The Spiritual Path of Yoga

Yoga means bringing the patterns of the mind
Into complete stillness
Wherein one’s true nature is revealed.

- Rishi Patanjali

We are essentially spiritual beings according to the teachings of the Yoga tradition. That is, we are beings of Pure Consciousness. We are beings of transcendent wisdom, love and joy who have entered into this experience of ourselves as embodied beings in this world. Somewhere along the way, though, we have lost ourselves in the experience. We have forgotten our true nature and believe ourselves to be limited body-minds, or as Alan Watts said it, “skin-encapsulated egos.” The path of Yoga is about disidentifying with our false self-construct and realizing our true self-nature.

According to The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this case of mistaken identity has five features known as kleshas, or “afflictions.” They are known as afflictions because they are the basis of all suffering in life. They are the conditions which imprison us. Perhaps this will become clearer as we go along.

The first affliction is called avidya. This is often translated as “ignorance,” but it is not meant in our usual sense of intellectual lack but in a more basic sense of not knowing our true self-nature. In fact, our attachment to intellect contributes to avidya. We might think of avidya as how we get “lost” in a film and become emotionally involved even though it’s just a movie. Through avidya the subjective essence of our beings becomes confused with thoughts, perceptions, feelings and actions. This is difficult to understand at first. As Patanjali explains, “Ignorance means regarding the non-self as the Self.” The inner awareness is purely subjective. It has no form, no limits, pervades space and time and transcends them. It is aware of the changing display of forms, thoughts and feelings.

The second affliction is called asmita. This is generally translated as “ego.” Actually we are better off to refer to it as a false sense of ego, or “I-am-ness.” As the Yoga Sutras state, “Asmita is the misidentification of the knower with the instrument of knowing.” The instrument of knowing is the mind-body. We “know” or experience our unique reality through the mind and the senses, through this amazing psychobiological complex which somehow both receives and creates our universe of experience. Through asmita we experience ourselves as particular limited beings in a five-sensory world. A more childlike individual might identify exclusively with the body and senses. As Freud wrote, “The ego is first and foremost a body ego.” As we develop psychologically we might end up identifying ourselves mostly with our intellects, with higher cognitive functions. Asmita in this sense is more of a narrative based on past personal history, social status and relations, etc. Again, the true Self is beyond thought.

The Kenopanishad conveys a way to approach this. Like most Upanishads, it takes the form of a dialogue between teacher and disciple. The teacher explains, “Seek not what is known through the senses but that which knows. Seek not the thoughts but that through which thought is revealed.” (There is a nice reading from this Upanishad by Ram Das on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTfEXfA7OAs&feature=grec_index)  Once the false sense of ego is released, the Self is seen to be both knower and that which is known. Everything exists within the meta-space of Consciousness. Buddhist teachings refer to this as shoonyata, or emptiness. Our sense of ego is really just the “I-thought.” It is not who we truly are.

The next afflictions are known as raga, or desire, and dwesha, aversion. These are the basic drives which propel us through life creating karma. Karma is action and reaction. While ego-identification creates a basic split between self and the ground of Being, desire and aversion further the process of fragmentation. Karma accumulates within us as memory; memory creates further desire and aversion. Our ego selves become conditioned by what we crave and what we hate. This, of course, is a very natural process. The tiniest amoeba has the tendency of approach or avoidance. It is the basis of life.

Combined with ego, intellect and memory, however, raga and dwesha become very complex. Our desires can become confused and self-destructive. Aversion can keep us from facing responsibilities. Desire keeps us attached to what is known and comfortable. Aversion can keep us from learning something new, from growing and developing. Desire means wanting what we don’t have or holding on to something we are bound to lose. Aversion means having what we don’t want or trying to avoid the inevitable. Pleasure and pain are the necessary consequences of our embodiment, but we don’t have to let them dominate our consciousness.

The fifth affliction is known as abhinivesha, “clinging to life.” It is the fear of death. It is also our fear of change, of transformation and liberation. Because we have lost our sense of ourselves as a unified field of pure consciousness and have identified instead with our temporal, transient ego-selves, we cling desperately to transient phenomena and we fear inevitable change. There is no way for the body to live forever, however we never really die.

This may all sound pretty heavy. Somehow we like to deny the reality that life inevitably involves suffering and death. People often turn to religion as a way of comforting themselves. Religious belief, however, is not the point. Belief is just a part of the intellect. It is a conceptual system to which we might become emotionally attached. Intellect is a useful tool for analyzing the world of experience. It is also a useful tool to an extent on the spiritual path. It is also a sophisticated trap. We can go around forever in our minds trying to figure things out; or we can become attached to what we believe is the right answer. “Seek the company of those looking for the truth,” someone has said, “Run from those who claim to have found it.”

Yoga is a much different approach. It doesn’t just involve thinking; instead it investigates who it is that thinks. Who is the thinker of thoughts? It is a way of detaching from our concepts, our working models of the world. Yoga means “meditation,” but meditation in this sense means stepping outside of your self-system. It means entering into the silent, still space beyond thoughts, into an actual recognition of one’s true Self. Because of multiple layers of conditioning however, this is not so easy for most of us.

The Yoga Sutras recommend the path of Kriya Yoga which has three aspects according to Patanjali: Tapas, Swadhyaya and Ishwarapranidana. These are generally translated as austerity, scriptural study and surrender to God. This is the beginning stage of Kriya Yoga, but there is a deeper more esoteric meaning. We can begin to overcome the kleshas by developing mindfulness. This means austerity in the sense of accepting “what is.” What is present for us in the moment may be pleasurable or painful. If we can accept it with equanimity we are making real progress. If we can accept ourselves and our reactions with an inner equanimity then perhaps we are making more progress. Scriptural study and contemplation is also important. It is a way of turning the mind towards our inner being. It is not about reading a lot of “spiritual” books and memorizing them so that we can expound impressively. It is about reading deeply and taking the words to heart, contemplating their meaning and seeking to realize it. Scriptures in this sense, means the written works of highly realized beings. The Yoga Sutras are a good example. So are the Bhagavad Gita, The Dhammapada, Upanishads, The Bible, Tao Te Ching, Qu’ran, etc. The point is to connect deeply with the material not to read through quickly to the end.

Surrender to God might be tricky for some of us. How do we define God? In the Yoga context, God is actually our innermost being. He is the universal Consciousness operating in and through us. Surrender means letting go of the ego and allowing our deeper Self to shine forth. The ego is defensive and aggressive. It seeks to be happy through desire and aversion and is deeply afraid of its own dissolution. It wants to be important and competes with others. It wants to judge and to be in control. Surrender means easing up on that stuff and turning inward to find the lasting source of happiness and fulfillment right there inside. Deepak Chopra writes, “. . . happiness for a reason is just another form of misery because the reason can be taken away from us at any time. To be happy for no reason is the happiness we want to experience.” This is the grace that comes to those who can truly surrender.