Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. 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.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Shall The Truth Set You Free? (YS 2.23-2.29)
As we edge ever closer to the most familiar aspect of the Yoga Sutras, that is the ashtanga, or eight-limbs path of Yoga, Patañjali begins to ever so deftly fine-tune just what it is this 8-fold "solution" is supposed to be dealing with. As already mentioned, Book II is chiefly about setting up the "How?" in response to the "What?" of Book I, which is where we end up with 2.29. But first, a few more tweaks here and there, starting with 2.23, which reads:
sva-svãmi-shaktyoh svarupopalabhi-hetuh samyogah 2.23
giving us
Samyogah, or union, is the cause of understanding the true form of the powers of the Seer/Knower/Possessor/Atman (svãmi) and the Seen/Known/Possessed/Prakriti (sva).
This is an interesting sutra for a few reasons. First and foremost, the ambiguity of sva and svãmi is troublesome. The majority of commentaries take the lead from Vyãsa and say that they are Prakriti (Nature) and Purusha (Soul or Atman), but context would dictate choosing Seen/Known and Seer/Knower...Not a insurmountable difference, but the grammar is the next thing that is interesting. Shaktyoh is a proper dual genitive. This may not mean anything to someone uninterested in Sanskrit grammar, but it affects the MEANING of the sutra greatly.
If Shaktyoh were not dual, it would mean that sva-svãmi was a compound, but since it is a dual, it means that they are separate entities...which would support the Dualist reading of the Yoga Sutras, claiming that Purusha (the pure) is separate from Prakriti (the tainted)...Except, as we soon see in the following sutra, this concept is based on ignorance...
Samyogah is the means through which one understands the "true" nature of sva-svãmi's powers. And, as we see very soon in 2.25, that starts to look very Non-dualistic in nature, rendering a completely different reading than the tradition has passed on to us for centuries.
Let's look further at 2.24-25 then:
tasya hetur-avidyã 2.24
tad-abhãvãt samyogãbhãvo hãnam tad-drisheh kaivalyam 2.25
or,
Ignorance (avidyã) is the cause of this (samyogah). 2.24
Kaivalyam, or absolute singularity, is the freedom from that (ignorance) for the Seer, due to the absence/non-being of ignorance, which yields the absence of samyogah. 2.25
Hello????!!!
How these two sutras get ignored for nearly two thousand years is truly beyond me. Let's see why this is such a major bomb drop...
We already know from 2.3 that avidyã is the root of all our klesha's or obstacles, so it is no surprise that here it is now the root/cause of the (mis)perception of sva-svãmi, and especially then in 2.25, we see that the removal of samyogah leads to Kaivalyam, or absolute One-ness/singularity.
What does this actually mean?
Nothing short of meaning that the goal of Yoga is the annihilation of Samyogah...!
Huh?
Kaivalyam, which is, as we shall see, the subject of the 4th and final book/chapter of the Yoga Sutras. It is not only the ultimate Yoga, it is the Yoga that transcends (Sam)Yoga itself.
Again, huh?
To go forward, we once again need to go backwards, back to the beginning. In 1.2 we are introduced to the well-known definition of Yoga as being the cessation/tempering of the mind's wanderings/fluctuations/behaviors, namely quieting the storm in the Mind's Eye. When that happens, as in 1.3, we see that then one is established in the "true" nature (svarupe) of the Seer. In other words, when Yoga happens, we know the "truth" which turns out to be there is no duality between the Seer and the Seen...and, when that happens, it is a state of Kaivalyam, or One-ness and total singularity. That is a far cry from the standard dualistic reading of the Yoga Sutras that has pervaded through time...However, 2.25 is literally staring us in the face saying the complete opposite--Duality is Ignorance (avidyã)...Singularity (Kaivalyam) is Truth (vidyã).
There is no ambiguity in these two sutras...
A comparison of the Ancient Greek concept of "Truth" might be an interesting side note here to give some more perspective.
The Greek word for Truth is αλήθεια, a-letheia. You may notice something similar here, that pesky short "a" at the beginning, which in Indo-European languages means "not" or "absence of" as in a-vidyã...absence of knowledge=ignorance (the short "i" functions the same way here...).
However, in the Greek, it is somewhat more peculiar. A-letheia is the absence of "forgetting" from the absence of lethe, which is the state of being oblivious. To drink from the waters of Lethe in the underworld of Hades caused one to forget everything. The removal of that state is then considered "en-lightenment" or re-knowing the truth that was forgotten.
For Patañjali, this is not all that different. In the normal state of Be-ing for us, we are guided by ignorance and to pursue Yoga is to remove that veil of avidyã which is the cause of all of our sufferings in life as we saw in YS 2.10-14, and a re-turn to our original state (vidyã), or that which has been forgotten, shall set us free from the cycle of the karmic debt. In other words, we have covered up (to paraphrase Heidegger) our original state (svarupa) with layers upon layers of nonsense and illusion (avidyã and kleshas) which persists as the filters in our lives, the samskaras, which in turn lead to the agitation of the mind (vrittis), which then causes suffering (duhkham). From YS 2.11, we saw that it is Dhyãna (which we shall soon see is the 7th limb of ashtanga), or intensive meditation, that shall calm these vritti, leading to peace of Mind...
