Truthfulness (Satya): Integrity Creates
Personal Power
When we are established in truthfulness,
our thoughts and words manifest effortlessly.
Sutra ii.36
The second fundamental building block for lasting happiness is integrity. If we are not living from the place of authenticity deep in our heart of hearts, then quite simply we are not living our true life. We are living a lie and we will never secure fulfillment materially or spiritually. Truth is powerful and living in truth (Satya) makes us powerful. This Sutra shows how genuine happiness and the ability to manifest our dreams depends on a total commitment to integrity.
Yet, we have all seen untruth used for personal gain and integrity forsaken in the quest for worldly power. From the time we are born, we begin absorbing information, opinions, and beliefs from sources outside ourselves. Influenced by the media, family, friends, and teachers, it is easy to lose track of who we are in an attempt to fit in and stay safe. Through adolescence we may rebel against some of it, but humans need acceptance, so by adulthood we piece together a sense of self built in part on our inner voice and in part on what will be acceptable to those around us. Soon, we find ourselves identified with what is expected rather than what we truly feel and believe.
Living an authentic life can be challenging. What if telling the truth at work compromises our position or authority? What happens when our truth conflicts with a family member’s beliefs? How do we even know what truth is if we have just been following the status quo?
Fortunately, by nature, most humans desire to know truth. Eventually the spirit of inquiry that is inherent in us blazes through. Truth is so important that only when we discover it for ourselves and live in full integrity do we feel fulfilled of our unique and joyful purpose. Truth is our compass, our guide to right choices and actions in life and an essential component in our journey to happiness.
Finding Truth in the Body
We begin our connection to truth through the physical body, because it is a great measurer of truth. When we listen within, we can identify our true feelings based on body sensations. For example, anger might manifest like a tight fist in the belly. Sadness might feel like pressure on the chest, and resentment might feel like heaviness on the shoulders. Once we have an understanding of how our body communicates emotions, needs, and directions, then we have an ongoing gauge of truth.
Take a moment right now to close your eyes and breathe a couple of deep, slow breaths. Imagine a searchlight moving through the inside of your body. When it comes to someplace that hurts or feels tense, hold your attention on that area for a moment and notice any words or images that come to mind. Do these words or images relate to your life in the past, present, or future? Are any emotions attached to these sensations or images?
Our biography lives in our biology. The physical body registers emotional experiences. For instance, if some threat has been a part of our experience, fear will be present in body memory. As a survival mechanism, fear is meant to alert us and get us ready to respond when there is danger. But traumatic fear can leave the body in a state of heightened alertness or protection, which is felt as chronic tension.
As we excavate the truth that lies within sensations, we can decide how relevant the emotional content is today. It may be worth listening to and taking action around, or it may be limiting us and need release. If there is no real-time danger, we can replace stored fear with the truth of the moment. By trusting our bodies, we can let the inner guard down and experience more ease.
Knowledge is power and as we slow down and listen more acutely to the body’s way of delivering messages, we attune to a deeper wisdom, an intuitive wisdom that measures how truthfully we are acting and reacting. If we are not living truthfully, we feel isolated and fearful, unable to connect authentically with others. When we move toward truth, listening to our body’s raw communication signals, we gain the power to sense what is the right choice or action at any moment of our life. If we notice resistance in the body, we can inquire what the deeper level of truth is in that situation. Maybe we are with someone who is not healthy for us to be with. Conversely, if we are taking a worthwhile risk, we will know it in the very fibers of our physical being.
We can trust our bodies as indicators of whether or not something or someone is genuine. The body is a brilliant guide to both our emotional needs and mental clarity. To know and live the truth, reconnecting with the wisdom of the body is essential.
Bearing Witness to Truth with Compassion
Developing the practice of integrity internally takes courage, because we may not always like what we discover within. If we have been uncomfortable with stillness and self-reflection in the past, it is probably because there is some truth we have not been ready to face. Preferring the convenience of denial or white lies, many people avoid the truth.
We all know the complicated paradox of multilayered truths such as, “I am happy for you and I am crushed that you are leaving.” Or, “I desperately want this and I am paralyzed with the fear of it actually happening.” Being honest with ourselves means we can no longer justify our mental laziness or make excuses for our weaknesses.
Truthfulness (Satya) often requires that we make difficult admissions or changes within our lives. It takes courage because in making personal change we expose ourselves to potential rejection if others do not agree or like what we are sharing. Our truth may alienate some of the people we have depended on for our sense of security.
Conversely, we may feel threatened if someone else shares her truthfulness with us and we do not like what we hear. In either direction, compassionately bearing witness to truth is required. Practicing the combination of Satya and Ahimsa, we maintain an open heart rather than indulge the natural tendency to shut down or fire back. We create safe space for each other by listening without judgment, and honoring conflicting feelings. Through Satya we seek understanding regardless of personal feelings, and in mutual vulnerability we build authentic relationship.
