Showing posts with label Patañjali. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patañjali. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Yoga is... (Yoga Sutras 4.27-34)... The End
I only know one thing...and that is that I know No-thing...
One of the things that made the Athenians mad enough to condemn Socrates to death is his inadvertent bringing God to be his witness at his trial. Let God, and in this case, Apollo, be my witness to testify that "I am not a wise man," Socrates says in so many words, causing a ruckus in the courtroom to say the least.
In Plato's Apology (which literally means a "defense") of Socrates, the accused relates the story of how once Chaerephon, a fellow Athenian, went to the Oracle at Delphi and asked her who is the wisest man in Athens? The answer was that no-one was wiser than Socrates, with the emphasis on not saying that Socrates was wisest, but that no one was wiser. Socrates took this challenge to heart and went around Athens trying to find someone wiser, or for that matter, who truly knew anything at all. His conclusion was that everyone claims to "know" something, but in reality, we do not really know and nobody had true wisdom as such. And, since Socrates never claimed to know anything, rather, as above, he claimed that the only thing he did know was that he did not know anything...(That is, by the way, Socratic irony par excellence), which means at least he was not a hypocrite about being wise. The Athenians were not amused and sentenced him to death.
We are approaching that sentiment very quickly in the closure of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras as we shall see momentarily. Similar, but different; different, yet similar.
In 4.26, we arrived at the state of mind in which one needs to be in to engage with the ultimate concept of Yoga, Kaivalya, and that mind is one that is fully attuned to the process of discernment and discrimination, that is viveka. Viveka is the path of conscious decisions and processing of information, having shed the veils of a-vidya and the fog of samskãras so that one can see things as they are and not how we want them to be, which are often dramatically different things.
So, the stage is set, the well is primed, and the mind is engaged in viveka, however, we are human after all, as 4.27 reminds us:
tac-chidreshu pratyaya-antarãni samskãrebhyah 4.27
or,
Other ideas/concepts/perceptions arise from the samskãras within the lapses (of the viveka-mind). 4.27
In other words, to paraphrase Horace's lament (via Pope), even Homer nods...When the mind is not fully engaged then we relapse into the perceptions and prejudices governed by the samskãras, or mental impressions. So, at times, we shall all fall back into old habits, and from that comes indiscretion and avidyã rears its ugly head.
4.28, however, reminds us that there is a remedy:
hãnam-eshãm kleshavad-uktam 4.28
The extinction/cessation of these lapses have already been spoken of, as with the kleshas. 4.28
Here, Patañjali reminds us of YS II.10-11 which tells us that when the mind is back in its original state (pre-tainted by samskãras and avidyã), then the kleshas are eliminated, and dhyãna is the key to that return. To return to those highly important sutras, that is when we learn that avidyã is the root of all kleshas, or obstacles to our Yogic path, and consequently the source of our suffering, or duhkham. And, it is at that point that Patañjali provides the 8-limb program, which culminates in the samyama of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi, about which is the focus of Book III.
The lynchpin of the samyama triad, namely dhyãna, or intensive, focused meditation, is once again the answer to ridding ourselves of the kleshas, clearing out the storehouse of karma (YS 4.6), and now also the lapses in our discretion. But, once again, this is not mere navel-gazing, for as we also have seen, that leads to an infinite loop, which leads us nowhere.
Rather, it is intensive, focused meditation on the fact that the Seer (I) and the Seen (thou) are not separate. To see that in everything, at all times then is Kaivalya. Blake's oft-quoted quatrain from "Auguries of Innocence" comes to mind:
To see the World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the Palm of your Hand,
And Eternity in an Hour...
One of the things that made the Athenians mad enough to condemn Socrates to death is his inadvertent bringing God to be his witness at his trial. Let God, and in this case, Apollo, be my witness to testify that "I am not a wise man," Socrates says in so many words, causing a ruckus in the courtroom to say the least.
In Plato's Apology (which literally means a "defense") of Socrates, the accused relates the story of how once Chaerephon, a fellow Athenian, went to the Oracle at Delphi and asked her who is the wisest man in Athens? The answer was that no-one was wiser than Socrates, with the emphasis on not saying that Socrates was wisest, but that no one was wiser. Socrates took this challenge to heart and went around Athens trying to find someone wiser, or for that matter, who truly knew anything at all. His conclusion was that everyone claims to "know" something, but in reality, we do not really know and nobody had true wisdom as such. And, since Socrates never claimed to know anything, rather, as above, he claimed that the only thing he did know was that he did not know anything...(That is, by the way, Socratic irony par excellence), which means at least he was not a hypocrite about being wise. The Athenians were not amused and sentenced him to death.
We are approaching that sentiment very quickly in the closure of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras as we shall see momentarily. Similar, but different; different, yet similar.
In 4.26, we arrived at the state of mind in which one needs to be in to engage with the ultimate concept of Yoga, Kaivalya, and that mind is one that is fully attuned to the process of discernment and discrimination, that is viveka. Viveka is the path of conscious decisions and processing of information, having shed the veils of a-vidya and the fog of samskãras so that one can see things as they are and not how we want them to be, which are often dramatically different things.
So, the stage is set, the well is primed, and the mind is engaged in viveka, however, we are human after all, as 4.27 reminds us:
tac-chidreshu pratyaya-antarãni samskãrebhyah 4.27
or,
Other ideas/concepts/perceptions arise from the samskãras within the lapses (of the viveka-mind). 4.27
In other words, to paraphrase Horace's lament (via Pope), even Homer nods...When the mind is not fully engaged then we relapse into the perceptions and prejudices governed by the samskãras, or mental impressions. So, at times, we shall all fall back into old habits, and from that comes indiscretion and avidyã rears its ugly head.
4.28, however, reminds us that there is a remedy:
hãnam-eshãm kleshavad-uktam 4.28
The extinction/cessation of these lapses have already been spoken of, as with the kleshas. 4.28
Here, Patañjali reminds us of YS II.10-11 which tells us that when the mind is back in its original state (pre-tainted by samskãras and avidyã), then the kleshas are eliminated, and dhyãna is the key to that return. To return to those highly important sutras, that is when we learn that avidyã is the root of all kleshas, or obstacles to our Yogic path, and consequently the source of our suffering, or duhkham. And, it is at that point that Patañjali provides the 8-limb program, which culminates in the samyama of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi, about which is the focus of Book III.
The lynchpin of the samyama triad, namely dhyãna, or intensive, focused meditation, is once again the answer to ridding ourselves of the kleshas, clearing out the storehouse of karma (YS 4.6), and now also the lapses in our discretion. But, once again, this is not mere navel-gazing, for as we also have seen, that leads to an infinite loop, which leads us nowhere.
Rather, it is intensive, focused meditation on the fact that the Seer (I) and the Seen (thou) are not separate. To see that in everything, at all times then is Kaivalya. Blake's oft-quoted quatrain from "Auguries of Innocence" comes to mind:
To see the World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the Palm of your Hand,
And Eternity in an Hour...
This is the vision, the discretion that Kaivalya requires through dhyãna. It is the conscious awareness that leads to letting go of the dualities to arrive at the ultimate singularity.
