Summary Yoga Sutras 29-39 (August 14th, 2011)

The last of the set of sutras that talk about God or Iśvara (1.29) says that through the repetition of the sound that represents it, i.e. the Om, we realize our inner self and get free from all disturbances or obstacles.  It seems to me that this sutra expresses popular wisdom.  We see how people who believe in God call upon him/her through prayers when they are facing a hard situation.  Even though we do not have to believe in God or in something like Iśvara in order to be yogis or to practice yoga, the belief in something that is superior, a “special puruṣa” or a higher consciousness beyond our finite beings, can help others with a more devotional inclination, to focus their minds on a state of peace and calmness that is so precious to the yogic path.

            It is astonishing how the disturbances or obstacles mentioned in the Yoga Sutras 2000 years ago, continue to have so much meaning to us in the twenty first century.  As it was mentioned during class, we can see through this text how our human minds are still challenged by the same things. There are 9 obstacles mentioned in the sutra 1.30 which are divided by Iyengar in four groups:

1)      physical: sickness (vyādhi), sluggishness or fatigue (styāna);

2)      mental: doubt or indecision (saṁśaya), carelessness or negligence (pramāda), lazyness (ālasya),

              incontinence (avirati);

3)      intellectual: confusion or delusion (bhrāntidarśana), and

4)      spiritual: dissapointment or not having obtained a firm ground, feeling stuck    

                (alabdhabhūmikatva) and instability or giving up (anavasthitatvāni).

Along with these obstacles, the distracted and scattered mind develops the states of sorrow (duḥkha), despair (daurmanasya), a weak and trembling body (aṅgamejayatva) and irregular breathing (śvāsapraśvāsāḥ vikṣepa).  It seems as if Patañjali were describing the normal characteristics of many of our fellow humans (if not of ourselves to a certain extent) stressed, constantly worried, untrustful, unhealthy… This condition of the mind is called vikṣepa, which means “distracted” and is compared, in the next sutra 1.32, to the “onepointed” mind or ekatattva.  From sutras 1.34 to 1.39, various practices of onepointedness are described, but just before getting into them, we find a sutra that talks about the dispositions or attitudes that start bringing our mind back to a graceful, lucid, clear and “sattvic” state (cittaprasādanam): Friendship (maitrī) to those who are happy; compassion (karuṇā) to those who are unhappy; joy  (muditā) to those who are virtuous, and equanimity  (upeksanam) to those who are non-virtuous.  Sutra 1.33 is one of those parts of the Yoga Sutras that makes evident the Buddhist influence on them.  These four dispositions are exactly the same as the four virtues that are considered in Buddhism to be the antidotes to negative mental states such as envy, violence, intolerance, anger and pride.

Taking a closer look to each of them, we could find that the first one, “friendship or kindness to those who are happy”, seems not to be something difficult to practice.  And yet, Joy Devi gives a perfect example of when maintaining this quality of mind could be a challenge.  Imagine that you are in the park having a picnic with a friend in the perfect spot.  After the first few bites of the tasty dishes, a man sits very close to you and starts smoking; happily lying down on the grass, while the smoke is flowing directly to your nose.  Just take few moments to consider what would be your immediate reaction; your emotions and thoughts towards that man.  What would be the best way to act?  What this sutra tells us is that before any mental dialogue dictate our actions, words and attitudes, we must let our hearts open to kindness and act from there.  Usually, as Joy says, the other’s response will match the energy as well as the words we have put forth.  Although even if  this does not happen, we still have other resources of wisdom from which to act: compassion and equanimity, instead of judgment, anger, impatience and all the many other emotions that come to us when a situation is not as we would like.   In Joy Devi’s version, “compassion for those who are less fortunate” and “equanimity to those whose actions oppose your values” are attitudes that preserve the openness of the heart and calmness of the mind (p.84).  “Joy to those who are virtuous” is another one of those that seems easy to accomplish, and yet, this one addresses one of those sentiments that are easily disguised: envy.  In our insecurity, we may find reasons not to acknowledge others’ talents, but we may also deflate our own virtues and put others on pedestals.  “Honor for those who embody noble qualities” as Joy Devi puts it, means not only to feel happy for those who have them, but also to try to find noble qualities in everyone.  “Some of us may need to become archaeologists and dig dip”, says Joy.  But even when this is not possible, we still can remain calm.[1]

After this, Patañjali proceeds to enumerate various alternatives to focus the mind and achieve onepointedness:

1.34 - Through the practice of retaining the breath after exhalation.  (This is a type of pranayama, the practice of channeling the life force through the manipulation of the breath).

