Prajñāpāramitā - perfection of wisdom

We’ve probably heard or used phrases like, “that’s just who they are, it’s their personality”. As if personality were some kind of fixed package of behavioural traits we were born with. What if we did the same for ourselves? “I’m British, French, American, Latino, Mediterranean, a man, a woman, tall, short; it’s just how we all behave”. 

It’s an easy trap to fall into and behavioural patterns can become deeply ingrained as we go through life. However, under close examination, it becomes apparent that our traits are not a set menu we will repeatedly act out during for our entire existence. We certainly adopt many traits from the people we spend time with; our parents, friends, social groups and even nations but we’re under no obligation to behave as others around us do. 

Awakening the understanding that all phenomena are in fact empty of any solidity or everlasting nature is the essence of Prajñāpāramitā, the ‘perfection of wisdom’ in Mahayana Buddhism. This emptiness or ‘sunyata’, doesn’t mean that nothing exists but that no ‘thing’ has any kind of fixed essence or unchanging self-nature. Looking deeply we see that in fact, everything in the universe is interdependent - things come together and things fall apart, again and again, and again.

A sign that we’re cultivating prajna (wisdom) and understanding is a decrease in the frequency of our afflictive emotions and misperceptions and the power they have over us. We become more able to respond positively to challenging or stressful situations and will feel more in control and peaceful. If we choose to we can certainly change our traits and the way we respond to what’s going on around us - in their book The Science of Meditation: How to Change Your Brain, Mind and Body, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson explain how this happens. 

It takes effort and concentration but when it comes to the nature of our minds, like everything else, nothing is fixed or unchangeable.

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Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra Book 2 Verse 36: “Satya Pratisthayam Kriya Phala Ashrayatvam.”

I wrote the essay below as part of my teacher training in 2017 at Sangyé Yoga School. It's been slightly updated and is a bit longer than a regular blog, maybe.

Can the truth 'set you free' if it's also said that 'truth hurts'? What's the deal with truth, and why is it crucial to the Yoga practice? 

Both phrases might resonate – perhaps we've experienced a sense of freedom that truthfulness awards us when we have been honest after a period of concealing something, even a 'little white lie'. In moments like this, when the truth is told, people often experience relief, a lightness of conscience, mind and body, as the heavy burden of their deceitfulness lifts. 

'Truth hurts' most when we cling to the self-identity, emotions, and mental habits generated by our ego. As we journey through moksha-shāstra, the 'liberation teaching' of yoga, pain becomes manageable as we become more adept at questioning the notions of body, mind, emotions, possessions, status, achievements and other mental constructs and labels we might be clinging to.

Our path to living an awakened or enlightened life becomes more direct and easier to travel once we fully embrace Satya, 'truth' – embedding it in our thoughts, words, and every action we take.

Patanjali explains that 'actions and their results become subservient' for those well established in truthfulness. All of nature loves honest souls, and things come to honest people easily.   

Without a deep awareness, we may find ourselves avoiding the truth or adjusting our perception and description to suit our view of how things should be. This may temporarily make us feel more comfortable, but comfort is likely to be fleeting.

As children, we perhaps begin to lie to avoid the 'telling off' that we expect when we know we have done something that adults wouldn't be pleased about. 

We often lie to protect ourselves or others from a reality we dislike or would prefer wasn't a reality, 'the truth is too hard to handle'. Once we tell a lie, we may feel that we need to continue lying to maintain our story. This can go on for some time as lie upon lie pile up – lies can snowball out of control as more people become involved, and the original untruth spreads and becomes adjusted even further as people add their assumptions and emotional narrative to the story.

Living with dishonesty may be stressful and demanding work emotionally, but it can also become satisfying, even compulsive – riding our emotions can make us feel alive; they fuel conversations with others and allow us to wallow in pity for ourselves and our misfortune for experiencing suffering. People often say they love to complain.

We may keep falling into the trap of defining ourselves by our emotional responses to events rather than seeing things as they are. We blame situations and relationships we have experienced for our behaviour – "you did this, or that wrong"… or, "so and so made me angry", "I will never forget this", "more bad luck for me". This reliance on emotional responses to define situations and ourselves can become addictive, and fear leads us to anger and hate; frustration leads us to sadness and depression. We can become deeply affected, our bodies and minds becoming consumed and controlled by these damaging behaviour patterns. 