We continue then with 4.29-30 which introduces us to the most curious phrase in all of the sutras:
prasamkhyãne'apyakusIdasya sarvathã viveka-khyãter-dharma-meghah samãdhih 4.29
tatah kleshakarmanivrittih 4.30
Giving us,
The "dharma-cloud" of samãdhi comes for the one whom is even disinterested/dispassionate about the constant perception of viveka. 4.29
Then, the kleshas and karma (or karmic affliction) are released. 4.30
Or, read slightly differently together:
The samãdhi (total integration/synthesis of Yoga) of the dharma-megha (dharma-cloud) comes about for one who is utterly free of attachment, even from the process of viveka and then, the affliction of karma is released. 4.29-30
The dharma-megha, or Dharma-cloud, then is a curious entity that does not appear anywhere else in Sanskrit philosophy, but is vaguely Buddhist in context...treading the Dhamma-pada, or path of Dharma is the highest order of enlightenment for the jivan-mukti, or one who is released in this life-time. None of the commentators actually know what the dharma-megha is, so I am not going to speculate further than the visual of one being fully enraptured by Dharma, meaning, one who has found his or her Dharma in life via the path of Yoga and then lives it, rather than just talks about it. The samãdhi, or total integration and synthesis then of Yoga is now at hand.
The dharma-megha also sounds similar, yet different to the mystical Christian concept of "The cloude of unknowyng" or "The Cloud of Unknowing," a chiefly medieval concept (via Neo-Platonists...) that to know God, to truly know God, means to let go of everything one knows...to forget in order to remember. The Greek concept of Truth as well is a-letheia, or un-forgetting in order to remember what we have lost, looking at the Universe for what it is, not what we make it. The veil of illusion, of Mãya, or demonic magic that the Buddha overcomes is none other than the human constructs and concepts and prejudices that we build up for ourselves and promote as "truths," yet as Socrates found, they are not wisdom, but merely opinions.
And so, for the Yogi/ni, the dharma-cloud engulfs and enshrouds, but does not blind nor veil, but reveals, apo-kalyptestai...
tadã sarvãvarana-mala-ãpetasya jñãnasyãdantyãjñeyam-alam 4.31
or,
Then, from the infinity from the result of the maladies of concealments have been removed, there is little to be known. 4.31
In other words, when we know longer seek to know by reason, and have fully integrated the Dharma, there is nothing much to be known. In other words, when the Dharma is known, and one walks the walk, there is nothing really more to know. However, it is then a continuous process of integrity, not an easy path. But, as Mark Twain is attributed to have said once, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Here, if you live the Dharma, you don't need to know anything...Sounds easy, living it is another thing all together.
4.32 continues:
tatah kritãrthãnãm parinãma-krama-parisamãptir-gunãnãm 4.32
or,
From this, with their purposes now fulfilled, the sequence of permutations of the gunas comes to an end. 4.32
Echoing the Bhagavad Gita of Krishna's directive to Arjuna to eventually transcend the gunas, because Krishna is beyond the gunas, and Krishna is the Universe, when the Dharma-megha reigns supreme in the Yogi/ni's life, the gunas are irrelevant as they have served their purpose for the mundane, but now they are inconsequential.
And so, we come to the End with 4.33-34:
kshana-pratiyogI parinãmãparãnta-nirgrãhyah kramah 4.33
purushãrtha-shUnyãnãm gunãnãm pratiprasavah kaivalyam svarupa-pratishthã vã cit-shaktir-iti 4.34
Giving us,
The sequence (of permutations) is grasped at the extreme end of change, which corresponds to small increments of Time. 4.33
Ending with:
Kaivalya, the ultimate singularity of liberation, the returning to the original state of the gunas, devoid of all purpose for Purusha, is steadfast in one's own nature, known as the power of consciousness. 4.34
When there exists illusion of the separation between the Seer and the Seen (YS 3-4), this begins a series of perceived changes (parinãma) that are linked by infinitely small increments of Time (kshana), which causes the gunas to hold sway over our Self/Atman/Purusha because of the power of avidyã. Following the path of Yoga as has been laid out by Patañjali, these increments of Time no longer exist as in the state of Kaivalya, the Seer and the Seen are united (as they were never separate in reality) and the svarupa, or true form of our Selves is experienced by the samãdhi of the Dharma-megha, or the power of consciousness as true awareness...and the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff then happens.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Going, going, ... Ta-daa!! (Yoga Sutras 4.22-26)
As we ended the last time, we saw that if the mind becomes purely self-reflexive as a way towards inquiry into the nature of things, we are left with a hall of mirrors, infinitely reflecting each other's reflection. Although superficially this could seem like (my favorite metaphor for Being; hence my main blog) the image of Indra's Net as the infinitely-expansive net that has reflective gems at every interstice, reflecting each other ad infinitum, it is not quite the same, and the following sutras provide us with a clearer picture of just how.
The concept of solipsism, or the idea that universe is the mental creation of a single entity (and when it manifests with humans, you get pathological narcissism), comes to mind (pun intended). However, what we saw in the past few sutras, this is a pitfall, much like the siddhis, because ultimately, it is all smoke and infinite mirrors. It is the navel gazing back.
This is not the trajectory we are heading along with Patañjali's concept of Yoga. Instead of beginning with the concept of a singular mind manipulating the universe, we are instead, many minds moving towards the actual singularity of the universe. The gems within Indra's Net are no longer seeking to know which individual gem they are, but rather, the Net itself...But, it is not quite that simple. We still need to further understand the nature, of the (ultimately false) concept that there is a division at all, and this brings us to the final reconciliation of the Seer and the Seen which was introduced at the very beginning of our adventure.
So, turning back to the text, at 4.22, we see the futility of the hall of mirrors for the mind, and that in the end, as with YS 2.1, it is the stilling and cessation of such futile processes that brings us closer to understanding.
citer-apratisamkramãyãs-tad-ãkãra-ãpattau svabuddhi-samvedanam 4.22
Giving us,
There is a moment when the mind is/becomes stilled/non-reflexive, as this manifestation of the mind occurs, the true intellect is identified. 4.22
Here we see that it is the chattering of the mind once again that obscures the real intellect. Psycho-babble and navel gazing won't do the trick, which leads us to what is the final obstacle in 4.23:
drishthri-drishyoparaktam cittam sarvãrtham 4.23
Or,
The mind that is skillful in all matters is tainted by the Seer and the Seen 4.23
Despite being not just a Jack of all trades, even if the mind is a Master of them, it is no less tainted by the Seer and the Seen. In other words, it still is separated from the singularity because there is an object and a subject. There is still the concept of "I" and "thou" and there is division. The paradox of this, however, is then exposed in the next two sutras 4.24-25, leading us to the grand finale with 4.26.
tad-asamkhyeya-vãsanãbhish-citram-api parãrtham samhatya-kãritvãt 4.24
vishesha-darshina ãtma-bhãva-bhãvanã-nivrittih 4.25
Rendering,
Because of its nature of being conjoined (i.e. Seer/Seen), the mind is dependent upon something else though that mind is manifested/variegated by way of countless past impressions. 4.24
For the one who sees this distinction, there is a stilling of the perception of the existence of the Self (ãtman). 4.25
In other words, the mind is multi-faceted gem with countless sides, but, so long as it is stuck in the web of samskãras, or mental impressions and prejudices, it is but a gem reflecting upon its own existence. However, as we see in 4.25, when that mind/gem gets this, then the concept of being a gem disappears. It is the paradox of not being able to name the Tao. Here, for the mind/Self/ãtman to finally understand its nature, it has to see that this distinction is the very cause of not-knowing...To truly KNOW THYSELF then, is too completely and utterly UN-KNOW THYSELF.
