Yogis say that if you only learn one sutra, Yoga Sutra 1.33 should be it. This Sutra is popularly known as the “Four Locks and Keys Sutra” because it outlines the four types of emotional disturbances all human beings face (the locks), and then explains specific techniques to overcome them (the keys). This allows our mind to be cheerful, calm, and quiet, which is the most important requirement for meditation.

As human beings, we are susceptible to a vast spectrum of emotions: desire, jealousy, anger, hatred, and violence. These negative emotions are part of our nature just as virtuous qualities - compassion, love, patience, and understanding - are. However, if we can discipline and control our mind so that it does not run astray, we will be able to meditate and stay in the light.

It takes work and self-awareness, but we can train ourselves to think in ways that propel our inner peace. By remaining equanimous regardless of what life throws at us, we will not be shaken by the world outside. We will be trees with firm roots so that the winds and rains don’t move our center.

On the road of life you will meet people who have a happy life and perhaps you will feel jealous and compare yourself. You will meet unhappy people who are suffering, people who are doing very good things for society, and people who are creating a mess.

Yoga Sutra 1.33 shows us how to deal with all of this.

YOGA SUTRA 1.33: MAITRI KARUNA MUDITOPEKSANAM SUKHA DUKHA PUNYAPUNYA VISAYANAM BHAVANATAS CITTA PRASADANAM

Maitri is behaving with friendliness towards others
Karuna is having compassion for others
Mudita is delighting in other people’s well-being
Upeksha is having no expectations from people because you have found something more important that you can focus on
Sukha is referring to people who have a happy life
Dukha is for unhappy people, people who are in distress and suffering
Punya is people who are doing very good things for society, such as philanthropists, people doing charity work, cleaning the ocean, planting trees, etc.
Apunya is people who are creating a mess in the world: terrorists, politicians, abusers, etc.

So translated, this Sutra means:

“By cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind retains its undisturbed calmness.”

HOW TO Deal with Happy PeoplE? TREAT THEM WITH FRIENDLINESS

When we see people in the world who are happy and successful, and everything in life seems to be going their way, it is very easy for us to commpare ourselves and feel jealous. We can satiate our minds with justifications for their good luck, like “Well, she only got that job because of her family connections, not her intelligence.” Or, “I could have what he has if I was willing to lie and cheat my way to the top too.”

Instead, Yoga Sutra 1.33 guides us to cultivate an attitude of friendliness towards people who are doing well, and to think thoughts along the lines of “I am very happy for her. My success is also coming.” We should strive to congratulate them and to be like the sun that gives its light and warmth to all people equally.

Remember, the goal of yoga is to calm the inner workings of our own minds, not to change external circumstances. When we are jealous or think ill of others, we are only poisoning our own minds and hurting ourselves. Those happy, successful people we are fixating on are out there enjoying their good fortune and remain unharmed.

2. hOW TO Deal with Unhappy People? TREAT THEM WITH COMPASSION

When we see others that are suffering, show compassion. It’s important to understand that the Yoga Sutras define compassion as empathy, not pity.

Compassion is being able to clearly see ourselves in the other’s shoes and realize that it could just as easily be us in their position. It also means acknowledging the other’s pain without further exacerbating it.

I think this practice comes naturally to most people when we share external similarities with the person suffering or have gone through the same thing.

For example, compassion comes very easily to me when I visit India. Witnessing the abject poverty and lack of basic human needs being met, I recognize myself in the faces everywhere. As a first generation child of Indian immigrants, if my parents had made one decision differently, that could just as easily have been me.

Likewise, this is also why we often see former prison inmates helping other inmates, cancer survivors motivating patients, and so on.

Have you ever walked by a homeless person digging through the trash for food and felt so much pity that you just looked the other way and kept on walking? On the surface level, you probably forgot about the interaction, but deep within the recesses of your psyche, a scar was left behind. With compassion, perhaps you would have seen that you too might lose your job someday and be in equally dire circumstances, and maybe you would acknowledge their pain and offer to buy them a meal.

