Five Keys Yoga - Nirodhaḥ Yoga Blog

How to Be a Virtuous Person

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMT

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
- Aristotle

This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.
Want to start at the beginning?
Yoga Sutra 4.29
प्रसंख्यानेऽप्यकुसीदस्य सर्वथा विवेकख्यातेर्धर्ममेघः समाधिः
Prasaṃkhyāne'py akusīdasya sarvathā vivekakhyāter dharmameghaḥ samādhiḥ
Dharmameghah samadhi is a state of constant discriminative discernment, wherein the yogi is washed clean of desire for even this state of supreme realization.

Dharmameghah is an incredible word. Translated from Sanskrit, it literally means “cloud of virtue, showering of righteousness.” (Stiles, 120)

Iyengar artistically translates it as a “delightful fragrant virtue”, a “raincloud of virtue… [and] justice” and a "showering of dharma.” (278) Satchidananda calls it a “cloud of dharma” and defines dharma as including “virtue, justice, law, duty, morality” and also references "religious merit” (269) here.

This is where yoga bumps up against religion and scares some people. However, if we take this at face value, we can see that yoga as outlined in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is not a religion but has a similar foundation of ethical and moral boundaries.

It never prescribes the how (one’s religious predilections) but it does tell us the what - treat all things as if they are God, because they are. And that includes you.

Can’t all ten yamas and niyamas be summed up like that? It’s all a miracle. When we understand that we are filled and surrounded by divinity, we will never again be bothered by the innate, animalistic desires and aversions our human brain is naturally wired to want.

Once we are not even attached to this peaceful and transformative way of looking at things - Iyengar calls it “this highest state of evolution,” (278) - we are showered in virtue. Because then nothing we do or don’t do is tainted by “selfish interest.” (Iyengar, 278)

As you may remember from pada three and our discussion of the siddhis, Patanjali frequently warns us that the fruits of a disciplined and passionate yoga practice are also obstructions to our ultimate liberation. Iyengar tells us that the yogi should know “that the highest form of intelligence is also a hindrance.” (278)

Letting go of our attachment to our practice is a necessary and natural part of the yogi’s development. Once we have fully let go, we are in dharmameghah samadhi.

I love the image Patanjali conjures of dharmameghah as a rain shower. As Iyengar hints in his translation of the word (“delightful, fragrant virtue”), it reminds me of the feeling after a summer rain.
The beautiful, clear smell. Humidity in the air abated. The world renewed.

“When the stream of virtue pours in torrents and the consciousness is washed clean of bias, prejudice and ambition, the light of the soul dawns.”
- BKS Iyengar

Dharmameghah figuratively clears the air around us, transforming us and allowing us to wash away our separateness and merge into the universal.

Ram Bhakt tells us that those who have achieved dharmameghah samadhi have “completely surrender[ed] their identity to the greater universe. They might continue to act in the world but are completely unattached.” (209)

One final thought about this sutra; it is describing a sort of circular logic. You cannot achieve desirelessness unless you have no desires. But how can you achieve anything without having the desire to achieve it?

I’d like to include an extended metaphor that really clarifies this for me. Satchidananda was well-known for these simple, concrete comparisons.

Imagine you have a pure, clean, white cloth, and then somehow it becomes dirty. You want the cloth to stay away from “wanting” the dirt. What do you do? You want a piece of soap. What is soap? Another piece of dirt, is it not? Maybe it’s good-looking and good-smelling and you have to pay for it, but it’s still dirt. Once you get the soap, what do you do? You bring the paid-for dirt and allow it to chum up with the unpaid-for dirt. At the proper time, when you know positively that all the unwanted dirt is really playing with the newcomer dirt, you just rinse the cloth in clean water and take it out. What happens? Both kinds of dirt are washed away. In the same way, you have to have a good want to push away the old bad ones. (270-271)

Another metaphor related to this that Satchidananda told in one of his recorded lectures is a proverb about a fox covered with fleas. When the fox wants to get rid of the fleas, she grabs a stick with her mouth and walks into a pool of water holding it while the other end touches dry land. Holding the stick like this, she submerges herself until just the stick is above the waterline and the fleas walk across the stick to dry land. Once the fleas are gone, the fox drops the now unneeded stick.

