The Wisdom of

Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Published by Morning Light Press 2009

Copyright © 2009 by Ravi Ravindra

Printed on acid-free, recycled paper in Canada.

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Tamil Nadu, India. 11th Century. © DeA Picture Library / Art Resource,
NY

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ISBN: 978-1-59675-025-8
The Wisdom of

Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ravindra, Ravi.

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras : A New Translation and Guide /

Ravi Ravindra.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary: “A new translation of: the yoga sutras of Patanjali, the

ancient Indian text which sets forth the practical and philosophical

foundations of yoga, presented here with extensive commentary and

spiritual exercises to assist in the practice and understanding of one’s

own spiritual search”—Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-59675-025-8 (alk. paper)
1. Patañjali. Yogasutra. 2. Yoga. 3. Spiritual life. I. Patañjali.

Yogasutra. English & Sanskrit. II. Title.

B132.Y6P278612 2009
181'.452--dc22

2008037027
A New Translation and Guide
Ravi Ravindra
MORNING

LIGHT

P R ESS

Morning Light Press

10881 North Boyer Road

Sandpoint, ID 83864

morninglightpress.com

Dedicated to
Madame Jeanne de Salzmann

with love and gratitude.

Without the relationship with higher energy, life has no meaning. The
higher

energy is the permanent Self, but you have no connection with that. For that

connection, a fine substance needs to be generated. Otherwise, the energy

of

the body is too low to make contact with the very high energy which comes

from above. Slowly, the desire of the mind for that relationship will become
an

organic need. You cannot force it. Higher energy cannot be forced. If you
try to
force it, it can lead to bad results. Gradually, you get more and more
interested

in it, and appalled by the lack when you are not in relationship. It may be
too

early to use the word, but that is love. You come to a state in which you
realize

that you cannot live without that relationship.

Nothing has significance or

meaning without it.

—Madame de Salzmann

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
I Samadhi Pada ~ Timeless Insight..........................1

The Teaching of Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Yoga Here and Now (1.1)..........................................3 Why Yoga? (1.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
In Its True Form (1.3-4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Movements
of the Mind (1.5-11)................................ 11
The Practice of Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Stay in Front

(1.12-14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Freedom from the Known (1.15-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
A Progressively Settled Mind (1.17-22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Surrender to God (1.23-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

A Tranquil Mind (1.33-39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

A Clear Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Fusion but not Confusion (1.40-41). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Perceiver, Perceived, Perceiving (1.42-46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Insight which is Full of Order (1.47-49). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Contemplation without Seed (1.50-51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Table of Contents

vii

II Sadhana Pada ~ Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

The Forces of Hindrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

The Practice of Yoga (2.1-2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Hindrances (2.3-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Freedom from Hindrances (2.10-14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Yoga for the Ending of Sorrow (2.15-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
The Seer and the Seen (2.17-21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Freedom from Ignorance (2.22-27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Yama and Niyama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Self-Restraint (2.28-31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Observances (2.32-34)............................................ 92
Being Established in Yama and Niyama (2.35-45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Asana, Pranayama, and Pratyahara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Right Alignment

(2.46-48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
The Breath of Life (2.49-53). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Withdrawal of the Senses (2.54-55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

III Vibhuti-Pada ~ The Way of Splendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Discipline and Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Total Attention
(3.1-8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Transformations of the Mind (3.9-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Subtle Knowledge (3.16-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Miraculous Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Siddhis as Impediments (3.35-37)............................... 135
Mastery over Natural Forces (3.38-49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Unconditioned Freedom (3. 50-55). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

IV Kaivalya Pada ~ Freedom without Measure. . . . . . 149

Reality and Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Subtle Impressions (4.1-11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Objective Reality (4.12-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Mind and Spirit (4.18-26).......................................161
Freedom without Measure (4.27-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

vi

viii

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

May We All Be Blessed into Usefulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

The Yoga Sutras in Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.180
Suggestions for Practical Exploration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
Glossary...........................................................209
Introduction
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
About the Author...............................................221

Om
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.

Rig Veda (iii, 62, 10)

Let us bring our mind

to dwell in the radiance of Divine Truth.

May Truth inspire our reflections.

Throughout history, there has been only one serious concern of all spiritual
searchers: How can our whole being be in harmony with universal Truth?
This is not only a question for the mind; it is not a question of figuring out
the Truth, but it is the central question of our life: How can we become a
suitable instrument for the Truth to be expressed? This Truth

has been variously labeled Brahman, Allah, God, the Holy Spirit, the

Absolute, Ultimate Reality, the Sacred, or simply That. There are many

other names, but none of these captures the Real, for as the Tao Te Ching

says, “The Tao that can be named is not the Eternal Tao.”

All spiritual traditions point to a reality which cannot be expressed.

Each of these traditions speaks of this reality differently—they use different

languages, different approaches, different metaphors to call us to

ix
x

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Introduction

xi

orient ourselves to this reality. Differences in expression are natural, for

the traditions have arisen in different places and at different times. The

language used and the metaphors which make sense will depend upon

the context and upon our own background. It is useful to study different

traditions in order to be free of attachment to any one way of expressing

what is beyond expression. Different expressions can help us go beyond

all expression.

Sages of every spiritual tradition have insisted that the subtle vibrations
which constitute the level of reality we call the Real are always present and
that they pervade all space. The place where each one of us

is now, is filled with the Holy Spirit or the Buddha-mind. In general, we

do not experience this, but if we had a properly tuned instrument, that is,

if our organism were rightly aligned and truly sensitive, we would be in

touch with the Absolute.

All spiritual traditions, whether of the East or of the West, recognize that
God or Truth is radically different from anything we know or can know and
other than anything we can project or imagine. However useful
philosophical or theological discussions, or icons and idols, or dancing and
chanting may be in focusing our attention and in pointing
the way to the Truth, a glimpse of the Real far supersedes any idea, any

image or any feeling. “There the mind recoils on itself in wonderment,”

says an Upanishad. In every spiritual tradition, God is Wholly Other,

Totaliter Aliter. As Meister Eckhart said, “If there were a God of whom

I had any idea, it would not be worth having him as God.” Our idea of

God is always a projection of our own mind and therefore limited. What

we can truly say about God is that God is indescribable and unknowable.

But although we cannot know God, we can be known by God and we

can experience the Real.

Although the Real transcends all forms and is wholly other than

anything that has been conceived or can be conceived, and it is radically

different from myself as felt or known, the great mystery is that the
Unknown and Unknowable God, Brahman, is also the Real I, the Atman

or Purusha, which dwells deep within myself.

The outstanding feature of the Indic spiritual traditions is the

assertion that the Wholly Other is Intimately Myself. This is resoundingly

affirmed by all the sages in India, from the most ancient to the
contemporary masters. The philosophical articulations may be different,

the practices suggested by them may vary in emphasis, but they all speak

of the fundamental Oneness of all there is. This is true of Dirghatamas,

Yajñavalkya, Kapila, Patañjali, Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Krishna,

Nagarjuna, Shankara, Ramanuja, Kabir, Nanaka, Ramakrishna, Aurobindo,
Krishnamurti, and all the sages in the long line of Indian rishis, and seers.
Ramana Maharishi put it very succinctly, “There are no others.”

All our effort in spiritual search, which is what yoga is, is to allow

ourselves to become more and more transparent to the Real, which is

eternal and present everywhere, both within ourselves as well as outside

ourselves. In the language of Patañjali, this Real is Purusha, the

Transcendent Being in each person. Purusha is the real knower and the sole
knower. Anything that can be known is not Purusha. The search for God

is also the search for our deepest self. It is the search to allow ourselves

to be seen and known by Purusha, the only Real Seer. That vision is not

only of the sacred but from the sacred.

In the

Yoga Sutras, Patañjali emphasizes that Purusha knows not

with the mind but through the mind, a realization echoed by William

Blake when he said, “I see not with the eyes but through the eyes.” The

mind, the instrument of perception, interferes less and less as it becomes

freer and freer of subjectivity. The progressive freedom to be attained in

yoga is an increasing freedom not for myself but from myself. Then the

mind can become a proper instrument of perception and can act in the

service of the Real.

The development of this freedom requires the cultivation of a steady

and impartial attention as well as a growing discernment (viveka) which

can distinguish between Purusha and what is not Purusha. The cultivation of
a steady attention, or of “total attention” in the language of J. Krishnamurti,
is the first aim of yoga as taught in the Yoga Sutras.

Levels of attention are intimately correlated with levels of consciousness

and levels of being.

There are many qualities of attention from the most superficial and
xii

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Introduction

xiii

personal to the level in which God’s attention works through us. St. Paul

said, “I live but not I, Christ liveth in me.” In the language of Patañjali,
Purusha attends through the purified mind which itself is a part of Prakriti.

