Stop It! Stop It! Stop It! (YS 2.15-17)

And here, the Yoga Sutras meet Buddhism head-on, as well as Bob Newhart. Hopefully that got your attention because it is no exaggeration to say that Sutras 2.15-17 are easily the most important 3 sutras in Patañjali's entire work. It is why I originally began this journey with 2.16 some time ago, because that is the absolute turning point for the text as a coherent, integrative whole. Why? Exactly, why? As we shall see, YS 2.16 definitively gives us the "why?" of the "why?" that we saw in Book 1 with Samãdhi, but this is even more important. A meta-why? if you will.

So, with that tall claim (I am currently in Texas, so why not a Pecos Bill-type boast for good measure?), I will tackle these 3 seemingly innocent, but highly charged sutras with you. Buckle up, and take off the parking brake because it's time to move. 

In our last post, we discovered that the kleshas, or afflictions of the mind, can be modified and even eliminated by one important aspect, karma, or action. We also learned that the kleshas are the root of our discontent in life. Dis-content, for all intents and purposes, can serve as our best translation of Duhkha here. However, suffering and dis-ease (un-easiness and disease are folded into this) are also important synonyms as I have already used both as well. 

NB: I am hyphenating the prefix dis- here, because it comes to use directly from the Sanskrit duh- into Greek as dys- and Latin as dis-, all meaning something negative or often harmful. The Sanskrit element su, which means good, well or comfortable, comes into Greek as eu- such as eu-phoric or eu-thanasia; so we have duh-kha and su-kha, which become the antonyms of dis-content and well-being, with "kha" being a state or condition of being. 

Okay, with this in mind, let us then return to the text itself with 2.15:

parinãma-tãpa-samskãra-duhkhair guna-vrittti-virodhãc ca duhkham eva sarvam vivekinah 2.17

Or, in English,

For the person of discrimination/discretion, all is dis-content/suffering due to the sufferings/dis-ease of change/evolution, strain and mental impressions/memory and because of the turmoil of the fluctuations/interactions of the gunas. 

This is a Yoga Sutra bomb, loaded with every possible angle that we encounter in our Yoga practice, masterfully condensed into a dozen words. I will now diffuse this bomb, but will not get bogged down so as to lose the elegance of its economy. Remember the KISS motto: Keep It Simple, Stupid...

Here we go.

For the person of discrimination/discretion, the vivekinah... This word is extremely loaded as it not only implies one who has integrity and discretion, but it directly links us to Advaita Vedanta, or Non-Duality as championed by Shankara, as the highest form of cognition is discrimination, or viveka. But, this is immanently transcended to non-Duality as even the duality perceived is found to be illusion, as we shall "see" (pun will make sense in a minute) in YS 2.17. 

Here, the person of viveka is our dear Yogi/ni on the path of Sadhana, seeking moksha or release from duhkha...which is caused by our karma, or actions. Sound familiar? For all of you Buddhists out there, it should. And, with the next three  words, your Buddhist alarm bells should be going off on full tilt:

duhkham eva sarvam...meaning, all is dis-content/suffering. 

This is verbatim the First Noble Truth of Buddhism for those new to the concept. This is the core of all Buddhist thought. Unfortunately, many people get stuck on this and then say that Buddhism is Pessimistic, and a certain Schopenhauer did not make that case any better, nor do certain mortification of the flesh strains of Buddhism today. But, continuing with the Four Noble Truths, as well as with Patañjali momentarily, we learn that there is a solution, a release: moksha and/or nirvana, which is brought about by ending suffering by tempering our desires. Oh, and how does Buddhism solve this? The 8-fold path, or the Middle Way. Patañjali? Ashtanga, or the 8 limbs of Yoga...hang on! 

Given that Buddhism precedes the Yoga Sutras by at least 200 years and possibly as much as 700,it is a pretty good gamble to say that Patañjali was quite familiar with its precepts and influences in India. So, is Patañjali then a grand fakir and plagiarist? Well,...not completely, however, a Buddhist footnote is very appropriate here. 