1.35 – Through the steadiness of the mind in any object arising through the senses.  (For example, focusing the mind in a specific taste, in a sound, in a visible object, or a texture, or a smell.)

1.36 – Through the contemplation of an effulgent and sorrowless light.  (This is a very cryptic sutra, difficult to interpret.  What is that light referring too?  Some say that it is the light of our inner self, the “core of our hearts” as Iyengar puts it in page 88.  It could also be referring to the practice within some yogic paths of focusing the mind in the light of a candle, perhaps as an external metaphor of our inner light.)

1.37 – Through the focus of the mind in enlightened beings.  (There is also another way of translating this sutra: “Through the focusing of the mind in any object without desire.”  But, in general, it is referring to the practice of meditating in a spiritual teacher (guru), a wise person, a sage, someone that is already beyond pleasure and pain, in a liberated state, free from desires.)

1.38 – Through the practice of observing our dreams (svapna) and the knowledge that comes from the conscious experience of dreamless sleep (nidrā).  (In the Tibetan yoga, the ability of knowing that we are dreaming while we are dreaming, in other words, to have a lucid dream, is developed to acquire knowledge, solve problems in our lives, get messages from the subtle realm, or to solve emotional issues and prepare ourselves for difficult tasks during the waking state.  There is also a yogic practice called “nidra yoga” that consists in bringing our bodies and minds to a complete point of relaxation but without falling asleep.  This gives us the experience of a state of consciousness where there are no thoughts, nor objects, but just pure awareness.)

1.39 – Through the meditation in any agreeable object.  (This sutra tells us that the mind has the ability to focus on any desired object.  Some people find focusing in sound easier than in silence, or in an external visible object rather than in an internal visualization.  Patañjali acknowledges here, one more time, the variety of paths that there are to achieve the same goal.)

            The great contribution of Iyengar is that he made of the physical poses (asanas) a point of concentration for the mind, capable of bringing us to deeper layers of consciousness and, ideally, to the experience of our true self. 

            Westerners are usually criticized for their focus in the physical poses; but Patañjali is telling us here that it does not matter in which object you point your mind towards, as long as it is agreeable to the yogic goal and to your personal inclination, the practice of “onepointedness” prepares the mind for deeper meditations, as well as being accompanied by a graceful, joyful, loving and compassionate state.  Perhaps, if there were a way to “measure” the practice of a yogi, it wouldn’t so much be how far he/she can bend in one asana, but how much, through the practice of asana or whatever the point of focus is, he/she has managed to express love, compassion, joy and equanimity throughout daily life.

Regarding this topic, I would like to share with you this short video that makes us reflect on our own attitudes towards others.  I think it illustrates nicely the idea of a distracted mind in the sense we have just discussed.  

I hope that your reading of the Yoga Sutras keeps inspiring your yoga practice, whatever form it takes and that you continue to be inspired in sharing your views, comments, doubts, questions and ideas with the group.  See you next meeting!

 

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[1] Iyengar interprets the last attitude as “indiference”. Although that is the literal meaning of “upekṣanam”, it does not convey the positive quality that the other three attitudes have.  I personally prefer the term “equanimity”.

