Ashantasya Kutah Sukham
( How can a disturbed mind enjoy comfort? )
In this world, many things have been created for the pleasure and enjoyment of human beings, and we desire each and every one of them..
Sometimes, more often than not, people get confused among all those pleasures of today’s world; their minds become unfocused. With that, it is easy to fall into a trap of constant chase of the pleasures that falsely lead to (artificial) happiness. At the end, we all will arrive at the same conclusion, which is: the human being cannot derive peace and happiness from material objects.
Focusing the mind in a single direction is very important since our mind is very unstable. Yoga is offering the path and methods which lead to purification of the human body and mind.
For those who embraced (embracing) Yoga (philosophy) it becomes a lifestyle choice, meaning that it is an ongoing practice. The process itself is rewarding. That process means we learn to still live in the world but remain above it. We work towards keeping free of the hold of our possessions, ego, and attachments.
Ashtanga yoga is offering eight limbs (steps) in the direction of total (body and mind) purification:
Each limb relates to an aspect of achieving a healthy and fulfilling life, and each builds upon the one before it. You may be surprised to hear that only one of the limbs involves the performance of yoga postures. Here is a description of the eight limbs.
1. Yama: Five ethical guidelines regarding moral behavior towards others:
· Nonviolence
· Truthfulness
· Nonstealing
· Nonlust
· Non-covetousness (Being happy with what you need. Not coveting luxury items.)
2. Niyama: Five ethical guidelines regarding moral behavior towards oneself:
· Cleanliness (internal and external)
· Contentment (keeping mind focused; happiness)
· Sustained practice (discipline the body)
· Self study
· Surrender to God
3. Asana: Practice of yoga postures. (Method of purifying the body.)
4. Pranayama: Practice of breathing exercises. (Method of brining mind into focus).
5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal of the senses, (meaning that the exterior world is not a distraction from the interior world within oneself.)
6. Dharana: Concentration, (meaning the ability to focus on something uninterrupted by external or internal distractions.)
7. Dhyana: Meditation. (Building upon Dharana, the concentration is no longer focused on a single thing but is all encompassing.)
8. Samadhi: Enlightenment. Bliss. (Building upon Dhyana, the transcendence of the self through meditation. The merging of the self with the universe. )
By incorporating the described above principles, we should be able to gain more energy, greater emotional stability, and better concentration. Yoga will enhance how you see and respond to challenges in daily life. It will create positive change at the deepest level, for life!
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 196 aphorisms (sūtras) that constitute the foundational text of Yoga. Yoga is one of the six orthodox āstika schools of Hindu philosophy.
It is a discipline that is deeply psychological and philosophical. What it is not : it is not purely physical. We use asanas (bodily practice to complete the eight - limbed system. Some people confuse Yoga with Pilates because they only see one side of the practice.
Āstika (heaven exists) and Nāstika (it doesn't exist) are technical terms in Hinduism used to classify philosophical schools and persons, according to whether they accept the authority of the Supreme, or not. By this definition, Yoga is classified as āstika schools; and some schools like Buddhism are considered nāstika. The distinction is similar to the orthodox/heterodox distinction in the West. In non-technical usage, the term āstika is loosely translated as "theist", while nāstika is translated as "atheist".
Although the Yoga Sutras have become the most important text of Yoga, the opinion of most scholars is that Patañjali was not the creator of Yoga, which existed well before him, but merely a great expounder. Patañjali lived somewhere between 500 BCE and 200 CE. (BCE = Before the Common Era.) He is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice.
While many of us are not able to read in Sanskrit or Hindu, we rely on the interpretation of the Sutras. Nicolai Bachman studied extensively at the American Sanskrit Institute, VagYoga Institute in India, and the American Institute of Vedic Studies, receiving his MA in Eastern Philosophy from St. John’s College.
Nicolai Bachman gives a comprehensive teaching of the philosophy described in Patajali’s Yoga Sutras in his book The Path of teh Yoga Sutras. While not commenting on the entirety of the Yoga Sutras, Bachman’s explanations of core concepts creates a solid foundation for insight. My further notes are taking from his book , A practical guide to the core of yoga.