Our yoga practice is like that stick. It helps us get rid of the fleas that are bothering us. Once the fleas are gone, what use is the stick?

Once again, we see that yoga is so, so much more than yoga poses. It is a way of liberating ourselves from our circumstances.

We are now coming to the last five sutras within book four and therefore, within the entire The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali carries his thought from Sutra 4.29 to its logical conclusion, which is the condition of bliss, understanding and liberation we will touch on in the final three posts of this year.

How do you sum up the yoga sutras’ ethical guidance for yourself? How do you feel when you are in a state of desirelessness? Imagine yourself in a situation where you normally feel a lot of desire or aversion. Putting aside the logistics, what would it feel like to not have any desires in this situation?

student of the month: Randi

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:00:00 GMT

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was initially drawn to yoga as a way to “work out” when I was younger. However, I soon came to realize it’s so much more than that, and called a “practice” for a reason. I quickly found the benefits both mentally and physically.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
Continuing off my previous answer, I found yoga to not only be extremely beneficial for my body, but also my mental state, including stress levels.

What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
I would have told myself to do the yoga teacher training (I completed in 2024) much, much sooner. My body has more limitations now than when I first started practicing. But on the flip side, I’m learning for the first time how important props are, and this is in large part due to the amazing instructors at 5 Keys!

Uniting With the SOurce

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Photo by Lucas Doddema on Unsplash

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.
- Ryunosuke Satoro

This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.
Want to start at the beginning?
Yoga Sutra 4.25
विशेषदर्शिन आत्मभावभावनानिवृत्तिः
Viśeṣa darśina ātmabhāva bhāvanā nivṛttiḥ
Understanding the distinction between the mind and the Self causes a cessation of the perception that the mind is Self.

If you’ve ever wondered why there is consciousness at all if it is distinct from the Seer, Yoga Sutra 4.24 is for you! Patanjali answers that although the mind is afflicted with innumerable desires and subconscious impressions, it “exists for the sake of another” - that is, the Self - because “consciousness has no existence of its own but is dependent on the seer.” (Iyengar, 272)

Makunda Stiles calls this existing “solely for the sake of being close to the True Self.” (53) The Shoshoni Yoga Retreat calls the mind a “close ally” (50) of the Self.

So clearly, the mind is subservient but also beneficial to the Self. Why? Patanjali has actually already addressed this back in Yoga Sutras 2.21, 2.23 and 2.24.

The seen exists so that the Seer can have experiences leading the Seer (or Self) to recognize its own essential nature. That is, so the Self can recognize its own self-luminosity. (Please read last month’s blog] for more on the self-luminosity of the Self.)

Or as Ram Bhakt puts it in A Seeker’s Guide to the Yoga Sutras, “the mind takes on the goals of the soul. Every desire and action that you have has at its root some seeking of experience by the soul.” (203)

Iyengar explains that the goals are not simply sensorial experiences but to transcend the mind and reflect one’s pure spirit. “[The mind’s] aim is not only to satisfy the desires of the senses (bhoga) but also to further the emancipation (apavarga) of the soul.” (273)

In the same way that a lover of God offers food, clothes and comforts as if they were essential to God, consciousness wants to satisfy its Lord with the pleasures of the world. Once consciousness is cultured through yogic discipline, it becomes ripe and illumined. It realizes the seer is not interested in objects of pleasure and opts to serve with detachment. Now that it understands its inner value, it realizes the triviality of nature’s pleasures and turns towards the path of Self-Realization. Thus transformed, it begins its journey towards emancipation. (274)

So now we reach our titular Yoga Sutra this month, 4.25. This one had me with three translations all piled on top of each other, studying for quite a while, trying to parse out the meaning for the translation above. Because there is so much to this one little sutra.