And so, we have arrived.
A friend of mine from high school was easily one of the most brilliant minds to cross my path, and I was fortunate to witness this scorching comet's flash across the darkness of the benighted masses before it was extinguished too soon (always too soon and too young), but Andy would always introduce his next great thought or proof (he was a mathematical genius in the truest sense, prodigy of Penrose and Hawking no less) with a flourish and fanfare by exclaiming "Ta-daa!!!" And, with Andy, it was usually a pretty significant reveal.
Patañjali gives us no less with 4.26
tadã viveka-nimnam kaivalya-prãg-bhãram cittam 4.26
Then (ta-daa!!), the inclination towards discretion is the consciousness that gravitates to kaivalya (the singularity of Being). 4.26
As we saw before, we must first divide (viveka) and conquer, and then unite and transcend (kaivalya).
And that shall be our final trick...
To be continued and concluded soon.
The concept of solipsism, or the idea that universe is the mental creation of a single entity (and when it manifests with humans, you get pathological narcissism), comes to mind (pun intended). However, what we saw in the past few sutras, this is a pitfall, much like the siddhis, because ultimately, it is all smoke and infinite mirrors. It is the navel gazing back.
This is not the trajectory we are heading along with Patañjali's concept of Yoga. Instead of beginning with the concept of a singular mind manipulating the universe, we are instead, many minds moving towards the actual singularity of the universe. The gems within Indra's Net are no longer seeking to know which individual gem they are, but rather, the Net itself...But, it is not quite that simple. We still need to further understand the nature, of the (ultimately false) concept that there is a division at all, and this brings us to the final reconciliation of the Seer and the Seen which was introduced at the very beginning of our adventure.
So, turning back to the text, at 4.22, we see the futility of the hall of mirrors for the mind, and that in the end, as with YS 2.1, it is the stilling and cessation of such futile processes that brings us closer to understanding.
citer-apratisamkramãyãs-tad-ãkãra-ãpattau svabuddhi-samvedanam 4.22
Giving us,
There is a moment when the mind is/becomes stilled/non-reflexive, as this manifestation of the mind occurs, the true intellect is identified. 4.22
Here we see that it is the chattering of the mind once again that obscures the real intellect. Psycho-babble and navel gazing won't do the trick, which leads us to what is the final obstacle in 4.23:
drishthri-drishyoparaktam cittam sarvãrtham 4.23
Or,
The mind that is skillful in all matters is tainted by the Seer and the Seen 4.23
Despite being not just a Jack of all trades, even if the mind is a Master of them, it is no less tainted by the Seer and the Seen. In other words, it still is separated from the singularity because there is an object and a subject. There is still the concept of "I" and "thou" and there is division. The paradox of this, however, is then exposed in the next two sutras 4.24-25, leading us to the grand finale with 4.26.
tad-asamkhyeya-vãsanãbhish-citram-api parãrtham samhatya-kãritvãt 4.24
vishesha-darshina ãtma-bhãva-bhãvanã-nivrittih 4.25
Rendering,
Because of its nature of being conjoined (i.e. Seer/Seen), the mind is dependent upon something else though that mind is manifested/variegated by way of countless past impressions. 4.24
For the one who sees this distinction, there is a stilling of the perception of the existence of the Self (ãtman). 4.25
In other words, the mind is multi-faceted gem with countless sides, but, so long as it is stuck in the web of samskãras, or mental impressions and prejudices, it is but a gem reflecting upon its own existence. However, as we see in 4.25, when that mind/gem gets this, then the concept of being a gem disappears. It is the paradox of not being able to name the Tao. Here, for the mind/Self/ãtman to finally understand its nature, it has to see that this distinction is the very cause of not-knowing...To truly KNOW THYSELF then, is too completely and utterly UN-KNOW THYSELF.
And so, we have arrived.
A friend of mine from high school was easily one of the most brilliant minds to cross my path, and I was fortunate to witness this scorching comet's flash across the darkness of the benighted masses before it was extinguished too soon (always too soon and too young), but Andy would always introduce his next great thought or proof (he was a mathematical genius in the truest sense, prodigy of Penrose and Hawking no less) with a flourish and fanfare by exclaiming "Ta-daa!!!" And, with Andy, it was usually a pretty significant reveal.
Patañjali gives us no less with 4.26
tadã viveka-nimnam kaivalya-prãg-bhãram cittam 4.26
Then (ta-daa!!), the inclination towards discretion is the consciousness that gravitates to kaivalya (the singularity of Being). 4.26
As we saw before, we must first divide (viveka) and conquer, and then unite and transcend (kaivalya).
And that shall be our final trick...
To be continued and concluded soon.
Friday, August 24, 2018
Be Careful What You Ask For, Book III of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras
Turn and Face the Strange (Ch-ch-changes...YS 3.8-13)
Journey to the East (YS 3.14-16)
You Don't Say... (YS 3.17-20)
I am Superman, and I know what's happening... (YS 3.21-34)
And, Along came a Spider (YS 3.35-37)
Walk the Rice Paper, Young Grasshopper (YS 3.38-43)
The Measure of All Things (YS 3.43-48)
Divide and Conquer, Unite and Transcend (YS 3.49-55)
Thursday, August 16, 2018
The Measure of All Things... (Yoga Sutras 3.44-48)
According to Plato in his dialogue the Theatetus, Protagoras is credited with the concept that "Man (anthropos) is the measure of all things, of those that are being (that they are) as well as those that are not (that they are not)." The first part, that man (anthropos: human being, not necessarily male) is the measure of all things/ panton chrematon metron estin anthropos, has caused many a discussion over the millennia, and funny enough, is a Greek echo of today's post on the Yoga Sutras.
Some have seen the declaration of Protagoras to be short-sightedly anthropocentric, which, by definition, it is. In other words, this gives too much power to human beings to be the measure of all things. Others revel in the thought that this means that a single anthropos, or human being, is the measure of his or her entire universe, meaning, we are at the center of our our universal existence. Others have argued that humans have insufficient knowledge to be the measure of all things.
The jury is still out, ironically, because to come to a consensus, it would mean that a human being, the anthropos makes that decision, one way or another, thus being right and wrong at the same time possibly. A paradox par excellence.
As this is about the Yoga Sutras, I only wanted to pause on this dilemma that Protagoras raised and focus for a moment on the word metron, the measure. This becomes very relevant in the sutras that are about to follow because, we can only be the measure of our own experience, even if we are using tools to help us measure, it is still relative to us. If something is enormous, it is enormous to US. If something is super small, it is so to US...Contrarily, a single human being can be colossal to a Hydrogen atom, but sub-atomic to a galaxy...Size is indeed relative, whether it is about matter or not.
