(Opening note: We are currently exploring the Yoga Sutras in
our Saturday afternoon meditation group.
For the next several weeks I will be posting on the Sutras as we go
through them.
Also I would like to state
that I noticed that my reference to “soul” in my last post brought forth an
anti-Obama advertisement. I just want to
state that I support President Obama and do not support any advertisements
attacking him.)
In
the course of evolution the mind has manifested in the form of human life, but
by no means is this mind perfect and infallible. Though it is a gift of nature,
the mind also has its limitations. It has to depend on the sensory channels for
information and stimulation. Therefore, the Raja Yoga Sutras contend that this
imperfect mind can be made more perfect and efficient through the practice of
sadhana.
- Swami Satyananda Saraswati
In
the early 1980s I had the experience of hearing Swami Satyananda expound on the
Yoga Sutras in several lectures over the course of his tour of the U.S. This was my fortunate introduction to this
somewhat ancient text and tradition.
Needless to say, I was very intrigued and this fascination has continued
to this day. The Sutras outline both a
philosophical and experiential way of connecting with our innermost being. It is not an intellectual/informational text
in the sense that reading it superficially gains one anything of value. Instead one must combine study and “laboratory
work” to truly understand its meaning.
The laboratory in this case is our own body-minds. It is the laboratory of the soul. The methodology is meditation.
“Meditation”
is actually not a very accurate term for what in the yoga tradition is referred
to as “dhyana.” The English word implies
a process of deep thinking, dhyana implies going beyond thought. It means being open to immediate experience
unmediated by thought. Thus the second
sutra of the Yoga Sutras defines Yoga as “Chitta vritti nirodha,” or “the
complete cessation of mental activity.” Our
problem in this regard is that we cannot even conceive of ourselves beyond our
cognitive formulations. Because we have
been induced into a bio-memetic trance we have forgotten who we truly are. Yoga teaches that we are not our body-mind
vehicles but consciousness itself. We
are what Patanjali refers to as the “drashta’” or “seer.” Beneath and beyond the appearances of
sensation and mentation, we are beings of pure awareness.
The
chitta vrittis, or patterns of mind, are five-fold: valid cognition, mistaken cognition,
imagination, deep sleep and memory.
Everything within our experience is comprised of these five-fold mental
patterns. Yoga points to and guides us
into the experience of what is real beyond the five-fold modifications. Even what we accurately perceive as real is
only relative. It is true for this
moment. On the other hand we are subject
to false beliefs and false information.
We internalize beliefs at times which have no evidential support. Imagination, dreams and fantasy are also part
of our mind’s activities. We should not
overlook the importance of imagination, however. It is the faculty within us which creates the
world of our experience. As Albert
Einsten said, “Imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions.”
In
deep sleep consciousness is present without any external or internal object. It is a state of emptiness. The fifth pattern of mind is memory, in which
we are aware of the thought remnants of past experiences. These five-fold modifications comprise the
mental filters through which we experience.
In order to have the unmediated experience of pure being we must get
beyond them. According to Patanjali,
this is done by bringing these patterns into a state of stillness. This state is known as Samadhi. In this state of consciousness we are
completely at peace, attuned to higher awareness, fully awake and free from all
vestiges of suffering.
Our
suffering is based on a paradoxical problem.
On one hand, all we need to be completely happy is to relax and be who
we are. On the other hand, we have been
so thoroughly programmed and conditioned that we have completely forgotten who
we really are. We are invested in an elaborate
fabrication. If we could awaken suddenly
from this dream we would discover that we are already liberated. Unfortunately most of us need to work on the
process of awakening. This work is referred
to as “sadhana.” According to Patanjali
there are two primary aspects of sadhana that will help us to awaken: abhyasa –
consistent practice, and vairagya – nonattachment.
Abhyasa is not so hard to understand. However, it is difficult to put into practice. It is not enough to meditate a little now and
then. We must be consistent, persistent,
insistent. We must fall in love with our
spiritual practice. We must be mindful
not just in meditation but in all activities.
We must fight against our tendency to fall into non-consciousness.
Vairagya, nonattachment,
is also fairly easy to understand.
Basically it means to be free from desire. Desire and aversion are the two primary
conditioning factors within our minds.
Desire tells us that in order to be happy we need something outside of
ourselves. It is the constant impulse of
desire which keeps us from realizing that we are already complete, whole and
perfect. Nonattachment is not the same
as renunciation. It is an inner
transformation rather than an outer behavior.
It becomes stronger with practice.
The more that we are able to rest in the bliss of our own being the less
desire we feel for the objects of the world.
It doesn’t mean we completely withdraw from the world, instead we can
approach others with true love and compassion (no personal agenda.)
