Thoughts on Satya

Truthfulness. Correct.
Many resources refer to "right speech" or "verbal truths." However, like all austerities, satya can be exist in any realm including mental, verbal and physical. If you practice ahimsa, then satya comes easily for you cannot lie without causing harm, inevitably.

Mental satya is truthful or correct thoughts. It means that what you think effects what you say. So be careful of how you remember events. As time passes, the memory fades. Recalling details of what happened yesterday is easier than years ago.

It also means to be careful what you think...for instance about a person. If you stew over an issue with an adversary, you may find yourself thinking of untrue things about that person. If you dwell long enough, you may begin to think those untrue thoughts are correct, and act upon your incorrect thoughts.

This does not mean you can not daydream! Daydreams can be creative thoughts that help you solve problems. Just be aware of the reality of daydreams and keep them true.

Once mental satya is pure, speaking truthfully should come easily. If you always speak the truth, you never have fear that what you said was not true. Even untruths that you think will not hurt anyone, can become larger problems. Think of a "little white lie” as a seed. From it sprouts fear, as the gardener must attend to the lie for fear of being found out.

If you are not sure that your conclusion or bit of advice is correct, seek the truth behind your thoughts. Gather facts and ask questions to ascertain the truth. Do not feel foolish if you say, "I'm not sure, I'll get back to you" rather than give false information to appease someone in the short-term. The long-term consequence may be that you are more foolish trying to explain later and people may not trust your opinion in the future.

Another aspect of satya is correct action. Even if you are doing good deeds, or working toward bettering humanity, if you act untruthfully, the virtue is negated.

Here is an interesting scenario: a couple summers ago, Jay Peak was putting in its new golf course. The resort has made strides in developing the area with respect to water run-off in concurrence with environmental regulations. However, the Summer that they were doing much of the work was a very wet, rainy season. Development of the course was delayed due to the heavy rains. After one very heavy storm, VPIRG sent someone up to test the silt in the brooks around the resort. VPIRG did not alert Jay Peak administration or other state officals and published the results of their tests directly to the media. Although VPIRG's objective is to blow whistles on environmental problems so to better humanity, ask yourself "did they act with satya"?

Yoga Sutra 2.36 states that by being established in truthfulness, the results of your actions will come to you. Some mystically believe that it means once you have become "all-truthful", that all things will come to you without having to seek them. That, of course, is easy for one who has also established themselves firmly in santosha, but I'll get to that later. What this Sutra is telling us is that if we follow an oath on honesty then the truth will follow us. Once the mind becomes true and absent of lies, and right speech and action occur from it, then the True Self is reflected.

A wise person once told me, before you act or speak, ask yourself…
Is it true?
Is it kind (not harmful)?
Is it necessary?
If you answer "no" to any of these questions, you may want to rethink your words or actions.