Yoga of Sustainability (Death Philosophy)

Every day we live in accordance with, and avoidance of, death. We do our best to take care of ourselves, but no matter what, we can’t avoid the cellular damage that accumulates over time. We age. And we all transition out of this life.

Death can be seen as a release of unhelpful tendencies and behaviors that hold us back from living in accordance with our true nature.

In the Yoga tradition, the most common discussion around death is the death of the false self or ego. As we deepen our practice, we see the person we think we are crumble away. We confront the raw aspects of ourselves that need to change and humble ourselves during the process. Maybe our relationship with our lover dies, and they suddenly become a stranger to us. Perhaps our passion for our career dies, or something that we previously identified with now feels foreign. The things in our lives that once promoted a sense of contentment slowly drop away and we’re left with the raw truth of our reality. Suddenly we’re in a place of asking “who am I?” and are forced to reconfigure our lives to accept this new more vibrant beginning.

The foundation of many yogic philosophies emphasizes a “balance of opposites.” From the lens of death philosophy, we’re constantly balancing our need to be attached and detached. If we’re constantly engaged and present with ourselves and the world around us, we deny ourselves meaningful rest. We force ourselves to believe that we have all the answers and deny ourselves the ability to learn and trust. Having a healthy level of detachment promotes confidence, self-awareness, and healthy boundaries. On the contrary, if we’re too detached, we end up becoming passive, and rather than being the protagonist of our own story we become a character in somebody else’s. Having excess detachment leads us away from building intimate relationships and instead promotes a state of stagnation and immobility. This energy promotes escapism, which denies our abilities to process our emotions and grow as people. Having a healthy level of attachment promotes honesty, compassion, motivation, and understanding. We no longer need to escape our worlds because we enjoy the world we’ve created for ourselves.

The process of shedding our false self reveals the important lesson of impermanence. The only consistent force in this world is change. Everything we’re exposed to is impermanent. Our perspectives, homes, relationships, possessions, bodies are all constantly changing. Acceptance of change allows us to recognize that we live in a world that is both predictable and unpredictable, and our energy is best spent focusing on the things that are in our control. This is where we can apply our balance of opposites. I would argue that it’s healthy to build attachment to the things that are in our control, while simultaneously detaching ourselves from the things that are out of our control. With this practice we can begin to achieve authentic balance in our lives.

Yoga philosophy on death is cyclical. This means that the forces of life are driven by the forces of death. We see this in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.32 when discussing savasana, "lying full length on the back like a corpse is called Śavāsana. With this asana, tiredness caused by other asanas is eliminated; it also promotes calmness of the mind." Yoga of death emphasizes that there are aspects of ourselves and our identities that must die if we want to remove blockages that separate us from our true nature. Without death we cannot merge with our higher selves. Cultivating a meaningful relationship with death promotes an elimination of restrictive practices, and an acceptance of our true natures. To me, Yoga of death means allowing the things that need to die off to die off. Easier said than done, but this is why Yoga is a practice. An exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, practice.

As Linda Johnsen says, “the gross body disintegrates at death. The subtle body disintegrates at rebirth, allowing you to develop a new personality in your next life. The casual body reincarnates again and again, carrying your karma with it like luggage. It finally disintegrates at the time of liberation, when the higher self-disengages from the cycle of birth and death.” Here, let’s replace “birth” with restrictive habits, and “death” with new beginnings. The more we deny our relationship with death, the less restrictive habits we release, and we deny ourselves the possibility of new beginnings. Accepting death allows our energy to move, progress, and grow. Accepting death is the only way to live.

Like wealth philosophy, Yoga tradition says that death can be interpreted as Shakti, meaning that death is a powerful stream of energy that deserves respect. Death has the power to completely transform reality in positive and negative ways. As said in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika 113, “The Yogi, who has been able to move the Shakti deserves success. It is useless to say more, suffice it to say that he conquers death playfully.”

If you agree that death isn’t something to worry about, but rather it’s an energy that flows within all of us, then what things in your life need to die for you to feel better? Yoga asks us to examine our life. Are you happy where you work? How often do you feel pleasure and satisfaction, and what forces are impeding on your ability to enhance those sensations? Are you scared of letting go? How often are you spending time in a blissful, joyous space, and are there shifts you could make in your life that enhances these positive sensations? The more we’re able to know and act in accordance with our true nature the wealthier we become. The wealthier we are, the more we’re able to share. The more we share the better karma we achieve. The better karma we achieve, the better transition we will experience when it’s times to progress to the afterlife.