A Yoga Perspective on Trump

Yoga philosophy, formulated by Patanjali around 300 BCE, offers an ethical system of conduct regarding our behaviors towards ourselves, and toward others. I find it a useful framework from which to examine the actions of the current president. 

Guidelines for behaviors toward others, called the Yamas, include the following:

Ahimsa- Non-harming or non-violence. T has been verbally aggressive, castigating and insulting to an untold number of people from the beginning of his campaign to the present day. His rallies have been beset by violence.

Satya- Truthfulness. Never before has there been a major figure in American public life who has lied so consistently, repetitively, easily, without a hint of regret or interest in self-correction.

Brahmacharya- Non-excess, materially and sexually. T has amassed a fortune at the expense of others, has serially been unfaithful to wives, and treated women as sexual objects.

Aparigraha- Non-greed. His obsession with status, golden fixtures, massive estates and continuing to amass unnecessary wealth is a dramatic display of the opposite of Aparigraha.

Guidelines for personal practices relating to our inner world, called Niyamas, are as follows:

Sauca- Cleanliness or purification. This relates to choices of foods, practices, emotions and words addressing cleanliness of mind, body and spirit. T appears to have no regard for his body, eating the lowest quality of fast food, failing to exercise and indulging regularly in many forms of toxic speech.

Santosha- Contentment, happiness. Being content with ourselves, our lives as they are, not always craving more (money, adulation, etc.). T is a bottomless pit of grievances and discontent.

Tapas- To heat, or cleanse. Daily practices like yoga, exercise and meditation designed to strengthen the body and clarify the mind. T’s daily practices appear to be junk food and tweeting conspiracies he has just watched on fabricated news sites. 

Svadhyaya- Self-study. The practice of getting to know oneself through reflection, open conversation in relationship with others, psychotherapy or many other means. T appears truly un-self-aware, apparently never having explored his wounds (which must be significant) or having developed any capacity to reflect on his own weaknesses and failings that have harmed others. 

Ishvara Pranidhana-Self-surrender. Giving ourselves to a higher purpose, e.g. the benefit of others. Not clambering for honor for ourselves. T speaks of himself constantly, claiming merit where he has none.

In every detail of yoga’s conception of a good life, T exemplifies the opposite. Much has been said by my colleagues about his psychopathology and malignant narcissism; from a psychiatric perspective, all of the patients in my practice of psychiatry have a healthier character structure than T, and as has been noted, he is too unwell to be treated psychiatrically as he has no insight even to begin the process. I think that the yoga system of analysis sheds a further light on what is wrong with the current occupant of the White House.