The

Yoga Sutras is a brief text which has had an immense influence

on the spiritual traditions in India as well as on Sufism and perhaps on

early Christianity. It is the earliest known systematic statement of the

philosophical insights and practical psychology that define yoga. It is

dated by scholars at some time between the third century bce and the

third century ce. Patañjali, the great sage, is regarded as the compiler

of these aphoristic remarks gathered from a longstanding tradition. The

sutra (literally meaning “thread”) literature is a genre in which teachings

are expressed in abbreviated and mnemonic form which need to be made

our own by wrestling with them, standing under them and being open

to their profundity.

In the Hindu Divine Trinity, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the

preserver and Shiva is the awakener. Shiva is the Lord of dance, of theater,
of music and of grammar—all different ways for the transformation of our
being. He is the Lord of Yoga, embodying stillness and total attention. In
the images of Shiva dancing, he dances on Muhyalaka,

the demon of forgetfulness. The interpretation of Shiva as the destroyer

results from the role he plays as he destroys inattention, heedlessness,

attachment to the transient and addiction to the identification with our

small isolated self. Shiva destroys what impedes transformation into a

greater life. The union of Purusha and Prakriti is the union of Shiva and

Shakti, of eternity and time, of heaven and earth. Salutations to Shiva,

the Awakener from Above!

In the yoga tradition, Patañjali is regarded as an incarnation of

Shesha Naga, the mighty serpent, embodying strength, energy and

wisdom. Philosophy is for Patañjali, as poetry is for John of the Cross,

a way of expressing a vision from on high. Patañjali is not interested in

argument; he says what he sees. Philosophy for him is an experiential

science. Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras is a teaching of a psychological practice
based on a spiritual vision, the vision of a still mind. He is a teacher who
gives

practical instructions for yoga, the work required in order to be more and

more related to the Real.

The teaching of Patañjali, as expressed in the

Yoga Sutras, is transformational. To the extent we can understand it—if we

can stand under

the benediction of the teaching—and practice it, we can also participate

in the third eye vision which Patañjali brings and a yogi aspires to. “You

have eyes but you do not see,” is one of the very few remarks of Christ to

be found in all the gospels. Patañjali shows us who or what in us is the

real seer, and assists us to look from that level.

In what follows, we will explore the

Yoga Sutras in order to gain

insight about the various levels of attention within ourselves and about

about the possibility of cultivating a steady, impartial and free attention

which can relate us to subtler levels of reality. Although the Yoga Sutras is
the text to be studied, the primary purpose of this exploration is selfstudy so
that depths within may be discovered. Great texts can inspire us, and call
us. Since they come from a higher level of understanding, they

cannot be understood by us as we are. What we understand is within our

ken.We need to be disturbed by the great texts and scriptures which can
provide practical aid for the transformation of our consciousness, of our

being, of our lives. By wrestling with these texts, and not by argumentation,
we gain understanding.1

It is hoped that the readers will have an existential engagement with

this study. Some suggestions are made for a practical exploration to aid

the search for self-knowledge; these are gathered in a separate section at

the end of the book.

Each verse of the text is considered, not for the sake of a textual

exegesis of the Yoga Sutras, but in order to garner the wisdom of the yoga

tradition expressed in these sutras. The Yoga Sutras make a call and if we

can respond with willingness, effort, gratitude and humility, a connection

with higher levels of reality is facilitated.

The commentary is accompanied by a new translation of the

Yoga

Sutras which is intended to help illuminate this text. This translation

has been influenced by a careful reading of the original Sanskrit, by the

insights of the sages and by a feeling of respect for the radical teaching for

xiv

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Introduction
xv

transformation contained in the text. The original Sanskrit is included in

the Devanagari script, along with the Latin transcription for each sutra.

The appropriate diacritical marks, following the usual scholarly

conventions, are used in the transliteration, but when Sanskrit terms are
used throughout the commentary, the words are spelled phonetically.

There are many interpretations of this text which are reflected in

different translations. The variation partly depends on the attitude which

the translator or the interpreter has, especially the attitude to the relationship
between the body and the spirit, or in the language of Patañjali between
Prakriti and Purusha.

Sanskrit is a rich and subtle language and many of the terms cannot

be translated adequately using any single English word. Since the

translation cannot be exact, after a discussion of their meanings, the words
for some of the central ideas are left untranslated. These words are included

in the glossary at the end of the book.

My own search started a long time ago, perhaps even in some previous life.
One incident from my childhood stands out in my mind. My father was a
distinguished lawyer who was usually very busy. On the few

occasions when he had some leisure, his great pleasure was to sit in the

sun in the enclosed courtyard with a stack of poetry books in Hindi,

Punjabi, Urdu, English, Persian and Sanskrit. He would sometimes

spend several hours reading poems in these various languages. If one of

us urchins happened to pass by, he would read aloud what he was then
reading. On one such occasion, when I was about thirteen years old, he

read aloud to me a passage from the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and then

translated it into Hindi. Now more than half a century later, I can recite

the passage in Sanskrit and give the exact reference, but at that time I did

not ask for the details. The remark of Krishna which he read was: “At the

end of many births, a wise man comes to me, realizing that all there is is

Krishna. Such a person is a great spirit and very rare” (BG 7:19).

I had no idea how to understand that all there is is Krishna but

it was clear that my father had been quite moved by the passage. He

turned to me and spoke almost choked with feeling, “You know, Ravi, I

can tell you the words, but I don’t understand the reality of it.” Here was

a highly educated man, much respected in the society, and to us young

boys, almost a god-like figure. And he was saying that he did not
understand what was being said by Krishna. He continued, “I wish for you
that you will meet people in your life who will help you understand the
reality

of what Krishna is saying.”

Since then, although certainly not always consciously, the search

for a level of understanding in which the unhearable can be heard and

the unseeable can be seen—not believed or accepted on faith, but

experienced directly—has been a driving force. The search to understand
that all there is is Krishna, that everything is permeated by, emerges
from and is sustained by One Divine and Sacred energy is an unfinished
project for me, but the project sustains me and gives meaning to my
activities.

This search has led me to study science, philosophy, religion and

scriptures, and to learn from many wise people. In my reading of the

Yoga Sutras I have been influenced by many sacred texts, especially

the Bhagavad Gita and the gospels, both canonical and non-canonical. I am
indebted to many sages, especially to J. Krishnamurti2 with whom I had
many conversations over a period of twenty years, and to

my teacher, Madame Jeanne de Salzmann.3 She had asked me about

yoga many times in different contexts. In a way, this book is a partial

response to her as my understanding of yoga has been informed by

her teaching.

For a brief and general introduction to yoga, please see R. Ravindra, “Yoga:

The Royal Path to Freedom” in The Spiritual Roots of Yoga. This article
originally appeared in Hindu Spirituality: Vedas through Vedanta. Ed. K.
Sivaraman (New York: Crossroads Publishers, 1989). Vol. 6 of World
Spirituality: An

Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest. The Spiritual Roots of Yoga

should

be considered a companion volume to the present one and several articles in

that book will be referred to in this text.

2
Please see R. Ravindra, J. Krishnamurti: Two Birds on One Tree and
Centered

Self Without Being Self-Centered: Remembering Krishnamurti.

xvi

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Madame Jeanne de Salzmann was given the responsibility for Gurdjieff ’s

teaching, called the Work, by Gurdjieff before his death in 1949. She
fulfilled her obligations with an extraordinary intelligence and force until
her death in 1990 at the age of one hundred and one. Even though her main

work was concerned with the transformation of her many pupils to a new

level of understanding, she was also responsible for the publication of the

books by Gurdjieff, for the production of several films of the Movements

and of the film Meetings with Remarkable Men directed by Peter Brook,
and

for the establishment of the Gurdjieff Foundations in Paris, London, and

New York. All the remarks attributed to her in this book, unless otherwise

identified, are taken from R. Ravindra, Heart Without Measure: Gurdjieff

Work With Madame de Salzmann.

SAMADHI PADA
TIMELESS INSIGHT
Yoga Here and Now
THE TEACHING OF YOGA1.1

aq yog;nux;snm(

atha-yoga-anuśāsanam

Here, now, is the teaching of yoga.

The very opening aphorism presents a challenge. It could simply be

a statement placed at the beginning of an exposition of yoga. However,

it is much more instructive to see in it an invitation to practice yoga

always and everywhere. Yoga does not require sitting on a cushion in

meditation and it is not limited to a specified hour or a particular posture.

Each moment is the right moment and the present moment is the best

one. Each place is the right place—the place where I now am can be a

sacred space.

As Madame de Salzmann said “It is important to work now. Now

is the only possibility, not later. To realize this possibility something is

required from you.”

The conditions right now are the conditions we need for our work. It

is not a matter of waiting until the conditions are better, when the situation
is calmer or when we have more time, or more information. Now, in the
midst of our daily life, engaged in our professions and households, we

can and should undertake the practice of yoga. If not now, when?
The word “yoga” is derived from the root “yuj” meaning “to unite.”

