Svadhyaya

The sheer brilliance of the Sutras in all their aspects, be it in the choice of words, their placement or their logic never fails to amaze me. Short, incisive and deep, they are brand new each time. Very often, the way a Sutra sounds attracts my attention and I look it up. I suppose the attraction is a natural way to indicate a kind of readiness to delve into it. As the months roll on, they speak differently as the capacity to listen changes. One of the many gifts yoga has bestowed has been an opening of the intellect which makes dense concepts more accessible.
Sometimes I wonder, why do I thirst so much? There is no exam, no goal to reach and yet I persist. What do I expect to gain from my endeavours? And I have no answer.  This lack of ambition has been a constant in almost all areas of my life. I suppose the joy of endeavour is my gratification. 

स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोग: 

Svadhyaya or self study is an integral aspect of any sadhana and in all action. Preparation is the key to svadhyaya and so it comes after the necessary saucha, santosha and tapas. While it is a natural progression, I feel it is also an organic one with the evolving definitions of the preceding niyamas. It is like the horizon, visible but always a little beyond. Svadhyaya is defined as study of the self. But who or what is the self? Here, I find the concept of koshas quite illuminating. Starting from the annamaya kosha to the anandamaya kosha, the journey is both contained and infinite. 

We are born with just the body and that is really all that is needed to be. If only I could really inhabit it, perhaps, I would be ananda that the scriptures sing about. It seems like an unattainable state to have complete awareness of each and every cell of out body. Now, I can begin to comprehend the essence of Guruji’s exhortation to bring awareness to each and every cell in the body. How then can one’s very existence not be bliss? How then can one not see that all is one? 

Hari Om