Expanding the natural capacity for compassion that already resides within us to people that it doesn’t come as readily for is the key to interacting with those who are suffering. By behaving in this manner, we do what is best for the other person and ourselves, retaining our serenity of mind in the process.

3. HOW TO Deal with Virtuous People? FEEL DELIGHT FOR THEM

To be virtuous means to have or show high moral standards.

If we see people performing good deeds, instead of being cynical about them, we should honor them and feel delight. The darker voices inside of us can often criticize virtuous people, creating envy or suspicion about their intentions. We may even look for reasons to put them down or poke holes in their work.

Instead, the Yoga Sutras instruct us to appreciate their noble character and to aspire to be like them (i.e.: Gandhi). Let them serve as a living example of the goodness that is possible. Let them inspire you to cultivate similar qualities within yourself.

In my own life, my interactions with my best friend are a great example of this principle in practice. Wherever we go, he engages with people and has meaningful conversations that transcend small talk.

In Uber rides, he asks about the driver’s day and genuinely listens. In coffee shops, he asks the barista about her favorite drink and listens intently as she explains why she loves it. People end up confiding in him, often sharing their life stories.

When I first saw this, I questioned his motives. I wondered if he was trying to get free things or being insidious. But over time, I started to see how his kindness made people’s eyes light up because they felt seen and valued.

By delighting in his good nature, I too became inspired to talk more with the people around me and to genuinely listen to what they had to say.

4. hOW TO Deal with Wicked People? Disregard THEM

When someone acts in wrong or immoral ways, Yoga Sutra 1.33 directs us to ignore or disregard them. You can acknowledge that the person exists and let them remain where they are, but don’t let them occupy space in your mind.

We should not let other people’s bad behavior affect our peace. Often, if we try to tell people they are wrong, they will argue with us and our own tranquility will be disturbed.

Instead, we can try to understand why people do the things they do – what in their past could make them behave in such a way? Maybe they were once abused, and are now operating from their own fear. Maybe they are overcompensating for a lack of self-love.

And we can look inward at ourselves and see that we also may have behaved in less than ideal ways in the past. And if at some point we do talk about the issue with them, we can do so from a place of calm, without anger or judgement.

A great example of this is road rage. Some people get so worked up while driving (especially in LA)! They honk their horns aggressively, flick you off, or do all other sorts of ridiculous things.

If you react and start honking back, things will only escalate, and then you will also get worked up alongside them. If you ignore them and realize that their behavior reflects their own inner state and has nothing to do with you, then you can keep your eyes on the road and continue having a great day.

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It’s not other people that disturb us, it’s our expectations that they should behave a certain way. But Yoga Sutra 1.33 guides us to accept people as they are and to not internalize their behavior. Unless we do this, we won’t be able to have true meditation.

Your mind is your house and you control who can enter. If you need to, you can even set limits for yourself on how long you’re allowed to think about someone, i.e. “I can think about him for 30 minutes and then I’m kicking him out of my mind.”

We can’t control other people. We can’t make others understand when they are doing bad, hurtful things or change the circumstances of those who are suffering. But with these teachings, we can protect our inner harmony regardless of externalities.

These guidelines are not only for how we should treat other people, but also for how we should treat ourselves. Rejoice in your own successes, show compassion to yourself when you are suffering, feel delight when you perform a virtuous act, and ignore the part of you that craves to act in wrong ways.

Applying these principles is a lifelong practice and it is much harder than the Sutra lets on, but it is worth it.

The Yoga Sutras are a collection of 196 verses written around 400 C.E. by the ancient Indian sage Patanjali. They are considered the authoritative text on yoga philosophy.

Within the Sutras, one can find a depth of wisdom on the practice of yoga, which is far more than a physical practice. The Sutras offer guidance on how to live a moral life, how to overcome core human challenges, and how to attain inner peace.

All credit for my learnings of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali go to my incredible teacher Arvind Pare. Did you find this explanation helpful? I’d love to hear! This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I donate 10% of all proceeds made from this blog to charity. Find out more about the charity I am supporting here.