Buddha said that all duhkha was caused by thirst or desire. For Patañjali he does elaborate a bit more, but it does boil down to the same thing as we shall see.

Taking up the rest of the Sutra, then, we have a two-fold reason that all is dis-content for the enlightened Yogi/ni, namely:

1) parinãma-tãpa-samskãra-duhkhair

[This is a compound in the instrumental case, with duhkha acting as the agent for you linguistically minded.]

The three things that suffering is the agent of are:

a) Parinãma: A very powerful word that means "evolution" "transformation" or "change". Although some like change, it can often be a source of high anxiety for many, and it is ultimately an act of violence.

b) Tãpa: an intensified form of austerities or effort, it becomes more akin to "strain" here. In our lives and our practice, when effort transforms (parinãma) into strain, we encounter suffering. Much as when in ãsana practice when discomfort evolves into pain...Discretion, or viveka is then necessary to avoid this dis-comfort.

c) Samskãras, which as we have seen, are the mental impressions and memories that we carry about with us in our mind. These can lead to both passion (rãga) or aversion (dvesha), which both lead to duhkha in excess. How can passion? Passion, or craving/desire leads to duhkha very quickly and is the root of addiction. Looking for the next fix, be it love, pleasure or a chemically-induced high, only leads to a temporary parinãma, and the cycle continues and intensifies, heightening duhkha.

And, (ca)

2) guna-vrittti-virodhãc

Which gives us:

Because of turmoil of the fluctuations/interactions of the gunas.

Here, it is because of the perpetual interchanging relationships of the three gunas: rajas, tamas and sattva that causes us further duhkha. In other words, our moods, energy and emotions...sounds pretty true to me, eh? The gunas play a big part in both the Bhagavad Gita and Ayurvedic studies, so again, this one Sutra has compacted no less than: Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Ayurveda, the Gita (itself an Upanishad) as well as Yoga in a dozen words. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

And then, the zinger, YS 2.16:

heyam duhkham anãgatam  2.16

Or,

Suffering (that has yet to manifest) ought to be avoided. 

I have dealt with this at the onset as I have mentioned, so I will not rehash it, but in short, this is the REASON to do Yoga! The form of heya/m here is an injunction, something ought to be done... 

There is an unfortunate trend in Yoga these days that there is "no right or wrong" and "all is okay..." well, yes and no. Nice enough for bumper stickers and coffee mugs, but why the hell bother? Really. Why bother if this is the case?

There is suffering in the world, some of it physical, some emotional/mental and some a poignant combination of both the Mind and the Body. Patañjali does not stick his head in the sand, nor did the Buddha, but both say, "C'mon, there is suffering, but you can do something about it!" Now that is something I'll throw my hat into the ring on.

Bob Newhart says it quite plainly as well:

Stop It! Stop It! Stop It!

Whew, I feel better now.

And, finally we come to 2.17:

drashthr-drishyahoh samyoge heya-hetuh  2.17

Giving us,

The cause of this injunction to Stop It! is in the union of the Seer and the Seen. 2.17

Here again, our friendly Seer and Seen combination, this time grammatically in the dual form, pop up. We "see" (now you get it?) this at the beginning the Sutras in 1.3 and 1.4 again shall see it again in Book IV when we wrap things up.

In short, when we confuse/conjoin the Seer and the Seen, realizing that they are the Same, not Different, then our Suffering shall fall away. 

And how do we do this? How do we Stop It!?

We are knocking on the door of the 8 limbs of Yoga to find out...

In The End Is the Word

I have expressed my discontent with the use and abuse of Karma  elsewhere, but it bears repeating, for I cannot “pick up” an on-line publication or hear a snippet of a conversation without nearly at least once hearing someone say something to the effect of “it was my bad karma that I got stuck in traffic” or “Tim Tebow must have good karma when he prays before a game” or the like, when speaking of why something did or did not happen. To re-iterate, then, karma, from the root Kr, simply means, “the thing done,” nothing more, nothing less. There is no value, no judgment, no good, no bad, no Quality to it. It simply means--an action done.

