Samyama on the Moon
Often misunderstood as something purely symbolic, “moon days” in yoga refer to peak lunar phases. New and full moons are selected as special days of alternative practice, powerful times to increase attention on deep inner seeing. In this reflection, Josh Pryor explores the lunar invitation to subtler realms by means of samyama, the meditative culmination of eight limbed yoga.
All forms of hatha yoga aim to stabilise the body so that we may go deeply into imagination, ultimately creating simultaneous awareness of both the physical and the much larger non-physical reality.
The first limbs of Ashtanga Yoga make the spine strong and supple, and they help the breath flow full and rich. From there, we naturally notice the non-physical world blending with waking experience, and the incentive to consciously reduce fixation on the small world of sense perceptions increases. We enjoy potency and ease, unfolding and expanding to shared imagination.
Yes, our true agency lies in consciousness – the future – rather than the already-manifested physical world.
Words are obsolete as soon as they are spoken. Actions are mere artefacts of prior works performed in consciousness. If we wish to be involved in the unfoldment of life, our creative leverage exists in the space made accessible by regimented mobilisation of the spine and fluids within.
The final limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are sometimes grouped using the term samyama. They are all about information and focus. Samyama is often presumed as a tool to help us wrangle things that already exist, but it is most usefully applied to the future: consciousness. If we’re not careful, the material sciences will reduce yoga to biological and astronomical cartography!
Put simply, samyama is well-developed non-physical vision coupled with sustained attention. Put more strongly, we are only limited by weakness of attention and poverty of imagination. The ideas we arouse in ourselves find affinity with the people near us and expression in the world of materialised objects. By imagination we are reaping our destinies, whether they be good, bad, or blasé. This is the most compelling law in the world.
For samyama to be successfully maintained, it is vital that a sensitive, truthful, and non-judgmental view of thoughts and ideas floating around the mind be developed. By holding a firmly patient perspective, we can transform each and every piece of judgement, bitterness, powerlessness, and fear into its opposite. We can amplify and make visible our love and loveliness.
But what does this have to do with the moon?
Our lives, our namaskar, are mostly solar. We are born, we grow and work, and we spend much of life quite materially and action-oriented. Solar practice helps us excel in worldly affairs, so if you are not flourishing in the ordinary sense, you must do more surya namaskar!
One acquires knowledge of the material plane by performing samyama on the Sun. By samyama on the moon, knowledge concerning the astral plane.
Yoga Sutras III.27-28
Reflections
Here’s a limited example from psychology called Spontaneous Trait Transfer, where people feel, identify, and manifest for themselves the traits they describe in other people.
Every time you describe someone (good or bad), your brain tags YOU with those same traits. When you say “she’s so fake,” your brain marks you as fake. When you say “he’s so inspiring,” you absorb that energy too.
Your brain literally adopts the qualities you focus on. But there’s a double whammy: the people you’re talking to also unconsciously assign those traits to you. So when you talk badly about someone, you’re teaching others to see you that way as well.
Your world is the result of your attention, judgement, and chatter. If you want to be successful, speak admiringly of successful people. If you want to be confident, celebrate confident people instead of tearing them down.
The moon is our portal through the coarse physical system into the subtle astral plane.
It’s vexing to the physical intellect because you can’t reach out and “get it”, you have to catch a reflection. We could find ourselves training that side-glance observance out of our lives, more concerned with paying for the car and kids.
We want the captivating and luminous moon to draw our interest so that it can reflect the desires we hold for physical life. We are most effective with generous helpings of receptive practice, more than the default sleeping hours.
We have physical duties and we should prosper, but once we are on a winning path it is wise to divert some time to the subtle and creative portal of the moon. Buck the dominating aspect of rip-roaring enthusiasm with regular periods of no-input disconnection, or single-minded flow-state absorption where time flies without words.
Days of new and full moon are perfect for this, since they don’t conform to the business week and the spreadsheet-saving ego.
Safety from the snare of routine by means of unpredictability!
What could be better?
About the Author
Josh Pryor is CEO of Yoga Australia and a Level 3 Registered Teacher. A specialist in Mysore Style yoga, Josh’s approach is light-hearted and enthusiastic. Josh is the author of two books, including The Seer Sets the Seen: Cosmic Keys to Manifestation, a new translation and commentary of Dṛg Dṛśya Viveka, a 14th century text on the nature of the subtle body.