This word is a cognate of the English word “yoke.” It speaks of an

3

integration of all aspects within a human being as well as of the connection

with subtler levels of reality. Any spiritual path towards this integration may
be called a yoga. Thus, yoga is both the goal and the way to the goal. When
one is in yoga, one is yukta. The root meaning of “yoga” is

very close to that of “religion” which also means joining or reuniting with

the Spirit.1

Whenever searchers engage in impartial self-observation, they

recognize that it is difficult to have the kind of steady attention which

is needed for any sustained study. The cultivation of a non-fluctuating

attention requires a discipline, a sadhana (practice). The sadhaka, the one

who undertakes sadhana, needs to have the attitude of a disciple—a

willingness to search, to listen, to change. There is a mutuality of
relationship between a discipline and a disciple: there can be no disciple
without a

discipline, and no discipline can endure without some disciples.

Teachers teach for the sake of transformation. The great teachers did

not teach in order to win disciples. The Buddha did not teach, nor did

Christ, to convince anyone or to win converts.These masters taught those

who saw that they could learn from these teachers, and who brought

the appropriate attitude of learning. Patañjali brings a vision from a

still mind, often presenting various alternative approaches impartially,

without taking sides. This can be a teaching for those who can and would

learn from it.

As we become aware of the fact that there are various levels of reality,

and that we need to have a more sensitive body and a more receptive

mind to correspond with subtler levels, we are drawn to a teaching which

can assist us in the requisite transformation of our being. This is what the

discipline of yoga can bring. We need to do our part in the practice, and

walk this path with diligence; as the ancient commentator Vyasa said,

“Yoga is known by yoga.”

Why Yoga?

1.2
yogiíÊ;vOiÊ;inro/"
yogaś-chitta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

Yoga is establishing the mind (chitta) in stillness.

The literal translation of this sutra, “Yoga is the stopping of the

movements (vrittis) of the mind,” speaks of the process of yoga in order

to reach the aim of “establishing the mind in stillness.” The key words

in Sanskrit are chitta and vritti. “Chitta” may be translated as “mind,”

“consciousness,” or “psyche.”The term “mind-stuff ” has also been used by

some translators; this has the merit of conveying an ambiguity between

the structure and the contents of the mind. Chitta has both the functions of
thinking and feeling, functions which are sometimes separated as belonging
to the mind and the heart. From this point of view, it is

better to translate “chitta” as “heart-mind” or as “psyche.” In the Indian

tradition, the mind and the heart are not regarded as separate, for they

function together at every level. At the lower level of mind, the level of

manas, ordinary associative thought is accompanied by lower level

emotions such as anxiety and resentment, whereas at the higher level, that
of buddhi, insight and higher thought are connected with higher feelings

such as compassion and wonder.

Anyone who has attempted to pay attention to anything soon realizes how
easily we are distracted and how difficult it is to have a steady attention.
The movements in the mind, the fluctuations, the distractions

which occupy chitta are the vrittis. The mind has a natural tendency to

be anywhere but here and to be concerned with any other time but now.

This state of dispersion is a feature of the usual level of the mind. This

is not a personal fault, but it is a fact of the human situation. Sadhana is

needed for the cultivation of steady attention, and the sutra above calls

attention to this.
The many possible translations help us to realize the call of Patañjali’s
yoga:

Yoga is the stopping of the fluctuations of consciousness;

Yoga is the quieting of the turnings or projections of the mind;

Yoga is for the stillness of the mind;

Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence;
Yoga is for steadiness of attention.

When we move away from an adherence to a literal translation, it is not

wrong to suggest that yoga is for developing what the Buddha referred

to as “wakefulness,” or what Krishnamurti called “total attention.” Vyasa,

one of the earliest commentators on yoga, said that yoga is for the
cultivation of the silence of the mind.

Sacred literature in general consists of both

sadhana shastra,teachings

concerned with the practice, and siddhi shastra, teachings which describe
the goal. The latter speaks about what we will find when we reach the

goal, and the former talks about how to get to the goal. Similarly, there

are two ways to describe the purpose of yoga: one speaks about stopping

the distractions of the mind, and the second refers to the stillness of the

mind which is the result of the stopping of distractions.These are related,

but they are not the same. Stopping the fluctuations is the way to reach

the stillness. The first mode takes a stand in the actual and speaks of the

present human situation and the need to engage in a practice to become

freer of this level of the mind.

Our existence at this level has been described in various traditions as

being under the bondage of sin, in the mechanicality of sleep, or under the

veil of illusion. A transformational practice, a yoga, is needed to realize a

different quality of being, to gain freedom and to awaken.The Buddha
refused to describe Nirvana, which is the goal, other than to say that it is
free of

dukkha—that is to say, free of suffering, frustration, and unhappiness.

To adapt a metaphor from René Daumal’s book,

Mount Analogue,

the peak of any mountain worth climbing is of necessity invisible, but

its base needs to be visible so that we might orient ourselves in the right

direction. It is difficult to know what a totally silent mind is; but we can
be aware of the distractions of the mind, and we can experience a relative

silence which gives us a foretaste of a radically silent mind.

The way of describing the purpose of yoga which refers to the ideal

situation, to the stillness of the mind, can be helpful in calling us to turn

towards this. Sages speak about what they experience, but since we do

not have an experience of the ideal, our understanding of their description

will be from the level of our usual mind and may stand in the way of
discovering what the Real actually is, if we assume that knowing the

words will bring the insight we seek. In either case, the undertaking is to

make our actual situation correspond more and more to what is real; and

to make the Real actual in our lives.

An accomplished yogi’s mind has a quality of deep silence, which

can be felt. Krishnamurti embodied this stillness of the mind. On one

occasion, I asked him, “What is the nature of your mind, Krishna Ji?

What do you see when you look at that tree?” He was silent for a while

and then said, “My mind is like a mill-pond. Any disturbance that is

created in it soon dies, leaving it unruffled as before.” Then, as if reading

what I was about to ask, he added with the most playful smile, “And your

mind, sir, is like a mill!”

The sages have said that when the mind is silent, without distractions,
the original state of intelligence or of consciousness, far beyond the
capacity

of the thinking mind, is present. That intelligence is more aligned to direct

perception than to thinking or reasoning.The reminder from Krishnamurti,

and from the philosopher Wittgenstein in a different context: “Don’t think;

look!” calls us to a perception of the intelligence beyond thought.

We may well say that yoga is for the purpose of cultivating direct

seeing, without imaginings. Yoga leads to gnosis, a knowledge which is

quite different from rational knowledge. In fact, Patañjali prefers to call

the Real Knower, the Seer.

In Its True Form

1.3
td; {˛u" SvÂpeåvSq;nm(
tadā draṣṭuḥ sva-rūpe’ vasthānam

Then the Seer dwells in its essential nature.

1.4
vOiÊ;s;ÂPyimtr]
vṛtti-sārūpyam-itaratra

Otherwise the movements of the mind (vrittis) are regarded as the Seer.

The essential nature, or the true form of the Seer, or the Seer’s own

form, is Purusha, the Transcendent Being. Purusha is steady attention

without distractions, Conscious Energy or Pure Awareness. When the

distractions are removed, the Seer resides in its own true nature. The true

Seer is Purusha who knows through the mind. The purpose of yoga is to

refine the mind, so that it can serve as a proper instrument for Purusha.

When thinking enters, the mind brings its expectations and its projections;
then we cannot see reality as it is. On one occasion, I had asked
Krishnamurti what he thought of something we had been looking at. He

said, “Sir, K [that is how he often referred to himself ] does not think at

all; he just looks.”

In the Indian tradition, the emphasis has always been on seeing, but it

is a perception beyond the sense organs, an enlightenment beyond thought,

an insight from presence. The real knower is not the mind, although the

mind can be a proper instrument of knowledge.The mind needs to become

free of the distractions which occupy it and prevent true seeing. The Yoga
Sutras emphasizes the need to quiet the mind so that there can be more

and more correspondence with the clear seeing of Purusha.

Only a still mind can be attentive, and only a still mind can be the

dwelling place of Purusha in its own true form. There is a quality of

attention and seeing which can bring about an action in ourselves which

allows a radical change to take place naturally, from the inside. I once

asked Krishnamurti about the nature of this attention, what he himself

called “total attention.” I said to him, “What I find in myself is the

fluctuation of attention.” He said with emphasis, “What fluctuates is not
attention. Only inattention fluctuates.”

We can see from this brief dialogue that for Krishnamurti, attention is the
ground, like Purusha, and it does not fluctuate. My question implied that
attention can be distracted and can fluctuate—clearly a misidentification of
the Seer with the distracted mind.

Patañjali begins with the statement that attention is the main concern of
yoga. Otherwise the Seer—which is above the mind—is misidentified with
the instrument of seeing. Steady attention is the first requirement of letting
the Real reveal itself to us. The Real is always

revealing itself everywhere, but in our untransformed state we are not

receptive to this revelation. All the sages of humanity are of one accord in

saying that there is a level of reality pervading the entire space, inside us

as well as outside, which is not subject to time. The sages call it by various

names—such as God, Brahman, Purusha, Spirit, Allah. However, we are

not, in general, in touch with this level because we are distracted by the
unreal, by the personal and by the transitory.