So, when we un-forget via the process of Yoga, as with a-letheia, and remove the illusory concept of duality (Samyogah) between the Seer and the Seen, we arrive at the truth/Truth, or Kaivalyam...The Catch-22 here is that once we are "there" there is no longer a here, nor there, and again as we saw in the previous post with Zen (Dhyãna) and the Tao, if you know it, you can't say it, and if you say it, you don't know it...
Okay. Now what? How do we get there/not there? Glad you asked.
YS 2.26-28 bring us to the bottom of the first step...so let's continue.
viveka-khyãtir-aviplavã hãnopãyah 2.26
tasya saptadhã prãnta-bhumih prajñã 2.27
or,
The means (upayah) of liberation (hãna) is a non-wavering discerning of discrimination (viveka). 2.26
The true insight (prajñã) of this (tasya/upayah) is the highest ground and is seven-fold. 2.27
With 2.26 hot on the heels of 2.25 and the introduction of the concept of Kaivalyam, a very non-dualistic term, it is interesting then that viveka, or discriminative power is considered to be the very means of liberation. Why is this interesting? Viveka is literally the crown jewel of Advaita Vedanta, or Non-Dualism as espoused by Shankara. It is only by constant discernment that there is ultimately no divisions or dualities that one "sees" the "truth".
[Interesting Zen side note again: the phrase Upaya Kaushalya, or "skillful means" is the linking phrase between Yoga and Buddhism, and ultimately Zen Buddhism, with a nod to the Bhagavad Gita... In the Gita at 2.50, Yoga is defined as karmasu kaushalam, or "skill in actions". For Zen, the phrase means that the path of enlightenment can be reached upaya kaushalya, or by any expedient means, meaning, whatever works. The well-known Zen dojo in Santa Fe, NM is thus called Upaya]
Non-wavering discerning discrimination then is the expedient means for the Yogi/ni pursing the diligent practice with reverence of Abhyãsa.
In my reading of 2.27, I again deviate from the norm. Following the grammar, tasya (of it) is usually taken as "of him/the Yogi", but there has not been a mention of the Yogi anywhere to corroborate that reading. The last noun is upaya from 2.26, so I take it as the true insight/knowledge (prajñã) of upaya is the highest ground and is seven-fold. There are numerous speculations about this seven-fold nature, but they nearly all ignore 2.28-29. So, let's turn to that and then re-turn to 2.27.
YS 2.28 reads:
yoga-angãnushthãnãd ashuddhi-kshaye jñãna-diptar-ã-viveka-khyãteh 2.28
giving us,
From the practice of the limbs of Yoga, and in the destruction of impurity, the lamp of knowledge [goes] to the discerning of discrimination. 2.28
In other words, more or less.
Practice Yoga, and you shall see the Truth (and the Truth shall set you free...).
And, then 2.29 (trumpets, please):
yama-niyama-ãsana-prãnãyãma-pratyãhãra-dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhyo' shtãv angãni 2.29
The eight limbs of Yoga are: Yama, Niyama, Ãsana, Prãnãyãma, Pratyãhãra, Dhãranã, Dhyãna and Samãdhi.
And, this is what many have been waiting for, the 8-limbs of Yoga according to Patañjali. But, wait! What about that 7-fold issue from 2.27?
2.26 introduces us with the Upaya, or means to liberation, 2.27 then says that there is a highest state of knowledge of this, and it has seven stages, and then 2.28 tells us the practice of the limbs of Yoga leads to this knowledge and finally, there are 8 limbs...Considering Dhyãna is the seventh, it is not much of a stretch (no pun intended) then to consider Yama-->Dhyãna as seven-fold, with Samãdhi, the highest goal/ground of Yoga to be the knowledge of the means towards eradicating avidyã. In other words, the 8th limb is the prãnta-bhumi from 2.27, which now makes sense, whereas before it stuck out like a sore thumb and all of the commentaries do all kinds of contortions to make it work, but again, it doesn't. As we saw, Dhyãna, not Samãdhi is the key. Samãdhi is the result...Dhyãna (Zen) is the final stage of upaya, the means, and Samãdhi is the resulting state, which ultimately is Kaivalyam, solving our questions of How? of book II with the 8-limbs and What? of Samãdhi from book I.
The remaining sutras of Book II and several of Book III (a very dubious and I believe artificial break) are now dedicated to the 8-limbs of Yoga which we all know and love...
So, the journey of the Yogi/ni officially begins. Now we shall see how to put all of this Theory into actual Praxis and see how the Yoga Sutras can apply to our modern-day world...
Stay tuned!
sva-svãmi-shaktyoh svarupopalabhi-hetuh samyogah 2.23
giving us
Samyogah, or union, is the cause of understanding the true form of the powers of the Seer/Knower/Possessor/Atman (svãmi) and the Seen/Known/Possessed/Prakriti (sva).