With this in mind, let's return to Patañjali with 3.44:
sthUla-svarupa-sUkshma-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãt-bhUta-jayah 3.44
Giving us,
By performing/exerting samyama on the inherent gross nature, the subtle constitution and the state of having a purpose, mastery of gross and subtle matter is gained. 3.44
In other words,
Samyama on the base material, subtle features and purpose of something gives us mastery over the elements. 3.44
In other, other words: The Natural Sciences provide us with profound knowledge of how things are.
This does not say, "Why things are," but "How things are." And, again, this does not mean that simply staring at a candle gives us insight into its molecular constitution, and the physics and chemical reactions of fire. But, it does mean a triple PhD in Chemistry, Physics and Biology would help us understand the how of the candle, but never the "why"... But, from the point of view of the anthropos, we could measure it in a variety of ways, but that does not mean understand it. That is still out of our purview. We can measure, but not divine its essence.
3.45 provides a follow-up to this:
tato'animãdi-prãdurbhãvah kãysampat-tad-dharma-anabhighãtash-ca 3.45
Or,
At that time, atomization and so forth come to light/manifest as the concord/perfect/enjoyment/splendor of the body and the lack of obstacle for its true nature/quality 3.45
I would be lying if I were to say that this sutra is not messy...partially because the grammar leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether there are two things happening or three. My guess based upon the nature of all the other sutras that is two as I have translated above. Sticking with this for the moment, we can tease out something more like:
Then, the full splendor of the body is manifest with the powers of atomization and such as well as its true nature being unimpeded. 3.45
Again, messy. Especially because the tradition from Vyãsa is to take "atomization and such" as super powers like Ant Man being able to shrink to an atom, or expand to a colossus. But, when taken in context of the comparison to Protagoras, a human can be "as small as an atom" or as "large as a mountain" in relative situations. This may or may not be what is meant, but it helps to get a handle on this concept. When we close our eyes in meditation, we are no longer confined to the size of the body, and its "true nature" and "splendor" could be the fact that now the physical sheath, this mortal coil, is transcended, and the mind can be as small or large as it "sees" fit to be. Perhaps. The laws of natural physics work really well at the human level. We can do all kinds of human-scale projects. However, at the Quantum level and the Cosmic level, things get pretty wonky, which is why extremes are thrown out and the average is taken. When things get to close to 0, the very small, or Infinity, the very large, all bets are off. Man can no longer be the measure. Physical man, that is. But, the Mind is another story.
Let's continue with 3.46, which seems to be a corollary to 3.45's "perfect body" concept:
rupa-lãvanya-bala-vajra-samhanananvãni kãya-sampat 3.46
Or,
The splendor/perfection of the body consists of beauty in form, adamantine strength, and constitutional unity. 3.46
Strength, integrity and grace more or less. Something I inherited from my first Yoga mentor, Bekir, was that Yoga is: Strength, flexibility and grace, which is something I still teach today in physical asana, but I believe that as with the Zen-mind thinking of the likes of Thich Nhat Hanh, everyday activities can also be "beautiful" and "graceful" when performed with samyama, the true origins of today's trend of being "Mindful" or "Mindfulness." Samyama is the source...and from that, we can perceive and create Beauty from the mundane, the gross matter.
Finishing up this section then with 3.47-48:
grahana-svarupa-asmitã-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãd-indriya-jayah 3.47
tato manojavitvam vikarana-bhãvah pradhãna-jayash-ca 3.48
Giving us,
Mastery of the senses comes from samyama on the process of knowledge (grasping), the essence, the ego-ness, inherent consequence and state of having a purpose. 3.47
At that time, mastery of the essential elements along with/by the quickness of the mind and the state of being devoid of the sense organs. 3.48
What these two seem to say is that first one must master the senses (3.47) and then one must even go beyond that for the mind to work at optimal speed to gain the mastery (3.48) of the essential elements of the world/universe.
In short: Divide and conquer, then unite and transcend.
That is the underlying message building momentum as we go along, moving closer and closer to the goal of Yoga, which goes beyond the body and mind division, beyond the body-mind union, and leads us to understanding, rather than knowledge. But, we are not there yet. Still some ground to cover. Still some things to measure. As the carpenter says, "measure twice, cut once..."
And, so we shall.
Some have seen the declaration of Protagoras to be short-sightedly anthropocentric, which, by definition, it is. In other words, this gives too much power to human beings to be the measure of all things. Others revel in the thought that this means that a single anthropos, or human being, is the measure of his or her entire universe, meaning, we are at the center of our our universal existence. Others have argued that humans have insufficient knowledge to be the measure of all things.
The jury is still out, ironically, because to come to a consensus, it would mean that a human being, the anthropos makes that decision, one way or another, thus being right and wrong at the same time possibly. A paradox par excellence.
As this is about the Yoga Sutras, I only wanted to pause on this dilemma that Protagoras raised and focus for a moment on the word metron, the measure. This becomes very relevant in the sutras that are about to follow because, we can only be the measure of our own experience, even if we are using tools to help us measure, it is still relative to us. If something is enormous, it is enormous to US. If something is super small, it is so to US...Contrarily, a single human being can be colossal to a Hydrogen atom, but sub-atomic to a galaxy...Size is indeed relative, whether it is about matter or not.
With this in mind, let's return to Patañjali with 3.44:
sthUla-svarupa-sUkshma-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãt-bhUta-jayah 3.44
Giving us,
By performing/exerting samyama on the inherent gross nature, the subtle constitution and the state of having a purpose, mastery of gross and subtle matter is gained. 3.44
In other words,
Samyama on the base material, subtle features and purpose of something gives us mastery over the elements. 3.44
In other, other words: The Natural Sciences provide us with profound knowledge of how things are.
This does not say, "Why things are," but "How things are." And, again, this does not mean that simply staring at a candle gives us insight into its molecular constitution, and the physics and chemical reactions of fire. But, it does mean a triple PhD in Chemistry, Physics and Biology would help us understand the how of the candle, but never the "why"... But, from the point of view of the anthropos, we could measure it in a variety of ways, but that does not mean understand it. That is still out of our purview. We can measure, but not divine its essence.
3.45 provides a follow-up to this:
tato'animãdi-prãdurbhãvah kãysampat-tad-dharma-anabhighãtash-ca 3.45
Or,
At that time, atomization and so forth come to light/manifest as the concord/perfect/enjoyment/splendor of the body and the lack of obstacle for its true nature/quality 3.45
I would be lying if I were to say that this sutra is not messy...partially because the grammar leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether there are two things happening or three. My guess based upon the nature of all the other sutras that is two as I have translated above. Sticking with this for the moment, we can tease out something more like:
Then, the full splendor of the body is manifest with the powers of atomization and such as well as its true nature being unimpeded. 3.45
Again, messy. Especially because the tradition from Vyãsa is to take "atomization and such" as super powers like Ant Man being able to shrink to an atom, or expand to a colossus. But, when taken in context of the comparison to Protagoras, a human can be "as small as an atom" or as "large as a mountain" in relative situations. This may or may not be what is meant, but it helps to get a handle on this concept. When we close our eyes in meditation, we are no longer confined to the size of the body, and its "true nature" and "splendor" could be the fact that now the physical sheath, this mortal coil, is transcended, and the mind can be as small or large as it "sees" fit to be. Perhaps. The laws of natural physics work really well at the human level. We can do all kinds of human-scale projects. However, at the Quantum level and the Cosmic level, things get pretty wonky, which is why extremes are thrown out and the average is taken. When things get to close to 0, the very small, or Infinity, the very large, all bets are off. Man can no longer be the measure. Physical man, that is. But, the Mind is another story.
