Patañjali's sutras
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namaste
I thought to start a conversation on the various sūtra-s of atañjali-s yogadarśana (the yoga sūtra-s of patañjali) other then yama and niyama, which we have an abundance of HDF posts.
There is great wisdom that is offered. But why did Patañjali-ji talk in stitches ( sūtra ) ? Simply to minimize clutter as I see it. Words tend to cause mischief when used in abundance i.e. multiple interpretations and the like. So, Patañjali and others took to the method of brevity-in-truth.
Let me offer an idea or two this is based upon the 2nd ūtra ,samādhi-pāda ( 1st chapter,). Patañjali-muni defines yoga in the following manner:
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
- yogaś - process of yoking; union from 'yuj'
- citta - as a noun it is thinking , reflecting , imagining , thought; some put this as active mind
- vṛtti - ' rolling , or rolling down' i.e. patterning, turnings, movements.
- nirodhaḥ - suppression , destruction ; some prefer stilling, cessation, restriction
My view
Yoga is the stilling (nirodhaḥ) of the active (vṛtti) mind (citta).
What others say:
Yoga happens when there is stilling (in the sense of continual and vigilant watchfulness) of the movement of thought - without which there is no movement. Svāmi Venkatesānanda (śiṣya of Svāmi Śivānanda)
Yoga occurs when the field of consciousness is liberated from its patterned spinnings. Then the mind rests in clarified stillness devoid of any conditioned bias - Śakti Das (a.k.a. sahaj yogi)
Yoga is the suppression of the modifications of the mind. - Yogāchārya Svāmi Hariharānanda Āraṇa
Why is this fruitful to do? the next 2 sūtra-s tell us why... Let me offer them in very plain words that I find appealing.
- stilling of the active mind - 2nd sūtra
- ( allows the ) SELF to stay/abide in its true, original unperturbed form - 3rd sūtra
- Otherwise it adopts the form of the mind's activities - 4th sūtra
IMHO one practicing various techniques that experiences this silence, would appreciate the idea offered in sūtra's 2 through 4.
This Self is so infinite, so nimble, it easily adapts to any 'container'. Just as a fluid takes the shape of its container then one says ' Oh this Self must be the glass, or the jar or the ern'. Yet this Self is
so flexible any possible configuration becomes a perfect fit each time.
So this 4th sūtra helps us better understand this notion: The Self (Awareness itself) takes on the form of the mind - it's thoughts,
observations, dialog, etc. Why so?
In my opinion because of its innocence. This Awareness is so much apart of us that we do not see it. How can we? Awareness is the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear. That is, it does the perceiving says the upaniṣad-s. That is why there is so much attention to nirodhaḥ. If we give the mind a chance to settle down and just be, then what shines though is awareness itself (Self).
praṇām
Last edited by satay; 25 March 2015 at 09:58 AM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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