Patanjali divides all human activities into four different areas. It is a very wise, beautiful division showing the four ways we function -
Sukha
Duhkha
Punya
Apunya
These are the four experiences that we have. What are the postures that we have to take inside? What is "The inner posture" ?
Wherever there is sukha as an experience, it could be that I experience sukha or I see someone else experiencing sukha. The same thing with dukkha- either for others or for myself but I get the experience. The third is punya. I see someone doing something good or I feel the need to do some good. Apunya- Patanjali does not use the word paapa or sin but uses the word apunya, which is itself a very interesting concept. There is no thought or concept of sin but that which is not a virtue and any activity that is not virtuous is termed as apunya.
While undergoing these four situations, what is the psychological posture that we should take? A very important aspect is what is occurring outside and what is the corresponding response to that which is occurring inside. What is the attitude we need to take? What is the attitude which would help us to grow in the field of yoga?
Whenever there is sukha it is that either I experience sukha or others have sukha. It may be that you have gained something or somebody else has gained something. Immediately you develop jealousy when somebody has it. We feel instantaneously that we should have also got it. ‘I deserve it much more.’ ‘I don’t know how he got it.’ There are several thoughts that come up when you analyse these thoughts. But what is the attitude we can develop it is - maitri bhaava or metta in Buddhist philosophy. You are close to it, you are one with it. The others happiness experience and you also experience the same happiness. There is no negativity. It means, there is a close connection like you wave with one hand but the other hand also experiences happiness. There is no difference between these two. That is maitri.
The second thing is, whenever I have dukkha or you see someone else have dukkha, the attitude we need to have is karuna. Karuna is compassion. It is very easy for people to become compassionate about others but very difficult to feel compassion towards oneself. We tend to blame ourselves, our past karma, give some explanations for our suffering and in this process, we do not adopt an attitude of karuna towards ourselves.
The other aspect is, whenever we undergo suffering, we expect others to show us sympathy and compassion. If others do not show us compassion, we get angry as we expect them to serve us or care for us. “I took care of you when you were suffering. Now when I am in trouble, why don’t you show even some sympathy?” This response is because we don’t have karuna in our attitude. Therefore, Maitri is one aspect and karuna is the other aspect to take care of sukha and dukkha.
Nobody really goes after dukkha. Dukha happens to us. We all seek sukha. The attitude is to always go towards sukha but in the process we come across dukkha. Everybody wants to have sukha only. No one wants dukkha. Very often, dukkha comes in the guise of sukha. We have to be very careful about it. For example, I get sukha but the very next moment I don’t know what will happen. In life nothing stands still. We don’t know what the next moment will bring. So, we try to hold on to sukha for longer. What is permanent is closer to consciousness and what is temporary is closer to the body. Body has sukha very temporarily. You eat food and for the next two hours your body is in a state of sukha. But after that, again you start feeling hungry or if you eat a little bit more your discomfort starts right then. Be compassionate to yourself. This is what is maitri, karuna.
The third is mudita. Whenever someone does some pious act, a charitable act, a noble act, it is punya. That means these are virtuous activities. Whenever we see a virtuous activity, we need to adopt the attitude of mudita. Mudita means you accept with humility. Mudita is a beautiful, subtle, gentle concept. Not that someone does a good deed and you immediately praise and say, “You have done a virtuous duty, noble act.’ When you perform a virtuous act, you say, “I could do this very small thing.’ Be humble about it. When others do it, you praise; when you do it, be humble about it. This was Rama’s character. Narada says about Rama, “Whatever good he does, he is very humble about it. He says he is only an instrument.” For others we must say, “Your intentions are good.” Typically, when someone does good, we say, “Ah, it must have happened unintentionally but it ended up being good.” We need to to acknowledge the good that was done. Acknowledge others’ role no matter how small. When someone does a virtuous deed, immediately take the attitude of mudita. Mudita is a gentle smile and being humble.
The last one is Upekhsa. Upeksha is apunya. Often, people think punya and paapa are opposite values like virtues and vice. That we either do virtuous things or vices. There is nothing called vice at all. Nothing. Whatever you are doing, you are doing out of need. There is no question of vice, there is no question of sin. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘It is a sin to call a man a sinner.’ The Bhagavad Gita also says that there is no such thing as sin and that it is nothing but ignorance. So maybe you happened to do something out of ignorance. The intention was not bad.
The most common ignorance is to believe that by hurting you, I get happiness. That my happiness depends upon your getting hurt. So, I promote hurting you thinking that it will give me happiness. Observation shows that this will not happen. So, apunya is something that happens. What you can do is to see that your intentions are not bad. See that there is no desire to hurt anybody. This is the first challenge. Accept this challenge. This is where apunya leads to upeksha.
Another word for upeksha is udaseena. Let go, leave it alone, ignore or underrate it, undervalue it, you neglect it. These are English translations but we need to understand this concept in depth. Upeksha is supposed to be one of the sadhana margas. In Buddhist philosophy, Upeksha is a very important sadhana. Patanjali also suggests this as a part of Sadhana. In fact, there is nothing that Patanjali suggests that is not Sadhana.
Upeksha is not neglecting it but being with it and not seeing the negative aspect of it. I could fill myself with the negative aspect of it. What happens is, negativity percolates to all other aspects. For example, if I do not like a person, then I do not like anything he/she does including the way she walks, the way he dresses or the way she talks. This can easily spread to other areas like a cancer. Therefore, we should not have any negative ideas about anything. Whenever something happens, do not have any negative attitude about it at all. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna also says, ‘Let there not be any dvesha anywhere.’
Another aspect of upeksha is that many people think that they are superior because they are ignoring the negative aspect of another person. The danger is that we may fall under the idea that this person is inferior and we create a hierarchy. We start self-praising. This is a posture that we take as being better than the other person. We need to be aware and not fall into this trap.
Danger is that we become insensitive to the whole thing. No! Spiritual growth is always about being sensitive. You must remain sensitive.
The moment you jump into an activity, that is reaction. Upeksha is not about reacting immediately but you remain sensitive. A baby stands with support and wants to walk towards its mother, leaving the support but starts crying because it cannot. Mother smiles and she is sensitive to the plight of the child but she does not go and pick up the child but makes the child walk towards her. This is Upeksha.
Upeksha is, you do not give the support but at the same time you encourage the child to walk towards you. You are doing upekhsa for the child. It helps you to grow. The mother is there to help if the child falls. So, the sensitivity, the support is there. You allow the child to grow and yet you are there to support. So, if somebody does something wrong, give them the opportunity to realise their mistake and give them the space.