Tapas: Become the Glow
by Katyayani Poole, Ph.D.
"The body becomes a wick that the fire of pure spirit engulfs. With the regular practice of tapas, you yourself become the glow."
~ Katyayani ~
To practice Yoga is to burn from within.
No matter how much you sweat and exert yourself physically, it’s the inner fire that stokes the flame of your practice. It’s the same with meditation. It’s amazing how much determination it takes just to sit still for 20 minutes.
In Sanskrit, the word that describes any form of Yogic discipline is tapas. As with every Sanskrit word, there are innumerable meanings and connotations associated with tapas.
On the first level of meaning, tapas comes from the Sanskrit verbal root, tap, which means “to endure burning, to practice austerities, and to inflict pain on oneself.” By extension, the noun form of the word means “the process by which one endures burning or pain.”
To help me understand why in the world I would want to subject myself to something so unpleasant-sounding, my dear friend, Father Thomas Keating, once explained that tapas is “a little bit of pain consciously accepted as discipline now that saves us from much greater pain later on.”
Just as we experience profound bliss when we break through the threshold of pain, we arrive at a deeper meaning of tapas if we break the word up into its two parts: ta and pa.
The dental syllable, ta (when pronounced correctly), stimulates the opening of the third eye in the center of the forehead. This bodily location is the seat of higher knowledge and wisdom, the doorway to divine perception.
The labial syllable, pa, means “to drink” or “to be at the foot of.” When pronounced correctly, it invigorates the aura surrounding the physical body, like a flame around the wick of a candle.
Together, ta and pa, means “to drink in divine knowledge” or “to sit at the feet of wisdom herself.”
In order to savor the nectar of liberating knowledge, we have to first purify ourselves of ignorance, which according to Yoga is born from the five senses and their attachments.
Tapas arises when we say to ourselves – “No matter how delicious this sweet may taste, for this time I will not eat it. No matter how nice this feels, I will not indulge in this pleasure. No matter how much I love to talk, I will remain silent.” And so on.
When we stop indulging in our senses that keep us attached to the outer world and turn our focus within, a fire starts to burn inside. When you place your senses within this fire they become extremely subtle and refined, just like when you place gold in fire it acquires its luster.
You may have observed this in your own practice. After Yoga and meditation discipline, you find that food tastes better. Colors look brighter. Music sounds sweeter. Yet at the same time, you are not a slave to your senses. You are in the world, but not of it.
And just as it is said in the Gospel of Thomas – “No one lights a fire and puts it under a bushel” – with daily practice your inner light and heat spreads outward.
The body becomes a wick that the fire of pure spirit engulfs. With the regular practice of tapas, you yourself become the glow.
(The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says "The union of the mind with pure sound is the highest practice of Yoga," and there's no better time than the New Year to begin this powerful and transformative tapas. Join us for the upcoming Sanskrit for Yogis™ classes.) |