The Patanjali yoga tradition is a later expression of older teaching based on the texts of India know as Veda-s. The texts are dated earlier than 1500 BCE. The Yoga Sutras is accepted as the primary text on yoga philosophy. It focuses on the transformation of the mind; the way we think, communicate and act. The philosophy explains how to act by directing our attention inward and grow our inner contentment.
The Sutras (text) describes how our consciousness, how suffering happens, and how to refine our body, breath, mind, and heart in order to achieve inner happiness and become free of negative effects of the outer world. When we are able to focus our attention away from the external objects and influences and bring our awareness toward inner core, we can connect to the pure inner light of awareness.
Let’s begin with a Sanskrit word SATTVA. It represents what is commonly accepted as good. It qualities include love, compassion, wisdom, intelligence, truth, purity, nonviolence, adoptability. Being SATVIC means acting according to SATTVA. As our heart-mind is more refined through the practice of yoga, our mind and heart is gradually becoming more and more sattvic.
The approach to learning YOGA:
It is challenging to cover all 196 sutras in an article. The path of learning and discerning all principles may be a lengthy one for those who chose to emerge into the philosophy. As a beginning to the deeper studies, though, a short description and concise explanation of few principles is offered in this paper.
ATHA – readiness and commitment.
Atha means beginning the study of who we are and how we can make a change to our internal heart-mind in order to be less involved with the material possessions. It is a study that helps to refine ourselves and our actions towards others.
Nicolai Bachman offers the following thought for practice: (a) Learning anything well requires eagerness, commitment, and perseverance. (b) With an open mind, I can direct my attention inward and see what unfolds.
Recommended exercise:
Think of a time when you took too much upon yourself (too many errands or projects) at the same time. Now, ask yourself the following:
1. What could have waited?
2. How doing all things at once affected the quality of your personal life?
3. What could you have done differently to achieve happiness?
CITTA – heart-mind field of consciousness.
Heart-mind (citta) field accepts sensory input from outside. The field remembers and directs the delivery of thoughts, words, and actions. It is our outer and inner psyche. The CITTA sits between the ever-changing outside world and an inner light of awareness (PURUSA.) This inner light never changes. It represents purity. Citta is violated with mental-emotional baggage which causing us to act according to our habits and perceptions that we accumulated during our lives.
One of the core aspects of yoga is to clarifying the heart-mind (citta.) Citta consists of outer mind, inner mind, ego, memory. Over time these memories program the CITTA and we develop opinions, biases, prejudices and behavioral patterns that set us in our own way. CITTA will be influenced by whatever we are exposed to or whatever we are focused on. Being around helpful and positive people who uplift us will promote happiness in our heart-mind.
Yoga, because it is focused on developing inner mind, is all about independent thinking. Purification of citta is the primary results of yoga practice and leads us to connection with our divine inner light of awareness (purusa.)
Recommended exercise:
Which of your habits or behaviors are due to nature (genetic) and which are due to nature of life experience and opinions, memories? What might you do differently if you were free to act and not bound by conformity?
PURUSA - pure inner light of awareness.
Individual uniqueness is due to our temporary, ever changing body, breath, and mind. Those outer layers of us surround an inner, divine light of awareness called the PURUSA. Our thoughts and emotions can distort what we perceive, creating in our heart-mind (citta) a cloud.
The greeting Namaste literally means “salutation to you”. With that greeting, we are honoring the PURUSA (the inner light of awareness) that resides in the other person.
One goal of practicing yoga is to reach the state in which our decisions and actions are based on perceiving our environment clearly and accurately (in opposed to functioning with clouded perception, induced by our ego and memories.)
Recommended exercise:
Think of how a belief in a divine entity helps people to cope with the ups and downs of life. Meditate on part of you that never changes. (True you, deeply inside.)
PURUSA versus DRSYA – ever changing natures.
