Showing posts with label samyama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samyama. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2018
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)
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Divide and Conquer, Unite and Transcend (Yoga Sutras 3.49-55)
The time has come. The pathway has been laid out before us, the pitfalls and obstacles identified, we have been given the key to release the shackles of ignorance, the maps have been drawn and the warnings given. There is only one choice to be made at this juncture.
Continue with this challenge, or return to status quo, the familiar.
We now close in on Book 3 with this daunting, and it is daunting, challenge when we arrive at the following sutras. The well has been fully primed, and it should be no surprise what lies behind the veil, and yet, it is...so let us continue.
3.49-50 then reveal:
sattva-purusha-anyatã-khyãti-mãtrasya sarvabhãva-adhishthãnritvam sarva-jñãtritvam 3.49
tad-vairãgyãd-api dosha-bîja-kshaye kaivalyam 3.50
Giving us:
Only for the one who recognizes the difference between sattva (reason/Mind) and purusha (consciousness/true awareness/Soul) is there the intelligence of all and supremacy over all beings. 3.49
However, even from vairãgyam (detachment) from that state comes kaivalyam (absolute singularity) in the destruction of the affliction of the seed concept (for samãdhi). 3.50
Bam. The sutra heard around the Yoga world...duality is only apparently the final step...non-duality is the ultimate one.
I cannot stress how influential it has been for centuries that this turn at 3.50 has been ignored or simply denied.
The message here is quite clear: Duality brings us omniscience and omnipotence; Non-Duality brings us freedom, because the former is the highest form of bondage ever.
To restate.
What we have been building up for the entire Yoga Sutras thus far are the tools to refine our sense of discretion, or viveka, in order to recognize the difference between sattva (pure reason) and purusha (pure intelligence) through the 8-limb path of Yoga and through diligent, long-lasting practice (abhyãsa) and ultimate detachment (vairãgyam) from the fruits of our actions. It is what we do when the Bee stings.
That is to stand at the abyss. 3.50 dares us to jump. And, this is when we falter, we hesitate, we freeze, or we turn around.
We fear Kaivalyam above all else. It is the most primal fear of all. It drives us to act when we should not or not to act when we should. It paralyzes and it enervates us to even think about it. It is the monster in the closet, the fear of turning off the lights.
Krishnamurti often spoke about the difference between being lonely and being alone. Being lonely gives us a perverse comfort because we can feel sorry for ourselves, we can play the victim to an audience of one, thus creating two. From the singularity comes duality. To be alone is the opposite, it is to extract yourself from the continuum of the flow, and to still the thoughts, the vrittis in the mind, because at that moment, you are no longer distracted by the buzzing of technology, the chatter of inane conversations around you, the to-do lists in your head, the frets and anxieties of what "might" happen, the text messages that barrage you on your Smart phone...and the list goes on. To be alone is to detach from all of that. To un-plug, unconditionally. To actually see and to listen to your own heartbeat and breath. To be as primal as the original, first element of the Universe. And, it is terrifying. But, it is the ultimate liberation.
Kaivalyam is: To be utterly alone.
And, we balk. We hesitate. We turn back to the familiar.
Or, we go forward.
3.51-53 give us some final tools of advice before we leap. One final samyama to perform...
sthãnyupanimantrane sangasmayãkaranam punar-anisththaprasangãt 3.51
ksana-tat-kramayoh samyamãd-vivekajam jñãnam 3.52
jãti-lakshana-deshair-anyatãnavacchedãt-tulyayos-tatah pratipattih 3.53
Upon the enticement of divine beings, one should shun being/acting in awe, lest falling prey to attachment/desire again. 3.51
By performing samyama on the absolute present and its progression, knowledge born from discretion (viveka) occurs. 3.52
At that time, the discernment of two identical essences can be determined, though they are not distinct in species/type, quality or location. 3.53
3.51 gives us the final warning...the warning of the Midas Touch. The Temptation of Christ. The apple to Adam and Eve.
If the Yogi/ni has reached such a level of progression upon his or her 8-limb path that the deities themselves are enticing them, beware because that is merely seduction. When Buddha was nearing his ultimate Enlightenment, to become the Buddha, the Awakened One, he was first seduced by Mara (the agent of Death), the demon who tries to seduce Guatama with the most prevalent human temptation of all: sex and power...
The Buddha saw that this too was seduction for attachment and was not to be his path. He touched the Earth as his witness as testimony that even the divine and demonic could not sway him and that he was grounded in being alone. Kaivalyam.
