Journey to the East (Yoga Sutras 3.14-16)

It has been some time since we were looking at the Sutras, but there was some necessity on my own part to step back for want of loosing the forest for the trees and step away for a bit, but we're back.

Book III of the Sutras has a mixed role and reputation within contemporary (and I am guessing historical) readers/explorers of the Sutras as it contains the often-mocked, sometimes-praised, usually glossed-over Siddhis, or "magical/super" powers that a Yogi/ni may accrue with diligent practice...It is a chapter/book that some will use to show that Yoga is some arcane form of sorcery and can corrupt our minds and bodies and others will cough loudly when talking about the Sutras and politely omit the Siddhis from conversation because, despite being the "Spiritual Warriors" that we are, we don't REALLY believe in THAT...

I smell a rat.

To condemn the Sutras in toto because of the Siddhis or to ignore this section because it is too weird for our oh-so-sophisticated, rational 21st-century minds are both the product of exactly what the Sutras are aiming to amend, namely: a-vidyã, or ignorance.

Looking back, before moving forward, we remember that Book III begins with the Trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi, the three final and so-called "internal" limbs of Patañjali's ashtanga system, collectively known as samyama, which is the main theme for the rest of the book. Although the eight limbs are not precisely sequential (as I suggest Yama and Ni-Yama are perpetually being tested in our daily lives and hence never quite "done"), but there is the idea that the first 5 limbs need to be addressed first before going down the Rabbit Hole of inner-consciousness. For, as we shall see in the coming Sutras, if one is not fully prepared, that Rabbit Hole might just hold some surprises that are too much to deal with. The Siddhis, in turn, are not something to be desired or the goal of Yoga, but, quite the contrary, they are to be avoided! So, our first group of Book III opponents are much like protesters of a movie who have not gone to see it..., and, as with Yoga, it is a choice, You May Leave if You Wish...

The Journey to the East (Die Morgenlandfahrt), a curious book by Hermann Hesse, (who also wrote a little novel called Siddhartha, but that's another story...) tells the story of HH who joins the nebulous group called "The League" on a journey to the "East." However, (spoiler alert), we soon see that HH loses his way dramatically while on this journey. He lost the forest for the trees. Or, to borrow from Chögyam Trungpa, he became infatuated by his own Spiritual Materialism. Spiritual Materialism, as Trungpa very lucidly (and given his personal habits, this is no small feat) describes in his book, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, is the accumulation of so-called "credentials" upon our quest for enlightenment/salvation/peace/love/understanding/fill-in-the-blank...

These credentials are like Catholic indulgences...or like what we see all-too-often in Yoga shalas around the globe these days...the Holier-than-Cow attitude that "I do Yoga, therefore, I don't have the same problems, or I am absolved from being pain in the ass because I did Ashtanga this morning..." It is the hypocrisy that runs rampant in all religions, spiritual pursuits and ideologies. Namely, because I do "x" I am above the law of the riff-raff. Moreover,  as I was reminded by my dear friend while discussing this last evening, it is the age-old issue of a lazy cut-and-pasting of what works for us, when we want it to, and how we want it to, usually taking it out of context (see below on 3.16...).

Yeah, well, that is exactly what Book III is warning us about...Spiritual Materialism and losing our way on our Journey to the East...

Maybe there is more to this section that originally meets the Mind's Eye...so let's take a moment to look and see what we can see.

The immediately preceding Sutras (3.8-13) dealt with the three parinamas, or evolutions. These three evolutions are of: nirodhah (restraint/control/stilling), samãdhi (synthesis, integration, profound awareness) and ekagrata-cittasya (singularity of mind). From these three evolutions or refinements, we can begin to see the "true" nature of things by way of: dharma-laksha-avasthã or dharma-quality-state of being. In other words, the finer-tuned our senses are, the better we can actually "see" things. (However, as we know from the onset, "see-ing" is merely a play of duality, something that we will ultimately seek to transcend in kavilaya...)

3.14 will take us one step further then with:

shãnta-udita-avyapadeshya-dharma-anupãti dharmi  3.14

Or,

The "dharma-maker" follows the dharma of what is past, arisen (present) and not-yet-determined (future). 

What this means is that there is something meta-physical that transcends Time, and if we merely focus on an object/situation frozen in Time, then we are only seeing a portion of its wholeness. Think Donnie Darko when he discovers The Philosophy of Time Travel by Roberta Sparrow...

Dharmin is often translated then as the "sub-stratum" of real phenomena, however, this is a bit limiting as it distinguishes Dharma and Dharmin as two separate existences. It is more like a meta-meta-physical connection that unites them both as we shall progressively see. It is similar to the concept that God cannot be separate from the Universe that God creates...setting up a nice paradox, (which I love).

