything.
Patanjali also mentioned it in yoga sutras: 'For those grounded in truthfulness, every action and its consequences are imbued with the truth'.
What does it mean to me?
Satya (Truth) is the Sanskrit word that is very close to my heart and I deeply resonate with it.
To me, it is not just in speaking, thinking, and doing, but my whole being. It is about realness to me. Of course, in the beginning, I also thought of it as something spoken only but later it came to be different. Satya is me being completely my real self, with no filter in life. Nowadays, it is very rare to find people who show their real side to the world. There is always something hidden of untold or masked. Why? Because fear resides in ourselves. We are all under the influence of fear that’s why we don't show our true side to the outer world. We fear we might get hurt if someone isn't pleased by the way we are. Should it matter at all?
I was talking to someone who shared similar thoughts as mine on this topic. And it came in our conversation that fear can only go away when we face the fact that we are all but the same.
Why is this word close to my heart?
Because it has given me the purpose of my life, the ultimate purpose. Now, everything has become an effort to be the truth, to find the truth, to live the truth, to experience it in its wholeness. My ultimate goal in this life has become to find the ultimate truth( param staya) and live in it. Everyone has their perception of the world. For some, it is cruel, for some it is beautiful, it is difficult, it is heartbreaking, fulfilling etc.
Why isn't it the same for everyone?
We all have our version of the truth. What we think is the truth of us most of the time, but we somehow fail to see the world in its true self, in its all glory. We keep changing it to our convenience but don't want to look at it the way it is. It applies to everything, how we see other people, their opinions, thoughts etc. So my all-time effort is to try to see everything the way it is, without any judgement, without any conditioning. See the truth only. We fail to see it as it is as long as we live in the duality. Everything has two sides. If two people are arguing, who do you think is right? They both think of themselves right then who do believe? We can only believe in the truth. This happens with everything we come under contact with. Everything we see around us is binary. It is only our effort to through it by practice only.
A little back story of how I found myself in love with Satya (truth):
About two years back, I was in great confusion. I was confused about the way I wanted to approach life. It had been three years since I came into yoga and it was time for me to decide on a path that I want to follow. This question made my mind restless and I was thinking about this all the time, asking questions to my fellow teachers and many other people. One day I was sitting on the beach, it was sunset time and I was listening to a Hindi discourse of Osho. And he was telling a story about some sage coming over his mind through repetitive action. It is a long story to write here:)
In the end, there were two descriptions of the meaning of Satya. Both being a substance of the uppermost knowledge.
Truth is like a mirror, which is covered by the dust of ignorance. We remove the dust and see the truth.
There is no mirror, no dust. One who knows the truth knows the truth itself.
The latter got stuck in my head, and I kept repeating this sentence for days like a mantra. From that day, it has stayed in my heart.
I was influenced by the latter because there wasn't a presence of mind in the sentence. It was formless. Without any image constructed by the mind. I still repeat that sentence like a mantra.
If you’ve made it this far, I thank you with all my heart for giving your precious time to read this:)🙏🏼