Let's continue with 3.46, which seems to be a corollary to 3.45's "perfect body" concept:
rupa-lãvanya-bala-vajra-samhanananvãni kãya-sampat 3.46
Or,
The splendor/perfection of the body consists of beauty in form, adamantine strength, and constitutional unity. 3.46
Strength, integrity and grace more or less. Something I inherited from my first Yoga mentor, Bekir, was that Yoga is: Strength, flexibility and grace, which is something I still teach today in physical asana, but I believe that as with the Zen-mind thinking of the likes of Thich Nhat Hanh, everyday activities can also be "beautiful" and "graceful" when performed with samyama, the true origins of today's trend of being "Mindful" or "Mindfulness." Samyama is the source...and from that, we can perceive and create Beauty from the mundane, the gross matter.
Finishing up this section then with 3.47-48:
grahana-svarupa-asmitã-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãd-indriya-jayah 3.47
tato manojavitvam vikarana-bhãvah pradhãna-jayash-ca 3.48
Giving us,
Mastery of the senses comes from samyama on the process of knowledge (grasping), the essence, the ego-ness, inherent consequence and state of having a purpose. 3.47
At that time, mastery of the essential elements along with/by the quickness of the mind and the state of being devoid of the sense organs. 3.48
What these two seem to say is that first one must master the senses (3.47) and then one must even go beyond that for the mind to work at optimal speed to gain the mastery (3.48) of the essential elements of the world/universe.
In short: Divide and conquer, then unite and transcend.
That is the underlying message building momentum as we go along, moving closer and closer to the goal of Yoga, which goes beyond the body and mind division, beyond the body-mind union, and leads us to understanding, rather than knowledge. But, we are not there yet. Still some ground to cover. Still some things to measure. As the carpenter says, "measure twice, cut once..."
And, so we shall.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Walk the Rice Paper, Young Grasshopper... (YS 3.38-43)
Or, ... these are not the droids you are looking for...and other such Jedi Mind tricks await us in the concluding sutras of Book III. The Yoga Sutras are often much-maligned for some of the Siddhis or powerful skills that the Yogi/ni can acquire according to Patañjali, but truly they pale in comparison to the skills of most religious figures (think of Lazarus...) and the hagiographies are filled with Saints performing all sorts or miraculous (it is there job, after all) feats, not to mention the modern-day fascination with super heroes and villains of all stripes and shapes. So, what is it really that throws people off when it comes to the potential powers that a Yogi/ni might accrue?
Perhaps it is the disconnect with Yoga's origins and what we see everyday in a Yoga shala around the globe. Maybe it is the overly (and incorrectly) applied sense that "everything is Okay" in Yoga. News flash, it is not. The Yoga world has its fair and more share of problems, ranging from narcissistic pseudo-gurus to abuses of power and sex to hypocritical declarations of non-judgement on the one face and on the other self-righteous condemnation of others. Jealousy, envy, coveting, adultery, fraud, addictions, and the dirty-laundry list goes on and on...Yoga is not immune. Humans are not immune. We are not immune.
But, it is the veneer of "light and love" that ironically obscures the darker sides of the Yoga world. As such, there is the idea that one is not "better" than an other, or that there "is no right or wrong" in Yoga. Well, another news flash. This is not in any Yoga text from the Sutras to the Gita to the Upanishads and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Quite the contrary in fact. Yoga is exactly about bettering oneself through hard work and over a period of Time as we have seen. Abhyãsa is no quick fix. The 8-limb path is not easily trodden. As such, the Siddhis don't just fall into one's lap, and if they do appear, the Yogi/ni is supposed to be strong enough to RESIST them, not embrace them, and certainly not abuse them. However, in the history of Yoga, there have been many abuses with charlatans through the ages, promoting Siddhis and using them for personal gain or Spiritual Materialism, for credentials.
In the old TV-series, Kung Fu, Young Grasshopper is told to walk across the rice paper without tearing it. In his first attempt, he fails miserably as the paper is riddled with holes. It is many YEARS later that he can finally, with strength, flexibility and grace, tread upon the rice paper without tearing it. He has mastered it via Yoga...
Which brings us to 3.38 (and 3.39-40):
bandha-kãrana-shaithalyãt-pracãra-samvedanãc-cittasya parasharIrãveshah 3.38
Or,
From dissolving/loosening/releasing the cause/instrument of the mind's bondage, and from knowledge of its conduct, the mind can transfer to another's body. 3.38
Jedi Mind trick 101.
Is this meant literally? Possibly. But, it is quite easy to think about psychological manipulation, the tool of the narcissist, inter alia, as well as our dear Yoda. By studying/meditating upon that which binds the mind to one's body, and it conduct, we can apparently then project it into the body of another. And, again, these Siddhis are to be avoided, because, this is the ultimate weapon...
Moving on to 3.39-40, there is a bit of a logistical problem. These two sutras as we will see presently deal with only two of the five vayus, or vital breaths/air/winds that are associated with Yoga practice, and which are enumerated in an earlier text, the Taittiriya Upanishad. They are: apãna (downward), samãna (collecting/gathering), prãna (central, life force), udãna (uplifting) and vyãna (dispersing). The root <<an>> means, "life force" and comes into Latin and modern language via an-imus, the Soul, and animals, beings with a life force. Here, we just see two, and not necessarily the main two, so it feels both incomplete, and somewhat out of place. Moreover, the noun that has been used for the process of gaining the Siddhis, namely samyama is suddenly replaced by jaya (mastery), but then just as quickly returned in 3.41...
However, let's take a look at 3.39-40
udãna-jayãj-jala-pankah-kanthakãdisvasangah utkrãntish-ca 3.39
samãna-jayãj-jvalanam 3.40
Or,
By mastery of udãna (uplifting breath/wind/air), one can avoid contact with water, mud, sharp things and such, as well as going over them. 3.39
By mastery of samãna (gathering breath), radiance occurs. 3.40
However! Because of the incomplete feeling, and the grammar/syntax, (namely, the placement of the "ca" (and) and the agreement of noun/adjectives), this could easily be read as a single sutra, rendering:
By master of udãna, one can cross over water, mud, sharp things and such unscathed and by mastery of samãna, one gains radiance. 3.39-40
Because the manuscript traditions in India are very hard (no, nearly impossible) to fully trace, there are still many question marks about what is the "original" Yoga Sutras, and where the exact breaks are/were (especially with the division of the "books/chapter"). In other words, it might be better sometimes to see what makes sense, rather than force an antiquated translation...
But, at any rate, 3.39 is the epitome of Young Grasshopper's quest, to master the body's movements through space to become "lighter than air"...
Moving along to 3.41, the disjunct with suddenly bringing in only 2 of the vayus is felt when we then jump to the 5 senses, which are dealt with in a little more detail later, but still fragmented, giving Book III a very fractured feeling in all.