Let’s start with the more classical translations I’m using by Swami Satchidananda and BKS Iyengar. Satchidananda translates it “to one who sees the distinction between the mind and the Atman (the Self), thoughts of mind as the Atman cease forever.” (267) Iyengar says “for one who realizes the distinction between citta (consciousness) and atma (the Self), the sense of separation between the two disappears.” (274)

These are pretty well aligned but when you dig into the nitty gritty of each word, lots of variations come into view. I’ll just list the words and the various meanings I’ve found across the three texts I have with word-for-word translations.

Visesha - distinct, distinction, specific quality, peculiarity

Darsinah - seer, to whom, who sees, of one who sees, the Seer

Atmabhava - mind as Self, the ideas of the seer, the thought of the seer, self-consciousness, self-centeredness

Bhavana - thoughts, feeling, reflection, dwelling upon in the mind

Nivrttih - ceases forever, return, disappearance, emancipation, complete cessation, discontinuation, inactivity

I like laying it out like this for the complicated ones because it allows us to take all the possible nuances and create a translation that feels direct and meaningful for the individual. That is exactly what we’re about at Five Keys, each individual’s unique relationship with their own practice and deepening their spiritual understanding of themself.

I’ll include some more contemporary translations of Sutra 4.25 from the texts I’m using here as well.

“Dwelling upon self-centeredness completely ceases for one who sees this distinction.” (Stiles, 53)

“When one understands the relationship between the mind and the Self, the colorations of the mind no longer cause difficulties.” (Shoshoni, 50)

“For those who know the distinction between the mind and the soul, questions regarding the nature of the soul come to an end.” (Bhakt, 204)

You pick and choose what resonates with you.

Yoga Sutra 4.26 continues with the thought from 4.25. Patanjali tells us that once we understand this distinction, “the whole mind may flow unimpeded towards the complete freedom of the Self.” (Shoshoni, 51)

Makunda Stiles translates 4.26 as “then the mind is inclined toward discriminative thinking, which pulls irresistibly toward absolute freedom.” (53) Iyengar compares this to building a dyke within your mind. Consciously directing the flow of thoughts so that the force of the mind - consciousness - “does not move again towards the world, but turns and flows towards union with the divine seer.” (267)

Iyengar and Satchidananda both reference gravity in their translations. Iyengar calling it a “gravitational pull” (274) and Satchidananda saying that the mind “gravitates toward Absoluteness.” (267) Once you have found the path, the pull is natural, irresistible, even gravitational. Like floating downstream.

Patanjali’s advice turns quite practical in Yoga Sutras 4.27 and 4.28. Advising us that in the intervals between these discriminative moments, our mind will return to old patterns and thoughts. (4.27) Patanjali calls this cchidresu, which might be translated as an interval, hole, fissure, defect or opening. Our mind naturally has moments wherein something glitches and old patterns surface due to habituation. A crack in the pavement that allows a long dormant seed to surface in just the right conditions.

When that occurs, use the previous advice given to overcome them. (Yoga Sutra, 4.28) The translation of Sutra 4.28 is simply “extinction of these afflictions described” (hanam esam klesavat uktam). Essentially, Patanjali says “I’ve already told you how to get rid of these afflictions.”

Iyengar explains that “as fire is deprived of fuel, the yogi has to remove the latent impressions from the consciousness and extinguish them…ending their power to generate disturbing thoughts.” (277) In other words, we just have to go through the process of putting out our fires. “There are no shortcuts on the yoga path,” my long-time teacher is fond of saying.

There are no shortcuts on the yoga path.
- Sivakami Sonia Sumar

If you need a starting point on overcoming a recurrence of old thoughts and patterns, Satchidananda recommends reviewing Yoga Sutras 2.1, 2.2, 2.10, 2.11 and 2.26.