Just as there are radio waves originating from various transmitting stations
around the world which we cannot hear if we do not have a properly tuned
radio receiver, similarly the vibrations of the Holy Spirit or of the

Buddha Mind or of Purusha cannot be received by us if we do not have a

properly tuned apparatus. Our whole psychosomatic complex is the

apparatus which needs to be tuned in order to perceive the subtle vibrations
of the timeless Reality. This needs a radical transformation of the whole of

our being. Yoga is the way to such a transformation. With transformation,

we will be able to see our situation and the world as it is at depth, not the

way we imagine it to be, or wish it to be.The cultivation of steady attention

is therefore the first and most important step in this transformation.

The mind is not the real knower or Seer.The real Seer is Purusha who

knows not with the mind but through the mind. William Blake said that

we see not with the eyes, but through the eyes and that seeing through

the eyes we see transcendent visions, visions not vouchsafed to ordinary

eyes. Yoga aims at the transcendence of the mind. The purpose of yoga

is to free us from the misidentification of the seer with the vrittis—or of

pure awareness or consciousness with the contents of consciousness—and

therefore with the mind, an instrument of perception. This misidentification

of the real I with the distracted mind is akin to mistaking the shadows in the
cave for reality, as Plato describes in The Republic.

Yoga leads to freedom from myself as I usually am—which is to say

freedom from fear and self-importance—by an increasing identification

of “I” with Purusha. “Not I, the I that I am, know these things,” says the

Christian mystic Boehme, “but God knows them in me.” And St. Paul,

“I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Simone Weil,

the mid-twentieth century French mystic, quoted Madame de Salzmann

saying, “Identify yourself with nothing less than God.”

Yoga aims at freedom from the distractions of the mind-heart so that

the seer in us could actually see the way it is; otherwise, we are
misidentified

with the instrument of seeing which itself is unclear and which introduces

distortions. When the mind is without distraction, Purusha can see clearly

through the mind. The only activity of Purusha, the Spirit, is seeing, not in

the sense of visualization, but in the sense of pure awareness.

Purusha can never be seen or known, for it cannot be an object of

knowledge. Anything that can be known is not Purusha, but is in the

realm of Prakriti. Prakriti, which literally, means “doing outward” is the

world of nature at all levels, from the coarsest to the finest. The whole

of the manifest world, all matter and all processes which are subject to

law are within Prakriti. Thoughts, ideas, prayers, acts of service and
anything which can be considered are all in the realm of Prakriti. Prakriti is
the realm which is governed by the law of cause and effect, the law
of karma.

Purusha cannot be personal, just as God or Spirit cannot be personal. It is

completely trans-personal, and beyond expression. Purusha is no more mine
than yours. It is the source of attention and consciousness

in each being. Heraclites remarked a long time ago, “Although Logos is

common to all, most people live as if they had a wisdom of their own”

(Diels, Fr. 2). Purusha is Logos, which was in the beginning ( John 1.1),

and is without end. It cannot not be.

Movements of the Mind

1.5
vOÊ;y" pçtYy" iKl˛;iKl˛;"
vṛttayaḥ pañchatayyaḥ kliṣṭa-akliṣṭāḥ

There are five types of vrittis, which may be pleasant

or unpleasant.
1.6
p[m;ûivpyRyivkLpin{;SmOty"
pramāṇa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrā-smṛtayaḥ

These are true knowledge, false knowledge, imagination,

sleep, and memory.

1.7
p[Ty=;num;n;gm;" p[m;û;in
pratyakṣa-anumāna-āgamāḥ pramāṇāni

True knowledge is based upon perception, inference, and valid testimony.

1.8
ivpyRyo imQy;D;nmt{Üpp[itœm(
viparyayo mithyā-jñānam-atad-rūpa-pratiṣṭham

False knowledge is conception with no basis in reality.

1.9
xBdD;n;nup;it vStuxUNyo ivkLp"
śabda-jñāna-anupātī vastu-śūnyo vikalpaḥ

Imagination is thought based on images conjured up by words devoid

of substance.
1.10
a.;vp[Tyy;lMbn; vOiÊ;inR{;
abhāva-pratyaya-ālambanā vṛttir-nidrā

Sleep depends upon and leads to non-being.

1.11
anu.UtivWy;s'p[moW" SmOit"
anubhūta-viṣaya-asaṃpramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ

Memory is recollecting past experience.

This section of the

Yoga Sutras discusses the varieties of the movements of the mind, that is,
the vrittis of chitta. All of these are in the realm of thought and time. There
are many things which are advantageous or useful in this realm, or are the
reverse—harmful or useless. But the important point is that there is another
realm, that of the Sacred

which is untouched by time, thought, and by their companions: fear and

self-importance.That is the one which Krishna speaks of in the Bhagavad

Gita as the domain beyond Prakriti, or the realm which Christ speaks of

in the gospels when he says, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Most of us are occupied with and attached to the realm of time—

approving, disapproving, proving, improving, changing, doing the right

thing, making sure good things happen, or seeking reward and avoiding

punishment. But somewhere deep down in our hearts we occasionally

hear the whispers from the other shore, a call summoning us to seek

the Real.

Vrittis occupy our mind, and we take these turning thoughts to be

the Real. The purpose of yoga is to free us from the misidentification of

the seer with the vrittis—or of pure awareness or consciousness with the

contents of consciousness—and therefore with the mind which is the

instrument of perception. This misidentification of the real I with the

distracted mind is a result of mistaking shadows for reality.

All the distractions of the mind are rooted in time displaced from

the present now. To be present now is not a function of time sequence. It

does not refer to a moment between past and future, but refers to a quality

of being, that of being present. “The Sufi is he whose thought keeps pace

with his foot. He is entirely present: his soul is where his body is, and his

body is where his soul is, and his soul is where his foot is, and his foot is

where his soul is. This is the sign of presence without absence.”2

Time sequence itself is a product of the vrittis, and does not hold

for Purusha in its true or real form, as Patañjali asserts later in the Yoga

Sutras (4.33).

The vrittis may be pleasant or unpleasant, positive or negative, useful

or detrimental; they may be true or false but they all interfere with the

ability to pay attention. Patañjali identifies the five kinds of vrittis as true

knowledge, false knowledge, imagination, sleep, and memory.

Chitta is addicted to thinking, and all thought is based on past experience or
past knowledge or on a projection into the future, imagining what may be.
The past experiences may be pleasing to the mind-heart or

they may be displeasing. We endlessly replay stories of pleasant memories

as well as those which caused us suffering and we play images of future

successes or difficulties over and over again in our mind. We can as easily

get attached to pleasant memories as to those which cause us suffering.

In fact, past humiliations and slights or injuries to our self-image have a

stronger hold on our memory and our imagination than the moments of

happiness and dreams of success.

The suggestion is not that thought cannot lead to knowledge, even

right knowledge, but when we want to contemplate reality here and now,

even valid knowledge is a distraction. As an example, if I wish to attend to

a person who is suffering and sitting right in front of me but in my mind

I am thinking about the Noble Truth of the Buddha which describes the

cause of suffering—as solid an instance of true knowledge as any—then

I am unable to give my full attention to the person, the sort of attention

which could bring about a transformation of the person and of the situation.

Good or bad thinking, leading to true or false knowledge, are all vrittis

(distractions, fluctuations) for Patañjali, as it is for Krishnamurti. Thinking

interferes with direct perception which requires an attention without any

words or images. Purusha sees but chitta thinks and emotes. Seeing is

accomplished by Purusha through the instrument of chitta, and as long as

chitta is not completely emptied of its movements, there cannot be clear

seeing.

All mental activity disturbs the Ground Silence. The point is that

the mind can become an instrument of perception, of seeing, so that we

could proceed from perception rather than from conception or thought

or memory or imagination. However, for chitta to be a good instrument

it must be cleansed of all blemishes, all distractions.

Wishful thinking, imagining this or that, fantasizing about this gain

or that success, all in the service of self-importance; or, on the contrary,

fearing one or another disaster that may befall; all these are the actions

on the mind of words and images devoid of substance. Driven by fear and

self-importance, we hanker after this or that, making castles in the air.

This is nishkarma kama (the web of desires without purposive action), just

the opposite of nishkama karma (selfless action) so highly recommended

by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

The sutra (1.10) above makes the suggestion that sleep is associated

with a tendency towards non-being, towards non-existence, the force

of Thanatos. The metaphor of sleep refers to our forgetfulness and our

mechanicality, a kind of death in life and it appears in many traditions.

In the Sumerian myth, a story from the ancient times, Gilgamesh forgot

his real aim at the time of his final test and could not stay awake. He fell

asleep and let the possibility of learning the secret of immortality slip.

In the Bible, sleep is often used as a way of speaking about death,

for example in Psalm 13:4; John 11:11; Ephesians 5:14, and many other

instances. Christ’s closest disciples could not stay awake and keep watch

with Christ in the garden of Gethsemane at the time of his transfiguration.

