What is meant by 'Tapas' (penance)?

Answer 1

Truth can reflect itself in the intellect only when it is clarified by 'Tapas' (penance). Tapas means all acts undertaken with noble motives and all acts indicating yearning for the spirit, repenting for past mistakes, staunch determination to adhere to virtue, self-control and unyielding adherence to equanimity in the face of success or failure. 'Taapam' means heat, burning intensity and earnestness of endeavour. It is Tapas that fosters renunciation and discipline. - BABA

Answer 2

means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá (a Vrddhi derivative meaning "practicer of tapas"). In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult. The adjective tapasvín means "wretched, poor, miserable", but also "an ascetic, someone practicing austerities".

In the yogic tradition, tapas may be translated as "essential energy", referring to a focused effort leading towards bodily purification and spiritual enlightenment. It is one of the Niyamas (observances of self-control) described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Tapas implies a self-discipline or austerity willingly expended both in restraining physical urges and in actively pursuing a higher purpose in life. Through tapas, a yogi or spiritual seeker can "burn off" or prevent accumulation of negative energies, clearing a path toward spiritual evolution.

Personified, Tapas appears as the father of Manyu in the Rigveda. The tapo-raaja ("king over austerities") is a name of the Moon.
Penance is uncomfortable karma inflicted upon oneself to mitigate one's karmic burden caused by wrongful actions (kukarma). It includes such acts as prostrating 108 times, fasting, self-denial, or carrying kavadi (public penance), as well as more extreme austerities, or tapas. Penance is often suggested by spiritual leaders and elders. Penitence or repentance, suffering regret for misdeeds, is called anutapa, meaning "to heat."

*also a wide varity of appetizers in Spain

Answer 3

I thought 'tapas' were appetizers in Spanish food, but what do I know?

Answer 4

Very strictly "pennance" is self punishment on some level, through guilt, as we obligate ourselves to adjudicate that guilt.

Steven Wolf
(The Rev.)

And we do eat a lot of "Crow" after the fact, as we attempt to remove a foot from the mouth