This is an interesting sutra for a few reasons. First and foremost, the ambiguity of sva and svãmi is troublesome. The majority of commentaries take the lead from Vyãsa and say that they are Prakriti (Nature) and Purusha (Soul or Atman), but context would dictate choosing Seen/Known and Seer/Knower...Not a insurmountable difference, but the grammar is the next thing that is interesting. Shaktyoh is a proper dual genitive. This may not mean anything to someone uninterested in Sanskrit grammar, but it affects the MEANING of the sutra greatly.
If Shaktyoh were not dual, it would mean that sva-svãmi was a compound, but since it is a dual, it means that they are separate entities...which would support the Dualist reading of the Yoga Sutras, claiming that Purusha (the pure) is separate from Prakriti (the tainted)...Except, as we soon see in the following sutra, this concept is based on ignorance...
Samyogah is the means through which one understands the "true" nature of sva-svãmi's powers. And, as we see very soon in 2.25, that starts to look very Non-dualistic in nature, rendering a completely different reading than the tradition has passed on to us for centuries.
Let's look further at 2.24-25 then:
tasya hetur-avidyã 2.24
tad-abhãvãt samyogãbhãvo hãnam tad-drisheh kaivalyam 2.25
or,
Ignorance (avidyã) is the cause of this (samyogah). 2.24
Kaivalyam, or absolute singularity, is the freedom from that (ignorance) for the Seer, due to the absence/non-being of ignorance, which yields the absence of samyogah. 2.25
Hello????!!!
How these two sutras get ignored for nearly two thousand years is truly beyond me. Let's see why this is such a major bomb drop...
We already know from 2.3 that avidyã is the root of all our klesha's or obstacles, so it is no surprise that here it is now the root/cause of the (mis)perception of sva-svãmi, and especially then in 2.25, we see that the removal of samyogah leads to Kaivalyam, or absolute One-ness/singularity.
What does this actually mean?
Nothing short of meaning that the goal of Yoga is the annihilation of Samyogah...!
Huh?
Kaivalyam, which is, as we shall see, the subject of the 4th and final book/chapter of the Yoga Sutras. It is not only the ultimate Yoga, it is the Yoga that transcends (Sam)Yoga itself.
Again, huh?
To go forward, we once again need to go backwards, back to the beginning. In 1.2 we are introduced to the well-known definition of Yoga as being the cessation/tempering of the mind's wanderings/fluctuations/behaviors, namely quieting the storm in the Mind's Eye. When that happens, as in 1.3, we see that then one is established in the "true" nature (svarupe) of the Seer. In other words, when Yoga happens, we know the "truth" which turns out to be there is no duality between the Seer and the Seen...and, when that happens, it is a state of Kaivalyam, or One-ness and total singularity. That is a far cry from the standard dualistic reading of the Yoga Sutras that has pervaded through time...However, 2.25 is literally staring us in the face saying the complete opposite--Duality is Ignorance (avidyã)...Singularity (Kaivalyam) is Truth (vidyã).
There is no ambiguity in these two sutras...
A comparison of the Ancient Greek concept of "Truth" might be an interesting side note here to give some more perspective.
The Greek word for Truth is αλήθεια, a-letheia. You may notice something similar here, that pesky short "a" at the beginning, which in Indo-European languages means "not" or "absence of" as in a-vidyã...absence of knowledge=ignorance (the short "i" functions the same way here...).
However, in the Greek, it is somewhat more peculiar. A-letheia is the absence of "forgetting" from the absence of lethe, which is the state of being oblivious. To drink from the waters of Lethe in the underworld of Hades caused one to forget everything. The removal of that state is then considered "en-lightenment" or re-knowing the truth that was forgotten.
For Patañjali, this is not all that different. In the normal state of Be-ing for us, we are guided by ignorance and to pursue Yoga is to remove that veil of avidyã which is the cause of all of our sufferings in life as we saw in YS 2.10-14, and a re-turn to our original state (vidyã), or that which has been forgotten, shall set us free from the cycle of the karmic debt. In other words, we have covered up (to paraphrase Heidegger) our original state (svarupa) with layers upon layers of nonsense and illusion (avidyã and kleshas) which persists as the filters in our lives, the samskaras, which in turn lead to the agitation of the mind (vrittis), which then causes suffering (duhkham). From YS 2.11, we saw that it is Dhyãna (which we shall soon see is the 7th limb of ashtanga), or intensive meditation, that shall calm these vritti, leading to peace of Mind...
So, when we un-forget via the process of Yoga, as with a-letheia, and remove the illusory concept of duality (Samyogah) between the Seer and the Seen, we arrive at the truth/Truth, or Kaivalyam...The Catch-22 here is that once we are "there" there is no longer a here, nor there, and again as we saw in the previous post with Zen (Dhyãna) and the Tao, if you know it, you can't say it, and if you say it, you don't know it...
