What is the significance of Patanjali’s Sutra 2.1 ?

What is the significance of Patanjali’s Sutra 2.1 ?

Image source:  http://earthyogi.blogspot.com/2011/01/patanjali-you-optimist-or-when-learning.html

The second chapter (Sadhana Pada) of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins with the statement “Yoga in the form of action has three parts: 1) training and purifying the senses (tapas), 2) self-study in the context of teachings (svadhyaya), and 3) devotion and letting go into the creative source from which we emerged (ishvara pranidhana)” (English translation, Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati).  There are a wide range of translations of this Sutra.  For example, Sri Swami Satchidananda’s states “Accepting pain as help for purification, study of spiritual book, and surrender to the Supreme Being constitute Yoga in practice,”  whereas B.K.S. Iyengar’s translation reads “Burning zeal in practice, self-study and study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of yoga.” 

What does Patanjali mean by the the “yoga in the form of action has three parts”?

• Tapas -Training the senses-  means literally “to blaze or burn”, tapas refers to purifying action and self discipline, particularly in the practice of yoga, that helps us remove blocks, tensions and illness in the body and the mind.  Hot yoga is an excellent form of tapas, as it keeps the body fit via heat and cleansing sweat.

•Svadhyaya - Sva =self, and Adhyaya = inquiry, so Svadhyaya refers to the regular practice of self- reflection and personal growth in the context of sacred texts, mantra, and meditation. 

•Isvhara Pranidhana – Ishvara = creative source, god, etc. and Pranidhana = devotion.  This concept refers to surrendering the fruits of yoga to the divine.

These three practices work together.  For example, when in your yoga practice you are spending 60 to 90 minutes training your senses, exploring within, and letting go of physical and mental attachments and aversions to your body and thoughts.  As you move from asana to asana, focusing on your breath and staying present in each moment of your yoga practice, you enact the three principles of Kriya Yoga: Heating and cleansing the body (tapas), noting and letting go of mental thoughts and physical reactions to the yoga practice and the heat (svadhyaya), and with the closing Namaste at the end of each class, recognizing the light and beauty in self and others (ishvara pranidhana).

Sources:  http://swamij.com/yoga-sutras-20109.htm, http://www.athayoganusasanam.com/index.php?zone=browse_sutras&pada=2&sutra=1&action=display, http://earthyogi.blogspot.com/2011/01/patanjali-you-optimist-or-when-learning.html

What is the Significance of OM?

What is the Significance of OM?

The symbol OM, Source: http://om.exoticindiaart.com/

OM is one of the most well known symbols of spiritual knowledge in Hinduism; it also appears in Buddhism as a mantric symbol.  It is both a symbol and a mono-syllabic sound that is not a word but rather a manifestation of spiritual power, often associated with god and the “presence of the absolute within.”

The curves in the symbol OM represent four states of consciousness.  The largest curve on the bottom (1) is the waking state, the level of external activity; it is consciousness turned outward and the most common state of humans.  The upper curve (2) symbolizes unconsciousness or deep sleep, complete unawareness; and the smaller side curve (3) represents the dream state, the individual turned inwards.  The dot is the fourth state of consciousness- the absolute state of integration of all differentiated aspects of existence and absolute bliss.  The semicircle (4) under the point represents the phenomenal world of appearances and forms of illusion or deception that separates us from bliss.

 Chanting OM gives us the experience of the divine.  According to Patanjali’s Sutras, OM is pranava, which means humming.  Patanjali selected OM as the name of God (or Ishvara) because it is a “vibration which can include all vibrations, all sounds and syllables, because God is like that – infinite” (Satchidananda).  To vocalize the OM, it helps to know that the syllable has three sounds:

A (ah)	Waking state	Beta waves
U (oh)	Dream state	Alpha waves
M (mm)	Deep sleep state	Theta waves
-silence	Bliss/turiya	Delta waves

Why do we chant OM?  Chanting OM is an extremely effective way of connecting with your prana- vital energy.  Prana is the basic vibration of the body and of the universe, right down to the atomic level in both animate beings and inanimate objects.  Satchidananda states that “even without you repeating it, the basic sound [of OM] is always vibrating in you…. That is why OM represents God [the divine] in the fullest sense.”

Click here to read more and listen to the sound of OM: http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/techniques/Om.htm

Sources:  A Concise Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, 2010; http://om.exoticindiaart.com/

Ask Yogi - What does Sutra 2:46 mean?

“Yoga asanas are steady and comfortable…”

(Source:  http://www.sadhanayogahudson.com/seated.html)

 Ask Yogi - What does Sutra 2:46 mean?