Drsya means what is seeable (matters and energies.) Distinguishing between the PURUSA (inner light of awareness) and DRSYA (seeable, changing matters and energies) is a major realization that will remove the dark covering of ignorance and the CITTA (heart-mind), allowing us to experience the truth.
Purusa: Drsya:
Conscious Unconscious
Permanent Impermanent
Subject Object
Inactive Active
The world around us is not the same as it was a moment ago, and its changes are not predictable. When our expectations are not met or a sudden tragedy occurs, we can move on more easily when we understand the temporality of ourselves and of our surroundings.
Recommended exercise:
Think of a rock that, from a first thought, does not change its shape. Imagine how it might have become what it is. Everything around us changes. We have to accept that.
VIVEKA – keen discernment.
The ability to choose wisely and separate right from wrong is detrimental in the path of yoga. Without that ability our actions, our thoughts and words are affected by the habits, and we remain the prisoners of involuntary conformity (tradition).
Viveka is ‘knowing ‘and discerning one object from another. We are making decisions and judgments all the time. Such as: what to eat, what to wear, where to go, what to do, what to say. Exercising clear judgment, keeping our focus on what is helpful in a long run, and focusing on how our today’s actions will affect our memory ( citta), will help us to avoid future sufferings. Thus, accessing as much information as possible gives us a broader view and a better chance of making the best decision.
We can minimize contact with those who bring us down and influence us in a harmful way (for the long run.) Making decisions under peer pressure (opinion) is very harmful to an individual. Without clear mind and discernment, we sink deeper and deeper into the pool of matters that have very little to do with our true self, with our inner light of awareness (purusa). As we turn inward, more and more outer objects and events become useless to us and we are able to let go of any attachment to them.
Recommended exercise:
Next time you have to make a decision, collect as much information as possible and avoid making decision based on your prejudice and formed opinions. Try to view all the angles before making the decision. Think: is peer pressure playing a role in your decision?
Also:
When you see someone whom you need to interact with, but do not like very much, try to separate their outer shell (personality) from the divine inner light residing within the person. Try to see through the formed personality and meditate on interacting with the person’s “good”.
ABHYASA – focused practice.
Making progress in any endeavor requires time, effort, and focus. World-class athletes developed their skills after many years of continuous practice. Abhyasa us a disciplined, persistent effort to remain focused. Abhyasa can also apply to understanding another person. Focusing on that person regularly over time, with sincerity and respect, allows us to truly understand each other better. In the beginning, it can be difficult to establish a regular practice. Abhyasa can prevent or counteract certain obstacles to yoga. Diligent focus practice will reduce harmful effects.
Nicolai Bachman recommends practicing the following thoughts: (a) Ongoing, sincere, and effortful practice is the source of my strength and progress. (b) Every time I practice, it empowers me and reinforces my positive direction.
Recommended exercise:
If you have a difficult person in your life, perhaps a relative or a partner, how can you practice improving your interactions with him/her? Come up with a few concrete ideas, and notice what happens when you implement them. Practice.
VAIRAGYA – nonattachment to sensory objects.
When our attention is drawn outward, our heart-mind becomes preoccupied with daily life. We get attached to things so much that we lose out perspective on life. If we master a way of making the connection with inner light of awareness, we realize that daily ups and downs are actually manageable and the ever changing world is not making such deep effect on us.
Vairagya is characterized by an indifference to objects and a detachment from them. When an object is perceived, it can produce an attraction, which can lead to a strong attachment. Over time the attachment may grow into a craving. And that, in return, will create a big destruction from the true self and our ability to make discerning choices. Diligent practice, (Abhyasa) directed inward will, over time will help us to naturally develop an attitude of nonattachment (to things.)
Recommended exercise:
Think of your personal situation in which remaining indifferent have helped you and people around you. Are you able to remain that way?
KARMA AND SANSJARA – action and its imprint.
