by Mei Lai Swan | Oct 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fire burn and light up this wild, precious life
passion in my heart
desire in my soul
I know to stoke your unforgiving flames
so you will shine as a constant light
when things would
crumble.
Burn away the debris
of what I no longer need –
and never needed.
I know it is you
that stirs forth creation
from beginning to end and beginning
again
so that I rise up renewed
as pure essence
refined like the purest gold
in your searing furnace
nothing less and nothing more
I offer to you my strength and my weakness
my purity, my defilements
the beauty and the ugliness
of my light and my shadow
your brilliance of not discriminating
is the gift of your flame. Take it all.
Sun of my heart
may you turn my offerings to ash
and ash into gold
as phoenix wings rise iridescent
and eternal.
Burn in my heart as fierce, soft love
My love.
Yoga takes us into the essence of life, the essence of self, the essence of creation. Like the sun, fire is at the source – it is the force that transforms, energises, cleanses, ignites, inspires and keeps us going. It is the source of our desire, our will, our determination and dedication, our undying, eternal, essential love. This is tapas.
Genuine tapas makes us shine like the sun. Then we can be a source of warmth, comfort and strength for others. – Georg Feuerstein
Hungry for more?
Here are a few more F-words to add to your yoga lexicon. Let these words take you down the rabbit hole of your own research, exploration, contemplation and experimentation!
Freedom, focus, foundation, faith (shraddha)
by Mei Lai Swan | Jun 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
TAPAS – Heat, Discipline, Inner Radiance
Tapas in Sanskrit means ‘heat’. It refers to the fire of discipline or austerities – focused effort leading towards purification and spiritual awakening.
Tapas is one of the Niyamas (ethical or self-restraints) in Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga. The Niyamas provide a way of working with the inner self to build integrity and enhance our relationship to ourselves, others and life.
Together, the 5 Yamas (moral restraints) and the 5 Niyamas (ethical restraints) comprise the fundamental principles of being, action and attitude that form the basis of Yoga – a practice that brings us into union, integration and harmony with ourselves and the universe.
Tapas teaches us about the power and benefits of self-discipline, commitment and perseverance. Tapas is the fire that fuels us into action and burns away impurities. Through the practice of Tapas, we discover our natural inner radiance and enthusiasm. The body, the mind, and the spirit becomes clear and radiant. It is so essential that B.K.S. Iyengar says that, “A life without tapas is like a heart without love.”
Traditionally, yogis practiced ‘tapasya’ – a practice chosen with a particular purpose, practiced daily with great focus and commitment for a certain length of time, for a certain period of days, weeks, or years.
So as winter comes and we feel the tendency to slow or hide away under our doonas, let this be an opportunity to stoke your inner fire through the practice of tapas. With your inner wisdom, choose any practice (eg. 10 sun salutations per day, 5 yoga classes per week, 20 minutes of meditation) that you feel will benefit you the most and that is realistically achievable, a period of time that you will practice it for, and GO FOR IT. Commit with your inner fire, and don’t forget to cultivate your joy for the practice – especially when you find yourself dragging yourself out of bed at 5am on a cold wintery morning!
The beauty about tapas, is that if even if we work with tapas in one area of our lives or our yoga practice, we find the benefits start to extend to all other areas. And not only that, but the benefits also begin to extend to those around us.
As the Yoga scholar Georg Feuerstein says, “Genuine tapas makes us shine like the sun. Then we can be a source of warmth, comfort and strength for others.”
Have fun discovering your tapas – and see here for some upcoming workshops and courses to help build your inspiration, commitment, dedication!
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