To continue then with 3.41-42 taken as a logical couplet (but not a single sutra as suggested above, though it is not inconceivable):
shrota-ãkãshayoh sambandha-samyamãd-divyam shrotram 3.41
kãya-ãkãshayoh sambandha-samyamãl-laghu-tUla-samãpattesh-cãkãsha-gamanam 3.42
Giving us:
By performing samyama on the connection/relationship between hearing and the ether, divine hearing is gained. 3.41
By performing samyama on the connection/relationship between the body and the ether, and meditation on the lightness of cotton, movement through the ether is gained. 3.42
Returning to the usage of samyama, we then see two more potential Siddhis, which are often taken very literally. However, with 3.4, keener (maybe not divine) hearing can be developed, especially in meditation. A simple exercise to show this is to simply sit on a bench in a crowded urban setting for a while. Try to focus on the twittering of a single songbird, or the voice of someone in a crowd, and when you focus intently upon that, you can isolate that sound. At the Zen dojo I go to for zazen, Luc, the dojo's leader, often opens the windows as the dojo is adjacent to a very busy street in the urban center of Antwerp. At first, it may be cacophony. It may be distracting. However, over Time, sounds become isolated, the tiniest noise augmented, or the loudest din becomes irrelevant. Nothing changes with the physical sounds themselves, except for the Mind's Eye...
As for traveling through the ether. I got nothing on that. I can certainly attest to having many, many dreams in which I am flying that are so lucid, that upon "waking" I am not so sure that it was not real...but, who knows, right?
Coming to 3.43:
bahir-akalpitã vrittir-mahãvidehã tatah prakãshãvaran-kshayah 3.43
Giving us,
When there is the great deliverance, being external to the body, and which is a genuine disposition of the mind, at that time, the covering of clarity is destroyed. 3.43
Or,
True clarity comes with the disengagement of the mind from the body...
At this point, we are starting to make a turn back to 1.2...the definition of Yoga. What we are about to see now is that in order to go beyond the duality of the Mind and Body, there must first be distinction, then union (Yoga) of the two, and then transcendence of the two...leading us to the great singularity of Kaivalya...And, 3.43 initiates this final process with the suggestion of a proper Apocalypse, which, from the Greek apo-calypsis, which means, "pulling back the veil" to re-veal what lies beneath or behind.
Shall it be the Wizard, or the fraud behind the curtain making us believe in Oz?
The Lady or the Tiger?
Or...?
Perhaps it is the disconnect with Yoga's origins and what we see everyday in a Yoga shala around the globe. Maybe it is the overly (and incorrectly) applied sense that "everything is Okay" in Yoga. News flash, it is not. The Yoga world has its fair and more share of problems, ranging from narcissistic pseudo-gurus to abuses of power and sex to hypocritical declarations of non-judgement on the one face and on the other self-righteous condemnation of others. Jealousy, envy, coveting, adultery, fraud, addictions, and the dirty-laundry list goes on and on...Yoga is not immune. Humans are not immune. We are not immune.
But, it is the veneer of "light and love" that ironically obscures the darker sides of the Yoga world. As such, there is the idea that one is not "better" than an other, or that there "is no right or wrong" in Yoga. Well, another news flash. This is not in any Yoga text from the Sutras to the Gita to the Upanishads and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
Quite the contrary in fact. Yoga is exactly about bettering oneself through hard work and over a period of Time as we have seen. Abhyãsa is no quick fix. The 8-limb path is not easily trodden. As such, the Siddhis don't just fall into one's lap, and if they do appear, the Yogi/ni is supposed to be strong enough to RESIST them, not embrace them, and certainly not abuse them. However, in the history of Yoga, there have been many abuses with charlatans through the ages, promoting Siddhis and using them for personal gain or Spiritual Materialism, for credentials.
In the old TV-series, Kung Fu, Young Grasshopper is told to walk across the rice paper without tearing it. In his first attempt, he fails miserably as the paper is riddled with holes. It is many YEARS later that he can finally, with strength, flexibility and grace, tread upon the rice paper without tearing it. He has mastered it via Yoga...
Which brings us to 3.38 (and 3.39-40):
bandha-kãrana-shaithalyãt-pracãra-samvedanãc-cittasya parasharIrãveshah 3.38
Or,
From dissolving/loosening/releasing the cause/instrument of the mind's bondage, and from knowledge of its conduct, the mind can transfer to another's body. 3.38
Jedi Mind trick 101.
Is this meant literally? Possibly. But, it is quite easy to think about psychological manipulation, the tool of the narcissist, inter alia, as well as our dear Yoda. By studying/meditating upon that which binds the mind to one's body, and it conduct, we can apparently then project it into the body of another. And, again, these Siddhis are to be avoided, because, this is the ultimate weapon...
Moving on to 3.39-40, there is a bit of a logistical problem. These two sutras as we will see presently deal with only two of the five vayus, or vital breaths/air/winds that are associated with Yoga practice, and which are enumerated in an earlier text, the Taittiriya Upanishad. They are: apãna (downward), samãna (collecting/gathering), prãna (central, life force), udãna (uplifting) and vyãna (dispersing). The root <<an>> means, "life force" and comes into Latin and modern language via an-imus, the Soul, and animals, beings with a life force. Here, we just see two, and not necessarily the main two, so it feels both incomplete, and somewhat out of place. Moreover, the noun that has been used for the process of gaining the Siddhis, namely samyama is suddenly replaced by jaya (mastery), but then just as quickly returned in 3.41...
However, let's take a look at 3.39-40
udãna-jayãj-jala-pankah-kanthakãdisvasangah utkrãntish-ca 3.39
samãna-jayãj-jvalanam 3.40
Or,
By mastery of udãna (uplifting breath/wind/air), one can avoid contact with water, mud, sharp things and such, as well as going over them. 3.39
By mastery of samãna (gathering breath), radiance occurs. 3.40
However! Because of the incomplete feeling, and the grammar/syntax, (namely, the placement of the "ca" (and) and the agreement of noun/adjectives), this could easily be read as a single sutra, rendering:
By master of udãna, one can cross over water, mud, sharp things and such unscathed and by mastery of samãna, one gains radiance. 3.39-40
Because the manuscript traditions in India are very hard (no, nearly impossible) to fully trace, there are still many question marks about what is the "original" Yoga Sutras, and where the exact breaks are/were (especially with the division of the "books/chapter"). In other words, it might be better sometimes to see what makes sense, rather than force an antiquated translation...
But, at any rate, 3.39 is the epitome of Young Grasshopper's quest, to master the body's movements through space to become "lighter than air"...
Moving along to 3.41, the disjunct with suddenly bringing in only 2 of the vayus is felt when we then jump to the 5 senses, which are dealt with in a little more detail later, but still fragmented, giving Book III a very fractured feeling in all.
To continue then with 3.41-42 taken as a logical couplet (but not a single sutra as suggested above, though it is not inconceivable):
shrota-ãkãshayoh sambandha-samyamãd-divyam shrotram 3.41
kãya-ãkãshayoh sambandha-samyamãl-laghu-tUla-samãpattesh-cãkãsha-gamanam 3.42
Giving us:
By performing samyama on the connection/relationship between hearing and the ether, divine hearing is gained. 3.41
By performing samyama on the connection/relationship between the body and the ether, and meditation on the lightness of cotton, movement through the ether is gained. 3.42
Returning to the usage of samyama, we then see two more potential Siddhis, which are often taken very literally. However, with 3.4, keener (maybe not divine) hearing can be developed, especially in meditation. A simple exercise to show this is to simply sit on a bench in a crowded urban setting for a while. Try to focus on the twittering of a single songbird, or the voice of someone in a crowd, and when you focus intently upon that, you can isolate that sound. At the Zen dojo I go to for zazen, Luc, the dojo's leader, often opens the windows as the dojo is adjacent to a very busy street in the urban center of Antwerp. At first, it may be cacophony. It may be distracting. However, over Time, sounds become isolated, the tiniest noise augmented, or the loudest din becomes irrelevant. Nothing changes with the physical sounds themselves, except for the Mind's Eye...