Karma is one of the Sanskrit words that most of us are familiar with without studying yoga. Karma means action that produces a result and leaves energetic result inside of us. Kara can originate from us as a thought, word, or action.
Karma is recorded in our memory, and as Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion proves: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Positive energy begets positive energy. The saying “What goes around comes around” is based on the premise of Karma. The science of yoga accepts the theory of reincarnation; that is where an individual soul goes through cycle and bodily births and deaths. And with that, the soul is carrying a residue of the actions performed in a former life.
According to yoga, actions can be good, bad, and neutral. Each action is directed by the deep conditioning and considered to be somewhat unconscious; such as, programmed by our past (or memory.)
In addition to action, there are inaction and nonaction. Inaction is where we are indecisive. Nothing is moving or happening, in that case. Nonaction is acting directly from our unconditioned inner Self.
Inaction: It is considered the worst from of action when we cannot decide what to do. Even a bad decision is better that no decision at all. Inaction goes against the flow of the Universe.
Nonaction: means acting selflessly, with no attachment to the results. The actions of a true yogi considered nonaction because they are selfless and connected to the pure awareness (soul) instead of being effected by prejudice, memories, habits and conditioning (samskara-s.)
Samskara-s can set us in our ways and make us think that everyone should live and behave as we do. We tend to judge people who act outside of our samskara-s. The conditioning of our heart-mind can be ended by discovering what caused them. Tracing back the pattern of our behavior to its origin will help allow us to take steps to minimizing influence on our future actions.
Every single thought, word, act and sense we experience affects us in its own way. If we work on making our actions positive and helpful will make us and the people surrounding us happier and healthier.
Recommended exercise:
Think of what behavioral patterns you possess and hoe each of them influence your daily life.
PARINAMA – transformation.
GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
Everything is changing. How we adopt and accept that change affects our lives. Our actions can change quickly on the outside but it takes lots of efforts to change our deeply imbedded opinions and memories.
The Light on Yoga (first published 1966)
B. K. S. Iyengar (born December 14, 1918)
Book report
“The practice of the art is more difficult to communicate than a purely literary or philosophical concept”.
B.K.S. Iyengar makes frequent references to the philosophical and moral principles in his book called The Light on Yoga. He believed it is important for the people to understand the origin of asanas, and he stressed out the importance of following the correct and safe methods for practicing (mastering) asanas (poses) and pranayamas (breathing).
At first, B.K.S. Iyengar gives a definition to the word yoga by using the words like union, communion, join, bind, and attach. He further explains the meaning of yoga as: “…true union of our will with the will of God.”
Yoga is one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy. It was systematized and documented (explained in the book) by Patanjali in his well known written word Yoga Sutras, which consists of 185 terse aphorisms. Yoga teaches the means by which human spirit can be united to God. For those who practice the philosophy, the meaning of Yoga is unfolded as the deliverance from the pain and sorrow. In the word of Sri Krishna (referring to Indian mythology), “When the mind, intellect and self are under control, freed from restless desires, so that they rest in the spirit within, a man becomes a Yukta - one in communion with God. When the restlessness of the mind is stilled through the practices of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of spirit within himself finds fulfillment.”
The Bhagavad Gita (ancient Sanskrit/text) gives other explanation of yoga and places more stress on the yoga by action, referred as Karma Yoga. In exact words: “Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof.” In other words, the philosophy stresses out the importance of not placing emphasis on the fruit of your work, it instructs to abandon selfish desires, and never stop working. One cannot be lazy, or cannot be selfish or motivated by selfish means and desires.
Yoga is also being described as wisdom, a skilful living amongst activities, harmony and moderation. Yoga is not for the one who gorges or starves oneself, sleeps too much or deprives oneself from the sleep. Moderation and regulation is the key.
Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras describes Yoga as discipline that restrains mental modification (or fluctuation of consciousness.) He details the important means of yoga in the eight limbs (or stages) of yoga: Yama – universal moral commandments; Niyama – self purification by discipline; Asana – posture, physical practices; Pranayama – control of the breath; Pratyahara – withdrawal of the mind from exterior objects and senses; Dharana- concentration; Samadhi – individual becomes one with the object of his meditation.
