The time has come. The pathway has been laid out before us, the pitfalls and obstacles identified, we have been given the key to release the shackles of ignorance, the maps have been drawn and the warnings given. There is only one choice to be made at this juncture.
Continue with this challenge, or return to status quo, the familiar.
We now close in on Book 3 with this daunting, and it is daunting, challenge when we arrive at the following sutras. The well has been fully primed, and it should be no surprise what lies behind the veil, and yet, it is...so let us continue.
3.49-50 then reveal:
sattva-purusha-anyatã-khyãti-mãtrasya sarvabhãva-adhishthãnritvam sarva-jñãtritvam 3.49
tad-vairãgyãd-api dosha-bîja-kshaye kaivalyam 3.50
Giving us:
Only for the one who recognizes the difference between sattva (reason/Mind) and purusha (consciousness/true awareness/Soul) is there the intelligence of all and supremacy over all beings. 3.49
However, even from vairãgyam (detachment) from that state comes kaivalyam (absolute singularity) in the destruction of the affliction of the seed concept (for samãdhi). 3.50
Bam. The sutra heard around the Yoga world...duality is only apparently the final step...non-duality is the ultimate one.
I cannot stress how influential it has been for centuries that this turn at 3.50 has been ignored or simply denied.
The message here is quite clear: Duality brings us omniscience and omnipotence; Non-Duality brings us freedom, because the former is the highest form of bondage ever.
To restate.
What we have been building up for the entire Yoga Sutras thus far are the tools to refine our sense of discretion, or viveka, in order to recognize the difference between sattva (pure reason) and purusha (pure intelligence) through the 8-limb path of Yoga and through diligent, long-lasting practice (abhyãsa) and ultimate detachment (vairãgyam) from the fruits of our actions. It is what we do when the Bee stings.
That is to stand at the abyss. 3.50 dares us to jump. And, this is when we falter, we hesitate, we freeze, or we turn around.
We fear Kaivalyam above all else. It is the most primal fear of all. It drives us to act when we should not or not to act when we should. It paralyzes and it enervates us to even think about it. It is the monster in the closet, the fear of turning off the lights.
Krishnamurti often spoke about the difference between being lonely and being alone. Being lonely gives us a perverse comfort because we can feel sorry for ourselves, we can play the victim to an audience of one, thus creating two. From the singularity comes duality. To be alone is the opposite, it is to extract yourself from the continuum of the flow, and to still the thoughts, the vrittis in the mind, because at that moment, you are no longer distracted by the buzzing of technology, the chatter of inane conversations around you, the to-do lists in your head, the frets and anxieties of what "might" happen, the text messages that barrage you on your Smart phone...and the list goes on. To be alone is to detach from all of that. To un-plug, unconditionally. To actually see and to listen to your own heartbeat and breath. To be as primal as the original, first element of the Universe. And, it is terrifying. But, it is the ultimate liberation.
Kaivalyam is: To be utterly alone.
And, we balk. We hesitate. We turn back to the familiar.
Or, we go forward.
3.51-53 give us some final tools of advice before we leap. One final samyama to perform...
sthãnyupanimantrane sangasmayãkaranam punar-anisththaprasangãt 3.51
ksana-tat-kramayoh samyamãd-vivekajam jñãnam 3.52
jãti-lakshana-deshair-anyatãnavacchedãt-tulyayos-tatah pratipattih 3.53
Upon the enticement of divine beings, one should shun being/acting in awe, lest falling prey to attachment/desire again. 3.51
By performing samyama on the absolute present and its progression, knowledge born from discretion (viveka) occurs. 3.52
At that time, the discernment of two identical essences can be determined, though they are not distinct in species/type, quality or location. 3.53
3.51 gives us the final warning...the warning of the Midas Touch. The Temptation of Christ. The apple to Adam and Eve.
If the Yogi/ni has reached such a level of progression upon his or her 8-limb path that the deities themselves are enticing them, beware because that is merely seduction. When Buddha was nearing his ultimate Enlightenment, to become the Buddha, the Awakened One, he was first seduced by Mara (the agent of Death), the demon who tries to seduce Guatama with the most prevalent human temptation of all: sex and power...
The Buddha saw that this too was seduction for attachment and was not to be his path. He touched the Earth as his witness as testimony that even the divine and demonic could not sway him and that he was grounded in being alone. Kaivalyam.
3.52 and 3.53 then return to the concept of setting up discretion (viveka) as the ultimate tool, one that soon too will be discarded. However, like Picasso learning the rules of Realism first, he could then break the rules to create Cubism. John Cage had to know the meaning of sound before presenting silence. The Yogi/ni has to refine discretion/discernment before abandoning even that. For, if we have not truly looked, truly seen and experienced, then it is false. It becomes bumper-sticker slogans: "All is One" "Be One with the Universe" "Love and Light" that eventually mean No-thing if one has not truly experienced them.
