Contd. from knowledge sheet 74
Śaucā (pronounced as Shoucha) – means cleanliness - both inner and outer cleanliness of the body. Along with personal hygiene, the mind also needs to be kept clean - antaha śaucā - bāhya bheetara śaucā. If you are constantly in touch or overtly in touch with other people - hugging other people all the time, then you are not letting your energy be your energy, even for a little time. Since you are always in association with somebody else, you get lost. You do not know who you are. You do not know yourself. So, keep some distance and some time for yourself. Learn to know what your real strength is, what your real weakness is, what your true spirit is.
Śaucā does not apply to the mother and her children, parents and children, husband and wife. Śaucā is beyond these relationships. A baby comes and hugs the mother at any time. This is not aśaucā. But when somebody dies, misery takes over and that period is called aśaucā, meaning there is no śaucā then. There is no purity because the mind is polluted by sadness. The mind is afflicted by sadness. So in India, the 10 days after someone’s death is considered aśaucā. For 10 days, you can mourn and cry.
After 10 days of mourning, sweets are usually distributed to people on the 11th day. The family has a celebration, wears new clothes, has a get-together, exchanges gifts, and has a feast - the memorial feast.
On the day of the feast, they take some ghee and water and apply them on their eyes, to cool them down and then they decide. “Okay, now we get on with our life. What had to be done is done.” For the immediate family, mourning is for 10 days. For others in the family, it is only for three days, and for more distant relations, the mourning is only for one day. There is a whole system of how to mourn.
If a spiritual person passes away, there is no mourning. Not even for a day. Every moment is a celebration because the spirit is all-pervading. In the same way, there is aśaucā for ten days when a baby is born in a house. You are so excited because a new soul has come into your family. So, be with all the excitement and happiness for 10 days. You are free from all the social rules and obligations so that you can enjoy yourself totally. After that period of enjoyment, come back to your commitments and responsibilities. if you want purity in the intellect, sharpness in the awareness, then you practice śaucā to whatever extent you can.
Śaucā and saṅtoṣā ( pronounced as santosha) go together. If there is no śaucā, there can be no saṅtoṣā.
saṅtoṣād anuttamaḥ sukhalābhaḥ ॥42॥
संतोषाद् अनुत्तमः सुखलाभः ॥४२॥
From contentment comes unparalleled happiness.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 2.42
Saṅtoṣā is contentment and happiness. It is an attitude. If you are used to being unhappy, you will grumble and be unhappy even in the best of situations. Nothing can make you happy in the world. And if you want to be happy, nothing can pull you down. You can come home and happily say, "Today all the jobs I did flopped! There was no success in any of the work I did today." You can say it with a smile. Anyway, everything has flopped. But at least, do not let the mind flop. You should have the guts to say, "Come what may, I am not going to give up the smile on my face because I am much more than the unsuccessful event, the flopped circumstances. Everything comes and goes, but I continue despite everything."
Do you know you sell your happiness for peanuts? You sell your smile for a penny. The entire world is not worth losing your smile. Ask yourself what makes you unhappy? Losing a lot of money? Could that make you unhappy? So what?! Anyway, you are going to lose this body, which is going to enjoy those millions of dollars. It has to happen. So, many people had millions of dollars but they too died. What else are you unhappy about? Is your friend leaving you? The strength of your happiness is measured by your attitude in adverse situations. If everything is smooth, then your big smile is worth nothing. You should smile in an adverse situation. You should feel that, even if the world dies and disappears, you are not going to sell your smile and that you are not going to be unhappy. Then saṅtoṣā dawns.
Saṅtoṣā is a practice. Being happy is a practice. Unconditional happiness is a practice. You have to develop it yourself. Nobody else can do it for you. Nothing else can give it to you. If anybody else or anything else gives it, it will only be temporary.
(This is part of a series of knowledge sheets based on Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's commentaries on Patanjali Yoga Sutras.)