Asanas keep the bodies healthy and in harmony with the Nature. The first two, Yama and Niyama, control yogi’s passions, emotions and desires. Those three stages are considered outward quests.
The next two stages are inner quests that help yogi to regulate the breathing and control the mind. This helps to free the senses from the objects and desires. And the last three stages, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi take yogi into the innermost recesses of his soul. The yogi does not look into heaven to find God; he knows that HE is within. With that, the last three stages are called the quest of the soul.
B.K.S. Iyengar states that “happy is the man who knows how to distinguish the real from the unreal, the internal from the temporary, and the good from the pleasant by his discrimination and wisdom. He explains that the mind is the king of the senses. One who has conquered his mind, senses, desires, and thoughts is a king (raja) among men. The expression Raja Yoga implies a complete mastery of Himself. Thus the Ashtanga Yoga (the eight limbs of yoga) is the science of Raja Yoga.
Swatmarama, a yogi lived in 15th century in India, and the author of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, called the same path described earlier a Hatha Yoga (hatha means force or effort.) It is because the practice requires rigorous discipline.
Iyengar explains that some people believe that Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga are distinct. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Raja Yoga) deals with spiritual discipline and the Hatha Yoga of Swatmarama deals with solely physical discipline. In reality, both complement each other and form a single approach toward Liberation. Yoga aspirant needs to know the discipline of Hatha Yoga to reach the heights of Raja Yoga.
Further in his book, Iyengar moves on to explaining the causes for the Modification of the Mind discussed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Thus, our minds are affected by the following:
Thus, our minds are affected by the following:
Pramana – a standard by which things are measured, values.
Vipariyaya – a mistaken view, which perceived to be true until discovered faulty.
Vikalpa – imagination without any factual basis.
Nidra – when a man forgets himself in a sleep.
Smrti – memory, keeping oneself chained to the past.
Patanjali lists five causes that create emotional pain.
There are:
There are:
Avidya – ignorance.
Asmita – the feeling of individuality. Ego.
Raga – attachments.
Raga – attachments.
Dvesa – aversion (hatred).
Abhinivesa – (fear of death) thirst for life and bodily enjoyment.
These causes of pain remain deeply seeded in the mind of a person. As long as those cannot be controlled, there can be no peace. The yogi learns how to live in the present and detach from the past formed judgments and senses. They form ability to sense and evaluate each new experience in its own originality. Fear, attachments, and desires are based on the memories that possess the mind. Through yoga practices, the aspirants learn how to conquer the mind, how to still the mind and free himself from the pain.
Further on, B.K.S. Iyengar offers the following explanation of the Destructions and Obstacles which hinder the aspirant’s practice of yoga: sickness, lack of mental disposition, indecisiveness, indifference, laziness, sensuality, illusion, failure to concentrate, instability.
The first obstacle is sickness. To the yogi, his body is the prime instrument. The physical health is important for the mental development, as normally the mind functions through the nervous system. When the body is sick, the system is affected and the mind becomes restless.
The mind and the breath are intimately connected. Thus, in addition to asanas practices, Patanjali recommends Pranayama (rhythmic breath control) for achieving mental and inner piece.
Iyengar, in his book Light on Yoga, leads us to a conclusion that all should treasure love, moderation and humility. He states that “love begets courage, moderation creates abundance (wealth), and humility generates power. Courage without love is brutish (rough). Abundance (great quantity or wealth) without moderation leads to over indulgence and decay. Power without humility creates arrogance and tyranny.”
All the important texts on yoga lay great emphasis on constant practices of the eight limbs of Yoga.
Without practicing all the aspects, it will remain to be a theory with no possible effect.
In his masterpiece The Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar offers us a plethora of techniques, cautions, and effects of Asanas (poses) and Pranayama (breathing.) The Light on Yoga is a comprehensive source for those who is seeking guidance to the path of yoga.
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