In 12-step programs, one saying is "One day at a Time." A bumper sticker. A wall poster. If you have not lived it. 3.52 calls upon us to live it. To perform samyama on the immediate NOW. It is very trendy for people to spout out "Live in the Moment" and some people have made millions of dollars saying what Patañjali and others have said for thousands of years. Nothing new under the sun. It is mere psycho-babble, a palliative for the masses, and it sells.
To buy it is one thing, to live it another.
3.52 challenges us to live in the ever-present now, that kshana (which like the original Greek meaning of a-tom, means that which cannot be divided/cut further) is the smallest, infinitesimal description of Time, meaning, no Time. And yet, things change. There is a krama, a progression form one kshana to the next, that is imperceptible to one who is casually living, but for the Yogi/ni who is aware and hyper-observant, there is discretion, but that too, is not the bigger picture. It is the forest for the trees once again.
3.53 is resonant with a concept in Physics that has fascinated me for some time now. Entanglement. It is the process in which two essences become entangled at the quantum level, the absolute fundamental level in such a way that they can be on opposite sides of the Universe and still be linked by communication that supersedes even the speed of Light. They are linked identically and simultaneously, irrespective of Time and Place, and once entangled, it is permanent.
3.53 says then that even the Yogi/ni can discern between the Entanglement, despite to all other observers, there is no difference.
And, yet, that again, is just parlor tricks. 3.54-55 lead us beyond that Rabbit Hole that we entered at the beginning of Book 3. We are on the other side of the Black Hole now.
tãrakam sarvavishayam sarvathã-vishayam akramam ceti vivekajam jñãnam 3.54
sattva-purushayoh shuddhi-sãmye kaivalyam iti 3.55
Leaving us to conclude Book 3 with:
Knowledge born of discretion is the liberator of all objects, everywhere and is a singularity in Time. 3.54
Kavilayam occurs then in the absolute equality of the pureness of sattva (reason) and purusha (consciousness). 3.55
We divide by discretion. We recognize the difference between pure reason and pure consciousness, only to then see that they are merely two sides of the same coin, Kaivalyam, so we then unite, and transcend.
And, so, the curtain has been pulled back, the veil removed, the apo-calpyse begins, and what do we find behind?
A mirror.
With the reflection of ourselves, ... alone.
Book 4 awaits.
Continue with this challenge, or return to status quo, the familiar.
We now close in on Book 3 with this daunting, and it is daunting, challenge when we arrive at the following sutras. The well has been fully primed, and it should be no surprise what lies behind the veil, and yet, it is...so let us continue.
3.49-50 then reveal:
sattva-purusha-anyatã-khyãti-mãtrasya sarvabhãva-adhishthãnritvam sarva-jñãtritvam 3.49
tad-vairãgyãd-api dosha-bîja-kshaye kaivalyam 3.50
Giving us:
Only for the one who recognizes the difference between sattva (reason/Mind) and purusha (consciousness/true awareness/Soul) is there the intelligence of all and supremacy over all beings. 3.49
However, even from vairãgyam (detachment) from that state comes kaivalyam (absolute singularity) in the destruction of the affliction of the seed concept (for samãdhi). 3.50
Bam. The sutra heard around the Yoga world...duality is only apparently the final step...non-duality is the ultimate one.
I cannot stress how influential it has been for centuries that this turn at 3.50 has been ignored or simply denied.
The message here is quite clear: Duality brings us omniscience and omnipotence; Non-Duality brings us freedom, because the former is the highest form of bondage ever.
To restate.
What we have been building up for the entire Yoga Sutras thus far are the tools to refine our sense of discretion, or viveka, in order to recognize the difference between sattva (pure reason) and purusha (pure intelligence) through the 8-limb path of Yoga and through diligent, long-lasting practice (abhyãsa) and ultimate detachment (vairãgyam) from the fruits of our actions. It is what we do when the Bee stings.
That is to stand at the abyss. 3.50 dares us to jump. And, this is when we falter, we hesitate, we freeze, or we turn around.
We fear Kaivalyam above all else. It is the most primal fear of all. It drives us to act when we should not or not to act when we should. It paralyzes and it enervates us to even think about it. It is the monster in the closet, the fear of turning off the lights.