Moving right along then, with 3.15:

krama-anyatvam parinãma-anyatve hetuh 3.15

Or,

The state of otherness in permutations is the cause of variety in evolution/transformation (parinãma). 3.15

This one sticks in the craw a bit. Still chewing on it because as the more I am reading lately, the more I see that Parinãma is nearly, or even on, par with Dharma and Karma as being the most important words in Sanskrit philosophical works...so, when it arises, I am giving serious pause as to how it is really fitting into the bigger picture. It is a Sequoia or Giant Redwood that can easily obscure the rest of the trees if not careful...

In short, what 3.15 seems to be saying is that the reason that differences exist in Life and it evolution is based upon the permutations of the elements (gunas and the like), which makes perfect sense on a Quantum level...So, for now, I'm sticking with this translation, though as always, suggestions are welcome!

And, then we get to 3.16, which serves as the gateway to the rest of the Siddhis via the implementation of the Samyama en route to our goal of Kaivalya. If you have ever watched an American sports event, you will inevitably see the guy holding up a sign (or having it painted on his his body somewhere...but, hey, that's more or less how Patrick Warburton got started...but, I digress) with the message of: John 3.16, which for Christians is the end-all bumper sticker quote from the New Testament, namely from the King James: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

This is the example of taking things out of context, or cutting and pasting to serve one's purpose...Just once, I would love to see someone next to "that guy" holding up "Patañali 3.16"! 

So, what does Patañjali 3.16 give us? Surprisingly, something not so far off from John 3.16...

parinãma-traya-samyamãt atita-anãgata-jñãnam 3.16

Or,

Knowledge of that which has past and that which has yet to manifest comes from the samyama of the trinity of parinãmas. 3.16

As we learned from our School House Rock videos, "3 is the magic number" and indeed it is here too. By applying the method of samyama, which is the trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi to the trinity of the parinãmas of nirodha-samãdhi-ekagratacittasya, we can gain knowledge of the things that have gone before and those yet to manifest. Now, on a superficial level, this sounds like (and is usually translated/interpreted as) knowledge of the past and the future...well, not exactly...

This is again separating Time into discreet moments which (spoiler alert) we shall see is the biggest cause of our mis-perception of reality, namely, separating the Present from the Past and the Future...because, remembering our dear Roberta Sparrow, Einstein and Charles Hinton, the Fourth Dimension is Time and if we transcend the concept of Space alone and put a hyphen between the two, creating Space-Time, then we start to get somewhere/sometime. This is what 3.16 is saying in a nutshell. By the application of the samyama, we can make that transition (parinãma) and as a result, the Present becomes united (though it was never not, it is us that causes such rifts) and we can see the bigger picture. This is not the same as fortune-telling as this Sutra is often taken as, but rather, understanding the causal relationship of all things at all times...something that Stephen Hawking spent his life in search of, the Mind of God...be it through science, meditation, religion or Yoga, the goal is the same...

So begins a long, laundry list now of Siddhis, or powers from method of samayama, and some are indeed quite fabulous, but just how improbable are they? Alice spent her mornings thinking of 6 impossible things before breakfast. 

Shall we do the Same?

Onwards...

Turn and Face the Strange...(ch-ch-ch-changes...Yoga Sutras 3.8-13)

In our last post, we began our descent into the tricky Black Rabbit (W)hole-y Trinity of Dhãranã-Dhyãna-Samãdhi, which for all intents and purposes becomes the collective Samyama from this point onwards in the Sutras. These final three limbs of the asthanga path for Patañjali are inherently different and thus treated separately than the previous 5 (Yama, Ni-Yama, Ãsana, Prãnãyãma and Pratyãhãra). As Patañjali tells us in 3.7, these three are more internal than the other five, meaning that once arrive at this stage, we are transcending the physical and entering the meta-physical. However, even the triumvirate of the Samyama is merely a tool, a skill an upãya for us to go even further, deeper and more profoundly as is hinted in 3.8:

Tadapi bahir-angam nirbijasya  3.8

Even this (trinity-->Samyama) is an external limb of nirbija (samãdhi) 3.8

Grammatically, the Samyama is taken as a singular unit (tad angam) of nirbija (samãdhi), which as we saw at the end of Book I, is the ultimate goal of Yoga. To achieve nirbija samãdhi, we will have to transcend even the fundamental concept of duality that is the root of our perception of reality. Nirbija, to put it simply, is beyond the pale of even thought itself. It is the moment before the Big Bang, the ultimate Shunyata, or Void. The Rabbit Hole par excellence. And, as we shall see, echoing the advice Peter Parker receives from his uncle, "with great power comes great responsibility" and ostensibly, most of the remainder of Book III is about the powers that one can achieve with the use of Samyama at its fullest potential, but all of it encapsulated in a heavy warning that power deceives and the ultimate power corrupts ultimately. 

Before delving into the supernatural world of the siddhis, or powers of Yoga via Samyama, we first need to do a familiar take two steps backwards before taking a step forward with Patañjali. Stepping back then all the way to our primal definition of Yoga in 1.2, namely the uber-cited, Yogas'citta-vritti-nirodhah, we now deal with nirodah in detail because that is the key to attaining nirbija samãdhi. Unlike the 8 limbs which are means, or upãya, nirodhah is the result of these means.