Three times he asked them to watch, but the force of sleep was too strong

and each time the disciples fell asleep.

Freedom from the vritti of falling asleep is an awakening towards

real life and wisdom. When the Buddha, the Enlightened One, was

asked who he was, he replied, “I am one who is awake.”

To dwell on memories is clearly to live in the past. However, memory,

just as valid knowledge and clear thinking, can also lead to a deepening

of search for something which is in a dimension other than that of time,

and therefore quite other than thought, knowledge, or memory.

This is the use of memory:

For liberation—not less of love but expanding
Of love beyond desire, and so liberation
From the future as well as the past.
—T. S. Eliot in “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets

The question then arises: Am I the seer (Purusha, which is essentially

seeing, attending, awareness, pure consciousness) or am I an instrument of
seeing? Or both? The fundamental question to which all

serious inquiry returns is “Who or what am I?” and the accompanying

question, “Why am I?” Chulwoong Sunim, the highly regarded Korean

Zen Master, said that “Who am I?” is the essential inquiry at the root

of all Zen koans.

The struggle to know who I am, in truth and spirit is the spiritual

quest. The movement in myself from the mask to the face, from the

personality to the person, from the performing actor to the ruler of the

inner chamber, is the spiritual journey. To live, work, and suffer on this

shore in faithfulness to the whispers from the Other Shore is spiritual

life. To keep the flame of spiritual yearning alive is to be radically open

to the present and to refuse to settle for comforting religious dogma,

philosophic certainties, and social sanctions.

Who am I? Out of fear and out of desire, I betray myself. I am

who I am not. I cover my face with many masks, and even become the
16

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

masks. I am too busy performing who I think I am to know who I really

am. I am afraid: I may be nothing other than what I appear to be. There

may be no face behind the mask, so I decorate and protect my mask

preferring a known fanciful something to the unknown.

Eleven days before his death, the great poet Rabindranath Tagore

wrote a short poem in his native language, Bengali, which reads in

translation as:

At the beginning of my life,

With the first rays of the rising sun,
I asked, “Who am I?”

Now, at the end of my life,

With the last rays of the setting sun,
I ask, “Who am I?”

A question like “Who am I?” is not the sort of question which can

have a rational or verbal answer, once and for all. This sort of question

is like a Zen koan: it can reorient our attention, acting as a spur for the

transformation of our being so that we can be connected with a subtler

level of the mind. Such a question is more like a quest calling for a
dedicated sadhana.

Stay in Front
The Practice of Yoga1.12

a>y;sv°r;Gy;>y;ã tiÑro/"

abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṃ tan-nirodhaḥ

Stillness develops through practice (abhyasa) and non-identification

(vairagya).
1.13
t] iSqt* yt±oå>y;s"
tatra sthitau yatno’ bhyāsaḥ

Abhyasa is the effort of remaining present.

1.14
s tu dI`Rk;ln°rNtyRsTk;r;s÷ivto
Î!.Uim"
sa tu dīrgha-kāla-nairantarya-satkāra-āsevito dṛḍha-bhūmiḥ

Continuous care and attention for a long time establishes this practice.

Stillness, or freedom from distractions, develops through practice

(abhyasa). Since the mind is naturally restless and addicted to dispersion, it

needs to be disciplined and controlled or called to another way of being.
Human beings are born prakrita (natural, common, unrefined); but
education can lead to a sanskrita (well-sculpted, cultured, educated) person.

19

Spiritual practice requires and creates a movement contrary to the

usual tendencies of the unreformed mind. We need to make efforts to

be present, to let go of distractions and we need to be willing to search

for a stronger and steadier attention again and again. Any worthwhile

goal requires undertaking efforts, seeing what is required, and actively

engaging with the process. No amount of reading about yoga or hearing

the insights of a yogi will bring freedom from distractions.The Bhagavad

Gita speaks of a person who has become integrated and connected as one

who “sees the Self in everyone, and everyone in the Self, seeing
everywhere impartially”(6:29). The real aim and meaning of any spiritual
path, of any yoga, is to bring about the right order within.The need for
abhyasa

presupposes that there is a process and indicates the possibility of making

progress in the direction of a quieter mind.

A stillness of the mind is not possible unless the vrittis, which are

constantly squandering the energy of attention, are diminished. Again

and again, we need to return to seeing the distractions of the mind, and

trying to cultivate steady attention. We will fail repeatedly. Then we need

to try again. We need to try to stay in front of whatever is taking place.

The seer in me who can watch my inattention is itself connected, more or

less solidly, with attention, a part of Purusha.

For someone who is established in the quiet mind, all effort and

practice seem beside the point. Such a person can rightly say that there is

no path, no traveler, and that no effort or yoga is required. But when we

look at ourselves impartially and see that we are not sufficiently established
in the quiet mind; we realize that we need a practice. We need to start from
where we are. As the Bhagavad Gita (6:3) says, what is suitable

for someone ascending the hill of yoga is different from what is suitable

for someone at the top of the mountain.

Our efforts to gain steady attention or an independent will may

be egotistic and self-centered as we begin; we may wish for salvation or

enlightenment for personal glory. If that is where we are, we acknowledge

the fact, but it is important not to abandon the practice because we believe

it is driven by the wrong motivation. The practice of yoga itself transforms.

Yoga has a magical quality: its practice gradually reveals our motivations

and small-heartedness to ourselves, and it purifies and cleanses them.

Continuous care and attention in seeing ourselves more and more

impartially, suffering ourselves as we are, and being compassionate to

ourselves, slowly establishes in us a stillness of the mind and the heart.

Abhyasa is firmly grounded when the practice of yoga is mindfully

attended to for a long time without interruption.

Freedom from the Known

1.15
β;nu≈ivkivWyivt»„ûSy vxIk;rs˘D;
v°r;Gym(
dṛṣta-ānuśravika-viṣaya-vitṛṣṇasya vaśīkāra-saṃjñā vairāgyam

Vairagya is the mastery over the craving for what has been seen or

heard.
1.16
tTpr' pu®W:y;tegRuùûv°tO„ôym(
tat-paraṃ puruṣa-khyāter-guṇa-vaitṛṣṇyam

The higher vairagya arises from a vision of the Transcendent Being

(Purusha) and leads to the cessation of craving for the things of the

world.

Vairagya—which is non-attachment, non-identification, disinterest,

indifference, dispassion, disenchantment—brings freedom from personal

desire. This desire can be for material objects or for heavenly rewards

about which the sages or the scriptures speak. The freedom which vairagya
brings also includes the freedom from the desire for salvation or for
enlightenment, as well as the desire for great knowledge or wonderful

experiences.

It is important to emphasize that vairagya is not a passive state as

might be assumed from its translation as “indifference.” It is a state of

active attention, with a search of passionate intensity for freedom from

all that is known or thought.This is the sort of indifference which Meister

Eckhart regarded as the highest virtue.

Vairagya is a disenchantment with the isolated small self, cut off

from the wholeness of the Vastness (the literal meaning of Brahman).

It is the recognition of the insignificance of this isolated self. Ultimately,

vairagya is freedom from myself, the self which is constituted by all

my past actions, fears, desires, ambitions. It is a dying to myself. In the

complete transcendence of the selfish “me-me-me,” the real I (Atman,

Purusha) can be seen to be eternally present.

Madame de Salzmann said in a meeting, “Dying to the old self is

necessary for a new birth.” The old self is the sum of all of our fears

and desires, thoughts and knowledge; it is the whole mode of relating to

everything and everyone. “Dying to myself ” would certainly be the death

of the self we know. We are like

A bird in a cage.
Its door wide open.
With no practice in flying,
Sitting in the cage,
Composing an ode
To freedom.

Madame de Salzmann reported, “Mr. Gurdjieff said, ‘Die to yourself.’ That

does not mean to die. It means to die to all one’s habits.”
The Christian theologian-philosopher Soren Kierkegaard recognized

the existential meaning of vairagya in saying that, “The highest of human

tasks is for a man to allow himself to be completely persuaded that he can

of himself do nothing, absolutely nothing.”3 In the Buddhist thought, as

elaborated in the doctrine of anatma (anatta in Pali), the isolated self is not
only impotent, it is completely devoid of being and is non-existent.
Ironically, the Buddhist and Christian understanding of the nothingness of
myself is the other side of the same coin of a Vedantist saying, “I Am
Brahman.” The right to make such a statement, which could be

misunderstood as an expression of Satanic hubris, belongs only to those

rare

personages who have so thoroughly emptied themselves of their egotistic

self

that they can be filled with the Holy Spirit or the Vastness or God.Humanity

is blessed in having examples of such in the individuals like Ramana

Maharishi who said, “There are no others,” or Jesus Christ who could say,

“My Father and I are one.”

There are two distinct forces which can lead us to be disillusioned

with the world or to be disenchanted with ourselves. There is the force of

repulsion, arising from the recognition common to all spiritual searchers,

that the world is in the sway of the Prince of Darkness, as the New

Testament puts it, when we see that reward and punishment, or, putting it
differently, ambition and fear are the main motivating impulses in the
world. Then the searcher wishes to be free of the hold of the world.