Okay. Now what? How do we get there/not there? Glad you asked.
YS 2.26-28 bring us to the bottom of the first step...so let's continue.
viveka-khyãtir-aviplavã hãnopãyah 2.26
tasya saptadhã prãnta-bhumih prajñã 2.27
or,
The means (upayah) of liberation (hãna) is a non-wavering discerning of discrimination (viveka). 2.26
The true insight (prajñã) of this (tasya/upayah) is the highest ground and is seven-fold. 2.27
With 2.26 hot on the heels of 2.25 and the introduction of the concept of Kaivalyam, a very non-dualistic term, it is interesting then that viveka, or discriminative power is considered to be the very means of liberation. Why is this interesting? Viveka is literally the crown jewel of Advaita Vedanta, or Non-Dualism as espoused by Shankara. It is only by constant discernment that there is ultimately no divisions or dualities that one "sees" the "truth".
[Interesting Zen side note again: the phrase Upaya Kaushalya, or "skillful means" is the linking phrase between Yoga and Buddhism, and ultimately Zen Buddhism, with a nod to the Bhagavad Gita... In the Gita at 2.50, Yoga is defined as karmasu kaushalam, or "skill in actions". For Zen, the phrase means that the path of enlightenment can be reached upaya kaushalya, or by any expedient means, meaning, whatever works. The well-known Zen dojo in Santa Fe, NM is thus called Upaya]
Non-wavering discerning discrimination then is the expedient means for the Yogi/ni pursing the diligent practice with reverence of Abhyãsa.
In my reading of 2.27, I again deviate from the norm. Following the grammar, tasya (of it) is usually taken as "of him/the Yogi", but there has not been a mention of the Yogi anywhere to corroborate that reading. The last noun is upaya from 2.26, so I take it as the true insight/knowledge (prajñã) of upaya is the highest ground and is seven-fold. There are numerous speculations about this seven-fold nature, but they nearly all ignore 2.28-29. So, let's turn to that and then re-turn to 2.27.
YS 2.28 reads:
yoga-angãnushthãnãd ashuddhi-kshaye jñãna-diptar-ã-viveka-khyãteh 2.28
giving us,
From the practice of the limbs of Yoga, and in the destruction of impurity, the lamp of knowledge [goes] to the discerning of discrimination. 2.28
In other words, more or less.
Practice Yoga, and you shall see the Truth (and the Truth shall set you free...).
And, then 2.29 (trumpets, please):
yama-niyama-ãsana-prãnãyãma-pratyãhãra-dhãranã-dhyãna-samãdhyo' shtãv angãni 2.29
The eight limbs of Yoga are: Yama, Niyama, Ãsana, Prãnãyãma, Pratyãhãra, Dhãranã, Dhyãna and Samãdhi.
And, this is what many have been waiting for, the 8-limbs of Yoga according to Patañjali. But, wait! What about that 7-fold issue from 2.27?
2.26 introduces us with the Upaya, or means to liberation, 2.27 then says that there is a highest state of knowledge of this, and it has seven stages, and then 2.28 tells us the practice of the limbs of Yoga leads to this knowledge and finally, there are 8 limbs...Considering Dhyãna is the seventh, it is not much of a stretch (no pun intended) then to consider Yama-->Dhyãna as seven-fold, with Samãdhi, the highest goal/ground of Yoga to be the knowledge of the means towards eradicating avidyã. In other words, the 8th limb is the prãnta-bhumi from 2.27, which now makes sense, whereas before it stuck out like a sore thumb and all of the commentaries do all kinds of contortions to make it work, but again, it doesn't. As we saw, Dhyãna, not Samãdhi is the key. Samãdhi is the result...Dhyãna (Zen) is the final stage of upaya, the means, and Samãdhi is the resulting state, which ultimately is Kaivalyam, solving our questions of How? of book II with the 8-limbs and What? of Samãdhi from book I.
The remaining sutras of Book II and several of Book III (a very dubious and I believe artificial break) are now dedicated to the 8-limbs of Yoga which we all know and love...
So, the journey of the Yogi/ni officially begins. Now we shall see how to put all of this Theory into actual Praxis and see how the Yoga Sutras can apply to our modern-day world...
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
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...
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Theory Into Praxis, Beginning the Begin (YS 2.1-2)
Having meticulously built up the overarching "goal" of Yoga in Book One on Samãdhi, that is, of bringing the noise within the mind, which is caused by internal and external challenges, into a sense of tranquility by various means, ultimately leading to the stillness of the Self, Patañjali then switches gears quite significantly with Book Two. The sea change of thought that we see in Book Two, nominally known as the section on Sãdhana, or Practice, is specifically one from Theory to Praxis. In other words, we know the "What?" of Yoga, now we move onto the practicality of "How?"
