Titiksha: A Yogic Superpower

A group of Ananda ministers led a program in India based on Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings. It featured uplifting music by Swami Kriyananda, inspiring talks, and a meditation, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Although Yogananda cautioned against becoming preoccupied with siddhis—the “powers” that can arise from spiritual practice—in India it is not uncommon for people to evaluate a particular spiritual path according to the powers it’s adherents have developed.

With that in mind, a man stood up and asked the speaker, “You’ve practiced these teachings for more than thirty years—what spiritual powers have you developed?”

The presenter began his answer slowly, saying he had no powers to speak of—that such things were not his aim. Then, after a long thoughtful pause, he corrected himself: “Perhaps I have developed one spiritual power: the ability to remain even-minded and cheerful at all times. No matter what happens in my life, nothing can disturb my inner peace.

In Sanskrit, this capacity to remain unruffled under all circumstances is called titiksha. It is the ability to stay calm and unshaken in the face of life’s opposites: heat and cold, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, success and failure. As Yogananda said, “The yogi must learn to stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds.”

We can begin with simple acts of forbearance, training ourselves to respond calmly and impersonally to whatever situations arise. Over time, this practice becomes more than a stoic resolve to remain unruffled; it evolves into a spiritual discipline that loosens the bonds of attachment and desire that tie us to the physical realm—it frees us to rise above earthly concerns into the wide open skies of spiritual freedom.

With practice, we can learn to welcome every experience that comes our way—pleasant or uncomfortable—as a gift from the Divine meant to guide us into deeper understanding and greater joy.

After settling into the peace of meditation, try repeating this affirmation on acceptance by Swami Kriyananda several times, either silently or aloud:

“I accept with calm impartiality whatever comes my way. Free in my heart, I am not conditioned by any outward circumstance.”

For best results, practice daily for several weeks or even months.

As you go about your day, hold on to the joy of meditation. If something disturbs your inner calm, make a mental note of it. Then see if you can stay a little calmer the next time that situation—or one like it—arises. As long as you are moving in the right direction, you are sure to master it in time.

Many stories from the life of the Indian saint Swami Ramdas (not to be confused with the American author and spiritual teacher Ram Dass) illustrate this theme well.

In his book In Quest of God, Swami Ramdas recounts his pilgrimage across India in the 1920s as a homeless sadhu. Carrying few possessions and no money, he wandered the subcontinent from one sacred site to another—guided and sustained solely by Ram, his chosen deity, whom he regarded as a pure expression of God’s loving presence.

Surrendering himself wholly to the Divine, he welcomed every experience—pleasant, uncomfortable, or even painful—as a gift given directly by the hand of his beloved Ram. He cheerfully welcomed all hardships as part of God’s play, embracing every situation with unwavering joy and trust.

During his journey, he was often mistreated and harassed by police officers, railroad officials, and others who misunderstood—or even felt threatened by—this simple, saintly wandering sadhu. Yet he always responded with kindness and love. In time, his self-styled enemies were won over by that love; their lives often transformed by their encounters with him.

One day, Ramdas and a companion made a strenuous trek up a mountainside to visit a sacred Hindu temple. Because the journey could only be made on foot—and took a full day—and because the night winds on the mountain were bitterly cold, they naturally expected to stay in the temple overnight before starting back down in the morning.

To their surprise, when night fell, they found themselves locked outside the temple, with barely enough clothing to fend off the icy mountain winds. Ramdas’ companion groaned throughout the night, tossing and turning on the cold, hard ground, while Ramdas inwardly rejoiced that Ram had sent the cold winds to help him remain alert for his practice of japa. As he chanted Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram Om, he was lifted into ecstasy.

Swami Ramdas’ example of titiksha is, no doubt, more severe than most of us are ready for. Still, even a modest practice of this forbearance—especially when joined with meditation and self-offering—will lead to greater joy in our lives.

Bring to mind a situation in your life that often disturbs your peace of mind. Do small things—like the temperature being just right—need to be perfect for you to feel contented? Does someone close to you—a partner at home, or a colleague at work—have a habit that tends to irritate you? Do you become agitated when your plan for the day is disrupted by an unexpected challenge?

Choose an easy win first: a situation that occasionally unsettles you but won’t be too difficult to overcome. As you build a few quick wins, you will create the momentum needed to tackle more difficult challenges.

A few months after meeting Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda left his guru’s ashram to live a life of solitary meditation in the Himalayas. He soon realized, however, that he would find God only through his guru’s grace, and so he returned to the ashram. His guru received him graciously and took him into the kitchen to get some food.

Continuing in Yogananda’s own words, from Autobiography of a Yogi:

“Master, I must have disappointed you by my abrupt departure from my duties here; I thought you might be angry with me.”

“No, of course not! Wrath springs only from thwarted desires. I do not expect anything from others, so their actions cannot be in opposition to wishes of mine. I would not use you for my own ends; I am happy only in your own true happiness.”

Like Sri Yukteswar, Swami Ramdas, and the great saints of all religions, we too can learn to remain even-minded and cheerful in every situation. As we begin to release desires and expectations that destroy our equanimity when thwarted, we naturally find ourselves lifted into an expansive state of peace and calmness—into the eternal joy of the soul.

OM Shanti Shanti,

Suryadas

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