First Light
How First Light worksTuesday 27 October·
- Sunrise
- 07:55
- Quiet hour
- 06:19–07:07
- Brahma Muhurta
- Moon
- Waning gibbous
- Next full moon: Tue 24 Nov
Autumn
The quiet hour (Brahma Muhurta) is the traditional time for practice, just before sunrise.
अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः
avidyāsmitā-rāga-dveṣābhiniveśāḥ kleśāḥ
Ignorance, ego, attraction, aversion and clinging to life are the causes of suffering.
Yoga Sutras 2.3 · verse 54 of 196
Unfolding the thread
Here is Patanjali's diagnosis of suffering, in five words. Avidyā: not seeing things as they are. Asmitā: the sense of a separate "me" that everything is about. Rāga: grasping at what's pleasant. Dveṣa: pushing away what's unpleasant. Abhiniveśa: clinging to life itself, the fear of ending. Everything painful we feel can be traced to one of these five.
Try today
When something upsets you today, see if you can name which of the five is at work.
The Echo
The same truth, heard in another tradition
“There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.”
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