Tapas

by

Mitch Hall

Tapas is a Sanskrit word that means heat or fire. Farhi (2000) defined it as “disciplined use of our energy” (p. 13). In the yogic tradition, tapas is the third niyama. In Patanjali’s codification of the eight limbs of yoga, the niyamas “refer to the attitude that we adopt toward ourselves, as we create a code for living

meaningfully” (iloveindia.com, n.d.). Whereas the yamas are the ethical codes to guide our relations with others, the niyamas are the principles that orient our inner practice.

Since tapas is the third of five niyamas, it can be seen as pivotal for the achievement of the other four. With the focus and ardor of tapas, we can better achieve the other principles, namely cleanliness, contentment, self-study, and celebration of the spiritual (Farhi, 2000), as well as the yamas. Through tapas, we can exercise the vigilance and apply the energy necessary to assure that in our daily living we make the right effort to cultivate in our attitude and behaviors what promotes our health, spiritual actualization, and ethical relations with others. Without tapas, we could become indolent. Tapas can be compared to the principle of right effort (samma vayama), the sixth element of the Buddhist eightfold path. Through right effort, we can free ourselves from existing unwholesome conditions, prevent the arising of new unwholesome conditions, preserve existing wholesome conditions, and cultivate new wholesome conditions (Saddhatissa, 1971).

In my own life, I practice tapas as a scholar, a writer, a mental health counselor, and a practitioner of yoga and other health-promoting activities. None of these activities would be possible without significant disciplined use of my energy. As a scholar, I am eager to discover the most insightful, well-researched, helpful, up-to-date ideas, information, and perspectives that can promote  health, social justice, and peace among suffering humans. It takes effort, networking, reading, discussing, corresponding, and thinking anew to make the most of my scholarship. In my writing, I seek to reach others with what I am finding, to integrate new research into the writing accurately, to base my thinking in evidence, and to present it engagingly and rationally. As a mental health counselor, I meet many traumatized individuals who need my full attention, understanding, and responsiveness for them to learn and heal. In order to maintain my own physical and emotional health, I need to do yoga, get out into nature, take brisk walks, and meditate, among other practices, so that I can renew my energies and be vital for the challenging tasks I have chosen for the disciplined application of my energies. I could not effectively practice the other niyamas--cleanliness, contentment, self-study, and celebration of the spiritual--without the ongoing disciplined use of my energy to cultivate what is wholesome and propitious while reducing or eliminating what is unwholesome.


References

Farhi, D. (2000). Yoga mind, body, and spirit: A return to wholeness. New York: Owl Books, Henry Holt & Company.

iloveindia.com. (n.d.). Yoga: Eight limbs of yoga: Niyamas. Retrieved February 17, 2010 from http://yoga.iloveindia.com/limbs-of-yoga/niyama.html

Saddhatissa, H. (1971). The buddha’s way. New York: George Braziller.