“He who loves the world is verily an enemy of God” ( James 4:4). The

other force is that of an attraction for something subtler, higher, and

truer. Mystical literature is full of the suffering of those who have had a

glimpse of the Beloved but are now separated. They yearn to be related to
the quality they have tasted, but are not now in touch with.
The disenchantment with the world, with the forces behind it, and

with that part of myself which is attached to the world of reward and
punishment, is a recognizable stage in the spiritual journey. This is a stage
of lower vairagya. The higher vairagya arises from an awareness of
Purusha,

the One and the Only Reality. Having been touched by it, an aspirant can

no longer be satisfied with any shadow, however enchanting. The entire

realm of Prakriti, the domain of cause and effect, and of visible and
invisible

creation in which all the gunas (the forces and materials of nature) operate,

loses its hold on the aspirant when a contact with Purusha is made.
There are many stories in the Indian culture where the Divine

Attractor Krishna (one of the derivations of the name of Krishna is from

karshati, to attract) dances with many gopis (cowgirls) in the ecstasy of

divine love. The gopis who have once danced with Krishna pine for His

touch again and again, and are no longer satisfied with their usual worldly

tasks and family life.

When the yogi is willing and able to submit the visible for the power

to see, to submit the entire realm of Prakriti for the sake of Purusha,

Prakriti does not disappear; she ceases to be an enchantress and

becomes the real bride of Purusha, its helpmate and co-worker. Then

vision and action are joined in a sacred union. Ishvarakrishna says in

the Sankhyakarika, a text which is philosophically aligned with the Yoga

Sutras, “Prakriti without Purusha is blind; Purusha without Prakriti

is lame.”
A right relationship between Purusha and Prakriti, between Spirit

and body, between transcendence and manifestation, is necessary for

right action. We know that vision without action is a dream. On the

other hand, a Japanese proverb reminds us that action without vision

is a nightmare.
Patañjali places a great deal of emphasis on abhyasa and vairagya.

These two practices focus on different aspects of true individuality. In

abhyasa there is strengthening of the uniqueness of an individual—the

talents, capacities, will, determination, and the like. In vairagya, on the

other hand, there is a surrendering of the individual in the service of

something higher and subtler, or to God. It is a movement towards

Oneness. The two together constitute a practice of active and receptive

attitudes simultaneously. The development of a healthy individuality, a

centered self, is necessary in order to be able to be free of selfishness

and to serve. Just as only the rich can practice poverty—the poor have

no choice; a strong personal self is needed in order to be able to surrender

it. All the energy of activity is in the ego-self. When the Real I appears, ego
can find its right place: becoming a centered self which

can act without being self-centered. As I usually am, in my isolated

egotistic self, I am nothing. But that recognition is not a diminishment. On
the contrary, it is this very realization that opens the way to a freedom from
myself and allows some taste of the Vastness (Brahman).

Krishnamurti wrote in his Journal (p. 73), “To be absolutely nothing is

to be beyond measure.”
Madame de Salzmann spoke about the place of the ego: “Unless

there is the I, there is only the ego. So let it be. One recognizes the

presence of I from the fact that I wishes to serve. Ego does not wish

to serve. But until there is the I, let the ego be. It can be useful. What

else are you going to do? When the I appears, the ego automatically

loses energy and becomes unimportant. It can still be there but it

is not in control. When real individuality is there, the ego finds its

proper place.”

A Progressively Settled Mind

1.17
ivtkRivc;r;nNd;iSmt;Âp;nugm;Ts˘
p[D;t"
vitarka-vicāra-ānanda-asmitā-rūpa-anugamāt-saṃprajñātaḥ

Samprajñata is the state of consciousness in which there is an awareness

of the object with thought, reflection, pleasure and a sense of a separate

self (asmita).

1.18
ivr;mp[Tyy;>y;spUvR"
s˘Sk;rxeWoåNy"
virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṃskāra-śeṣo’ nyaḥ

Beyond this, when the mind is emptied with practice, there is a state in

which only the trace impressions (samskaras) remain.

1.19
.vp[Tyyo ivdehp[k’itly;n;m(
bhava-pratyayo videha-prakṛti-layānām

This is the nature of existence for beings without physical bodies and

for those who are absorbed in the womb of life awaiting reincarnation.

1.20
≈´;vIyRSm»itsm;i/p[D;pUvRk
îtreW;m(
śraddhā-vīrya-smṛti-samādhi-prajñā-pūrvaka itareṣām

For others, this state is realized through faith, will, mindfulness,

tranquility, and wisdom.

1.21
tIv[s˘veg;n;m;sÑ"
tīvra-saṃvegānām-āsannaḥ

It is near for those who ardently desire it.

1.22
m»dum?y;i/m;]Tv;Ê;toåip ivxeW"
mṛdu-madhya-adhimātratvāt-tato’ pi viśeṣaḥ

Even among these there are degrees—mild, moderate, and intense.

As the vrittis are diminished, the mind goes through different

stages of quietening. The first stage of a settled mind, that is to say a

mind in samadhi, is the one in which the subject and the object are quite

distinct. There is a sense of a subjective self, an awareness of myself as

thinking about or reflecting upon an object or taking pleasure in it. This

is called samprajñata, a state of quiet mind, in which the knowing subject

and the object are both present and distinct from each other. This state of
consciousness is very close to what Gurdjieff described as “self

consciousness”—a state of being present to what is seen and to myself at

the same time. This state is below the highest vairagya in which there is

complete freedom from myself.

Beyond this, there is further quietening in which the contents of

consciousness are dropped. This state is called asamprajñata samadhi, a

samadhi which is empty of contents. There is no thought or thinking or

emoting in this state, no sense of myself as distinct from the object.

This state of consciousness exists for those who do not have a gross
physical body and are absorbed in life energies in the subtle spirit world, as

is the case between two incarnations. The very fact of awaiting an

incarnation or wishing for it, or hankering for it, is an indication of the
activity of trace impressions. We can sometimes experience a freedom from
the body

in meditation which is quite free of the identification with the body-mind.

However, if even the slightest fear or desire enter, the attention immediately
returns to an identification with the body-mind.This is a result of the trace
impressions left by the activity of the mind in the past.

This state of asamprajñata samadhi itself is quite extraordinary and

is attained after repeated practice. However, this state itself is considered

mild by Patañjali. It may more naturally be the state of consciousness in

the state of being without a coarse physical body, but for incarnate beings

it is a result of practice involving trust and faith (shraddha), determination

and will (virya), mindfulness, calmness and insight.

The above sutras describe different stages of progressive settling of the

mind. The degree of stillness depends on the intensity of effort and ardor.
It is good to remember that freedom from the body-mind is not

only for those who are disincarnate and do not have a body-mind. The

whole enterprise of yoga, as of any spiritual practice, is to assist us to

become jivan mukta—free while still alive and engaged in the maintenance
of right order in the world.

Surrender to God

1.23
Èêrp[iû/;n;√[;
īśvara-praṇidhānād-vā

Samadhi—timeless insight and integration—may be reached by

selfsurrender to God (Ishvara).
1.24
KlexkmRivp;k;xy°rpr;mO˛"
pu®WivxeW Èêr"
kleśa-karma-vipāka-āśayair-aparāmṛṣṭaḥ puruṣa-viśeṣa īśvaraḥ

Free of the bondage of action, the laws of cause and effect, and past

impressions, Ishvara is the unique being who is unaffected by suffering.

1.25
t] inritxy' svRDbIjm(
tatra niratiśayaṃ sarva-jña-bījam

In Ishvara lies the incomparable seed of all insight and wisdom.

1.26
s EW pUveRW;mip gu®"
k;len;nvCzed;t
sa eṣa pūrveṣām-api guruḥ kālena-anavachchhedāt

Unconditioned by time, Ishvara is also the teacher of earlier seers.

Ishvara can be translated as God, defined in the sutras above as the

unique being unaffected by the fruits of action or by subliminal

impressions. Ishvara is the incomparable seed of all insight and wisdom, the
teacher of all sages and seers. According to Patañjali, devotion to Ishvara

leads to freedom from distractions and to the insight of samadhi.

In the Indian tradition, Krishna is an incarnation of the Highest

God, who manifests himself whenever there is a need. As was mentioned

earlier, one of the roots from which the word “Krishna” is derived is
karshati, to attract. Krishna repeatedly says in the Bhagavad Gita that he is
seated in the heart of everyone. We can recognize the Attractor, deep

in our hearts, in response to whose wish and need we have taken on

the present incarnation. The Highest resides in our deepest. Thus our

Krishna, or our God, is something akin to our raison d’être, the very

reason for our existence in this body at this time and in this place. If we

stay dedicated to that deep seated reason, the very purpose and aim of

our existence, then we will not be distracted by this or that passing wish
or fancy or fear.

