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.
[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.
[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”.
Great summary Ana! So interesting how Leslie's workshop paralleled our last meeting! Purusha at work!!
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