3.52 and 3.53 then return to the concept of setting up discretion (viveka) as the ultimate tool, one that soon too will be discarded. However, like Picasso learning the rules of Realism first, he could then break the rules to create Cubism. John Cage had to know the meaning of sound before presenting silence. The Yogi/ni has to refine discretion/discernment before abandoning even that. For, if we have not truly looked, truly seen and experienced, then it is false. It becomes bumper-sticker slogans: "All is One" "Be One with the Universe" "Love and Light" that eventually mean No-thing if one has not truly experienced them.
In 12-step programs, one saying is "One day at a Time." A bumper sticker. A wall poster. If you have not lived it. 3.52 calls upon us to live it. To perform samyama on the immediate NOW. It is very trendy for people to spout out "Live in the Moment" and some people have made millions of dollars saying what Patañjali and others have said for thousands of years. Nothing new under the sun. It is mere psycho-babble, a palliative for the masses, and it sells.
To buy it is one thing, to live it another.
3.52 challenges us to live in the ever-present now, that kshana (which like the original Greek meaning of a-tom, means that which cannot be divided/cut further) is the smallest, infinitesimal description of Time, meaning, no Time. And yet, things change. There is a krama, a progression form one kshana to the next, that is imperceptible to one who is casually living, but for the Yogi/ni who is aware and hyper-observant, there is discretion, but that too, is not the bigger picture. It is the forest for the trees once again.
3.53 is resonant with a concept in Physics that has fascinated me for some time now. Entanglement. It is the process in which two essences become entangled at the quantum level, the absolute fundamental level in such a way that they can be on opposite sides of the Universe and still be linked by communication that supersedes even the speed of Light. They are linked identically and simultaneously, irrespective of Time and Place, and once entangled, it is permanent.
3.53 says then that even the Yogi/ni can discern between the Entanglement, despite to all other observers, there is no difference.
And, yet, that again, is just parlor tricks. 3.54-55 lead us beyond that Rabbit Hole that we entered at the beginning of Book 3. We are on the other side of the Black Hole now.
tãrakam sarvavishayam sarvathã-vishayam akramam ceti vivekajam jñãnam 3.54
sattva-purushayoh shuddhi-sãmye kaivalyam iti 3.55
Leaving us to conclude Book 3 with:
Knowledge born of discretion is the liberator of all objects, everywhere and is a singularity in Time. 3.54
Kavilayam occurs then in the absolute equality of the pureness of sattva (reason) and purusha (consciousness). 3.55
We divide by discretion. We recognize the difference between pure reason and pure consciousness, only to then see that they are merely two sides of the same coin, Kaivalyam, so we then unite, and transcend.
And, so, the curtain has been pulled back, the veil removed, the apo-calpyse begins, and what do we find behind?
A mirror.
With the reflection of ourselves, ... alone.
Book 4 awaits.
Continue with this challenge, or return to status quo, the familiar.
We now close in on Book 3 with this daunting, and it is daunting, challenge when we arrive at the following sutras. The well has been fully primed, and it should be no surprise what lies behind the veil, and yet, it is...so let us continue.
3.49-50 then reveal:
sattva-purusha-anyatã-khyãti-mãtrasya sarvabhãva-adhishthãnritvam sarva-jñãtritvam 3.49
tad-vairãgyãd-api dosha-bîja-kshaye kaivalyam 3.50
Giving us:
Only for the one who recognizes the difference between sattva (reason/Mind) and purusha (consciousness/true awareness/Soul) is there the intelligence of all and supremacy over all beings. 3.49
However, even from vairãgyam (detachment) from that state comes kaivalyam (absolute singularity) in the destruction of the affliction of the seed concept (for samãdhi). 3.50
Bam. The sutra heard around the Yoga world...duality is only apparently the final step...non-duality is the ultimate one.
I cannot stress how influential it has been for centuries that this turn at 3.50 has been ignored or simply denied.
The message here is quite clear: Duality brings us omniscience and omnipotence; Non-Duality brings us freedom, because the former is the highest form of bondage ever.
To restate.
What we have been building up for the entire Yoga Sutras thus far are the tools to refine our sense of discretion, or viveka, in order to recognize the difference between sattva (pure reason) and purusha (pure intelligence) through the 8-limb path of Yoga and through diligent, long-lasting practice (abhyãsa) and ultimate detachment (vairãgyam) from the fruits of our actions. It is what we do when the Bee stings.
That is to stand at the abyss. 3.50 dares us to jump. And, this is when we falter, we hesitate, we freeze, or we turn around.
We fear Kaivalyam above all else. It is the most primal fear of all. It drives us to act when we should not or not to act when we should. It paralyzes and it enervates us to even think about it. It is the monster in the closet, the fear of turning off the lights.
