Showing posts with label Socrates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Socrates. 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.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
You Don't Say... (Yoga Sutras 3.17-20)
When last we met, we were starting to get meta-physical with the Siddhis, or what I will call at this point, "powerful skills" rather than "mystical powers," as they are obtained, not magically gifted, which is an extremely important distinction to make here because as we shall see, these can become major pitfalls for the Yogi/ni...
In the previous sutras, we saw that performing intensive meditations, or the samyama of Dhãranã-Dhyãna-Samãdhi, upon the evolutions (parinãma) of things, we can gain knowledge of the Past and the Future (things not yet manifest, so to be more precise, the possible Future) of these things. In other words, intensive observations can lead to informed ideas about where things came from and where they may go to...Not quite the hocus-pocus that the Siddhis are often collectively taken as, but rather, right in line with Probability and Quantum Mechanics...
Likewise, 3.17 is just a treasure trove of possibilities and one that touches upon many questions we are still asking about language, meaning and understanding. As this one sutra pretty much involves all of my favorite things to think about: Yoga, language, communication, interpretation, and so forth, I am ready to Geek out on it. So, let's begin:
shabda-artha-pratyayãnãm-itaretara-adhyãsãt-samkaras-tat-pravibhãga-samyamãt-sarva-bhUta-ruta-jñãnam 3.17
Or,
Because of mutual layerings of sounds, meaning and objects, confusion arises and by intensive meditation upon their separation, knowledge of the sounds of all creatures is gained.
So, what to do, what to do. Essentially, this is the unravelling of the Tower of Babel and beyond. It suggests that the Yogi/ni can not only gain knowledge or understanding of humans, but of ALL creatures great and small! No small feat, no menial skill to have, to be sure.
How?
By performing samyama on the distinctions between sounds, meanings and objects. Essentially, this is a classical definition of hermeneutics (will explain shortly) and is the biggest question in modern language studies, namely: can we ever understand one another?
I have spent the better portion of my entire life contemplating this question, so, I think it is time to pause here and reflect on this sutra if you can indulge my digressions for a moment for the sake of clarity.
Hermeneutics is the study within Philology (study of languages as languages) as the process of trying to fully understand a text, usually in an ancient language, by studying this exact composition of factors: sounds/words, meaning/semantics and objects. The challenge is to know what exactly a word "means" by figuring out what it truly "refers" to. This becomes tricky with the big words such as "Truth" "Love" and "Understanding" in various language, inter alia. Hermeneutics is then a method to try and re-create the word in its context and Time as well as original language in order to come closer to its meaning. The word comes from Hermes, who is the messenger God between Humans and Deities and the sense here is whether or not we as humans can ever de-code the message of the Universe, whether it be at the hand of a god or goddess or Science...Science, Religion, Translation and Art are all seeking to find the answer to the question of "Why?"
Do we have the language to answer that at all? While I was in Graduate School, part of my training was in Literary Theory. At the time (early 90's) Semantics was all the rage, and the big questions were whether we could know the true relationship between the signifier and the signified. In other words, could we ever understand what another person says/writes/sings... Or, is the a perennial disjunct in the delivery of the message, even if it is a nanosecond of Time? Has there been corruption in the delivery of the package? Does the message ever arrive? De Saussure, Derrida, Foucault and Kristeva were a few of the names on everyone's lips, and although I enjoy reading each one of them in their own right, this was not a new thing.
One day for an on-line forum with other Grad Students in the program, I posted an "anonymous" Literary Theory text about the quest for finding the true meaning of words and whether names and words themselves are arbitrary, or do they have an intrinsic connection with the object they describe?
Everyone was all a-flutter with this "new" theorist...which, of course, I revealed to be Socrates in Plato's dialogue "Cratylus," which is about the origin of language and the relationship of words to their objects...Had I been studying the Yoga Sutras as intently as I am now, I would have posted Patañjali 3.17 for even greater shock value because he says it is possible to gain this incredibly powerful skill of understanding not only each other, but all creatures.
As Scooby-Doo would say, "Zikes!" or Robin might exclaim "Holy Deflated Deconstructionism, BatMan!" Yeah, or something like that. Told you I was going to Geek out.
3.17 brings to mind Saint Francis as well, who when no one else would listen to his "crazy wisdom," he went and preached to the forest critters as they could understand the message of Divine Love better than humans and their preoccupation with commercial materialism and Spiritual Materialism (as we saw last time with Chögyam Trungpa's concept of this).
So, how far-fetched then is Patañjali's 3.17 in this context? Not so much actually. What 3.17 is suggesting is that by dis-entangling the "noise" and "chatter" of things, we can finally start to listen rather than merely hear the sounds, and from that profound state of listening...we gain understanding...Hmmm...give it a thought and let that sink in for a moment. Stop the noise, and it creates space for true understanding...
Moving along to 3.18, we read:
samskãra-sãkshãt-karanãt pUrvajãti-jñãnam 3.18
Giving us,
By making (samyama) manifest by being directly aware of samskãras/mental filters, we can gain knowledge of previous births. 3.18
In other words, if we perform samyama on the samskãras (which along with parinãmas is proving to be one of the most important words in Sanskrit...), we can gain knowledge of previous lives.
We can take this literally, as I am confident it was in Patañjali's time with the belief of reincarnation, or we can also take this literarily, so to speak, in that we live multiple lives within one lifetime, something I am a major advocate/believer of, ...using my experience of Grad School for one, as that was truly another lifetime, and one that yielded a book on the hermeneutics of Death and Memory in the works of James Joyce...meaning, that was ME, but it was a "different" ME...and if I meditate upon the samskãras of that "other" ME, then I can know about that past life. What were some? Interests in language, meaning and communication to name a few, but with a focus on James Joyce.
Similar, but different.
Pirandello has a great book called Uno, nessuno e centomile/One, No one and One Hundred Thousand, in which he posits we are multitudes unto ourselves and to others and those different "lives" never really mesh with others, but are tangential at best. But, by self-analysis, as the protagonist does in the book, we can approximate those "other" lives, even if they are our own. In other words, how do other people see us? Even a perfect reflection in the mirror is not enough, it is still reversed. I have a major scar on the left side of my forehead that I will NEVER see as everyone else in my life will see it...I will always see it on the right side in the mirror...
[Side thought to all of this: what a different world it would be if we would actually hold ourselves up to the standards that we impose upon others...]
So, with 3.18, we can gain knowledge of those past lives...and, is it such as stretch that if reincarnation is true, that samayama on the samskãras that carry over would yield the same effect? However, we have to then ask whether jñãnam means knowledge, or does it also mean "understanding," which is completely different question, and one which Patañjali already anticipates with 3.19-20:
pratyayasya para-citta-jñãnam 3.19
na ca tat-sãlambanam-tasya-avishayI-bhUta-tvãt 3.20
[I put these together as I have a hunch they were originally considered to be one Sutra.]
Or,
Knowledge of the minds of others comes from samyama of an idea, but not the essence of it because the state of being is not accessible...
This is tricky because it does imply that knowledge and true understanding are mutually exclusive, something I tend to agree with, and which Kant made a distinction with between Vernunft and Verstand, or mental capability versus true understanding. Reason, words and knowledge can only get us so far. We can only read so many books, have so many words, and espouse so many theories, but do we truly "know" the object of inquiry, whether it be a flower, a person or a poem...?
On that note...
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