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Thread: A bit more light on yoga

  1. #31
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    Re: A bit more light on yoga

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté



    Over time and practice one is getting to the notion of distinguishing between Self and non-Self. One hears ‘you are not the body’ , not the arm, the legs the head, etc.' from others or from books. Sure we get that ( I hope). But then one needs to go further in ( the march inward – pratiprasava¹) and discriminate that the essential 'you' is also not the mind, ego and intellect.
    (This is extending the conversation found in posts 29 & 30 )
    Why is the razor sharp discrimination required? We get a hint here in the 4th chapter 22nd sūtra :

    citerapratisaṅkramāyāstadākārāpattau svabuddhisaṁvedanam||22
    In a nutshell this says,
    When consciousness (citeḥ) takes the form of buddhi (intellect), that ( buddhi) becomes intelligence.

    That is, this pure awareness ( code here for Puruṣa, Being,) takes on the role of intellect and makes it intelligence. It is like saying buddhi is inert and pure awareness invigorates it to become intelligence. From our point of experience the intellect seems to be awareness in-and-of- itself ( self sufficient) , yet this is made possible by another ( that is how the wise say it); this other is Puruṣa, Being.

    So, the human condition thinks buddhi is the real Self and goes on to say I am joe, I am mary, I am happy, sad, big small. Yet in every case this ‘I am’ belongs to another. It just so happens to think it is joe, mary, happy, sad , and this is the confusion the ignorance of not knowing who is behind this intellect that powers it to be intelligence.

    Many of us do not get this ( it took me some time for this to soak in); so if you do not get it, no worries. But if you do nothing about it ( that is, not ponder it , look to understand and experience the difference) , then one will stay stuck in the everyday understanding of identifying your Self (Being, pure awareness) with what you do ( a student, homemaker, father, brick layer, good, bad, happy , unhappy, etc) to your original status of awareness itself, playing a role , or being engaged in, being human identifying with his/her actions.

    Now one can see ( I hope) on how delicate yet how razor sharp one’s discrimination needs to be to look ‘under the hood’ and see this difference.

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ


    Last edited by yajvan; 24 June 2016 at 06:12 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  2. #32
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    Re: A bit more light on yoga

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté


    one can see ( I hope) on how delicate yet how razor sharp one’s discrimination needs to be to look ‘under the hood’and see this difference
    But what is the impact of this ? Let me offer 3 śloka-s. The first two are from śeṣa-patañjali’s yogasūtra-s ( chapter 4, 25th and 26th sūtra), and the last one is from the the s
    pandakārikā-s by vasugupta-ji.

    विशेषदर्शिन आत्मभावभावनाविनिवृत्तिः॥२५॥
    viśeṣadarśina ātmabhāvabhāvanāvinivṛttiḥ||25

    there is cessation , coming to an end (vinivṛttiḥ) of reflection , contemplation (bhāvanā) regarding one’s nature\true condition (bhāva) his SELF (ātma) to the one who knows (darśinaḥ) this distinction (viśeṣa) ||25

    that is, one needn’t wonder about what this SELF (ātma) is anymore because one is delivered to this re-recognition of SELF.

    And what then is the result?
    तदा विवेकनिम्नङ्कैवल्यप्राग्भारञ्चित् म्॥२६॥
    tadā vivekanimnaṅkaivalyaprāgbhārañcittam||26

    via this discrimination (viveka) one’s aim\intent (cittam) sinks (nimnam) or is directed towards (prāg= prāñc) the mass (bhāram) of isolation (kaivalya) ||26

    There are a few terms within this
    sūtra that require more light:

    • kaivalya comes from kévala and means ‘isolation’; yet it is not the definition of the mundane world. Both terms have ‘val’ within them. It is defined as ‘to return, to come back home’, ‘to be drawn or attached to’ . But to what? to ‘ka’ another name for Brahman, another name for SELF. One has returned or drawn back to brahman, to SELF. But why ‘isolation’? Because that is all there is, there is only brahman. One is removed from all other distractions and ‘isolated’ in the one-ness of brahman, one’s own Self. That is why kaivalya is also termed liberation. You are liberated from the differentiated world of the many and ‘isolated’ in the wholeness of the undifferentiated Self/brahman.
    • The notion of mass (bhāram) comes from this idea :
      Turyātīta –literally means beyond the fourth state of consciousness ( code for one that has stabilized their awareness and reside in the fullness of Being, their own Self, kaivalya); this turyātīta is also called mahāpracayam¹ or mahā + pracayam = a great (mahā) heap or mass (pracaya). Of what ? consciousness. This is the ‘fragrance’ of one’s own SELF. It is called out in the spanda sandoha¹ as cidāndaghanasya ātmanaḥ - or a heap/compact mass (ghana) of consciousness (cit) and ānanda (joy pure happiness).
    • Next the term cittam
      Many use the term as ‘thinking , reflecting , intelligence, reason, reflecting , imagining , thought’, and therefore can be summed up as mind. Yes, I see this and do not question this definition at all. Yet the other definition for citta is ‘aimed at’ ,’ longed for’. I chose this definition as it seems ( to me only) that it brought more value to the sūtra being reviewed.


    Now the last idea for the reader's consideration and I take it again from the spandakārikā-s by vasugupta-ji ... he says , smayamāna iva .

    • iva = indeed , smaya = wonder, amazed, astonishment + māna = likeness, form.
    • smayamāna iva = you will indeed be wonderstuck/amazed/astonished when he/she observes or is possessed by one’s own Being (Self) ~form~.