Krishnamurti often spoke about the difference between being lonely and being alone. Being lonely gives us a perverse comfort because we can feel sorry for ourselves, we can play the victim to an audience of one, thus creating two. From the singularity comes duality. To be alone is the opposite, it is to extract yourself from the continuum of the flow, and to still the thoughts, the vrittis in the mind, because at that moment, you are no longer distracted by the buzzing of technology, the chatter of inane conversations around you, the to-do lists in your head, the frets and anxieties of what "might" happen, the text messages that barrage you on your Smart phone...and the list goes on. To be alone is to detach from all of that. To un-plug, unconditionally. To actually see and to listen to your own heartbeat and breath. To be as primal as the original, first element of the Universe. And, it is terrifying. But, it is the ultimate liberation.
Kaivalyam is: To be utterly alone.
And, we balk. We hesitate. We turn back to the familiar.
Or, we go forward.
3.51-53 give us some final tools of advice before we leap. One final samyama to perform...
sthãnyupanimantrane sangasmayãkaranam punar-anisththaprasangãt 3.51
ksana-tat-kramayoh samyamãd-vivekajam jñãnam 3.52
jãti-lakshana-deshair-anyatãnavacchedãt-tulyayos-tatah pratipattih 3.53
Upon the enticement of divine beings, one should shun being/acting in awe, lest falling prey to attachment/desire again. 3.51
By performing samyama on the absolute present and its progression, knowledge born from discretion (viveka) occurs. 3.52
At that time, the discernment of two identical essences can be determined, though they are not distinct in species/type, quality or location. 3.53
3.51 gives us the final warning...the warning of the Midas Touch. The Temptation of Christ. The apple to Adam and Eve.
If the Yogi/ni has reached such a level of progression upon his or her 8-limb path that the deities themselves are enticing them, beware because that is merely seduction. When Buddha was nearing his ultimate Enlightenment, to become the Buddha, the Awakened One, he was first seduced by Mara (the agent of Death), the demon who tries to seduce Guatama with the most prevalent human temptation of all: sex and power...
The Buddha saw that this too was seduction for attachment and was not to be his path. He touched the Earth as his witness as testimony that even the divine and demonic could not sway him and that he was grounded in being alone. Kaivalyam.
3.52 and 3.53 then return to the concept of setting up discretion (viveka) as the ultimate tool, one that soon too will be discarded. However, like Picasso learning the rules of Realism first, he could then break the rules to create Cubism. John Cage had to know the meaning of sound before presenting silence. The Yogi/ni has to refine discretion/discernment before abandoning even that. For, if we have not truly looked, truly seen and experienced, then it is false. It becomes bumper-sticker slogans: "All is One" "Be One with the Universe" "Love and Light" that eventually mean No-thing if one has not truly experienced them.
In 12-step programs, one saying is "One day at a Time." A bumper sticker. A wall poster. If you have not lived it. 3.52 calls upon us to live it. To perform samyama on the immediate NOW. It is very trendy for people to spout out "Live in the Moment" and some people have made millions of dollars saying what Patañjali and others have said for thousands of years. Nothing new under the sun. It is mere psycho-babble, a palliative for the masses, and it sells.
To buy it is one thing, to live it another.
3.52 challenges us to live in the ever-present now, that kshana (which like the original Greek meaning of a-tom, means that which cannot be divided/cut further) is the smallest, infinitesimal description of Time, meaning, no Time. And yet, things change. There is a krama, a progression form one kshana to the next, that is imperceptible to one who is casually living, but for the Yogi/ni who is aware and hyper-observant, there is discretion, but that too, is not the bigger picture. It is the forest for the trees once again.
3.53 is resonant with a concept in Physics that has fascinated me for some time now. Entanglement. It is the process in which two essences become entangled at the quantum level, the absolute fundamental level in such a way that they can be on opposite sides of the Universe and still be linked by communication that supersedes even the speed of Light. They are linked identically and simultaneously, irrespective of Time and Place, and once entangled, it is permanent.
3.53 says then that even the Yogi/ni can discern between the Entanglement, despite to all other observers, there is no difference.
And, yet, that again, is just parlor tricks. 3.54-55 lead us beyond that Rabbit Hole that we entered at the beginning of Book 3. We are on the other side of the Black Hole now.
tãrakam sarvavishayam sarvathã-vishayam akramam ceti vivekajam jñãnam 3.54
sattva-purushayoh shuddhi-sãmye kaivalyam iti 3.55
Leaving us to conclude Book 3 with:
Knowledge born of discretion is the liberator of all objects, everywhere and is a singularity in Time. 3.54
Kavilayam occurs then in the absolute equality of the pureness of sattva (reason) and purusha (consciousness). 3.55
We divide by discretion. We recognize the difference between pure reason and pure consciousness, only to then see that they are merely two sides of the same coin, Kaivalyam, so we then unite, and transcend.