Surrender (

pranidhana) to Ishvara is a total dedication to our deepest

self. It is a surrendering to God, which calls for the highest vairagya, the

freedom from attachment to anything less than God. But because the

allurement of the lesser realities—success, gain of wealth and power,

approval of others, and the like—is very strong, therefore constant abhyasa

is needed. Abhyasa, vairagya, and Ishvara pranidhana are intimately

intertwined and Patañjali emphasizes their importance again and again in
different ways.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna:

Offering all actions to Me,

Mindful of your deepest self,
Without expectation, without self-occupation,
Struggle without agitation (3:30).

There are many images of God in the history of humanity. Often

these are associated with power or love or justice. Examples of the images

of the power manifestation of God are found in the book of Job in the

Bible and in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Images of a

loving God are to be found in the bhakti tradition of India, especially

in devotion to Krishna who is said to be the “Love Incarnation” of God,

as well as in the Sufi tradition. Such images can be found in many other
traditions. Many people can sense a noticeable shift in the nature of God

from the Old Testament to the New Testament, from a God of justice

to a God of love.

Different states of consciousness project different images of God—

loving or vengeful or jealous, energetic or terrifying, and different images

of

God affect the nature and quality of our response to God. Different images

of God will have different effects on the individual and on the culture. The

image or the idea of God as wrathful and jealous will have a different effect

than the image or the idea of God as loving. Similarly, whether God is

regarded as male or female will have a significant impact on the culture.

In many traditions love is a fundamental quality of the Ultimate

Reality or God. It is not only a quality but a basic constituent of the

Ultimate Reality. The Rig Veda (X.129.4) says, “In the beginning arose

love.” And the New Testament affirms: “God is love, and he who abides

in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). The search for this

love, which lies at the very heart of the cosmos, is both the beginning and

the end of the spiritual path, expressed as service, mercy, compassion, and

ultimately as oneness with all other beings. The core of all spiritual practice
is freedom from the selfish, isolated, and isolating ego so that we can see
more and more clearly and be related to all there is, more and more
lovingly and selflessly. In the very last canto of the Paradisio in the Divine

Comedy, Dante expresses his vision of the highest heaven:

There my will and desire

Were one with Love;
The love that moves
The sun and the other stars.

Dante speaks of love at a very high level. Although we may not be

able to experience love at that level, we can recognize different levels of

love within our own experience. It is a general suggestion in the Indian

tradition that love at all levels, even at a relatively superficial level of

sexual attraction, nevertheless participates in the cosmological movement of

love, as happiness at all levels shares something of the great ananda (joy,
bliss) pervading the subtlest levels of the cosmos.

For Patañjali, Ishvara is a unique being untouched by suffering, by

any compulsion for action, by any selfish desire for this or that outcome,

and by any subliminal motives. It is important to remember that the

whole of the Hindu tradition regards Ishvara to be seated at depth within

each person. Therefore, this God is not elsewhere; our own deepest (or

highest) part is Ishvara, totally free of sorrow and compulsions.

The insight and wisdom of Ishvara are unsurpassed. It is a common

practice to translate this sutra (1.25) as indicating the wisdom or the

omniscience of Ishvara. But the Sanskrit word, jñana—which is insight,

wisdom, knowledge—is always accompanied by love and compassion.
Ishvara is as much all loving (Omniamorossus) as all knowing
(Omniscient). Whoever is full of wisdom is naturally compassionate; in

fact we recognize that someone has gained spiritual wisdom by seeing

their compassionate behavior. When the Buddha reached enlightenment, his

insight was expressed through compassion as well as through wisdom.
Individuals and countries with power need to develop wisdom

and compassion, for without these attributes, there is a danger that the

power will be used to oppress and exploit others.

Ishvara is not afflicted by time. As we will see later in the

Yoga Sutras (4.33), the general impression that events follow a time
sequence is itself

a mark of a relatively limited consciousness which is superseded in the

highest state of consciousness, that of Kaivalya. As is said of the Buddha

after his enlightenment, having become freed of time (kala vimukta), he

became a seer of all time (trikala darshi, the seer of three times—past,

present, and future). Unconditioned by time, Ishvara is present at all

times and is the teacher of yoga now, long ago, and forever.

We cannot think except in the categories of the mind, including

that of time. We find a similar situation in the gospels: when Christ said,

“Before Abraham was, I AM,” it completely bewildered those who heard

him. Similarly, in the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna said that he taught
the same yoga in the beginning to the Sun God, Arjuna was puzzled.

When we hear of something which is eternal, we mentally substitute the

notion of everlasting for the eternal. Whatever is everlasting still remains

in the dimension of time, but what is eternal is orthogonal to the dimension

of time. It does not create a shadow or a projection in history; it is not
opposed to time, but it is independent of time. Everlasting refers to

a quantitative extension in time; the eternal is a state of being outside

of time.4

1.27
tSy v;ck" p[ûv"
tasya vāchakaḥ praṇavaḥ

Om is the expression of Ishvara.

1.28
tJjpStdqR.;vnm(
taj-japas-tad-artha-bhāvanam

Repetition of this sacred syllable can lead to the realization of

its meaning.
1.29
tt" p[TyKcetn;i/gmoåPyNtr;y;.;ví
tataḥ pratyakchetanā-adhigamo’ py-antarāya-abhāvaś-cha

Then there is no interference and inward-mindedness is attained.

The sacred vibration behind “Om” is said by Patañjali to be the

representative or symbol of Ishvara, and its repetition gradually yields

its meaning, and has an effect on our psyche. Om is composed of “a”+

“u”+“m.”The first sound “a” is the first phoneme in the Sanskrit language,

and is the first letter of the Devanagari alphabet in which Sanskrit is

written, the second “u” is the middle and the final “m” adds a nasalization

at the end.The chanting of and meditation on Om is the oldest and most

widely practiced exercise in yoga. The recitation of Om should begin

from the abdomen and move up through the chest and end at the top

of the head with the humming sound. In the Mandukya Upanishad, the

first verse and the last five verses, of the total twelve verses, are devoted

to an esoteric exploration of Om, and the three phonemes of the syllable

Om are identified with the three states of consciousness which will be

discussed below.

As the sutra above suggests, attending to the subtler sound behind

the audible sound of Om leads to inwardness and this leads to a freedom

from the impediments which prevent a clarity of mind. Inwardness,

with an increasing silence of the mind, will lead to a clearer realization

of the meaning of Om and of Ishvara—which is our inmost purpose

and raison d’être.

1.30
Vy;i/STy;ns'xyp[m;d;lSy;ivrit.
[;iNtdxRn;lB/

.UimkTv;nviSqtTv;in
icÊ;iv=ep;SteåNtr;y;"
vyādhi-styāna-saṃśaya-pramāda-ālasya-avirati bhrāntidarśana-
alabdha-bhūmikatva-anavasthitatvāni chitta vikṣepāste’ntarāyāḥ

Sickness, apathy, doubt, carelessness, laziness, indulgence, confusion,

unsteadiness, and feeling stuck are the interruptions which cause dispersion
of attention.

1.31
du"%d*mRnSy;©mejyTvê;sp[ê;s;
iv=epsh.uv"
duḥkha-daurmanasya-angam-ejayatva-śvāsa-praśvāsā
vikṣepasahabhuvaḥ

Dissatisfaction, despair, nervousness, and irregular breathing accompany

this dispersion.
1.32
tTp[itWe/;qRmektÊv;>y;s"
tat-pratiṣedha-artham-eka-tattva-abhyāsaḥ

Dispersion is prevented by the practice of focusing on one truth (tattva).

There are many interruptions which prevent a steadiness of attention; these

can be physical or psychological. The impediments which interfere with our
practice and distract the mind are disease,apathy,doubt,

heedlessness, indolence, dissipation, false vision, a feeling of making no

progress in yoga, and restlessness. It is a common experience of many

sadhakas that they begin by making strong efforts, convinced that the

practice of yoga is both good and necessary for them, but then by slow

degrees they lose interest in the practice and find themselves postponing

what they had decided to try. Excuses begin to multiply as to why they

will make stronger efforts on another day, when they are in a better
emotional state, or when they have more time.

Such situations are not only common, they are inevitable—for the

simple reason that the entire driving force of lower nature, within us as

well as outside, is against our spiritual evolution. There are many

mythological stories in India in which Indra, the chief of the gods
responsible for the maintenance of the usual order in the cosmos which
requires a

commitment to the status quo, abhinivesha, would send either disasters or

temptations to the rishis, who were found to be making progress, in order

to waylay them from their sadhana.

The temptations of the Buddha by Mara and of the Christ by Satan

in the wilderness are well-known. This should give us heart: if even these

great warriors of the spirit had to struggle against the inevitable, and

quite lawful, impediments, why should we be spared these difficulties?

Both Mara in Pali and Satan in Hebrew mean “obstruction” or

“impediment.”Of course, the greater the warrior, the bigger the devil they
have to wrestle with. Most of us are small warriors; and the devils we have
to face

are also quite small—just ordinary laziness, the tendency to postpone

efforts until more suitable circumstances will be found, the need to be

approved, and the like.

