Freedom and Interdependence
July 4th is a day that people speak about freedom and independence. Today I want to speak about interdependence and what freedom means in the yoga tradition.
Yoga understands that freedom is not about doing whatever you want, whenever you want. It understand freedom, svatantrya, is inherent in our being. It is the freedom that allows us to stand in our truth when the world around us is saying something different. It is the freedom to hope and vision a world of mutual respect, care, and upliftment.
One of the many definitions of yoga is that yoga is skillfulness is action. This means that we bring our awareness to how we relate to our self and to others and the world. There is an understanding that self and other is just one reality we experience. Yoga also acknowledges that we are all expressions of one Consciousness, that we are all One, that what affects one affects us all, because we are interdependent and connected.
Among other authors and texts, Patanjali wrote in his Yoga Sutras about 5 yamas, or ways of skillfully acting in relation to others. By attuning and aligning with these right actions, we access more freedom within.
A yoga practitioner honors and protects life and doesn’t create harm (ahimsa); speaks truth even when it’s inconvenient or against the grain (satya;, doesn’t steal or take from others (asteya;, honors and practices right relationship with our self, nature, and others (brahmacharya); and honors simplicity by not hoarding (aparigraha).
These are ways of practicing yoga in the world, honoring our own inner nobility and that of others. It honors our interdependence.
Freedom in yoga also includes the capacity to be free even when our freedoms are impinged upon. A yogi walks a path of action, and regardless of what the fruit of the actions are, we have practices that give us access to compassion, love, wisdom, and a knowing of our connection to all things and all beings. Regardless of outer circumstances, the yoga path says this is our capacity and birthright.
So what does that mean for us? We are bound when we get locked into fear that paralyzes us. We are not free when we get overtaken with hate and revenge. We are bound when we lose our artistic vision of possibility, of kindness, of mutual care. To support our natural freedom, we courageously stand with integrity to protect those in need, we stand up for those with less voice and means, we share resources of both concrete and emotionally and spiritually.
Yoga is a courageous path that asks us to see and notice where we are caught and bound in patterns that keep us small and limited and separate. Yoga gives us access to our inner truth, our heartfelt knowing of our interconnection, and a wellspring of inner freedom.
We see what happens when people act out of fear and greed and willful ignorance. Out of our freedom, may we act dharmically, and act out of courage, love, compassion, generosity, and joy. This is why we come to our yoga mat and meditation cushion. We cultivate access to radical love and Absolute Consciousness and by that means cultivate skillful action. This supports true freedom.