Finally, Ram Bhakt has a very good point we ought to remember.

Even advanced yogis who have practiced constantly experience the return of past impressions and habits if they lose their concentration…Usually, because their practice is so strong, these thoughts are immediately released. However, there are examples of yogis who achieved great things and then fell back into selfishness, egoism, and attachment. Although they can point you in the right direction and remove darkness from within you, it is best not to blindly glorify any teacher. (207)

Even the most wise and ethical yogi is still a human. As Bhakt says later in this section “anyone who is still in a body has karma left to exhaust.” (207)

Does your sense of self ever fluctuate based on your thoughts? How does your Self appear when you are able to go beyond your thoughts? If you have been able to observe your True Self before, does the image stay for long? What can you do to bring yourself back to that perfect image of your Self?

student of the month: Alice

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was a law firm associate in New York City. A colleague whose wife is a yoga teacher invited me to take her class. I had no idea it would change my life!
At first, yoga was a wonderful way to challenge myself physically. I thought of it as achieving beautiful poses. Eventually, I came to appreciate yoga as much more - a practice of integrating body, breath, and mind. Yoga became a portal to living according to personal principles and honoring the value of community.
I found 5KY in December 2025 after foot surgery because of the livestream classes. I'm grateful to now be able to practice at the studio because the 5KY community is welcoming and open - to me, that is a huge part of yoga practice.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
Physically, yoga helped me maintain strength and openness. Mentally, yoga has helped me to regulate the intense stress of being a lawyer and maintain balance in my life.

What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
See beyond the asana (physical poses). Appreciate and begin to understand how asana connects you to breath, serenity, and finding your own truths and other people who support your living those truths. Be okay with where you are today - stretch yourself, but stretch yourself appropriately with the trust that you'll attain a different place in your practice at the right time.

Apply Constancy and Watch Your World Change

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

The secret of success is constancy to purpose.
- Benjamin Disraeli

This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.
Want to start at the beginning?
Yoga Sutra 4.18
सदा ज्ञाताश्चित्तवृत्तयस्तत्प्रभोः पुरुषस्यापरिणामित्वात्
sadā jñātāścittavṛttayastatprabhoḥ puruṣasyāpariṇāmitvāt
Fluctuations of the mind are always known to its master, the Purusha, due to its constancy.

Before going any further, let’s get reacquainted with Purusha. Vedanta sees the physical manifestation of the world as dualistic.

All things spring from the combination of prakriti, which is nature, and Purusha, which is variously defined as the “soul” (Iyengar, 266), the “seer” (Iyengar, 267) the “True Self” (Stiles, 51), the “transcendental self” (Stiles, 117), “the owner of the mind-stuff or… its master” (Satchidananda, 262) in the texts I am referencing.

Surely, it has many, many more translations and really, it’s up to you to pick the one that suits your fancy. I will pick “universal consciousness” here to stay consistent with the rest of our Yoga Sutra blog post series.

I think of this as the combination of energy (Purusha) and matter (prakriti) to manifest in the phenomenon we call reality.

Now that we have that sorted, let’s look more closely at Yoga Sutra 4.18. Patanjali is going to explain to us over the next few sutras how we can understand the difference between whatever chatter we have going on in our mind and pure universal consciousness.

In Sutra 4.18, Patanjali explains that the Purusha is distinguishable from the mind because it is constant, versus the ever-changing fluctuations of the mind (remember yoga citta vritti nirodhah?)

Iyengar gives a simple example I’ve heard elsewhere. “In deep sleep, consciousness forgets itself. It is purusa, as a witness which reminds the mind of sleep after waking. This indicates that purusa is ever alert and aware (sadā jñātā).” (266)

Swami Satchidananda asked similar questions in his lectures. If you have a dream you may remember your dream, even though you’re not conscious when it happens. And if you sleep deeply, you are aware of this after you wake. Something is observing the mind, even while the body sleeps.