How do we then become a Yogi according to Patañjali? That is the question that is answered in the following 55 sutras. Moreover, it is a highly relevant to our modern world's problems and challenges, no less than it was centuries ago. The advice given in the following sutras are about the human condition, irrespective of Time, Place, Age or Gender. These are things that as humans, we shall all face at one time in our lives or another. Some of us more, some of less so, but we shall all experience obstacles. This then is a guidebook to help get past them. And, I stress, it is "a" guidebook, not "the" guidebook. It is not for everyone, and we shall find different paths and different guidebooks or shall forge our own paths and write our own guidebooks.
The healthiest way to proceed through Book Two then is merely to take it as good advice.
So, let's turn the page and begin.
The chapter (and, again, the chapter sections have been interpolated later and are not original, so far as we know) starts with:
tapah-svãdhyãya-ishvara-pranidhãnãni kriyã-yogah 2.1
Or,
Kriyã Yoga is comprised of austerity (discipline), self-study and reverence for Ishvara.
Very straightforward as this is a mere listing of the three components of Kriyã Yoga, or the Yoga of Action according to Patañjali. Right away we see that the topic is moving from the introspective navel-gazing of Book One to action.
Tapah, or austerity, is traditional associated with rites and rituals, but can also mean something more akin to (self)-discipline. We are reminded here of the necessity for Abhyãsa, or diligent practice that we read about in Book One. Tapah is a form of this Abhyãsa as it also carries a sense of reverence with it, which is then extended to Ishvara-pranidhãna, or reverence/devotion towards Ishvara, whom/which we have also already seen as the ambiguous symbol for a universal Higher Power. The trinity then here is made complete with Sva-Adhyãya, or Self-study. This three-fold reverence then can be seen at the social level with tapah, the personal with svãdhyãya and the universal with Ishvara-pranidhãnani.
As such, it is important than for the aspiring Yogi to not only be aware of the Self, but also the world and ultimately universe at large. It is very easy to lose track of this when one pursues something so personal as Yoga, or any other quest for self-realization, and so right away, with the Yoga of Action, we are advised to not put on the blinders that come with such quests, but rather put it all into context. If we act, we do not merely act for ourselves, but, like the metaphor of the stone being thrown into the still water, the ripples extend out to society and throughout the Universe. Keeping this in mind, we can continue with our Sãdhana, putting our spiritual money with our theoretical mouth is.
Moving onto 2.2 then, we read:
samãdhi-bhãvana-arthah klesha-tanu-karana-arthash-ca 2.2
Giving us,
The goal/purpose (of Kriyã Yogah) is for bringing about samãdhi and for making the klesha's (obstacles/afflictions) weak.
In other words, we do Kriyã Yoga to bring about full integration or synthesis (samãdhi) of our practice and to lessen the effects of the obstacles in life that plague us on a daily basis.
In the Bhagavad Gita, according to Krishna's advice to Arjuna, there are also a variety of ways to pursue the path of Yoga, more specifically, with three main types of Yoga being: Karma (Action), Jñãna (Wisdom) and Bhakti (Devotion). These map nearly perfectly onto Patañjali here with the pairings: Tapah-Karma, Svãdhyãya-Jñãna and Pranidhãna-Bhakti, echoing the multivalent nature of the path and practice.
So, we are ready to start our journey. There is a destination (yes, there is, despite modern/Western denial of that with Yoga...it is not as willy-nilly, freestyle as is often taught) and now there is a map that we can use.
And, again, keeping in mind that the best way to continue on this journey with Patañjali is to see how we can make this relevant in today's world, and to seek out any good advice he may have to offer us. An open mind can take one quite far...
Onwards. The vastness of Self-discovery awaits...
How do we then become a Yogi according to Patañjali? That is the question that is answered in the following 55 sutras. Moreover, it is a highly relevant to our modern world's problems and challenges, no less than it was centuries ago. The advice given in the following sutras are about the human condition, irrespective of Time, Place, Age or Gender. These are things that as humans, we shall all face at one time in our lives or another. Some of us more, some of less so, but we shall all experience obstacles. This then is a guidebook to help get past them. And, I stress, it is "a" guidebook, not "the" guidebook. It is not for everyone, and we shall find different paths and different guidebooks or shall forge our own paths and write our own guidebooks.
The healthiest way to proceed through Book Two then is merely to take it as good advice.
So, let's turn the page and begin.
The chapter (and, again, the chapter sections have been interpolated later and are not original, so far as we know) starts with:
tapah-svãdhyãya-ishvara-pranidhãnãni kriyã-yogah 2.1
Or,
Kriyã Yoga is comprised of austerity (discipline), self-study and reverence for Ishvara.
Very straightforward as this is a mere listing of the three components of Kriyã Yoga, or the Yoga of Action according to Patañjali. Right away we see that the topic is moving from the introspective navel-gazing of Book One to action.
Tapah, or austerity, is traditional associated with rites and rituals, but can also mean something more akin to (self)-discipline. We are reminded here of the necessity for Abhyãsa, or diligent practice that we read about in Book One. Tapah is a form of this Abhyãsa as it also carries a sense of reverence with it, which is then extended to Ishvara-pranidhãna, or reverence/devotion towards Ishvara, whom/which we have also already seen as the ambiguous symbol for a universal Higher Power. The trinity then here is made complete with Sva-Adhyãya, or Self-study. This three-fold reverence then can be seen at the social level with tapah, the personal with svãdhyãya and the universal with Ishvara-pranidhãnani.
