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.
जातिदेशकालसमयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम्
jāti-deśa-kāla-samayānavacchinnāḥ sārva-bhaumā mahā-vratam
When these are not limited by birth, place, time or circumstance, they become the great vow, universal in scope.
Yoga Sutras 2.31 · verse 82 of 196
Unfolding the thread
It's easy to be kind when it's convenient, or honest with people we like. Patanjali asks for more: practise these five everywhere, with everyone, at all times, whatever your role. Then they stop being rules and become a great vow, a way of being.
Try today
Notice one situation where you make an exception ("just this once", "with them it's different") and try keeping the vow there too.
The Echo
The same truth, heard in another tradition
“For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Get these in your inbox
No spam. Just honest writing on practice, awareness and conscious living.