In Yoga Sutra 2.19, Patanjali reinforces this concept, calling consciousness an object that is observed. Purusha is self-illuminative (svabhasam) and therefore, the only real subject. Iyengar explains “the seer can be subject and object at the same time; consciousness cannot. It may therefore be inferred that consciousness has no light of its own.” (267)

Swami Satchidananda tells us contrarily

[The mind] perceives objects outside. At other times, if it is clean enough, it can turn within and reflect the Purusha also. So, it can be either subject or object. As a subject, it sees other things. As an object, it is seen by the Purusha. But the Purusha can never be both. It is always the subject. (264)

Although these two translations seem in direct opposition, I believe they are ultimately compatible. Either way, Patanjali is explaining that while the Purusha has the ability to witness itself, the mind does not. The mind must either observe or be observed.

Mukunda Stiles pairs this with 2.20 beautifully. “Thought is an object and therefore cannot illuminate itself.” (4.19) “And there can be no comprehension of subject and object simultaneously.” (4.20) (52)

This is clearly demonstrated by a few minutes of focused concentration on one’s thoughts. I think it’s also why so many beginners to meditation are uncomfortable observing their own thoughts. When you actually observe your mind, it starts to get quiet.

It’s like when you hear yourself talking on the phone or Zoom. You speak and hear the words and that distracts you enough to stop speaking as freely. You observe the mind and the thoughts kind of echo in an uncomfortable way that prevents you from thinking the next thought.

That is why it’s important to keep going as a beginner in meditation. It is through this discomfort that a period of silence is achieved within the mind, which you can then extend through practice.

Patanjali next addresses why, even though universal consciousness is accessible to us, we are not aware of all other beings’ thoughts. As Stiles translates Yoga Sutra 4.21, “if it were possible to know another’s thoughts, every mind could know every other’s thoughts and the result would be a confusion of impressions, which would be an impossible absurdity.” (52)

However, if our individual mind focuses on the Purusha and thoughts calm down enough, the mind itself can perceive the Purusha. This is often described as looking at some type of reflection.

If the image in the reflection is distorted by thoughts, our consciousness cannot perceive the Purusha accurately. When thoughts are calm, the image is clear like upon calm water and our mind accurately reflects the Purusha.

Patanjali even suggests this in Yoga Sutra 4.22, using the Sanskrit word pattau to describe the mind “getting the reflection of” the Purusha. In short, while we can’t tap into other people’s stream of consciousness, we can train our mind to reflect the Purusha’s luminance.

There is another potential translation of Sutra 4.21 that is worth mentioning here. Taken just at face-value, this sutra says “one mind being known by another cognition of cognitions absurdity confusion of impressions and”. Put together in English syntax, we might say one mind knowing another is cognition of cognition and creates an absurdity of a confusion of impressions.

The Shoshoni Yoga Retreat takes this tack, translating 4.21 as “if the mind could observe the mind, it would mean that a person has more than one mind. This would be confusing because each would have its own memory and impressions.” (50)

Yet as Patanjali explains in Yoga Sutra 4.23, the Purusha’s illuminative capacity means that the mind can comprehend everything the universal consciousness understands. Satchidananda translates this sutra as “the mind-stuff, when colored by both Seer and seen, understands everything,” (266) which I think sums this entire section up quite nicely.

Next post, Patanjali will delve into why the mind exists in the first place, if it is simply a reflection.

Have you ever gotten a clear picture of Purusha in your mind’s eye? How long did it last? Is it possible to carry this reflection in your mind at all times or does the mind sometimes reflect upon other objects? Does it get easier to retain this reflection when you bask in it repeatedly?