The perceived solidity of our ego and perceptions we hold about ourselves and situations hold us back. Allowing emotions to dictate our behaviour can mean we cultivate negative responses to situations that become patterns. As time goes by, these patterns become who we are, and they become more challenging to break, yet like everything, they are not permanent.

The way we cling to emotions and emotional responses is in part due to the emotional aspects of our minds evolving before the 'thinking' parts. If we always respond based on the predominant immediate emotion in each moment, we will rarely see things as they are. This misknowing or avoidance of the truth prevents us from reaching an enlightened state; it leads to more separation and moves us away from oneness. Instead, we become more disconnected.

We don't have to live like this; we can escape this disconnectedness. Our path to awareness requires us to accept and embrace truth. When we begin to surrender to reality, even if it's hard to accept, we will move towards a relaxed state of oneness in which we will feel unburdened, calm and free. 

So how can we embed Satya into our thoughts, speech and actions? 

To begin, we must allow ourselves some space and time. We need to create a stillness in our minds or slow them down momentarily to avoid knee-jerk emotional responses. As we've discussed, by reacting to situations that can cause us suffering instantly at a primal and emotional level, we may not see things as they are, and our fear or conditioning will drive our behaviour. 

Those far down the road toward inner freedom can slow down the response to stimuli within the primitive brain and allow themselves more time to process situations. Despite their challenges, they remain calm in equanimity, controlling their body, breathing, and maintaining unclouded thoughts. This self-control allows them to respond in a measured conscious way. Before an emotional response kicks in, they can rationalise the situation, then respond reasonably and peacefully, having seen things clearly, rather than acting with raw emotion and remaining blind to reality.

We should approach all situations in our lives with the same concentration and dedication that we bring to our yoga mats as we practice Āsana. When we mindfully apply ourselves to watching our thoughts, we can begin to recognise undesirable or irrational ones. We should consider thoughts and emotions, observing them but letting them pass without holding on to any feelings connected to them. We will learn that we are not our ego, nor emotions, and the false reality that these may create. We will then begin to see that nothing has eternal existence, and because of the nature of impermanence, things will continue to change. Once we accept this, we'll grasp less at things we're attached to or averse to, and a state of steadiness and ease will be cultivated. 

The practice of observing our thoughts may not be easy. The transient nature of the universe means that situations like our emotions come and go. We should accept this impermanence, and in doing so, we will realise that life is, in fact, less complicated, and we can choose how much we suffer.

When we practise yoga, we will experience both mental and physical challenges. Rather than getting hung up on asanas, we think we cannot do or find very difficult; we could acknowledge our thinking and let it pass, returning to focus on our breath. If we decide to see something as 'too hard or bad' because we dislike it or the way it makes us feel, we do not see the truth, we have failed to recognise impermanence and have attached a negative view to it that will prevent our progression.

Accepting how things are in any given moment is also key to becoming more precise about the situation we are in and how to progress positively. We should accept, understand, and not hide from what we know nor create an attachment to our views. 

Satya can and should be applied to the other moral principles of yoga – we may find that we are untruthful and selective in our application of the yamas and niyamas. If we are not truthful, we will not progress in a life guided by the principle of dharma, 'morality'.

We will all face difficult times, even in everyday challenges – managing a household, conflict with colleagues, disagreements with family members or others. In practising patience with a focus on Satya, we will continue to move towards a position where we understand that we are not what we appear to be; we are not born with a fixed personality or set of traits. Though certain behaviours may represent our current personality, we can change and constantly evolve.

When truthfulness becomes firmly ingrained, how to live well will become clear. We will be more faithful to ourselves and others, making our decisions from a state of equanimity. Our behaviour will manifest in kindness and compassion and be based on logic and reason. Others will feel comfortable and calm in our presence – they'll be open and honest and reflect the goodness we demonstrate. Our interactions with others will be easy. 

We will also be less likely to follow society's harmful conventions and traditions. We'll have the strength and resolve to move away from these calmly and continue forward with understanding. 

All beings desire to be happy, well and free from suffering, regardless of the species whose physical body they assume. Through Satya, we realise this truth and will develop greater tolerance, patience and understanding. We will be truthful about how our actions affect others and more likely to behave in ways that benefit others.

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