As such, it is important than for the aspiring Yogi to not only be aware of the Self, but also the world and ultimately universe at large. It is very easy to lose track of this when one pursues something so personal as Yoga, or any other quest for self-realization, and so right away, with the Yoga of Action, we are advised to not put on the blinders that come with such quests, but rather put it all into context. If we act, we do not merely act for ourselves, but, like the metaphor of the stone being thrown into the still water, the ripples extend out to society and throughout the Universe. Keeping this in mind, we can continue with our Sãdhana, putting our spiritual money with our theoretical mouth is.
Moving onto 2.2 then, we read:
samãdhi-bhãvana-arthah klesha-tanu-karana-arthash-ca 2.2
Giving us,
The goal/purpose (of Kriyã Yogah) is for bringing about samãdhi and for making the klesha's (obstacles/afflictions) weak.
In other words, we do Kriyã Yoga to bring about full integration or synthesis (samãdhi) of our practice and to lessen the effects of the obstacles in life that plague us on a daily basis.
In the Bhagavad Gita, according to Krishna's advice to Arjuna, there are also a variety of ways to pursue the path of Yoga, more specifically, with three main types of Yoga being: Karma (Action), Jñãna (Wisdom) and Bhakti (Devotion). These map nearly perfectly onto Patañjali here with the pairings: Tapah-Karma, Svãdhyãya-Jñãna and Pranidhãna-Bhakti, echoing the multivalent nature of the path and practice.
So, we are ready to start our journey. There is a destination (yes, there is, despite modern/Western denial of that with Yoga...it is not as willy-nilly, freestyle as is often taught) and now there is a map that we can use.
And, again, keeping in mind that the best way to continue on this journey with Patañjali is to see how we can make this relevant in today's world, and to seek out any good advice he may have to offer us. An open mind can take one quite far...
Onwards. The vastness of Self-discovery awaits...
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Want Samãdhi to Love...Translation of Book 1 of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras w/commentary
How Soon is Now? (YS 1.1)
The Anatomy of a Sutra (YS 1.2)
The Eyes Have It (YS 1.3-4)
Splinters in the Mind's "I" (YS 1.5-11)
The Bee in the Rose (YS 1.12-16)
Pr(act)ice Makes Perfect? (YS 1.12-16, redux)
Knowing our ãsmita from our Elbows (YS 1.17-22)
OMG: OM, My God! (YS 1.23-29)
Detours of the Mind's Eye (YS 1.30-32)
Methods to [End] the Madness (YS 1.33-39)
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces (YS 1.40-1.45)
To Seed or Not to Seed (YS 1.46-51)
iti Patañjali-viracite yogasutre prathamah samãdhi-pãdah
Thus ends the first chapter of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras on Samãdhi
Saturday, March 31, 2018
To Seed or not to Seed (YS 1.46-51)
In the last post, we had to do some rather fancy footwork to make sense of a few things, and even then, there are still some lingering questions. In short, we did discover that there are four types of Samãdhi, or meditative synthesis, at this point: sa-vitarka, nir-vitarka, sa-vicãra and nir-vicãra, and they are a succession towards an ever-more subtle, singularity of awareness for the mind. In other words, a gradation of stages towards profound awareness through Samãdhi. As such, the emphasis on the diligent praxis of the abhyãsa is what is ultimately going to make the theory of the Sutras a reality for the Yogic adept.
When we turn the corner into the homestretch of Book I, however, the sutras become pretty clear and straightforward again, especially in 1.46, which reads:
tã eva sabijah samãdhih 1.46
Or,
Those/they (four types of Samãdhi from above) are the Samãdhi "with seed". 1.46
tãh, or the plural of tah, which means "they/those" (with the possible exception of being singular, feminine "it")...and it refers then to sa-vitarka, nir-vitarka, sa-vicãra and nir-vicãra Samãdhih, and these are given the designation being sa-bija, or with seed. (If you have been following the logic of Patañjali, you will be anticipating that there should be a nir-bijah Samãdhih lurking around the corner, which we will see there in fact is!)
Now, the fun thing about innovative thinkers is that they innovate. The frustrating about innovative thinkers is also that they innovate...and they use words in their own special way, such as sa-bija...
It is not entirely clear what Patañjali means by "with seed" and later with nir-bijah "without seed" and as a result, there has been quite a bit of speculation on this seemingly innocuous term.
The general consensus is that sa-bijah Samãdhih is inferior, or tainted as compared with nir-bijah Samãdhi, which has led to the further consensus that sa-bija must mean that "with seed" will ultimately flourish into fruit, which shall then cause desire or aversion to the fruits of an action or process, in this case, Samãdhi. In other words, if there is a result, a fruition of our Samãdhi, it still means that we are doing it for a purpose, or have some residual attachment, which as we saw in the beginning, leads to suffering...So, we may be close to a release, or moksha, from this suffering, but not quite.
