Tapas: The Root of Discipline

Tapas appears in the second limb of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (pa-TAN-ja-lee). The second limb is called “niyama” or “observances.” In English. tapas means “heat” or “burning” such as seen in the smelting of metals. This heat burns off impurities.

Through the 2000 plus years of this text’s existence commentators have translated tapas as “austerities” and “mortification” (lit. “putting the flesh to death.”) The more neutral term is “discipline.” All of the terms is some form, however extreme or not, of doing without for the sake of a spiritual practice. It is meant to loosen our attachments and purify the body and mind.

Throughout history religious practitioners have abstain from particular activities, mostly concerning the flesh, to enhance their spiritual life. Some have been mild or acceptable such as Hindu Swamis and Christian monks who denounce all material goods and forgo sexual activity to focus only on the spiritual. Some have been extreme with serving penance by whipping or starving themselves. Indian renunciates have stood on one leg for a long period of time to detach from sensations. Sir Thomas Becket (1118 – 1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, wore a hairshirt under his garments to live a life of itchy discomfort.

In Yoga there is a strong sense of “ahimsa” or non-violence which should counter extremes of self-mortification. Many of the contemporary translators read tapas as the discipline of a Hatha practice as the heat generated from the postures indeed helps one rid the body of impurities.

There are many disciplines that can enhance the life of the Yogi that need not be austere and they are no less sobering. Building heat may be taken literally but taking “tapas” metaphorically can deepen the burning more than an intense practice on the mat. One needs to ask, what impurities are we burning off?

Yes, from the point of view of attachments, tapas may be viewed as austerity, but view it from a different angle and tapas shines brighter than a Hatha practice and is certainly more powerful, and sometimes even itchier, than a hairshirt. This perspective of tapas is the very ground of a Hatha practice and if we make it the root of all our actions it will help us create a more fruitful life. This discipline is the life-long cultivation of love.

This is not a mere passive proclamation of love, but the action of love for self and others. It is the act of love in the New Testament which states that “God is love,” and continues to state that living in God’s love entails love for your brother. (I John 4:16 ff) It is not a love you call then proceed to discriminate between gays and lesbians or judge people who are different from you. It is a life predicated on the service to others. It is a life dedicated to helping others move through suffering. In its most intense form it is a life which works to “love your enemy,” and it calls for a life to engage in the difficult task of loving one’s self.

Stepping onto the mat is an act of self-love as we honor the structures and energies of our bodies, all the while respecting the past decisions we made about the body. Stilling the mind in meditation is an act of self-love as we open the mind and not leave it to reincarnate our fears and anxieties. From true self-love sprouts love and reverence for others. Even Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One can not love another more than one loves oneself.

What more difficult discipline than to train your mind on love? In a world hell-bent on breaking your heart, how easy is it to direct the mind to the heart, not protecting it, but projecting it out into the world? How easy is it to not run and hide in the cramp, cozy quarters of fear and anxiety?

So what is tapas of this nature burning off? Yes, medical tests have shown that growing a life in the heart increases the immune system which fights the impurities of the body. But the heat of love burns away the bigger inessentials and places everything in a larger perspective. Love is tapas at its root as it burns off the ego (asmita) and all its rigid armor; strengthening us from deeper within and freeing us into the spaciousness of life.