As for traveling through the ether. I got nothing on that. I can certainly attest to having many, many dreams in which I am flying that are so lucid, that upon "waking" I am not so sure that it was not real...but, who knows, right?
Coming to 3.43:
bahir-akalpitã vrittir-mahãvidehã tatah prakãshãvaran-kshayah 3.43
Giving us,
When there is the great deliverance, being external to the body, and which is a genuine disposition of the mind, at that time, the covering of clarity is destroyed. 3.43
Or,
True clarity comes with the disengagement of the mind from the body...
At this point, we are starting to make a turn back to 1.2...the definition of Yoga. What we are about to see now is that in order to go beyond the duality of the Mind and Body, there must first be distinction, then union (Yoga) of the two, and then transcendence of the two...leading us to the great singularity of Kaivalya...And, 3.43 initiates this final process with the suggestion of a proper Apocalypse, which, from the Greek apo-calypsis, which means, "pulling back the veil" to re-veal what lies beneath or behind.
Shall it be the Wizard, or the fraud behind the curtain making us believe in Oz?
The Lady or the Tiger?
Or...?
Sunday, August 12, 2018
And, Along came a Spider (Yoga Sutras 3.35-37)
Things get a little murky now for a bit, so be warned. Clarity comes back in a bit, but for the moment, there are some issues in the tissues of our sutras.
In the previous posts we have been talking about the siddhis, or powerful skills, that the Yogi/ni may acquire through profound meditative means with samyama on various objects (in the sense of an object of meditation). For the most part, despite being somewhat of an esoteric nature, they are all within the realm of possibilities...more or less.
However, the following dozen or so sutras present some serious problems with both meaning and syntax. It is also with these dozen or so sutras that ALL of the commentaries and translations (I am currently working with 8-10 versions) do one of two things: 1) say absolutely nothing and just provide an "accepted" translation that has been handed down through the ages; or 2) go into major metaphysical discourse about the nature of Yoga being dualistic and attempt to squeeze or extract the entirety of Samkhya-Dualist philosophy into a few sutras, where these ideas are blatantly lacking in all the rest of the Yoga Sutras.
This is troublesome, but seems to be symptomatic of a systemic flaw here...these handful of sutras we are about to delve into seem to be dubious at best as to how they fit into the Sutras as a whole, and when they begin to go into some detail, (namely with the concept of the 5 vayus, which will see in the next post), they are lacking in several ways.
Moreover, the syntax and grammar is very different from much of the rest of the text. There has been very strong research done (primarily on the first book of) Patañjali from a stylistic analysis vantage point, and the conclusion by Philipp Maas is that Patañjali and Vyãsa, the principle commentary are one and the same. Well, that would be quite something, but is not overly convincing in the latter portions of the book, such as we find ourselves in now.
However, it is the nearly unwavering exaltation of Vyãsa's word to be the final word, that I believe many translations and commentaries have suffered over the years as a result. Ascribing a date and an author to ANY Indian text is just asking for trouble. And, furthermore, to ascribe the Yoga Sutras to a SINGLE author AND commentator is, in my opinion, flirting with disaster.
As such, this portion of the Sutras reads more like a cobbling-together of ideas that may or may not be crucial to the text as a whole, and may or may not be Patañjali (or whoever else) at all...They almost seem to be like lecture notes for a Professor, jotted down before a lesson, and are incomplete at best and almost incoherent at worst.
Having said all of this, I am still intending to puzzle through these linguistic nettles and philosophical quagmires as I know that soon things clear up again for the rest of the Sutras.
So, let's proceed with the next 3 sutras, 3.35-37..., the first two being taken together due to the "tatah" that leads off 3.36.
sattva-purushayor-atyanta-asamkIrnayoh pratyaya-avishesho bhogah parãrthatvãt sãrtha-samyamãt purusha-jñãnam 3.35
tatah prãtibha-shrãvana-vedanã-ãdarsha-ãsvãda-vãrtãh jãyante 3.36
Giving us to begin:
Because of the nature of Being for another, experience is the concept of non-distinction for the utterly unmixed Purusha and Sattva, and from samyama on Being for Itself, the knowledge of Pursusha comes about. 3.35
From that/then (tatah), (exalted/illuminated) hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell arise. 3.36
As I said, the grammar takes a radical turn, the concepts being put forth are incongruous and there is great ambiguity in the meaning based upon syntax, because we could just as easily translate these two as:
The nature of Sattva and Purusha are utterly pure, and the experiencing the concept of them being indistinct come from the nature of dualistic thought; by contemplating on Being in and of itself, the nature of Purusha is known. 3.35
At that moment, intuition and the 5 senses are born. 3.36
The difference in 3.36 is whether prãtibha is taken as being a distributive adjective (divine/illuminated/exalted) for the following five nouns of the 5 senses, as is usually the case because Vyãsa does, or if it is the "sixth sense" of intuition, and is a noun too, meaning "illumination/intuition". There is no way to know from the grammar because it is a long compound with six elements...so the tradition sticks with Vyãsa, though the second reading is quite different, and more interesting to be fair.
These two (or one) sutra/s are completely out of left field, and the entire meaning of "sutra" as we learned long ago is that they are connected by a thread of thought or meaning from one to the next. This is a complete disjunct, with the only stretch being that it could related to the samvit of the citta from 3.34, which is gained by samyama on the heart, but that is a stretch...
What we may glean from this is that samyama of some sort can lead to jñãnam of the Purusha (the eternal Soul). But, as we will continue to see more and more, that leads us to a non-Dualistic reading with Kaivalya (utter aloneness/singularity) being the apex (book 4) of our Yogic quest. So, for now, shall we put a pin in this and move on?
Trust me, we should...
3.37 is more lucid and seems to put us back on track again after this strange and highly incomplete and non-sequitor digression on Purusha and the senses...but, there is a hitch to this one as well as we shall presently see:
te samãdhãv-upasargã vyutthane siddhayah 3.37
Or,
These are obstacles (upasargã) to samãdi [and/but] are powerful skills (siddhayah) for the one who is straying/deviating. 3.37
Generally, this sutra is taken as a caveat emptor, or buyer beware, warning for the aspiring Yogi/ni. In other words, it is taken to mean, Siddhis are powerful skills for one who is deviating from a Yogic path, but for the one engaged with true Samãdhi, they are obstacles. This is in line with most of the Sutras as Yoga is all about removing obstacles, but, there is one slight hitch...
This sutra appears in the midst of two sets of Siddhis, the ones we already looked at in YS 3.16-34, then we have our weird interlude of 3.35-36, then this warning, then some truly supernatural Siddhis that many take for being dangerous or beyond the physical realms of possibility.