Summary Yoga Sutras 23-28 (July 30th, 2011)

We focused our conversation on sutras 1.23 to 1.28, which talk about Īśvara.  Īśvara is usually translated as God, Lord, Supreme Soul, or Divine Consciousness.  It is interesting to note that the sutra where Īśvara is introduced (1.23) starts with “or” (vā, in sanskrit):  “Or from surrendering to Īśvara”.  What is this “or” refering to?  Previously, Patañjali had said that nirodha, the stillness of the mind, could be achieved by practice (abhyāsa) and detachment (vairāgya), and by deepening our awareness into subtler levels of reality.  Now, he is adding another way of stilling our mind: Īśvara praṇidhāna, which could also be translated as devotion to God or a Supreme Being.  This is what is called the “bhakti yoga” path –a way of uniting our individual consciousness with a higher being, a higher self, a greater soul, force, or consciousness by means of love.  Although, as it was rightly mentioned in class, the word “bhakti” does not appear in the Yoga Sutras, here Patañjali is acknowledging that some people need to have an image, an idea or something that their mind can grasp in order to relate to the infinite and deepest aspect of consciousness.

 It is true that the bhakti path exalts the dualistic relationship between the devotee and the divine.[1]   God is seen as an external deity to which to pray and look to for emotional refuge and spiritual guidance.  On the other hand, within the same dynamics of devotion, the relation with the deity is so intense that the mind becomes “full” of the attributes of that divinity, such as love, infinite compassion, and wisdom, becoming one with the Divine.   So the path of devotion also includes the other side of the spectrum where the individual consciousness totally merges with the universal consciousness.[2]  Do you remember how Patañjali described supreme detachment in sutra 1.16?  Supreme detachment involved the envisioning of puruṣa (puruṣakhyāteḥ), that is, the realization of our true self.  In a sense, devotion and surrendering to Īśvara (which is just a word that stands for whatever other name you want to give to God or the Divine) is the quietening of our minds to let our inner self emerge.  This is what makes the Yoga Sutras so great, that with just two verses, Patañjali is acknowledging a multitude of spiritual paths that exist to realize the state of union.  Within this two verses we have the possibility of either seeing “God” within (or perhaps even as) our inner self, and on the other, to seeing it as something beyond us.  But however we decide to relate to Īśvara, the authentic and detached surrendering to “It” will bring us to that place of nirodha.

    This takes us to the next sutra 1.24 which characterizes Īśvara as that “special puruṣa” (puruṣaviśeṣa) that is free from conflicts, unaffected by actions, and untouhed by cause and effect.  If we think of Īśvara as that God who is totally detached from suffering, immutable to anything that happens in the world and in humans' lives, we might see God as very cold and indifferent.  But if we consider Īśvara as that special aspect of the universal consciousness to which we have access through our true self, then we can make sense of this sutra as talking about that dimension of ourselves that can remain peaceful even through the most conflicting, affecting and terrible situations.  As usual, Joy Devi's version of this sutra is very illuminating:  “The Divine Consciousness is self-effulgent like the sun”.   Just as the sun continues to shine even when there are clouds, rain and darkness, that divine consciousness of which we all partake, is always free, in peace, still, and beyond suffering.  At this point, a very interesting discussion arose about the unity or multiplicity of puruṣas, or souls.  If Īśvara is a “special” puruṣa, does that mean that there are different puruṣas?  Or, if it is true that, in a deeper sense, we are all one with that pure and infinite consciousness, then although apparently multiple and different from each other in our bodies and minds, are we all one in our true self?

    These questions have originated heated debates between the traditional commentators and teachers themselves.  The position that we are all one puruṣa would need to accept that when one soul achieves the state of union with the divine and realizes its true self, then all the others reach it too.  But this is not very evident.  It is not clear whether Patañjali thinks if we are all the same puruṣa or not, but the most satisfactory and beautiful answer that I have found is the one given by the vedantic tradition which says that Īśvara or the Divine is like the flame of fire from which small sparks spread in all directions.  While they are coming out of the flame they are different from each other, although if we could put them together they would fuse into one; and if we put the little sparks back into the big flame, they would be indistinguishable from the main “special flame”.  So in a sense, thinking of ourselves as separate puruṣas is true, but in another sense it is false.  It all depends on which moment of the little spark we focus on.

    Sutras 1.25 and 1.26 give a further characterization of Īśvara as omniscient and foremost teacher (guru).  Characterizations like this could make us start asking whether yoga is a religion.  The question was raised in class and many answers were given, some said yes, some said no.  Someone said that it is not but it can be; someone else said that it was a way of life, and someone else thought that it is a spiritual path.  The fact is that people relate to yoga in many ways.  Whether they do it as as a religion, exercise, health regimen, philosophical system or spiritual path, all depends how far one wants to go with the practice.  It may be that as we go deeper into the yoga path and its philosophy, we may find some ideas or beliefs with which we do not agree or relate to.  But it may also be that the practice of yoga and its philosophy can enhance and enrich our own religious beliefs.