Let's go on a bit further with 1.47-50, which all deal with the nature of the four types of sa-bijah Samãdhi.
They read:
nirvicãra-vaishãradye 'dhyãtma-prasãdah 1.47
ritam-bharã tatra prajñã 1.48
shrutãnumãna-prajñãbhyãm anya-vishayã visheshãrthatvãt 1.49
taj-jah samskãro 'nya-samskãra-pratibandhi 1.50
Giving us:
Upon mastery of nirvicãra (Samãdhi), there is profound clarity in the Soul. 1.47
At that point, understanding bears the Truth. 1.48
Because of its specific objectivity, it is different from other objects known through sacred scriptures, inference and learning. 1.49
Cognitive filters born from that (sa-bijah Samãdhi) are further obstructing of other cognitive filters. 1.50
Okay, we need to do some gentle massaging to extract the meaning into clear language here from the literal translations.
With 1.47 and 1.48, it is already pretty clear. Nirvicãra, the fourth degree of sa-bijah Samãdhih, being the highest, brings with it clarity for the Soul and truthful insight.
With 1.49, we see that within nirvicãra, or cognition beyond rational thought (the Koan of the sound of one hand clapping...), it still has objectivity, the one hand clapping, but because it is a singularity (that is, super-focused upon ONE object), it is still objectivity, no matter how superior it is to all other rational cognition or thinking.
Why?
Samskãrah happens....
When we process information, whether it be through reading books (or Patañjali's Yoga Sutras...meaning he would even say they are not the ultimate source of understanding...), or through inference or even higher education, we create cognitive filters, or samskãrah. Simply put, when we see a flower for the first time, we may have no "flower" samskãrah. But, over time and with experience and repetition, we build up layers of such filters as "red, rose, smell, thorns, bees, love, Spring, beauty..." and so forth that we then apply to the "rose" when we see another one. This is an example of "with seed". In other words, we plant the seed of the concept in our mind's eye, and the fruition, or the flowering of it is when we "see" something that we can relate to those filters, namely, another rose. And, so it goes for everything in our lives. Otherwise, we could not get up in the morning because we would have no cognition of any-THING in our lives.
However, there is still an object and a subject, the See-er and the Seen (and those 2 shall make another important appearance later in Book 4) still rule supreme here in the land of sa-bijah. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. And, for all intents and purposes for Patañjali, sa-bijah Samãdhih is still in the realm of the blind. So, although this is great, and vastly further than 99% of 99% of people could ever hope to obtain through Yoga, Patañjali has one last Ace of his sleeve...nirbijah Samãdhih, the ultimate goal of Yoga, which we saw already in 1.2...It is so ultimate that it transcends itself in words and thoughts...(starting to sound suspiciously like Advaita Vedanta if you ask me...not the dualism that is so rampant when speaking about Yoga...)
Yogas'citta-vritti-nirodhah...
Circle becomes complete with 1.51, which reads:
tasyãpi nirodhe sarva-nirodhãn-nirbijah samãdhih 1.51
Slam dunk for Patañjali, when we compare 1.2 with the translation of 1.51, which is:
Even in the cessation/temperance of that (sa-bijah Samãdhi/nir-vicãra), due to the cessation/temperance of everything, [there is] nir-bijah Samãdhih.
In other words, from 1.3 up to and including 1.50, we have been making baby steps at first, and then grander steps at the end, learning to deal with the vritti's, or challenges that we face in our daily lives, and then ultimately having taken care of business, arrive at the cusp of a syn-thesis (literal translation of Sam-ã-dhi) of Enlightenment and clarity of the Soul by doing what?
By letting go of even that entire process once we've reached the peak of the mountain...in other words, go beyond even thinking...which ultimately we see in Zen as well...the heir apparent of "dhyãna" as we have seen.
Everything's Zen...
Mic drop...
When we turn the corner into the homestretch of Book I, however, the sutras become pretty clear and straightforward again, especially in 1.46, which reads:
tã eva sabijah samãdhih 1.46
Or,
Those/they (four types of Samãdhi from above) are the Samãdhi "with seed". 1.46
tãh, or the plural of tah, which means "they/those" (with the possible exception of being singular, feminine "it")...and it refers then to sa-vitarka, nir-vitarka, sa-vicãra and nir-vicãra Samãdhih, and these are given the designation being sa-bija, or with seed. (If you have been following the logic of Patañjali, you will be anticipating that there should be a nir-bijah Samãdhih lurking around the corner, which we will see there in fact is!)
Now, the fun thing about innovative thinkers is that they innovate. The frustrating about innovative thinkers is also that they innovate...and they use words in their own special way, such as sa-bija...
It is not entirely clear what Patañjali means by "with seed" and later with nir-bijah "without seed" and as a result, there has been quite a bit of speculation on this seemingly innocuous term.