So, the question is: does "te", that is "these" refer to the Siddhis PREVIOUSLY mentioned, which do not seem overly dangerous, or do they refer to the Siddhis ABOUT to be listed, and which could easily be abused, or does it apply to ALL Siddhis (siddhayah is the plural in Sanskrit)??
Simple answer. We do not know. This is the one and only reference to the Siddhis (and one of only 4 direct references/uses of "siddhi" in the entire text) being obstacles (any for that matter) and it is completely ambiguous what is the scope of "te".
Personally, I am inclined to believe that it applies to all powerful skills, because they can all be abused. The quality does not lie in the skill itself (that is, it is neither good nor bad), but in the application. Second place would be that "te" applies to just the following Sutras we are about to see, and finally, and least likely, just to the preceding Siddhis.
Take-home message...back to Uncle Ben's advice to Peter...great power comes with great responsibility...
With that in mind, we continue next time with the Super Siddhis!
In the previous posts we have been talking about the siddhis, or powerful skills, that the Yogi/ni may acquire through profound meditative means with samyama on various objects (in the sense of an object of meditation). For the most part, despite being somewhat of an esoteric nature, they are all within the realm of possibilities...more or less.
However, the following dozen or so sutras present some serious problems with both meaning and syntax. It is also with these dozen or so sutras that ALL of the commentaries and translations (I am currently working with 8-10 versions) do one of two things: 1) say absolutely nothing and just provide an "accepted" translation that has been handed down through the ages; or 2) go into major metaphysical discourse about the nature of Yoga being dualistic and attempt to squeeze or extract the entirety of Samkhya-Dualist philosophy into a few sutras, where these ideas are blatantly lacking in all the rest of the Yoga Sutras.
This is troublesome, but seems to be symptomatic of a systemic flaw here...these handful of sutras we are about to delve into seem to be dubious at best as to how they fit into the Sutras as a whole, and when they begin to go into some detail, (namely with the concept of the 5 vayus, which will see in the next post), they are lacking in several ways.
Moreover, the syntax and grammar is very different from much of the rest of the text. There has been very strong research done (primarily on the first book of) Patañjali from a stylistic analysis vantage point, and the conclusion by Philipp Maas is that Patañjali and Vyãsa, the principle commentary are one and the same. Well, that would be quite something, but is not overly convincing in the latter portions of the book, such as we find ourselves in now.
However, it is the nearly unwavering exaltation of Vyãsa's word to be the final word, that I believe many translations and commentaries have suffered over the years as a result. Ascribing a date and an author to ANY Indian text is just asking for trouble. And, furthermore, to ascribe the Yoga Sutras to a SINGLE author AND commentator is, in my opinion, flirting with disaster.
As such, this portion of the Sutras reads more like a cobbling-together of ideas that may or may not be crucial to the text as a whole, and may or may not be Patañjali (or whoever else) at all...They almost seem to be like lecture notes for a Professor, jotted down before a lesson, and are incomplete at best and almost incoherent at worst.
Having said all of this, I am still intending to puzzle through these linguistic nettles and philosophical quagmires as I know that soon things clear up again for the rest of the Sutras.
So, let's proceed with the next 3 sutras, 3.35-37..., the first two being taken together due to the "tatah" that leads off 3.36.
sattva-purushayor-atyanta-asamkIrnayoh pratyaya-avishesho bhogah parãrthatvãt sãrtha-samyamãt purusha-jñãnam 3.35
tatah prãtibha-shrãvana-vedanã-ãdarsha-ãsvãda-vãrtãh jãyante 3.36
Giving us to begin:
Because of the nature of Being for another, experience is the concept of non-distinction for the utterly unmixed Purusha and Sattva, and from samyama on Being for Itself, the knowledge of Pursusha comes about. 3.35
From that/then (tatah), (exalted/illuminated) hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell arise. 3.36
As I said, the grammar takes a radical turn, the concepts being put forth are incongruous and there is great ambiguity in the meaning based upon syntax, because we could just as easily translate these two as:
The nature of Sattva and Purusha are utterly pure, and the experiencing the concept of them being indistinct come from the nature of dualistic thought; by contemplating on Being in and of itself, the nature of Purusha is known. 3.35
At that moment, intuition and the 5 senses are born. 3.36
The difference in 3.36 is whether prãtibha is taken as being a distributive adjective (divine/illuminated/exalted) for the following five nouns of the 5 senses, as is usually the case because Vyãsa does, or if it is the "sixth sense" of intuition, and is a noun too, meaning "illumination/intuition". There is no way to know from the grammar because it is a long compound with six elements...so the tradition sticks with Vyãsa, though the second reading is quite different, and more interesting to be fair.
These two (or one) sutra/s are completely out of left field, and the entire meaning of "sutra" as we learned long ago is that they are connected by a thread of thought or meaning from one to the next. This is a complete disjunct, with the only stretch being that it could related to the samvit of the citta from 3.34, which is gained by samyama on the heart, but that is a stretch...
What we may glean from this is that samyama of some sort can lead to jñãnam of the Purusha (the eternal Soul). But, as we will continue to see more and more, that leads us to a non-Dualistic reading with Kaivalya (utter aloneness/singularity) being the apex (book 4) of our Yogic quest. So, for now, shall we put a pin in this and move on?
Trust me, we should...
3.37 is more lucid and seems to put us back on track again after this strange and highly incomplete and non-sequitor digression on Purusha and the senses...but, there is a hitch to this one as well as we shall presently see:
te samãdhãv-upasargã vyutthane siddhayah 3.37
Or,
These are obstacles (upasargã) to samãdi [and/but] are powerful skills (siddhayah) for the one who is straying/deviating. 3.37
Generally, this sutra is taken as a caveat emptor, or buyer beware, warning for the aspiring Yogi/ni. In other words, it is taken to mean, Siddhis are powerful skills for one who is deviating from a Yogic path, but for the one engaged with true Samãdhi, they are obstacles. This is in line with most of the Sutras as Yoga is all about removing obstacles, but, there is one slight hitch...
This sutra appears in the midst of two sets of Siddhis, the ones we already looked at in YS 3.16-34, then we have our weird interlude of 3.35-36, then this warning, then some truly supernatural Siddhis that many take for being dangerous or beyond the physical realms of possibility.
So, the question is: does "te", that is "these" refer to the Siddhis PREVIOUSLY mentioned, which do not seem overly dangerous, or do they refer to the Siddhis ABOUT to be listed, and which could easily be abused, or does it apply to ALL Siddhis (siddhayah is the plural in Sanskrit)??
Simple answer. We do not know. This is the one and only reference to the Siddhis (and one of only 4 direct references/uses of "siddhi" in the entire text) being obstacles (any for that matter) and it is completely ambiguous what is the scope of "te".
Personally, I am inclined to believe that it applies to all powerful skills, because they can all be abused. The quality does not lie in the skill itself (that is, it is neither good nor bad), but in the application. Second place would be that "te" applies to just the following Sutras we are about to see, and finally, and least likely, just to the preceding Siddhis.
Take-home message...back to Uncle Ben's advice to Peter...great power comes with great responsibility...
With that in mind, we continue next time with the Super Siddhis!
Thursday, August 9, 2018
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:
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:
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...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)