And, so, the curtain has been pulled back, the veil removed, the apo-calpyse begins, and what do we find behind?
A mirror.
With the reflection of ourselves, ... alone.
Book 4 awaits.
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...?
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...
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Journey to the East (Yoga Sutras 3.14-16)
It has been some time since we were looking at the Sutras, but there was some necessity on my own part to step back for want of loosing the forest for the trees and step away for a bit, but we're back.
Book III of the Sutras has a mixed role and reputation within contemporary (and I am guessing historical) readers/explorers of the Sutras as it contains the often-mocked, sometimes-praised, usually glossed-over Siddhis, or "magical/super" powers that a Yogi/ni may accrue with diligent practice...It is a chapter/book that some will use to show that Yoga is some arcane form of sorcery and can corrupt our minds and bodies and others will cough loudly when talking about the Sutras and politely omit the Siddhis from conversation because, despite being the "Spiritual Warriors" that we are, we don't REALLY believe in THAT...
I smell a rat.
To condemn the Sutras in toto because of the Siddhis or to ignore this section because it is too weird for our oh-so-sophisticated, rational 21st-century minds are both the product of exactly what the Sutras are aiming to amend, namely: a-vidyã, or ignorance.
Looking back, before moving forward, we remember that Book III begins with the Trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi, the three final and so-called "internal" limbs of Patañjali's ashtanga system, collectively known as samyama, which is the main theme for the rest of the book. Although the eight limbs are not precisely sequential (as I suggest Yama and Ni-Yama are perpetually being tested in our daily lives and hence never quite "done"), but there is the idea that the first 5 limbs need to be addressed first before going down the Rabbit Hole of inner-consciousness. For, as we shall see in the coming Sutras, if one is not fully prepared, that Rabbit Hole might just hold some surprises that are too much to deal with. The Siddhis, in turn, are not something to be desired or the goal of Yoga, but, quite the contrary, they are to be avoided! So, our first group of Book III opponents are much like protesters of a movie who have not gone to see it..., and, as with Yoga, it is a choice, You May Leave if You Wish...
The Journey to the East (Die Morgenlandfahrt), a curious book by Hermann Hesse, (who also wrote a little novel called Siddhartha, but that's another story...) tells the story of HH who joins the nebulous group called "The League" on a journey to the "East." However, (spoiler alert), we soon see that HH loses his way dramatically while on this journey. He lost the forest for the trees. Or, to borrow from Chögyam Trungpa, he became infatuated by his own Spiritual Materialism. Spiritual Materialism, as Trungpa very lucidly (and given his personal habits, this is no small feat) describes in his book, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, is the accumulation of so-called "credentials" upon our quest for enlightenment/salvation/peace/love/understanding/fill-in-the-blank...
These credentials are like Catholic indulgences...or like what we see all-too-often in Yoga shalas around the globe these days...the Holier-than-Cow attitude that "I do Yoga, therefore, I don't have the same problems, or I am absolved from being pain in the ass because I did Ashtanga this morning..." It is the hypocrisy that runs rampant in all religions, spiritual pursuits and ideologies. Namely, because I do "x" I am above the law of the riff-raff. Moreover, as I was reminded by my dear friend while discussing this last evening, it is the age-old issue of a lazy cut-and-pasting of what works for us, when we want it to, and how we want it to, usually taking it out of context (see below on 3.16...).
Yeah, well, that is exactly what Book III is warning us about...Spiritual Materialism and losing our way on our Journey to the East...
Maybe there is more to this section that originally meets the Mind's Eye...so let's take a moment to look and see what we can see.
The immediately preceding Sutras (3.8-13) dealt with the three parinamas, or evolutions. These three evolutions are of: nirodhah (restraint/control/stilling), samãdhi (synthesis, integration, profound awareness) and ekagrata-cittasya (singularity of mind). From these three evolutions or refinements, we can begin to see the "true" nature of things by way of: dharma-laksha-avasthã or dharma-quality-state of being. In other words, the finer-tuned our senses are, the better we can actually "see" things. (However, as we know from the onset, "see-ing" is merely a play of duality, something that we will ultimately seek to transcend in kavilaya...)
3.14 will take us one step further then with:
shãnta-udita-avyapadeshya-dharma-anupãti dharmi 3.14
Or,
The "dharma-maker" follows the dharma of what is past, arisen (present) and not-yet-determined (future).