    Īśvara is understood in the yoga tradition as the very first omniscient guru of all gurus.  This is in part to justify the authenticity and value of a particular school.  At the time the Yoga Sutras were composed, there were many schools and many paths of yoga, and each of them would claim omniscience of the founder of their respective tradition –otherwise their sacred texts could contain errors, and that would be unacceptable.[3]  Such original truth could only be passed on from guru to guru in order to faithfully preserve the teachings.  This idea is present in any yoga style that you can think of (Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kundalini, etc.).  There is the strong belief that the validity of the teachings is supported by the lineage it comes from because it is thought that the very first teacher got his or her knowledge from the source, which is divine.  That is why Īśvara is said to be “sarvajñabījam”, that is, the origin or seed of all knowledge.

    If we want to understand this in a more interiorized way, we can interpret these sutras as referring to that fountain of infinite wisdom that each of us have access to through our hearts.  Our minds may not understand many things, but when we manage to silence them, we can intuit answers that we never thought we would have.  In a sense, our soul is “omniscient”, because when we do not know what to do, when we do not understand, or get something, there is always a deeper layer of our awareness that can do it, even if it takes time to surface to our normal consciousness.  As Joy translates: “The Divine is the essence of all knowledge, wisdom, and love.” “Knowledge, wisdom, and love are the omnipresent teachers in all beings.”

    Sutra 1.27 brings us to the topic of the mantra AUM and connects it with Īśvara as its representation.  There is a tantric tradition that describes the origin of the universe as a pulsating energy.[4]  This energy, through its different vibrations, creates all beings and dimensions of reality.  The original sound of this pulsation reverberates through all creation, and each manifestation has its own particular vibration and sound.  The AUM is this original sound of the universe that flows through all that exists.  It is thought that the ancient sages who gave us this sound actually heard it through their meditations.  Thus, by repeating it constantly we can experience that inner vibration in ourselves and in all beings.  To understand a little bit better the meaning of the praṇavah (this is how Patañjali refers to the mantra AUM), we read in class the Māṇdūkya Upaniṣad [5], which talks about the significance of each of the sounds that compose it.

    Iyengar says (p.80-81) that vibration and sound brings us closer to God because it is the subtlest form of his Creation.[6]  God, however, is beyond vibration.  AUM is the sound that penetrates all vibration, but also, that goes beyond it, because the last part of the “mmm” vibration is that evanescent sound that goes into silence, which is the origin of all sound.  This is why AUM can bring us closer to the source. Even more, if we sing it with full intention and feeling (tadarthabhāvanam) it can make us “disappear” in its silence.

    I will then leave you with this silence so that you can go and meditate with the AUM and reconsider by yourself what Īśvara means to you in this moment of your life and with respect to your practice of yoga.

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[1] You may have had contact with the Hare Krishnas and seen how they adore his image, chant to him, dance around invocating constantly his different names, and treat him as if he was a child, a lover, a husband, a friend, or anything that brings out love from oneself.

[2] While writing this summary, the writings of Meher Baba came to my attention.  There is one that a beautiful description of the devotional dynamic between the devotee and the Divine.  Click here if you want to read it.

[3] The sacredness of the Vedas, for example, would be endowed by the fact that the rishis, or sages, would have “heard” their content coming from the infinite source and not from a human.  Also, within the buddhist tradition, the omniscience of Buddha was something that had to be constantly proved before other traditions to state the validity of his teachings.

[4] The Trika school of Kashmir Shaivism.

[5] This is a very short reading that I strongly recommend to you. Just click in the title Māṇdūkya Upaniṣad above, and you will be directed to the text.

[6] Some yoga paths make of their practice the repetition of sacred sounds. Krishna Dass refers to chanting as the “asana of the heart”.  See documentary “Yoga Unveiled”.