Change Your Perception, Change Your Reality

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.
Want to start at the beginning?
Yoga Sutra 4.9
जातिदेशकालव्यवहितानामप्यानन्तर्यं स्मृतिसंस्कारयोरेकरूपत्वात्
Jāti deśa kāla vyavahitānām apy ānantaryaṃ smṛti saṃskārayor ekarūpatvāt
Even though birth, place and time separate us, the continuity between memory and subliminal impressions (samskaras) gives us a common identity.

Continuing on from the discussion of sattvic, rajasic and tamasic actions in Sutra 4.7, Patanjali delves deeper into karmic philosophy.

In Yoga Sutra 4.8, he says that the residual impressions created by former actions will only manifest in a particular birth according to the “ripening” (Stiles, 114) of the soul. The soul must have the maturation needed to at least attempt to overcome this karma.

Way back in Yoga Sutra 1.6, Patanjali lists the five types of thoughts, or mental modifications (vritti). One of these is memory. Here in Yoga Sutra 4.9, Patanjali explicitly links memory to our subliminal impressions or samskaras.

In other words, we remember something we like or don’t like and this activates a subconscious drive to either try to achieve/retain the good things or to get rid of/prevent the bad things. This is instinctual behavior we see across all life and is also basic operant conditioning.
Despite our various conditions at birth, we are united in that our memories are linked to our samskaras and trigger our survival instincts. The body keeps the score, no?

In fact, Patanjali implies this relationship between our memory, samskaras and instinct in Yoga Sutra 4.10. “Since the desire to live is eternal, impressions are also beginningless.” (Satchidananda, 258)
But before our spirits are too dampened, he also gives us the remedy in the very next sutra (4.11). He tells us that “cause and effect form an endless cycle” (Shoshoni, 47) between the basis and support of these samskaras.

It is a feedback loop. In the absence of that basis and support, the feedback loop dissolves and the samskaras disappear.
An analogy I resonate with from the Bhagavad Gita describes karma like the bow and arrow.

There is the arrow in the hand, which we are getting ready to let loose. That is our present action. There are the arrows we have already shot. Those are our past actions. And there are the arrows in our quiver, which we’ve yet to aim and represent our future actions.

Patanjali describes time as continuous - existing across past, present and future. Because of this, “the past and the future are as real as the present.” (Iyengar, 259) They just appear to be different “due to the play of the gunas…Conditions change, producing the illusion that time has changed.” (Iyengar, 160)

Understanding the nature of time frees us from the feedback loop of cause and effect. We understand that the previous moment when we didn’t have the object of our desire is ultimately the same as the next moment, when we did. Nature may have shifted but really, it’s all the same.

The effects of time, whether manifest or latent, are part of the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas), which make up all of nature. (Yoga Sutra 4.13)

I would like to end this post by putting Swami Satchidananda’s translation of Yoga Sutras 4.14-4.17 together and then commenting on it, as together they form a complete thought.

The reality of things is due to the uniformity of the gunas’ transformations. (Yoga Sutra 4.14)

Due to differences in various minds, perception of even the same object may vary. (Yoga Sutra 4.15)

Nor does an object’s existence depend upon a single mind, for if it did, what would become of that object when that mind did not perceive it? (Yoga Sutra 4.16)

An object is known or unknown dependent on whether or not the mind gets colored by it. (Yoga Sutra 4.17)

So the gunas dance, creating existence as we know it: past, present and future. Based on our own circumstances, our minds perceive this dance subjectively. What things appear to be to one person are not the same as for another.

And yet, there is an objective reality. If not, objects would cease to exist whenever consciousness does not perceive it.

Finally, whether an individual knows about a specific object depends on whether their consciousness has been colored by it. “An object is understood and known according to the expectation of the mind, or remains unrecognized owing to the absence of reflection.” (Iyengar, 265)

This last point seems particularly salient in recent times, when we all observe the same basic facts and yet come to wildly, sometimes virulently different conclusions.

There is reality and there is our perception of it. Our perceptions are clouded by our own expectations and we may even fail to register some facet of reality due to the experiences we’ve had so far.