What this means is that there is something meta-physical that transcends Time, and if we merely focus on an object/situation frozen in Time, then we are only seeing a portion of its wholeness. Think Donnie Darko when he discovers The Philosophy of Time Travel by Roberta Sparrow...
Dharmin is often translated then as the "sub-stratum" of real phenomena, however, this is a bit limiting as it distinguishes Dharma and Dharmin as two separate existences. It is more like a meta-meta-physical connection that unites them both as we shall progressively see. It is similar to the concept that God cannot be separate from the Universe that God creates...setting up a nice paradox, (which I love).
Moving right along then, with 3.15:
krama-anyatvam parinãma-anyatve hetuh 3.15
Or,
The state of otherness in permutations is the cause of variety in evolution/transformation (parinãma). 3.15
This one sticks in the craw a bit. Still chewing on it because as the more I am reading lately, the more I see that Parinãma is nearly, or even on, par with Dharma and Karma as being the most important words in Sanskrit philosophical works...so, when it arises, I am giving serious pause as to how it is really fitting into the bigger picture. It is a Sequoia or Giant Redwood that can easily obscure the rest of the trees if not careful...
In short, what 3.15 seems to be saying is that the reason that differences exist in Life and it evolution is based upon the permutations of the elements (gunas and the like), which makes perfect sense on a Quantum level...So, for now, I'm sticking with this translation, though as always, suggestions are welcome!
And, then we get to 3.16, which serves as the gateway to the rest of the Siddhis via the implementation of the Samyama en route to our goal of Kaivalya. If you have ever watched an American sports event, you will inevitably see the guy holding up a sign (or having it painted on his his body somewhere...but, hey, that's more or less how Patrick Warburton got started...but, I digress) with the message of: John 3.16, which for Christians is the end-all bumper sticker quote from the New Testament, namely from the King James: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is the example of taking things out of context, or cutting and pasting to serve one's purpose...Just once, I would love to see someone next to "that guy" holding up "Patañali 3.16"!
So, what does Patañjali 3.16 give us? Surprisingly, something not so far off from John 3.16...
parinãma-traya-samyamãt atita-anãgata-jñãnam 3.16
Or,
Knowledge of that which has past and that which has yet to manifest comes from the samyama of the trinity of parinãmas. 3.16
As we learned from our School House Rock videos, "3 is the magic number" and indeed it is here too. By applying the method of samyama, which is the trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi to the trinity of the parinãmas of nirodha-samãdhi-ekagratacittasya, we can gain knowledge of the things that have gone before and those yet to manifest. Now, on a superficial level, this sounds like (and is usually translated/interpreted as) knowledge of the past and the future...well, not exactly...
This is again separating Time into discreet moments which (spoiler alert) we shall see is the biggest cause of our mis-perception of reality, namely, separating the Present from the Past and the Future...because, remembering our dear Roberta Sparrow, Einstein and Charles Hinton, the Fourth Dimension is Time and if we transcend the concept of Space alone and put a hyphen between the two, creating Space-Time, then we start to get somewhere/sometime. This is what 3.16 is saying in a nutshell. By the application of the samyama, we can make that transition (parinãma) and as a result, the Present becomes united (though it was never not, it is us that causes such rifts) and we can see the bigger picture. This is not the same as fortune-telling as this Sutra is often taken as, but rather, understanding the causal relationship of all things at all times...something that Stephen Hawking spent his life in search of, the Mind of God...be it through science, meditation, religion or Yoga, the goal is the same...
So begins a long, laundry list now of Siddhis, or powers from method of samayama, and some are indeed quite fabulous, but just how improbable are they? Alice spent her mornings thinking of 6 impossible things before breakfast.
Shall we do the Same?
Onwards...
Book III of the Sutras has a mixed role and reputation within contemporary (and I am guessing historical) readers/explorers of the Sutras as it contains the often-mocked, sometimes-praised, usually glossed-over Siddhis, or "magical/super" powers that a Yogi/ni may accrue with diligent practice...It is a chapter/book that some will use to show that Yoga is some arcane form of sorcery and can corrupt our minds and bodies and others will cough loudly when talking about the Sutras and politely omit the Siddhis from conversation because, despite being the "Spiritual Warriors" that we are, we don't REALLY believe in THAT...
I smell a rat.
To condemn the Sutras in toto because of the Siddhis or to ignore this section because it is too weird for our oh-so-sophisticated, rational 21st-century minds are both the product of exactly what the Sutras are aiming to amend, namely: a-vidyã, or ignorance.