Is being honest worth all of the effort and risk? Ask anyone who has lived inauthentically, suppressing their truth or selling out who they are for the sake of a relationship. What is initially undertaken to keep the peace eventually becomes so filled with resentment that any loving motive is obscured.
Although fear of owning and expressing one’s truth is common, when we stand courageously forward, we free ourselves. And we enable others to do the same. Satya requires that we be willing to learn through hurt and failure sometimes, to forgive others and ourselves, and to act courageously even when we are fearful. As difficult as these are, ultimately truth is worth it all. It is essential to our inner well-being and to our ability to cultivate real relationships. It is also what gives us the needed direction, vision, and energy to make our lives how we want them to be. When we are firmly established in truthfulness, this sutra says we gain the power of effortless manifestation. Strength and blessings come from the willingness to stand strong in truthfulness.
Finding Truth in Intuition
The next place we must get a hold of truth is in the mind. Often trickier than noticing it in the body, we begin by recognizing that everything we think is not true. The mind gathers innumerable impressions daily based on the sensory experiences of life, and merges these with impressions left from the past. These form the basis of inference through which we assume we know what is or will be, based on past conditioning. Relying on sensory perception, inference, and intellectual acuity, we make assessments of what we believe to be true. However, this level of knowing does not carry the same weight as the experience of being one with the truth we are seeking, which comes through the later internal limbs such as meditation (Dhyana).
The Yoga Sutras encourage seekers of truth to go beyond the limitations of intellect to the realization of truth through intuition, perceptible in deep stillness where we find the bridge from individual consciousness to Universal Consciousness through the intuitive faculty. Whereas thought only gives us an indirect perception of truth, intuition gives us the experience of truth from within. This is why, when we intuitively know something, even if the external world cannot prove it, we are sure of its truth.
The Divine essence of truth that the Yoga Sutras describe as being both within and beyond manifestation can only be known through the extrasensory awareness of intuition.
To open the possibility of experiencing truth at this deeper level, we must stop striving for control by defending our beliefs and viewpoints. This requires that we surrender our personal agenda and posturing for success. We practice Satya by letting go of our ego’s need to be right, and allow perception to be guided by the Divine within. In direct contrast to the quest for power through manipulation, this approach aligns us with the Infinite Source of true power.
In this way, we achieve an inner congruency in which the soul and the personality work together rather than split with contradictory thoughts and restless feelings. At this quiet place of awareness, when all the other voices around us get still and the mind relaxes, we sit within the deep well of intuitive wisdom, connected to soul consciousness.
To practice Satya, we must attune to this stillness on a regular basis, to feel and know the difference between what is outside and what is inside, and integrate what the head and the heart have to say. Through this integration, we experience more freedom, creativity, productivity, and eventually mastery.
Not All Truth Needs Speaking
This Sutra warns that Satya is so powerful that when we dedicate ourselves to integrity, our thoughts, words, and actions gain the power to manifest. Truth is a dynamic state of mind in which infinite power is released. Of course, with this power comes responsibility. Recognizing that truth is full of consequences, both positive and negative, we acknowledge this power is not to be taken lightly.
The biggest misconception about Satya is that it advocates truth at all costs, and this is not the case. Swami Vivekananda, one of the first Hindu teachers to share yoga philosophy with the West, taught that the practice of intentional peacefulness (Ahimsa) supersedes Satya and therefore moderates the belief that we should share everything all the time without restraint.
Given that this Sutra comes after the one on Ahimsa, it assumes that if we are practicing reverence for all beings, then we understand that telling the truth must be delivered with kindness and sensitivity. We are not meant to be merciless or to serve our self-interest. The essential gauge for whether our truth-telling is necessary lies in our intention.
A bit of self-reflection will reveal the reason why we want to share a piece of truth or why we may wish to withhold it. Is it to make us feel superior or vindicated in some way? Truth should only be shared if it is based on a loving intent to foster deeper understanding and harmony. When shared in this way, truth, no matter how difficult, can be healing, balancing, and opening, blessing all the lives it touches. If not, then we need to practice more truthfulness with ourselves about our motivations for sharing. If we discover a hidden agenda that is self-serving in some way, then we should be honest about that. Wisdom and humility are the best guides to right speech.
Ultimately there is one simple criterion for assessing truth that will never steer us wrong. It requires willingness to set aside fear, hurt, desire, and pride in order to know it. The criterion is love. Whatever is anchored in love is truth and we can always trust truth when it is based in love. When we live truthfully from love, we become fearless, free, and able to lead the life that is uniquely ours to live. The practice of Satya delivers us true inner power.
Daily Practice
Integrate an active practice of truthfulness into your daily life. Search inwardly in body, mind, and intuition for the truth and have courage to live into it. Your personal power will increase as a result.
Questions for Further Reflection
Take a moment with your journal now to answer the following questions. Or find a quiet pause sometime today to remember the quality of truthfulness and contemplate these thoughts further.
Affirmations to Post and Remember
Affirmations solidify beliefs in our subconscious minds, creating a foundation from which we can then manifest positive change in our outer lives. Repeat these often with strong intensity and full faith.