Karma causes an effect. Karma, the action is the cause. The result, whether it is judged later as good or bad, is independent of the karma, or action, with regards to Quality. It is the result of the action that ultimately bears the burden of Quality.

The Seventh Chapter of the Chãndogya Upanishad is a brilliant catechism of cause and effort. It simultaneously pre-dates the Buddhist concept of the eight-fold Middle Way with the precursor of the concept of “right speech,” while also being the virtual inversion, like a yoga headstand of St. John’s gospel concept of the logos, or the Word made Flesh. Logos from the Greek can mean simply word, but it also extends to the entire gamut of rational discourse, study, or rhetorical utterances. It is a very powerful word in itself.

However, for John, the Word comes first, it is the Creative Force, it is God. In the Chãndogya, the words come last, they are the least powerful in a long chain of karmic events, or actions, leading back to the source of all thought and expression.

Nãrada, an aspirant of learning, approaches (the verb upa-ni-shad means to approach, like a student to a teacher) Sanatkumãra, an esteemed guru, or teacher and wishes to learn what he knows. Sanatkumãra tells Nãrada to tell him what he knows, and Sanatkumãra will in turn un-learn him of what he has learned. Nãrada lists all of the studies and texts that he has learned, in this case, memorized, beginning with the Vedas down to texts on the natural history of serpents.

To this long list of apparent erudition, Sanatkumãra says that these are all merely “namani” or words, the etymology in fact of the Greek -nym, from which we get anto-nyms and syno-nyms and the like, not the mention the more transparent inheritance into our own English as the Names.

Sanatkumãra tells his questioning friend that there is nothing behind these mere words, or names, and that the truth lies much further back, down the chain of events of cause and effect.

The ensuing dialectic, predating even the Socratic Method by centuries and the Catholic Catechism by that many more centuries is quite simple and repetitive, almost like childish banter in its simplicity, but the consequences are quite profound, calling into question our notions of the childhood mantra of “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Nothing could be further from the Truth for Sanatkumãra as we see, tracing back the origin of the word to its source.

Nãrada asks at each stage, “asti bhagavo nãmno bhuya iti nãmno vãvã bhuo’sti,” both a question and a plaintive query, “O venerable one, is there something greater than Name? Surely there is something greater than Name?!?” At each stage then, consequently, the teacher gives something that is bhuya, or greater, than the thing before, beginning with Name/Word.

From Name/word, he goes to Speech to Mind to Will to Intelligence to Meditation to Understanding to Strength (vitality to think) to Sustenance (to provide the vitality) to Water (to cause the food) to Fire to Space to Memory to Hope to the Vital Force, or Prãna, which is the source of everything. Prãna can be thought of as being kin to the pneuma of Greek, or the breath, the spirit or Life. Tracing back then, words or names are the final product of the initiation of the Vital Essence of Be-ing, the sacred breath of the Universe, pronounced by the udghita, by chanting the sacred syllable OM, or A-U-M. Though it is a chain of cause and effect, it is one and the same as you cannot have the cause without the effect, the two are not distinct, but part of the greater whole.

However, what is then interesting from this karmic chain is what Nãrada then learns is the consequence of incorrect speech, or harmful words. For, because speech and consequently words are the result of the Vital Force, expressed by the Will and through the Mind, to speak ill of one is as good as murder. Greater, or rather worse, is to speak ill of one than even to desecrate their ashes at the funeral pyre, because those are mere, mortal remains.

To speak improperly is simply spiritual murder. It does not attack the bones, like the sticks and stones, but rather the very Soul of another, the core of that person’s Vital Life Force. Speaking ill, then, of one, is not to bring on so-called “bad karma” to one’s Self, it is a much greater illness, it implicates one of pre-meditated murder.

Speak well, then, is the message from Sanatkumãra, and indeed, if you don’t have something kind to say, think about the real consequences, not the selfishness of whether you will get stuck in a traffic jam later in the day, or whether your favorite team will lose the game, but rather, what have you in fact done to that person’s Soul?

Such is the nature of Karma...and as such, we might think to speak unto others as you would have them speak to you.

Words can hurt. The good news is, they can heal too.