Looking back, before moving forward, we remember that Book III begins with the Trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi, the three final and so-called "internal" limbs of Patañjali's ashtanga system, collectively known as samyama, which is the main theme for the rest of the book. Although the eight limbs are not precisely sequential (as I suggest Yama and Ni-Yama are perpetually being tested in our daily lives and hence never quite "done"), but there is the idea that the first 5 limbs need to be addressed first before going down the Rabbit Hole of inner-consciousness. For, as we shall see in the coming Sutras, if one is not fully prepared, that Rabbit Hole might just hold some surprises that are too much to deal with. The Siddhis, in turn, are not something to be desired or the goal of Yoga, but, quite the contrary, they are to be avoided! So, our first group of Book III opponents are much like protesters of a movie who have not gone to see it..., and, as with Yoga, it is a choice, You May Leave if You Wish...
The Journey to the East (Die Morgenlandfahrt), a curious book by Hermann Hesse, (who also wrote a little novel called Siddhartha, but that's another story...) tells the story of HH who joins the nebulous group called "The League" on a journey to the "East." However, (spoiler alert), we soon see that HH loses his way dramatically while on this journey. He lost the forest for the trees. Or, to borrow from Chögyam Trungpa, he became infatuated by his own Spiritual Materialism. Spiritual Materialism, as Trungpa very lucidly (and given his personal habits, this is no small feat) describes in his book, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, is the accumulation of so-called "credentials" upon our quest for enlightenment/salvation/peace/love/understanding/fill-in-the-blank...
These credentials are like Catholic indulgences...or like what we see all-too-often in Yoga shalas around the globe these days...the Holier-than-Cow attitude that "I do Yoga, therefore, I don't have the same problems, or I am absolved from being pain in the ass because I did Ashtanga this morning..." It is the hypocrisy that runs rampant in all religions, spiritual pursuits and ideologies. Namely, because I do "x" I am above the law of the riff-raff. Moreover, as I was reminded by my dear friend while discussing this last evening, it is the age-old issue of a lazy cut-and-pasting of what works for us, when we want it to, and how we want it to, usually taking it out of context (see below on 3.16...).
Yeah, well, that is exactly what Book III is warning us about...Spiritual Materialism and losing our way on our Journey to the East...
Maybe there is more to this section that originally meets the Mind's Eye...so let's take a moment to look and see what we can see.
The immediately preceding Sutras (3.8-13) dealt with the three parinamas, or evolutions. These three evolutions are of: nirodhah (restraint/control/stilling), samãdhi (synthesis, integration, profound awareness) and ekagrata-cittasya (singularity of mind). From these three evolutions or refinements, we can begin to see the "true" nature of things by way of: dharma-laksha-avasthã or dharma-quality-state of being. In other words, the finer-tuned our senses are, the better we can actually "see" things. (However, as we know from the onset, "see-ing" is merely a play of duality, something that we will ultimately seek to transcend in kavilaya...)
3.14 will take us one step further then with:
shãnta-udita-avyapadeshya-dharma-anupãti dharmi 3.14
Or,
The "dharma-maker" follows the dharma of what is past, arisen (present) and not-yet-determined (future).
What this means is that there is something meta-physical that transcends Time, and if we merely focus on an object/situation frozen in Time, then we are only seeing a portion of its wholeness. Think Donnie Darko when he discovers The Philosophy of Time Travel by Roberta Sparrow...
Dharmin is often translated then as the "sub-stratum" of real phenomena, however, this is a bit limiting as it distinguishes Dharma and Dharmin as two separate existences. It is more like a meta-meta-physical connection that unites them both as we shall progressively see. It is similar to the concept that God cannot be separate from the Universe that God creates...setting up a nice paradox, (which I love).
Moving right along then, with 3.15:
krama-anyatvam parinãma-anyatve hetuh 3.15
Or,
The state of otherness in permutations is the cause of variety in evolution/transformation (parinãma). 3.15
This one sticks in the craw a bit. Still chewing on it because as the more I am reading lately, the more I see that Parinãma is nearly, or even on, par with Dharma and Karma as being the most important words in Sanskrit philosophical works...so, when it arises, I am giving serious pause as to how it is really fitting into the bigger picture. It is a Sequoia or Giant Redwood that can easily obscure the rest of the trees if not careful...
In short, what 3.15 seems to be saying is that the reason that differences exist in Life and it evolution is based upon the permutations of the elements (gunas and the like), which makes perfect sense on a Quantum level...So, for now, I'm sticking with this translation, though as always, suggestions are welcome!
