April Gītā: 5.20

na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya 
n'odvijet prāpya cā'priyam
sthira-buddhir asammūḍho 
brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

‘Established in God, having a firm understanding of divine knowledge and not hampered by delusion, they neither rejoice in getting something pleasant nor grieve on experiencing the unpleasant.’

Bhagavad Gītā 5.20

Often yogis talk about the state of equanimity and how we can learn to face and accept both success and failure in the same way. We learn to attend to our duties with full commitment but without any expectation of what it could or could not lead to. This sloka adds another dimension. The word God is often difficult for many students but the practice of yoga is a spiritual discipline so I am always surprised that exploring our relationship to God is not talked about in equal measure.

Here we are taught that if we have an understanding of the Divine and therefore our own true spiritual natures then we are able to see the trappings of the material world. Through trust in and knowledge of something beyond what we can see we will truly understand the state of equanimity. We will understand that the pain and pleasure which we experience in our day-to-day lives are just pebbles of distraction. The yogi who is able to live in the material world, stilled, freed from the pebbles she or he faces will find true and sustainable peace. This yogi is rooted in spiritual practice and understands our connection to a force beyond the material world.  

– Louise Newton