    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ

    words

    • mahāpracayam – from the Mālinīvijayottaratantra , chapter 2 :
      pracayaṁ rūpātītaṁ ca samyak turyamudāhṛtaṁ|
      mahāpracayamicchanti turyātītaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ||38


    • spanda sandoha of by kṣemarāja – this is ‘doha’ or the milking ( doha = the milking of the whole herd); it is the ‘milking’ , extracting the most nourishing knowledge from the 1st kārikā offered in this great work. It is so much so that we are told that all of the śāstra’s essence ( milk) can be found in this one kārikā (concise statement)
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  3. #33
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    Re: A bit more light on yoga

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    From the post above:

    विशेषदर्शिन आत्मभावभावनाविनिवृत्तिः॥२५॥

    viśeṣadarśina ātmabhāvabhāvanāvinivṛttiḥ||25

    there is cessation , coming to an end (vinivṛttiḥ) of reflection , contemplation (bhāvanā) regarding one’s nature\true condition (bhāva) his SELF (ātma) to the one who knows (darśinaḥ) this distinction (viśeṣa) ||25

    There is one thing to be aware of when talking of cessation (vinivṛttiḥ - ceasing) within one’s practice (abhyāsa repeated discipline). It is that of manaḥ laya , manaḥ naśa , and yoganidrā . Manaḥ laya ( or combined together is manolaya) is the cessation of thoughts, but a temporary stillness or calmness of thought-waves. Manaḥ naśa ( or combined together is manonaśa) – the cessation of thoughts that is permanent i.e. the destruction of ‘mind’. Mind here is the bundle of, and regeneration of, thought waves that bubble up again and again.

    Thoughts ( good/bad or indifferent) feeds mind and therefore supports ego. It takes ego here-and-there and mind expands with more thoughts. Therefore manolaya ≠ manonaśa. Note that manolaya is still progress for one with many-many thoughts as one comes to understand ‘oh, this is what calmness of mind is about’. This is all well and good . Yet one should not confuse the road for the destination.

    Now there is one more – this manolaya can also lead to yoganidrā or ‘meditation sleep’ some call twilight sleep. It is not the deep sleep one knows that comes in the middle of the night, but it brings this absence of thoughts. Some even say it occurs when one’s practice of manolaya occurs, but the practice does not continue or cannot be supported – you are deposited into this yoganidrā āvasatha¹ (dwelling/state) , and the body is in a deep state of rest. Hence:
    • manolaya ≠ manonaśa and,
    • manonaśa ≠ yoganidrā but,
    • manolaya may lead to yoganidrā.


    Thoughts that ebb-and-flow continue upon one’s exit or completion of being in manolaya or yoganidrā. Simply put, thoughts startup again once one’s practice period is done. Some call it ‘getting-up¹’ from one’s practice, so do thoughts.

    We are told of a story offered by rāmaṇa mahaṛṣi of a sādhuḥ that attained a high degree of concentration. He was of the opinion that this prolonged period of manolaya constituted liberation and hence continued in this way.
    On a given day practicing by the side of a river & before going into manolaya āvasatha (dwelling/state) he asked a passer-by if he could fetch some water for him. Before the person returned the sādhuḥ withdrew into manolaya. So much so ( goes the story) some hours passed and the passer-by left the water gourd by the side of the sādhuḥ for his use upon ‘getting up’ from his practice. Yet after hours, days, weeks, and months the sādhuḥ remained by the side of the river within his practice. Seasons past, they cycled again and again, they came and went. Finally the sādhuḥ rustled from his practice and upon samutthānati¹ , he said, ‘where’s my water ? ’ . It was the last thought he had and the 1st to bubble up again.
    First one can ask ‘where did this thought arise from ? ’ and that would get us into vāsanā-s and saṁskāra-s ; I will not go into this but owe the reader a definition ( by our HDF rules we do not use terms that may be foreign to the reader):

    • saṁskāra – impression(s) on the mind of acts done in a former state of existence; that is past actions , as opposed to vāsanā-s. Note that ‘past’ is often thought of as ‘past’ lives but this also could be last week, last season or longer.
    • vāsanā-s – are impressions, yet come from ( or are deposited) from feelings, ideas, false notions and the like

    Back to the story at hand... we take note that the sādhuḥ stayed within the realm of practice called manolaya āvasatha, all well and good. Yet one must know that this is not ‘completion’ or samāpatti. Completion occurs with manaḥ naśa (manonaśa).

    What then is the lesson ? Be mindful of this crossroad of thinking manolaya (temporary suspension) as being the destination, that is settling-in to this condition as if it were final.
    What then is the ārurukṣormuneryogaṁ¹ ( the one that wants to rise in yoga) to do ?
    • Ever refreshed ( refreshed = snānaṁ) awareness in one’s practice; both in practice (sitting) and samutthāna (rising up).
    • Continuity of practice
    • madbhakta – devoted to one’s pursuit ( more weight given to this side of the equation than other pursuits)


    net-net: uddharedātmanatmānaṁ - elevate yourself by your Self¹.

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ

    terms used


    • āvasathati (dwelling/state) - he (ti) that dwells in (vas) or has favor (avas) or left off in (asta)
    • samutthāna - rise or springing from; active operation; some call autthānika – getting up or setting up; (ti) he - so he is rising.
    • ārurukṣormuneryogaṁ is the first line of the śrīmad bhāgavad gītā , 6th chapter 3rd verse.
    • uddharedātmanatmānaṁ - from the 5th verse, 6th chapter of the śrīmad bhāgavad gītā

    Last edited by yajvan; 25 September 2016 at 05:39 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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