And, then we get to 3.16, which serves as the gateway to the rest of the Siddhis via the implementation of the Samyama en route to our goal of Kaivalya. If you have ever watched an American sports event, you will inevitably see the guy holding up a sign (or having it painted on his his body somewhere...but, hey, that's more or less how Patrick Warburton got started...but, I digress) with the message of: John 3.16, which for Christians is the end-all bumper sticker quote from the New Testament, namely from the King James: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is the example of taking things out of context, or cutting and pasting to serve one's purpose...Just once, I would love to see someone next to "that guy" holding up "Patañali 3.16"!
So, what does Patañjali 3.16 give us? Surprisingly, something not so far off from John 3.16...
parinãma-traya-samyamãt atita-anãgata-jñãnam 3.16
Or,
Knowledge of that which has past and that which has yet to manifest comes from the samyama of the trinity of parinãmas. 3.16
As we learned from our School House Rock videos, "3 is the magic number" and indeed it is here too. By applying the method of samyama, which is the trinity of dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhi to the trinity of the parinãmas of nirodha-samãdhi-ekagratacittasya, we can gain knowledge of the things that have gone before and those yet to manifest. Now, on a superficial level, this sounds like (and is usually translated/interpreted as) knowledge of the past and the future...well, not exactly...
This is again separating Time into discreet moments which (spoiler alert) we shall see is the biggest cause of our mis-perception of reality, namely, separating the Present from the Past and the Future...because, remembering our dear Roberta Sparrow, Einstein and Charles Hinton, the Fourth Dimension is Time and if we transcend the concept of Space alone and put a hyphen between the two, creating Space-Time, then we start to get somewhere/sometime. This is what 3.16 is saying in a nutshell. By the application of the samyama, we can make that transition (parinãma) and as a result, the Present becomes united (though it was never not, it is us that causes such rifts) and we can see the bigger picture. This is not the same as fortune-telling as this Sutra is often taken as, but rather, understanding the causal relationship of all things at all times...something that Stephen Hawking spent his life in search of, the Mind of God...be it through science, meditation, religion or Yoga, the goal is the same...
So begins a long, laundry list now of Siddhis, or powers from method of samayama, and some are indeed quite fabulous, but just how improbable are they? Alice spent her mornings thinking of 6 impossible things before breakfast.
Shall we do the Same?
Onwards...
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Turn and Face the Strange...(ch-ch-ch-changes...Yoga Sutras 3.8-13)
In our last post, we began our descent into the tricky Black Rabbit (W)hole-y Trinity of Dhãranã-Dhyãna-Samãdhi, which for all intents and purposes becomes the collective Samyama from this point onwards in the Sutras. These final three limbs of the asthanga path for Patañjali are inherently different and thus treated separately than the previous 5 (Yama, Ni-Yama, Ãsana, Prãnãyãma and Pratyãhãra). As Patañjali tells us in 3.7, these three are more internal than the other five, meaning that once arrive at this stage, we are transcending the physical and entering the meta-physical. However, even the triumvirate of the Samyama is merely a tool, a skill an upãya for us to go even further, deeper and more profoundly as is hinted in 3.8:
Tadapi bahir-angam nirbijasya 3.8
Even this (trinity-->Samyama) is an
external limb of nirbija (samãdhi) 3.8
Grammatically, the Samyama is taken as a
singular unit (tad angam) of nirbija (samãdhi), which as we
saw at the end of Book I, is the ultimate goal of Yoga.
To achieve nirbija samãdhi, we will have to transcend even the
fundamental concept of duality that is the root of our perception of
reality. Nirbija, to put it simply, is beyond the pale of even
thought itself. It is the moment before the Big Bang, the ultimate Shunyata,
or Void. The Rabbit Hole par excellence. And, as we shall see,
echoing the advice Peter Parker receives from his uncle, "with great power
comes great responsibility" and ostensibly, most of the remainder of Book
III is about the powers that one can achieve with the use of Samyama at
its fullest potential, but all of it encapsulated in a heavy warning that power
deceives and the ultimate power corrupts ultimately.
Before delving into the supernatural world
of the siddhis, or powers of Yoga via Samyama, we first
need to do a familiar take two steps backwards before taking a step forward
with Patañjali. Stepping back then all the way to our primal definition of Yoga
in 1.2, namely the uber-cited, Yogas'citta-vritti-nirodhah, we now deal
with nirodah in detail because that is the key to
attaining nirbija samãdhi. Unlike the 8 limbs which are means,
or upãya, nirodhah is the result of these means.
Unfortunately, 3.9, which is the
elaboration of nirodhah, is a bit of a tar baby. It is not easy to
get a handle on, and to be honest, I am still wrestling with this one (hence
the lacuna of posts of late...). So, this is a working translation so that we
can move along. And, trust me, in all of the many translations of this Sutra,
there is very little consensus except that nirodhah is what is
at stake here...
