I am Superman...and I know what's happening... (Yoga Sutras 3.21-34)

And so it goes according to REM...and Patañjali. 

Looking back to our dear Alice who tries to imagine 6 impossible things before breakfast, the more we look, actually look and read Patañjali's list of Siddhis, or "powerful skills," things don't actually seem that impossible at all. In fact, they seem down-right applicable to our modern sensibility. One of the things I have tried to do in this extended exercise of translating and expounding upon Patañjali's Yoga Sutras, diligently and over a long period of Time, with reverence, is to bring to light how real they can be for us if we don't shroud them in a cloak of mysticism and esoteric fear of the unfamiliar. 

As I always say when translating a text, no matter the source, the time or the language. If it was written by a human, for humans (some texts are truly delusional, however, and that is another question altogether), then there is a level of communication, and it will make sense at some level. 

The Siddhis often get glossed over with the perfunctory "well, it was another time, and they had different beliefs" or some other such laziness of thought. As we have already seen, even some of the boldest claims still remain on the human level, as do the following 14 sutras that introduce several Siddhis, including the (in)famous one regarding "invisibility".

In short, if one reads with an open mind, interesting things can happen. So, let's tune in and see what we can see. Maybe Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Let's continue down the Rabbit Hole then with 3.21:

Kãya-rupa-samyamãt tad-grãhya-shakti-stambhe cakshuh-prakãshãsha-asamprayoge’antardhãnam  3.21

Giving us,

By performing samyama on the bodily form, a profound turning inward occurs at moment of stilling the power of beholding that form, when there is no longer contact with light.  3.21

This is the (in)famous Siddhi of invisibility, but, not quite... antar-dhãnam is most often the culprit, being translated as "invisibility". While it CAN mean that, it is taking the part for the whole when we look at that word with a bit more scrutiny. The first component "antar" means "within" and "dhãnam" comes from the root <<dhã>>, one of the core verbs in Sanskrit (and Indo-European languages at large) which means to place, put, assume, fix and so forth. So, antar-dhãnam literally means: to fix within, a profound turning inwards...

Put into the context of the 3.21, there is a profound turning inwards when there is an absence of light before the eyes. Next time you are in a meditative seat, or a likewise deeply invested Yin ãsana, closing your eyes then, namely, removing the light source, I have one question for you: Where does your body go? Does it not become invisible when you turn the gaze fully inwards? 

I have a commutative belief of existence in life: I exist because you exist and you exist because I exist... For me, 3.21 is a direct corollary to that thought. When I fully turn within, the world without (for that moment) does not exist...it becomes invisible to me, and I to it. Try it sometime.

Onwards.

Sopakramam nirupakramam ca karma tat-samyamãd-aparãnta-jñãnam-aristhebyo vã  3.22

Or, 

Karma is both with an origin (or, discernible progression), or without. By performing samyama on that, or by portents and omens, knowledge of the end of one's life is gained. 3.22

This sutra is likewise usually taken as "aparãnta" meaning "death", thus giving rise to the Siddhi of knowing when one is going to die. Yes and no.

The word "a-para-anta" when broken down, means "not (having)-(an)other-end", or poetically rendered, "that which has no other shore," that is, the Isle of the Dead...or Avalon in Celtic lore, the Fields of Elysium, and so forth. It can also mean, the latter end of one's life.

Looking back then at 3.22, we see that if we meditate upon Karma (action/s) or by paying attention to portents and omens, we can have knowledge of our years ahead. Not a big stretch. Think simply about lifestyle. If I drink and smoke heavily, and I develop certain symptoms (portents) that my body is in decline, guess what? That is a pro-gnosis (Greek cognate to the Sanskrit pra-jñã) that I may have a terminal illness and may die. 3.22 is saying the exact thing. Some of our actions have beginnings, namely those we initiate (internal) and those that don't (external forces we may not have a direct relation to, but which affect us anyways) and those can affect our life's span/quality. Omens and portents are merely things to pay attention to that might signal something is wrong (or right, as they are not always bad), and can again affect our life's span. 

In short: Directed awareness of things can yield knowledge of our life's condition...

Moving right along...taking the next 2 sutras together as they seem to be a couplet of sorts:

Maitryãdishu balãni   3.23

Baleshu hasti-balãdIni  3.24

Giving us,

By performing samyama on friendliness and the like, we gain strengths [and] by meditating upon such strengths, we gain the strength of elephants and so forth.  3.23-24

Somewhere, Bruce Banner is scratching his head. 