From here on, Patanjali will turn from nature (or prakriti), its qualities (the gunas) and their effect on the mind and therefore, our karma. The remaining sutras in pada four of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali will have us reflecting on the Purusha, or the universal consciousness from which all of our individual consciousnesses spring.

How have your own lived experiences colored your perception of objective reality? Has your spiritual practice helped you identify these distortions? Or even helped to clarify some of them?

Equanimity: Peace of Mind in Action

Mon, 04 May 2026 22:41:59 GMT

Photo by Samuel Austin on Unsplash

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.
- Carl Jung

This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.
Want to start at the beginning?
Yoga Sutra 4.7
र्माशुक्लाकृष्णं योगिनस्त्रिविधमितरेषाम्
karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṃ yoginas trividham itareṣām
The actions of the Yogi are non-white and non-black; but in the case of others are threefold (white, black and gray).

Yoga Sutra 4.7 is a final punctuation to the thought we were exploring last month in Yoga Sutras 4.4 - 4.6. When the mind of a yogi has been conditioned through meditation, the ego is slowly dissolved. Thoughts created within this meditative, ego-less state are not subject to karma.

As we saw through the progression of the third pada of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by effort in concentration one develops the ability to meditate. Through meditation, the seeker can learn to live their life in a deepening state of continual meditation and complete equanimity. At least this is the goal.

As one learns to live their life in a state of equanimity - which means a state without attachments or aversions and therefore, without ego - all of one's thoughts and therefore, words and actions become ego-less and so untinted by previous impressions (samskaras) made in our mind. BKS Iyengar compares this state of mind to a kite “released in the sky, without a string to bring it back to earth.” (254) The kite is affected by the wind and may soar, divert its course or even crash but is not directing the action like a person (the ego) would holding the string.

In another comparison, Swami Satchidananda likens a Yogi to a knife. “If a knife cuts a fruit you may say it is good, and if it cuts a throat it is bad. But to the knife, a cut is a cut.” (255)

Before reaching this stage, our thoughts, words and actions are all tinted by our samskaras. Our samskaras may cause us to do good, bad or more likely, some mixture of the two.

Think of situations in which someone does something that benefits themselves or their close ones but creates pain and suffering elsewhere. I’ve certainly had experiences where I try to do good. But because I had some expectation of a particular result of this “good” action that didn’t come to fruition, I felt disappointed and hurt.

Attachment ultimately always lets us down by creating more pain and suffering. You can read more about this on our blog post on the kleshas and Yoga Sutra 2.3.

Interestingly, Iyengar also draws comparisons to the gunas in his commentary on Sutra 4.7. We may be sattvic, tamasic or those two may mix, creating rajasic thoughts, words and deeds.

In contrast, the Yogi’s actions are not even sattvic (calm). They transcend duality and are instead colorless. (Iyengar, 253)

Sattva and tamas are two ends of a spectrum - though it's almost like a horseshoe. Sattva (calmness) and tamas (sleepiness) appear similar.
Rajas is like a middle state. The seeker might be very active and trying to attain liberation and at least is not completely unaware and immobile. However, rajas is not the ideal state because it can stir up a lot of mental activity and therefore the craving/aversion dichotomy.

Rajas is tamas (ignorance, inaction, pure potential) transformed by awareness and desire (action, activity, kleshas) of the sattvic state.

Sattva is the goal because that way we learn to overcome the kleshas. But the Yogic state is even beyond sattva because there are no samskaras (even about sattva) to color one's thoughts.

This thought is echoed by the Shoshoni Yoga Retreat’s The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The translation here for Yoga Sutra 4.7 is “a true Yogi’s actions are neutral because they are untainted by the ego. The actions of others can be sattvic, rajasic or tamasic.” (46)

I believe that Patanjali is ultimately saying that a Yogi's actions are beyond the gunas, which are the forces of nature, and therefore beyond nature’s cycle of cause and effect Patanjali refers to as karma.