Vyutthãna-nirodha-samskãrayor-abhibhava-prãdurbhãvau
nirodha-kshana-cittãnvayo nirodha-parinãmah
3.9
The cultivation/evolution (parinãmah) of restraint/temperance (nirodha) is connected to the mind at the moment of nirodhah at the emergence of the mental impression (samskãra) of restraint and the suppression of the transient impressions. 3.9
Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Okay, this is messy, and is uncharacteristically tautological for Patañjali in that he uses nirodhah to define nirodhah, leaving us a bit none the wiser about what nirodhah is.
To paraphrase 3.9 a bit then, we can tease out the following:
When the fleeting impressions of the mind that cause us to pre-judge something subside and the control of the mind yields clarity of thought with the absence of these impressions, then we are cultivating temperance of the mind.
In layman's terms...When we declutter the mind with our prejudices from experience, things become clearer in the mind.
Again, this is a bit murky, but the gist is there. Experience is a good thing, until it clouds the mind about how we perceive the reality before us. Samyama then becomes the scrubbing element to clean our files and to provide us with clear vision without pre-conceived ideas caused by the samskãras, or mental impressions that both allow us to function in reality, but also cause us to be conditioned by our thoughts. The moksha, or liberation, that Yoga promises is the release from the bondage of those pre-conditioned thoughts, which ultimately lead to desire and thus suffering (duhkham) as they are based upon ignorance (avidyã), such as mistaking a piece of rope on the pathway for a snake.
Moving on then to 3.10, we see:
Tasya
prashãnta-vãhitã samskãrãt 3.10
The peaceful flow
of nirodha-parinãmah comes from mental imprinting (samskãra). 3.10
Tasya, or "of it/its" should refer to nirodha-parinãmah (cultivation/evolution of restraint) as that was the subject of the previous sutra. As such, the emergent samskãra (mental impression) of nirodha then is what drives the evolution/cultivation of nirodha. So, still a bit clumsy and tautological by using the same term to define itself. What seems to be the case is that by practice then of restraint, restraint evolves, or changes. In other words, we are back to the concept of abhyãsa, or practice that is sustained over a long period of time with reverence. Once again, this is not a quick fix. Patience is the core of Yoga.
From the parinãma (change/evolution/cultivation) of nirodha, we move onto that of samãdhi in 3.11:
Sarva-arthataikãgrataho
kshaya-udayau cittasya samãdhi-parinãmah
3.11
The
cultivation/evolution (parinãmah) of samãdhi of the mind is in the rise of singularity of
thought and destruction of the multiplicity of goals/aims. 3.11
Take-home message here then is: Keep it Simple, Stupid, or KISS...sage advice. The mind is awash with a multitude of things to do. We praise multi-tasking, but ultimately that leads to a fractured mind, whereas a singularity of attention or focus in the mind leads to deliverance. This singularity, which culminates in Kaivalyam, is the result of the profundity of the Samyama, with practice. As we shall soon see, the singularity of the object itself can be many, and thus yield many siddhis (powers), but these too shall prove to be illusory and deceptions caused by desire, which ultimately again lead to suffering...So, it is not merely the singularity, but what that singularity is that shall become the driving force of Kaivalya, produced by the abhyãsa and vairagyam we saw at the beginning of the Sutras so long ago when our Bee woke us up...
Moving along then to the next change that is important, that of the singularity of the mind's eye, we arrive at 3.12:
Tatah punah
shãntoditau tulya-pratyayau cittasyaikãgratãparinãmah 3.12
At that time
again, the evolution of the singularity of the mind is in the equality of
thought with the emergent present and the subdued past. 3.12
Or, at the moment of the singularity of the mind, past and present melt into each other and Time become irrelevant. The Rabbit Hole no longer even exists...for, as the Black Hole in physics devours its own light and energy, so too does the singularity of the mind with respect to Time and Space.
And, in this state of singularity, the "truth of the matter" begins to be revealed as we see in 3.13...
Etena
bhutendriyeshu dharma-lakshanãvastha-parinãmã vyãkhyãtãh 3.13
With this
singularity of the mind, the evolutions of dharma, quality and state of being
are explained within the innate senses. 3.13
In other words, when the mind has shed itself of the noise, it can finally "see" things properly with the unclouded mind's eye.
But, as with all promises of divine insight, we must tread lightly and be careful of what we ask for. For, like the prisoner who escapes the allegorical Cave in Plato's Republic, once you "see the Light," it is impossible to go back, and furthermore, others may not be so keen upon hearing about your new-found discovery of liberation (moksha) and bliss (ananda)...
To be continued.
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