Aparigraha - freedom from desires, without possessions, without belongings, non-acceptance of gifts
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - II.39 aparigrahasthairye janmakathamta sambodhah
Knowledge of past and future lives unfolds when one is free from greed or possessions.
Parigraha means possession, hoarding or covetousness. Mr. Iyengar says this is another form of asteya (non-stealing). We should not take what one does not really need and we should not hoard things that we do not immediately require. When we collect or hoard things we also desire more. This creates an attachment and attachment leads one towards aversion and avarice, towards jealousy and hatred.
This is an instinct in all of us that traps us in the karmic cycle of reincarnation after death. While giving up material possessions may seem possible, Mr. Iyengar asks, what about emotional or intellectual possessiveness? It is difficult sometimes to know where need ends and greed begins. This is where Astanga yoga can help to discipline the mind, freeing it from the desire to possess and bring it into a state of aparigraha, freedom from desire. This is not only a freedom from possession, but a freedom from rigidity of thought.
Mr. Iyengar says that Aparigraha trains one to live fearlessly. This is because when one observes aparigraha they lead a simple life and do not feel the loss or lack of anything. They know everything they need will come to them by itself in time.
Resources:
Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health - B.K.S. Iyengar
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga Rahasya vol.17, No.4, 2010
Light on Astanga Yoga - B.K.S. Iyengar
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - II.39 aparigrahasthairye janmakathamta sambodhah
Knowledge of past and future lives unfolds when one is free from greed or possessions.
Parigraha means possession, hoarding or covetousness. Mr. Iyengar says this is another form of asteya (non-stealing). We should not take what one does not really need and we should not hoard things that we do not immediately require. When we collect or hoard things we also desire more. This creates an attachment and attachment leads one towards aversion and avarice, towards jealousy and hatred.
This is an instinct in all of us that traps us in the karmic cycle of reincarnation after death. While giving up material possessions may seem possible, Mr. Iyengar asks, what about emotional or intellectual possessiveness? It is difficult sometimes to know where need ends and greed begins. This is where Astanga yoga can help to discipline the mind, freeing it from the desire to possess and bring it into a state of aparigraha, freedom from desire. This is not only a freedom from possession, but a freedom from rigidity of thought.
Mr. Iyengar says that Aparigraha trains one to live fearlessly. This is because when one observes aparigraha they lead a simple life and do not feel the loss or lack of anything. They know everything they need will come to them by itself in time.
Resources:
Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health - B.K.S. Iyengar
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga Rahasya vol.17, No.4, 2010
Light on Astanga Yoga - B.K.S. Iyengar
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/
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