The four virtues, Sutra 1.33

[Lisa Walford]

From Light on Pranayama... 

It may be noted that out of thirteen obstacles to yogic practices mentioned by Patanjali, only four deal with the physical body, namely, sickness, laziness, unsteadiness of the body and respiration. The remaining nine obstacles deal with the mind. The sage mentioned the stage of asana to enable the sadhaka (student) to get rid of the obstacles affecting the physical body, before he was ready to tackle the mental obstacles by the practice of pranayama. 

Patanjali offered the four fold remedy of friendliness and feeling at one with all that is good, compassion with devoted action to relieve the misery of the afflicted; delight at the good work done by others and avoidance of disdain for or feeling superior to the victims of vice. (this is a lovely translation of sutra 1.33 of the Yoga Sutras).

                        by Julia Fehrenbacher

The Most Important Thing

I am making a home inside myself. A shelter

of kindness where everything

is forgiven, everything allowed - a quiet patch

of sunlight to stretch out without hurry,

where all that has been banished and buried

is welcome, spoken, listened to - released.

A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own. 

I am throwing arms open

to the whole of myself - especially the fearful,

fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts, knowing

every seed and weed, every drop

of rain, has made the soil richer. 

I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea, gather

around the warmth of my own blazing fire. I will howl

if I want to, knowing this flame can burn through 

any perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,

any lying limitation, every heavy thing.

I am making a home inside myself

where grace blooms in grand an glorious

abundance, a shelter of kindness that grows

all the truest things.