Sutra 2:46 explains that Asana is mastered by achieving a balance (Sattva) between steadiness/effort (Sthira) and comfort/ease (Sukham) in any pose.  This Sutra can also be applied to everyday life;  according to Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002), in times of dissaster or crisis, there are many benefits to being a “bendy weed” versus a “stiff strong tree” to better survive and thrive in situations of adversity. 

Mentally and emotionally, the balance between effort and ease can be cultivated by meditation and ‘contemplating the infinite’ potential of the connection between ‘self’ and ‘source’. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, to perfect asana meant to find stillness and to quiet the body enough to turn attention toward the mind and the senses.  When you are able to hold an asana comfortably you unite the mind-body dualism; the results are your physical limitations dissolve, your mental and emotional focus centers and your energy expands and fills the space around you.

Physically, we seek the perfect combination of “firm and soft” that occurs in the body while being still and steady, yet active in a pose, feeling as if one could hold a pose forever, with very little effort, simply by breathing.  The Sutra also invokes the need to be aware of what is felt as “good” and “bad” pain in the body, and cultivate an ability to work the “edge” of each Asana without competing or pushing oneself into injury. 

For many years Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) was a pose that felt like pure effort and no ease.  That began to shift as I focused on the instructions to 1) “root my hands and feet to rebound up through my arms and legs”; and 2) using ujjayi breathing while lengthening the spine by drawing the core inward and pelvis up and away from the crown of the head.  Both of these instructions create “lightness” and “space” in the body, and bring the ease-to-effort ratio into balance in this pose.

Ask Yogi - What is Sutra 1.2 Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah?

Sutra  1.2  Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah

Yogas (yo-gas) = Yoga   

Citta (chit-ta) = of the mind-stuff                             

Vrtti (vrit-ti) = modifications       

Nirodhah (ni-ro-d-hah) = restraint

The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga.

In Sutra 1.2, Pantanjali begins his explanation of yoga by stating that its primary purpose is to restrain and control the fluctuations of the mind.  “Mind-stuff”(citta vrtti) refers to the mental stress caused by the ego, or “I” feelings that activate the desiring part of the mind which is attracted to outside things through the senses (Satchidananda, 1990).  When the ego and desiring mind are active, peace (Samadhi) is not possible.  According to Sri Swami Satchidananda, “the entire outside world is based on your thoughts and mental attitude.  The entire world is your own projection“.  In other words, we create our own reality (world) by giving meaning – via making ‘stories’ and attaching them - to all of the events, relationships, and issues we experience in our lives.  The insight of this Sutra is that through practicing Yoga we can control our thoughts simply by becoming aware of them.  Fortunately, one of the few things we do have control over in life is our attitude and the way we think!  From this perspective, happiness and peace become a matter of individual choice, not a condition dependant on external circumstances beyond our control. 

Practicing “Nirodhah”

How do we achieve nirodhah, or “thought control”, and put it into daily practice on and off the yoga mat?  Patanjali says there are five kinds of citta vrtti, divided into “good” and “bad” types – the good are characterized by selfless (and the bad by selfish) thoughts.  The regular practice of Yoga helps to make clear the quality of our thoughts.  How are we to know whether our thoughts are selfless or not?  Satchidananda states “we have to watch carefully the moment a thought-form arises in the mind.  We become analysts.  This itself is Yoga practice – watching our own thoughts…”.  If there is no selfishness behind your thoughts, they will bring you peace; by extension, selfish thoughts will bring you physical and mental discomfort, not feelings of happiness. 

Given that the original focus of Yoga was largely spiritual, not physical, its practices were based on sitting meditation, breathing exercises, chanting, and other forms of ‘sense withdrawal’ to cultivate thought awareness.  In the 1400’s the first Hatha Yoga Pradipika (posture guide) was created and included only 15 poses!  The largely asana (physical posture)-based Hatha Yoga practice that dominates in the West today originated in 1900 with Krishnamacharya (1888-1989).  For many HBHY Hot Yoga practitioners, the physical benefits of the asana practice are so powerful it is easy to forget how the yoga operates at the mental and spiritual level until we are faced with a challenging life event and/or can’t practice yoga for a few weeks. 

Sutra 1.2 tells us via regular yoga practice, we take the peace and equanimity we find on our yoga mat into everyday life.  The aphorism reminds us that happiness and meeting life’s challenges are achieved by letting go of our ‘stories’ about the past and future and cultivating equanimity, mindfulness and acceptance in the moment of now.