Krishnamurti often spoke about the difference between being lonely and being alone. Being lonely gives us a perverse comfort because we can feel sorry for ourselves, we can play the victim to an audience of one, thus creating two. From the singularity comes duality. To be alone is the opposite, it is to extract yourself from the continuum of the flow, and to still the thoughts, the vrittis in the mind, because at that moment, you are no longer distracted by the buzzing of technology, the chatter of inane conversations around you, the to-do lists in your head, the frets and anxieties of what "might" happen, the text messages that barrage you on your Smart phone...and the list goes on. To be alone is to detach from all of that. To un-plug, unconditionally. To actually see and to listen to your own heartbeat and breath. To be as primal as the original, first element of the Universe. And, it is terrifying. But, it is the ultimate liberation.
Kaivalyam is: To be utterly alone.
And, we balk. We hesitate. We turn back to the familiar.
Or, we go forward.
3.51-53 give us some final tools of advice before we leap. One final samyama to perform...
sthãnyupanimantrane sangasmayãkaranam punar-anisththaprasangãt 3.51
ksana-tat-kramayoh samyamãd-vivekajam jñãnam 3.52
jãti-lakshana-deshair-anyatãnavacchedãt-tulyayos-tatah pratipattih 3.53
Upon the enticement of divine beings, one should shun being/acting in awe, lest falling prey to attachment/desire again. 3.51
By performing samyama on the absolute present and its progression, knowledge born from discretion (viveka) occurs. 3.52
At that time, the discernment of two identical essences can be determined, though they are not distinct in species/type, quality or location. 3.53
3.51 gives us the final warning...the warning of the Midas Touch. The Temptation of Christ. The apple to Adam and Eve.
If the Yogi/ni has reached such a level of progression upon his or her 8-limb path that the deities themselves are enticing them, beware because that is merely seduction. When Buddha was nearing his ultimate Enlightenment, to become the Buddha, the Awakened One, he was first seduced by Mara (the agent of Death), the demon who tries to seduce Guatama with the most prevalent human temptation of all: sex and power...
The Buddha saw that this too was seduction for attachment and was not to be his path. He touched the Earth as his witness as testimony that even the divine and demonic could not sway him and that he was grounded in being alone. Kaivalyam.
3.52 and 3.53 then return to the concept of setting up discretion (viveka) as the ultimate tool, one that soon too will be discarded. However, like Picasso learning the rules of Realism first, he could then break the rules to create Cubism. John Cage had to know the meaning of sound before presenting silence. The Yogi/ni has to refine discretion/discernment before abandoning even that. For, if we have not truly looked, truly seen and experienced, then it is false. It becomes bumper-sticker slogans: "All is One" "Be One with the Universe" "Love and Light" that eventually mean No-thing if one has not truly experienced them.
In 12-step programs, one saying is "One day at a Time." A bumper sticker. A wall poster. If you have not lived it. 3.52 calls upon us to live it. To perform samyama on the immediate NOW. It is very trendy for people to spout out "Live in the Moment" and some people have made millions of dollars saying what Patañjali and others have said for thousands of years. Nothing new under the sun. It is mere psycho-babble, a palliative for the masses, and it sells.
To buy it is one thing, to live it another.
3.52 challenges us to live in the ever-present now, that kshana (which like the original Greek meaning of a-tom, means that which cannot be divided/cut further) is the smallest, infinitesimal description of Time, meaning, no Time. And yet, things change. There is a krama, a progression form one kshana to the next, that is imperceptible to one who is casually living, but for the Yogi/ni who is aware and hyper-observant, there is discretion, but that too, is not the bigger picture. It is the forest for the trees once again.
3.53 is resonant with a concept in Physics that has fascinated me for some time now. Entanglement. It is the process in which two essences become entangled at the quantum level, the absolute fundamental level in such a way that they can be on opposite sides of the Universe and still be linked by communication that supersedes even the speed of Light. They are linked identically and simultaneously, irrespective of Time and Place, and once entangled, it is permanent.
3.53 says then that even the Yogi/ni can discern between the Entanglement, despite to all other observers, there is no difference.
And, yet, that again, is just parlor tricks. 3.54-55 lead us beyond that Rabbit Hole that we entered at the beginning of Book 3. We are on the other side of the Black Hole now.
tãrakam sarvavishayam sarvathã-vishayam akramam ceti vivekajam jñãnam 3.54
sattva-purushayoh shuddhi-sãmye kaivalyam iti 3.55
Leaving us to conclude Book 3 with:
Knowledge born of discretion is the liberator of all objects, everywhere and is a singularity in Time. 3.54
Kavilayam occurs then in the absolute equality of the pureness of sattva (reason) and purusha (consciousness). 3.55
We divide by discretion. We recognize the difference between pure reason and pure consciousness, only to then see that they are merely two sides of the same coin, Kaivalyam, so we then unite, and transcend.
And, so, the curtain has been pulled back, the veil removed, the apo-calpyse begins, and what do we find behind?
A mirror.
With the reflection of ourselves, ... alone.
Book 4 awaits.
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