Saucha translates to purity or purification. The idea of saucha is to be pure in thought, word, and deed (though I include body also). What does it mean to be pure?
In essence, to be pure means to be authentically ourselves without the influence of any human or environmental factors. But, you may ask, how does one do this when, since birth, we have been influenced by everyone and everything around us? Would I even know who I am if I removed all of the influencing factors? The idea is to consistently be in search of the root of the matter, to go deep within yourself and understand what has influenced you, then make a conscious choice as to whether you will continue to be under the influence or choose differently. When we know ourselves, we can see when we are acting out of past conditioning or when we are apart from that conditioning, choosing what our heart/Spirit knows will serve us. The work is understanding who we are and where the influences and triggers lie.
When I think of purity, I also think of cleanliness or holiness (my Catholic/Christian roots). As I live my life these days, I try to remain aware of the decisions I’m making in terms of, “if everyone I know were to find out about this decision, would I be ok with it?” Not to say that I am not tempted to step outside of this model at times… we all are, but I’ve found that this is a really good way of keeping the “devil on my shoulder” from winning most days. I think most people would veer away from undesirable consequences/karma if they would pause to ask themselves this one question before every decision. Purity, to me, is not having to run from anything in your life. Because you are living cleanly, you don’t have to hide anything, there is nothing in you that you fear might be seen at any point in time because you are fully comfortable with who you are, what you are doing, and how you are living. Living in this way helps to increase self-worth and self-love because it allows you to enjoy who you are and not fear consequences.
The sutras of Patanjali have a unique insight when it comes to purity of the body. One of the sutras in book 2 translates to, “By purification arises disgust for one’s own body and for contact with other bodies.” This detour into purification, speaks more of physical cleanliness, which I see a place for in my own life, but haven’t arrived at this point… at least not yet, the journey is long and I am only conscious of where I currently sit, so who knows what may unfold. The premise is that bodies are inherently dirty. The things that we expel (sweat, urine, feces, mucus, skin cells, carbon dioxide, and other bodily secretions) are not generally what we’d consider “clean.” When we look at our the body in this way, how can we be attracted to our own or anyone else’s body?
When it comes to my idea of physical purity, I believe in treating the body with love as it is a part of you in this human experience. I exhibit this by how I choose to care for my body. For instance, I try to consciously choose foods for their nutritional value so that my body has good fuel. Sometimes people put better gasoline into their prized vehicles than they do into their personal machine. I do my best to drink a lot of water each day. I primarily use natural products rather than products laden with ingredients I cannot pronounce. Exercise and physical activity are a priority in my life. In addition to maintaining the immediate living space of my body, I try to maintain a clean home. I didn’t start any of these habits with the idea of saucha, though they fit with this concept. I started these habits more out of a strong desire to develop and exude self-love. I see my physical body as a beautifully designed machine with billions of cells that honor me by doing their designated role in service of keeping me alive. Like a good CEO, I try to take care of those that take care of “me.” It is not who I am, but the vehicle that houses me for the time being.
When it comes to being pure in thought, word, and deed (what I consider to be the more important matter) I’d stated before that the 3 are a triad. Everything first begins in the mind. Your mouth can’t speak the words if the thought doesn’t come first. This is why yoga in and of itself is all geared toward the mind. If you want a great life, you need to have great actions. If you want great actions, you need to get your mind in check first. There is no other way. I take the position that there are many well outlined paths for getting one’s mind in check, but the yogic path allows a front row seat into the mind and an experiential knowledge of God, whereas some of the other paths I’ve come across do not. At least, that has been my experience.
Purity in thought, word, and deed also rely on truthfulness. How willing are we to be honest with ourselves and with others? Are we willing to speak our truth with authenticity? Can we, with boldness, step forward and act on what it is that we know to be true? Purification is a lightening of the Spirit so that it is not burdened down with secrets, heavy food, lies, or self-defeating behaviors. Often, it is in the form of offering ourselves forgiveness and mercy for our past errors and choosing to let those errors go, not to be repeated. As you can see, most of the tenets of yoga rely on and blend into one another in some way creating an inseparable tapestry meant to cover (aka protect or preserve) one’s life.
The concept of purity asks us to see reality and ourselves for what it is, for what we are… purely, not layering wishes, fantasies, or trauma into the current moment. It asks us to “be here now,” light in Spirit, letting go of any past hurts or prejudices that may taint our view of the present moment, only allowing what is currently happening to be part of our experience. Again, it sounds very simplistic, but anyone who has practiced knows it isn’t always as simple. Even when the intent is there, we can find ourselves unconsciously acting out of past stories and often it isn’t until we view the situation in hindsight that we can clearly see the story we were acting from and reinforce the new pattern of living in the present moment. It’s taken you your whole life building up the stories, it takes some strength and stamina to knock them down.
If you’d like to live more purely and are dedicated to work for progress, I’d love to help you get there and offer private coaching and yoga services.