The general consensus is that sa-bijah Samãdhih is inferior, or tainted as compared with nir-bijah Samãdhi, which has led to the further consensus that sa-bija must mean that "with seed" will ultimately flourish into fruit, which shall then cause desire or aversion to the fruits of an action or process, in this case, Samãdhi. In other words, if there is a result, a fruition of our Samãdhi, it still means that we are doing it for a purpose, or have some residual attachment, which as we saw in the beginning, leads to suffering...So, we may be close to a release, or moksha, from this suffering, but not quite.
Let's go on a bit further with 1.47-50, which all deal with the nature of the four types of sa-bijah Samãdhi.
They read:
nirvicãra-vaishãradye 'dhyãtma-prasãdah 1.47
ritam-bharã tatra prajñã 1.48
shrutãnumãna-prajñãbhyãm anya-vishayã visheshãrthatvãt 1.49
taj-jah samskãro 'nya-samskãra-pratibandhi 1.50
Giving us:
Upon mastery of nirvicãra (Samãdhi), there is profound clarity in the Soul. 1.47
At that point, understanding bears the Truth. 1.48
Because of its specific objectivity, it is different from other objects known through sacred scriptures, inference and learning. 1.49
Cognitive filters born from that (sa-bijah Samãdhi) are further obstructing of other cognitive filters. 1.50
Okay, we need to do some gentle massaging to extract the meaning into clear language here from the literal translations.
With 1.47 and 1.48, it is already pretty clear. Nirvicãra, the fourth degree of sa-bijah Samãdhih, being the highest, brings with it clarity for the Soul and truthful insight.
With 1.49, we see that within nirvicãra, or cognition beyond rational thought (the Koan of the sound of one hand clapping...), it still has objectivity, the one hand clapping, but because it is a singularity (that is, super-focused upon ONE object), it is still objectivity, no matter how superior it is to all other rational cognition or thinking.
Why?
Samskãrah happens....
When we process information, whether it be through reading books (or Patañjali's Yoga Sutras...meaning he would even say they are not the ultimate source of understanding...), or through inference or even higher education, we create cognitive filters, or samskãrah. Simply put, when we see a flower for the first time, we may have no "flower" samskãrah. But, over time and with experience and repetition, we build up layers of such filters as "red, rose, smell, thorns, bees, love, Spring, beauty..." and so forth that we then apply to the "rose" when we see another one. This is an example of "with seed". In other words, we plant the seed of the concept in our mind's eye, and the fruition, or the flowering of it is when we "see" something that we can relate to those filters, namely, another rose. And, so it goes for everything in our lives. Otherwise, we could not get up in the morning because we would have no cognition of any-THING in our lives.
However, there is still an object and a subject, the See-er and the Seen (and those 2 shall make another important appearance later in Book 4) still rule supreme here in the land of sa-bijah. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. And, for all intents and purposes for Patañjali, sa-bijah Samãdhih is still in the realm of the blind. So, although this is great, and vastly further than 99% of 99% of people could ever hope to obtain through Yoga, Patañjali has one last Ace of his sleeve...nirbijah Samãdhih, the ultimate goal of Yoga, which we saw already in 1.2...It is so ultimate that it transcends itself in words and thoughts...(starting to sound suspiciously like Advaita Vedanta if you ask me...not the dualism that is so rampant when speaking about Yoga...)
Yogas'citta-vritti-nirodhah...
Circle becomes complete with 1.51, which reads:
tasyãpi nirodhe sarva-nirodhãn-nirbijah samãdhih 1.51
Slam dunk for Patañjali, when we compare 1.2 with the translation of 1.51, which is:
Even in the cessation/temperance of that (sa-bijah Samãdhi/nir-vicãra), due to the cessation/temperance of everything, [there is] nir-bijah Samãdhih.
In other words, from 1.3 up to and including 1.50, we have been making baby steps at first, and then grander steps at the end, learning to deal with the vritti's, or challenges that we face in our daily lives, and then ultimately having taken care of business, arrive at the cusp of a syn-thesis (literal translation of Sam-ã-dhi) of Enlightenment and clarity of the Soul by doing what?
By letting go of even that entire process once we've reached the peak of the mountain...in other words, go beyond even thinking...which ultimately we see in Zen as well...the heir apparent of "dhyãna" as we have seen.
Everything's Zen...
Mic drop...
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Cessation of the Mind
atha yogãnushãsanam /1/
yogashcittavrttinirodah /2/
Now begins the exposition on Yoga /1/
Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the Mind /2/
The first word "atha" should give one pause. Atha denotes a continuation, not an ex nihilo beginning. In other words, one does not jump into Yoga as he or she must be ready for it, mentally and physically. It is not merely something to pick up on a Sunday afternoon because you have nothing better to do, or you want to loose weight, or be seen carrying around a rolled-up yoga mat under your oxter (fancy Joyce word for armpit). Yoga is not a cure, it is a continued practice, a philosophy, a journey of a spiritual, physical, and mental discipline. Only after such preparation can Yoga begin to be a part of one's life.
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