Simply put, focus on the positive, we become strong, focus on those strengths, we become even stronger...even hulking in our skills. We regularly say, he's got the strength of an ox, or she has eagle eyes, or the speed of a cheetah...Do we "hound" people to take them literally when we hear that? Just a question.

To continue:

Pravrittyãloka-nyãsãt-sUksma-vyavhita-viprakrishtha-jñãnam  3.25

Or,

By directing vision to phenomena, knowledge of things subtle, discrete and remote is gained. 3.25

There are a few interpretations of this sutra, but the gist is generally the same as Newton's 1st Law of Motion stating that "Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it." In other words, if nothing is in the way, then nothing shall stop one's line of sight, just as a light from Earth will travel across the cosmos if there is nothing to get in its way, such as, say a Black Hole or something. When obstacles are removed, there are no boundaries then.

The following 4 sutras have a nearly identical syntax, so I have placed them together as the form mirrors the function as well:

Bhuvana-jñãnam sUrye samyamãt  3.26

Chandre tãrã-vyUha-jñãnam    3.27

Dhruve tad-gati-jñãnam   3.28

Nãbhi-chakre kaya-vyUha-jñãnam  3.29

[Except for 3.26, there is an exact formula, but 3.26 introduces the ablative samyamãt that is inferred in the next three as evidenced by the locative of the first terms.]

Giving us then,

By performing samyama on:

• the sun, one gains knowledge of the 3 (or 7) worlds 3.26
• the moon, one gains knowledge of the arrangement of the stars 3.27
• the firmament (or, fixed point--Pole Star), one gains knowledge its movement 3.28
• the wheel of the navel, one gains knowledge of the arrangement of the body 3.29

Simply put, the study of the sun, moon, stars and personal anatomy gives rise to knowledge of the bigger picture of astronomy, physics and biology.  

Though, I must admit, Ecclesiastics 1:9 comes to mind:

What has been will be again

What has been done will be done again

There is nothing new under the Sun...

Moving on then from the Natural Sciences to study of the Self and Body, we find 3.30-31 waiting:

Kantha-kUpe kshut-papãsã-nivrittih  3.30

kUrma-nãdyãm sthairyam          3.31

Or, 

The cessation of hunger and thirst comes from samyama on the hollow of the throat (gullet). 3.30

Stability/firmness comes from samyama on the tortoise nerve channel (nãdI). 3.31

Some have and still take 3.30 to mean that the advance Yogi/ni can go without food or water indefinitely. Well, there have been some seriously fascinating attests to incredible feats of fasting and no hydration, but, eventually the body dies. Period. In addition, this Siddhi is not one to be coveted if we heed the warnings later that Siddhis are in fact just more obstacles. In other words, going to such an extreme would be a complete MIS-understanding of this sutra. Following the Buddha's advice, don't pull the string too tightly, nor too loosely because both extremes cause the sound of the instrument to be out of tune. 

3.31 is somewhat nebulous as it deals with the kurma-nãdI, or tortoise nerve channel, which is not properly identified anywhere. It is possible that this is the ability to become as still/stable as a reptile, such as a lizard or snake where it is not clear if they are alive or dead.

And, finally, we move further inwards with 3.32-34:

mUrdha-jyotishi siddha-darshanam   3.32

prãtibhãt-vã sarvam             3.33

hridaye citta-samvit             3.34

Taking 3.32 and 3.33 together with the conjunction "vã", which means "or" we get two possibilities:

Or, total vision of skill comes from intuition focused upon the light of the forehead.

OR,

Perfected vision comes from [samyama] on the light of the forehead, or everything comes from intuition...

Neither is very elegant, and so, at this point, these are works in progress...What seems to be at the core of this is that focusing upon the Mind's Eye produces enhanced vision. Now, whether that is physical or metaphysical vision is then up for debate with 3.34 following:

Understanding of the Mind [comes from samyama] on the Heart. 3.34

When my daughter was younger, she once asked me, "Papa, which is most specialist part of the body, the Heart or the Brain?" My answer was: Yin and Yang, Heart and Brain in this post:

Heart and Brain

Patañjali gives us more or less the same...by meditating upon the heart comes understanding of the mind, but in order to have such meditation, we need the mind, and for the body to work, we need the heart (the Sanskrit, btw, is hrid, which is where we get "heart" from...), so the two are entangled. 

And, now for some REM...