THE TANTRIC YAMAS & NIYAMAS: TAPAS

Tapas is to practice austerity, serious disciplines, penance and sacrifice. Be diligent in worship, practice and meditation. Atone for misdeeds, perform self-denial, give up cherished possessions, money or time. You must be ready otherwise the process will not work. Fulfill austerities at special times, under a teachers guidance, to ignite the inner fires of self-transformation.

All of the niyamas focus on expressing the refined soul qualities within each of us. In the case of tapas, the divine quality we are expressing is becoming a more spiritual person, evolved through the purification and intensification of austerity.

Austerity is the most intense form of tapas some practices could include living in seclusion in a simple hut or cave, eating simply, not speaking, not reading magazines or newspapers or watching television or accessing the internet.

In the yoga practice it could mean holding a pose, chanting, pranayama practices or sitting still in meditation. 

"As the intense fire of the furnace refines gold to brilliance, so does the burning suffering of austerity purify the soul to resplendence."

Tapas causes our soul body to mature more quickly as providing fertilizer to a plant causes it to grow. Moving forward at a faster spiritual pace also means we are resolving our karmas more quickly. 

To atone for misdeeds, penance is obligatory. We must quickly rectify future effects of the causes we have put in place. 

Sacrifice is the act of giving up to a greater power a cherished possession be it money, time, intelligence or a physical object to manifest a greater good. Sacrifice is similar to charity but has the aspect of doing without, a form of self-denial.

Tapas is the stepping to to evolution, come practice it this week at Bhav.