What is Saucha?

(शौच)

Any entanglement of consciousness in things or circumstances which have no constructive relationship with the goal of Yoga is to be regarded as an impurity. This is the essential meaning behind the term Saucha.- Swami Krishnananda

Saucha is an intention of cleanliness, literally “purity” in body thought and action.  In the description of reality presented by yoga, only the self, Purusha, is pure and only Avidya, false perception is impure.  Saucha is used as a powerful tool to dissolve ego identification and the illusion of “the other”.  Saucha is the practice of removing everything that is not essential to the paradigm. A clean body and mind are able to maintain a satvic frequency, or a frequency conducive to awareness of subtle resonations and Yoga.

It is important to acknowledge that “pure” and “impure” are ultimately judgments, or distinctions of the mind.  No particular “dirt” is necessarily good or bad, rather Saucha explores our relationship to this “dirt”.  Saucha can perhaps best be understood as a sign post, orientation or directional intention pointing towards ultimate liberation.

Saucha is a natural directional force in the body, evidenced in the concept of metabolism. The physical body takes in molecules in the form of food and air.  In ideal circumstances what is useful is integrated and what is not is eliminated.  So to, this metabolism functions in the mental and emotional bodies.  We take in information and in ideal circumstance what is useful is integrated, and everything else we let go of.  Many forms of dis-ease then can be understood as our inability to let go of toxic molecules, thoughts or emotions.

Join Me Tomorrow, Sunday for an inspirational and empowering look at how the science of purification can take your practice to the next level.

Saucha (शौच) for the Modern Yogi
Date: Sunday April 22nd (Earthday)
Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm
Where: One Yoga