One final point about Sutra 4.7 that I find important. The direct translation of the text only describes actions as white, black, mixed and the implied “colorless” actions. However, several commentaries I am using have made the comparison of white actions = good and black actions = bad.

This kind of interpretation comes from the caste system, by which Patanjali was likely affected. But I find this comparison troubling because of the implicit racism of equating white to good and black to bad. In fact, Patanjali doesn't even make this distinction!

We may as well say some actions are red, some are blue and some are various shades of purple. That is the essence of this Sutra. Ultimately, it is unnecessary to call certain colors good or bad because Patanjali is cautioning us that all tinted actions - whatever their color - are undesirable because even “good” actions can lead to more suffering if we still struggle with the kleshas.

In the next post, we'll see how Patanjali applies this idea of good, bad and mixed actions to the way we perceive the world through the gunas and our karma.

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Have you ever tried to do something nice that backfired? What did you expect to happen? What actually happened? How did that feel? If you did the same action but hadn’t any expectations of the result, would you feel any different about the result?

Teacher of the Month: Mandi sit

Mon, 04 May 2026 17:59:32 GMT

What brought you to yoga?
Yoga came in and out of my life as a teen and college student as a workout and outlet for community but it wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic that I began developing a more consistent yoga practice and showing up for myself. Living in isolation and dealing with lots of uncertainty in the pandemic, I experienced a lot of anxiety and yoga was my outlet for presence, regulating my emotions and nervous system, and staying consistent with movement in a time where we couldn’t leave our house.

What is your approach to teaching?
I am passionate about creating a welcoming and inviting atmosphere in my yoga classes, where all students feel respected. I believe that yoga is for everyone - no matter your race, body type, economic background, language, or gender. Representation and accessibility matter, and I aim to uplift all voices in my classes. I enjoy teaching yoga as a tool for personal growth and helping students feel more confident and empathetic towards one another, and themselves.

Why did you choose to teach at 5KY?
Because of the community atmosphere! When I first discovered 5KY as a student, I loved how accessible, intimate, and community oriented the studio was. Additionally, I love how 5KY is women-run and has a diverse range of classes and teachers. There’s something for everyone at 5KY, whether you are a beginner or have taken hundreds of classes, and the instructors have diverse backgrounds and styles, so always something new to learn and try. :)

What makes your soul sing?
Hanging out in the sunshine, walking in the forest, spending time with my loved ones and kittens, and eating a good vegan donut.

student of the month: mike

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:57:40 GMT

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was looking for something like this because I felt like I needed this for healing and to help me move and build my self esteem.

I was feeling not myself during the COVID time, feeling isolated, stagnant and wasn't feeling right mentally and physically. I wasn't feeling good about myself and kind of depressed.

I tried yoga a few times before but never really stuck to it more than once or twice.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
More flexibility, my body is able to be more flexible, and it taught me how to breathe and meditate and stay in the moment. It also helped me with digestive problems that I started having during the pandemic.

What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
That I need to get out and do something for myself. Life is not always comfort because if you stay comfortable it doesn't help you in the long run and after a while you start to digress.

I will keep coming back.

student of the month: Helen

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I tried yoga in high school and loved it, but had focused on my on-again-off-again relationship with cardio for the past years. Last summer, I attended yoga classes at Gallagher Way hosted by Five Keys, and I fell in love with yoga as a communal and cultural practice. I've been attending a class at least once a week ever since.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
Immediately, I experienced pain relief in my hips and back. I grew in confidence, and experienced a much deeper relationship with my body; one based on respect and love for its capabilities. Those things make it easy to turn yoga into a priority in my schedule.

What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
I would tell myself that respecting and honoring what my body is capable of is much more important than meeting my own expectations of image. Health is so much more holistic than you think. How I show up to class mentally is almost as important as the practice.