Unfortunately, 3.9, which is the elaboration of nirodhah, is a bit of a tar baby. It is not easy to get a handle on, and to be honest, I am still wrestling with this one (hence the lacuna of posts of late...). So, this is a working translation so that we can move along. And, trust me, in all of the many translations of this Sutra, there is very little consensus except that nirodhah is what is at stake here...

  

Vyutthãna-nirodha-samskãrayor-abhibhava-prãdurbhãvau nirodha-kshana-cittãnvayo nirodha-parinãmah  3.9

The cultivation/evolution (parinãmah) of restraint/temperance (nirodha) is connected to the mind at the moment of nirodhah at the emergence of the mental impression (samskãra) of restraint and the suppression of the transient impressions. 3.9

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Okay, this is messy, and is uncharacteristically tautological for Patañjali in that he uses nirodhah to define nirodhah, leaving us a bit none the wiser about what nirodhah is. 

To paraphrase 3.9 a bit then, we can tease out the following:

When the fleeting impressions of the mind that cause us to pre-judge something subside and the control of the mind yields clarity of thought with the absence of these impressions, then we are cultivating temperance of the mind. 

In layman's terms...When we declutter the mind with our prejudices from experience, things become clearer in the mind.

Again, this is a bit murky, but the gist is there. Experience is a good thing, until it clouds the mind about how we perceive the reality before us. Samyama then becomes the scrubbing element to clean our files and to provide us with clear vision without pre-conceived ideas caused by the samskãras, or mental impressions that both allow us to function in reality, but also cause us to be conditioned by our thoughts. The moksha, or liberation, that Yoga promises is the release from the bondage of those pre-conditioned thoughts, which ultimately lead to desire and thus suffering (duhkham) as they are based upon ignorance (avidyã), such as mistaking a piece of rope on the pathway for a snake.

Moving on then to 3.10, we see:

Tasya prashãnta-vãhitã samskãrãt  3.10

The peaceful flow of nirodha-parinãmah comes from mental imprinting (samskãra). 3.10

Tasya, or "of it/its" should refer to nirodha-parinãmah (cultivation/evolution of restraint) as that was the subject of the previous sutra. As such, the emergent samskãra (mental impression) of nirodha then is what drives the evolution/cultivation of nirodha. So, still a bit clumsy and tautological by using the same term to define itself. What seems to be the case is that by practice then of restraint, restraint evolves, or changes. In other words, we are back to the concept of abhyãsa, or practice that is sustained over a long period of time with reverence. Once again, this is not a quick fix. Patience is the core of Yoga. 

From the parinãma (change/evolution/cultivation) of nirodha, we move onto that of samãdhi in 3.11:

Sarva-arthataikãgrataho kshaya-udayau cittasya samãdhi-parinãmah  3.11

The cultivation/evolution (parinãmah) of samãdhi of the mind is in the rise of singularity of thought and destruction of the multiplicity of goals/aims. 3.11

Take-home message here then is: Keep it Simple, Stupid, or KISS...sage advice. The mind is awash with a multitude of things to do. We praise multi-tasking, but ultimately that leads to a fractured mind, whereas a singularity of attention or focus in the mind leads to deliverance. This singularity, which culminates in Kaivalyam, is the result of the profundity of the Samyama, with practice. As we shall soon see, the singularity of the object itself can be many, and thus yield many siddhis (powers), but these too shall prove to be illusory and deceptions caused by desire, which ultimately again lead to suffering...So, it is not merely the singularity, but what that singularity is that shall become the driving force of Kaivalya, produced by the abhyãsa and vairagyam we saw at the beginning of the Sutras so long ago when our Bee woke us up...

Moving along then to the next change that is important, that of the singularity of the mind's eye, we arrive at 3.12: 

Tatah punah shãntoditau tulya-pratyayau cittasyaikãgratãparinãmah 3.12

At that time again, the evolution of the singularity of the mind is in the equality of thought with the emergent present and the subdued past. 3.12

Or, at the moment of the singularity of the mind, past and present melt into each other and Time become irrelevant. The Rabbit Hole no longer even exists...for, as the Black Hole in physics devours its own light and energy, so too does the singularity of the mind with respect to Time and Space. 

And, in this state of singularity, the "truth of the matter" begins to be revealed as we see in 3.13...

Etena bhutendriyeshu dharma-lakshanãvastha-parinãmã vyãkhyãtãh 3.13

With this singularity of the mind, the evolutions of dharma, quality and state of being are explained within the innate senses. 3.13

In other words, when the mind has shed itself of the noise, it can finally "see" things properly with the unclouded mind's eye. 

But, as with all promises of divine insight, we must tread lightly and be careful of what we ask for. For, like the prisoner who escapes the allegorical Cave in Plato's Republic, once you "see the Light," it is impossible to go back, and furthermore, others may not be so keen upon hearing about your new-found discovery of liberation (moksha) and bliss (ananda)...

To be continued.