16/04/2026
A short reminder for today:
True ahiṁsā (non-harming) cannot be forced. Just as we cannot force the body into Padmāsana simply because it is our ideal to sit in that pose, ahiṁsā does not arise from willpower alone.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali , suffering is said to begin with avidyā, a fundamental misperception about who we are. Avidyā is the soil of ignorance in which the other kleśas grow:
asmitā (I-am-ness)
rāga (attachment)
dveṣa (aversion)
abhiniveśa (desire for continuity)
From this misperception, we experience ourselves as separate, and from this sense of separation, our actions often create suffering for ourselves and others.
Yoga practice does not try to pretend ahiṁsā. It works to remove the misperception of self that prevents ahiṁsā from arising spontaneously. As the fluctuations of the mind (citta vṛtti) cease (nirodha), perception becomes clearer. So our way of acting naturally changes. If we truly see ourselves in others, how could we hurt another being? It would not be so different from hurting ourselves.
This is why we practice.
