25/08/2025
Do we practice for pleasure only?
B.K.S. Iyengar had a lot to say about this:
“I think many have taken the meaning of Sukhata to the Sukha that leads toward attachments. Many of you are attached to the body and therefore you don't like the body to suffer from pain, hence you dislike the asana and jump to something else. If asana is pleasurable (Sukha) you enjoy it, but Sukha id not the same as steadiness.
Patanjali uses three terms Sukha, Duhkha and Ananda… You should know that there is a vast difference between the word Sukha and Ananda. Sukha means comfort and pleasing, while Ananda means delight, joy and bliss. Normally we mix these words and treat Sukha and Ananda as happiness. Sukha is felt at the level of the senses while Ananda is a spiritual quality. While performing an asana Sukha conveys the feeling of pleasing sensation, as Raga or attachment. Ananda is unbiased happiness or delight in the self. In asana Sthira and Sukha both stand for Ananda on the spiritual level.
No doubt many of us take to yoga as you have attachment to the body. You dislike pain in the Sadhana. Many of you are satisfied with the practice as long as you feel comfortable. This is considered a fulfilment of desires. You continue to practice as long as this comfort remains, but the moment the comfort fades out you give up."
From Astadala Yoga Mala, Vol VIII – What is Sthira Sukham Asanam, p. 153-154