We can see in ourselves that these impediments result in frustration,

suffering, depression, nervousness, and irregular breathing. If we find
ourselves with any of these symptoms, we need to take a close look

at ourselves. It cannot be over emphasized that a serious practice of yoga

requires a healthy body and a healthy psyche. When faced with these

obstacles, a steady focusing on one truth or principle and a sustained

practice for purification of the mind are recommended. Each one of us

can find a great enunciation from the sages or from the scriptures which

speaks to us as the tattva to focus on and to return to. Whatever profoundly

speaks to us finds some echo in the depth of our heart; it therefore also
speaks of us. Examples of such great enunciations are “God is love” from
the Bible or “All there is is Krishna” in the Bhagavad Gita.

Tranquil Mind

1.33
m°]Ik®û;muidtope=;û;ã
su%du"%puôy;puôyivWy;û;ã

.;vn;tiíÊ;p[s;dnm(
maitrī-karuṇā-muditā-upekṣānāṃ sukha-duḥkha-puṇyaapuṇya-
viṣayāṇāṃ bhāvanātaś-chitta-prasādanam

A clear and tranquil mind results from cultivating friendliness towards

those who are happy, compassion towards those who suffer, joy towards

the virtuous, and impartiality towards wrong-doers.

This sutra deals with our relationships with our fellow human

beings. To enjoy the good fortune and happiness of others and to have

compassion towards those who suffer misfortunes both require and assist

a freedom from self-occupation. In turn, these attitudes help in the

cultivation of a peaceful and quiet mind. To celebrate those who do good
deeds and to be impartial towards those who do wrong free us from

small-mindedness and rigidity of attitude.

The Sanskrit word which is translated as “impartiality” in the above

sutra is upeksha. Sometimes this word is translated as “indifference”; this

conveys an emphasis which unfortunately is associated with a fair amount

of spiritual practice in India where it is mistakenly suggested and believed

that a mark of advanced yogis is an indifference to social concerns or the

aesthetic conditions of their surroundings. No doubt there are very high

and subtle states of consciousness in which a yogi is asleep or even dead to

the entire world of space and time, and when he or she needs to be taken

care of by well-wishers close by. But the practice of yoga is meant to lead

to more and more sensitivity to all our surroundings and relationships,

and to develop an increasing understanding and compassion.

Upeksha is much closer to impartiality than to indifference. When we

are impartial we do not take events personally, that is, we do not just take

our own interests and ideas into account.To see more and more impartially

is to take more and more into account. When others engage in actions

we do not approve of, we can understand that there are compulsions—

perhaps derived from past lives or from their education and upbringing or

from some inner conflict—which cause them to act as they do. Far from

our condemnation, they need our sympathy and goodwill, especially as we

ourselves understand more and more that because of the universal law of

karma evil-doers will have much suffering in their lives, present or future.

These recommendations of Patañjali seem obvious, but their practice is not

so easy because most of the time we are occupied with ourselves, with our
happiness or our suffering, our likes and dislikes. In general, we do not see
the others as autonomous persons who have hopes, wishes, fears, and a
depth within. Still, there is no escape from steady and

repeated practice so that we may internalize these attitudes.

1.34
p[CzdRniv/;rû;>y;ã v; p[;ûSy
prachchhardana-vidhāraṇābhyāṃ vā prāṇasya

Or from attention to the outward and inward flow of breath (prana).

Irregular breathing is an indication of some disturbance in the

mind or the heart. Patañjali suggested this in an earlier sutra also (1.31).

Watching our breathing provides the most accessible test of the suggestion
that whatever we pay attention to changes in quality. Breathing goes on all
the time, we cannot not breathe. But if we watch our breathing, its

quality changes. And in its turn, a change in the quality of our breathing

affects our emotional state. While we live, we breathe. The movement

of breath is required for the life of each cell of the body, yet we do not

decide to breathe. Where does the breath come from? Does it belong to

the individual? The source of breath is a great mystery and we are filled

with this mystery each time we breathe.

“The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living

being” (Genesis 2:7).

In all ancient languages, the words for “breath,” and “spirit” are intimately
connected, indicating their close relationship. Respiration is the act of
receiving the spirit again and again with the air. The Sanskrit term
prana is translated as “breath,” but prana is not only breath in the usual

sense of that word. Ordinary breath, the most manifest symptom of

life, is only the obvious aspect of prana. Like its Chinese equivalent, chi,

prana refers to a whole spectrum of subtle energies, manifesting at the

coarse material level as ordinary breath in which we take in air through

the nostrils. Our whole organism, not only the nostrils, participates in

receiving finer alchemical substances, impressions, and energies. The

substances we can take in from the whole field of prana depend on the

depth and quality of our attention. What an accomplished yogi breathes

in and utilizes is not the same substances as breathed in by a novice.

Attention to our own breathing in and breathing out, without

manipulating it in any way, is one of the simplest and most helpful practices
in yoga for reaching a tranquil mind. The Chhandogya Upanishad (VI.8.2)
says: “Just as a bird tied by a string, after flying in various directions
without finding a resting place elsewhere settles down at the place where it
is bound, so also the mind, my dear, after flying in various directions
without finding a resting place elsewhere settles down in breath, for the
mind, my dear, is bound to breath.”

1.35
ivWyvtI v; p[vOiÊ;®TpÑ; mns"
iSqitinbN/nI
viṣaya-vatī vā pravṛttir-utpannā manasaḥ sthiti nibandhanī

Or from steady attention to subtler levels of sensation.

1.36
ivxok; v; Jyoit„mtI
viśokā vā jyotiṣmatī

Or by experiencing inner radiance free from sorrow.

1.37
vItr;givWy' v; icÊ;m(
vīta-rāga-viṣayaṃ vā chittam

Or by turning to those things which do not incite attachment.

The whole domain of sensations is vast and subtle. According to Sri

Anirvan, a twentieth century sage from Bengal, all spiritual experiences

correspond to sensations in the body.5 Sensations caused by outer objects

are received through the external senses. Finer sensations in the body

which are not caused by any externally perceivable objects are received by

the inner senses. Attending to subtler inner sensations helps develop the

inner senses. When Christ and other sages remind us that we have eyes

but we do not see, and that we have ears but we do not hear, a subtler

seeing and hearing than is possible with the ordinary eyes and ears is

invited. Things of the flesh are seen by the eyes of the flesh, and things of

the spirit by the eyes of the spirit.

It is as if we need to open another door of perception in order to

have glimpses of the reality which we cannot see as we are. We have

to discover and look with our third eye, for the two physical ones see

only dimly. It is only this third eye which can see the hidden sun, for as
Plotinus said, “to any vision must be brought an eye adapted to what is to

be seen, and having some likeness to it. Never did eye see the sun unless

it had first become sun like, and never can the soul have vision of the First

Beauty unless itself be beautiful” (Enneads 1.6.9).

Yoga practice can make us more and more sensitive to subtler and

subtler sensations in the body. Paying attention to and staying with finer

and finer sensations within the body is one of the surest ways to steady

the wandering mind.The mind has a tendency to wander, but connecting

the mind to the body through sensation helps steady it and assist it in

remaining present in the here and the now.

Among the practices suggested by Patañjali for clearing the mind is

dwelling on a feeling of inner illumination and joy, without conflict and

sorrow. If we find ourselves without such uplifting positive feelings, it is

useful to begin with the recognition of the fact that I am alive. Becoming

aware of the miracle and wonder of being alive, quite naturally brings a

feeling of gratitude into the heart. We can remind ourselves of the many

personal and universal blessings each one of us is granted—including the

air we breathe, the sunshine that sustains all life, and the earth we walk

on. The same beneficent forces which brought us into this life can be

invoked to bring us some contact with inner illumination and happiness.

Gradually, the heart opens a little and we begin to experience the real

feelings which we had hoped for.

As spiritual searchers we need to become freer and freer of the

attachment to our own smallness in which we get occupied with me-meme.

Pondering on large ideas or standing in front of things which remind us of a
vast scale can free us from acquisitiveness and competitiveness,

and from our likes and dislikes. If we sit with an increasing stillness of

the body, and attune our mind to the sky or to the ocean or to the myriad

stars at night, or any other indicators of vastness, the mind gradually stills

and the heart is filled with quiet joy. Also, recalling our own experiences

in which we acted generously or with compassion for the simple delight

of it without expectation of any gain can give us more confidence in the

existence of a deeper goodness from which we may deviate.

1.38
SvPnin{;D;n;lMbn˘ v;
svapna-nidrā-jñāna-ālambanaṃ vā

Or by depending upon insights obtained in the states of greater awakening

called svapna and nidra.
1.39
yq;i.mt?y;n;√;
yathā-abhimata-dhyānād-vā

Or by meditating on the longing of the heart.

In the spiritual literature of India, four states of consciousness are

mentioned. In the Mandukya Upanishad all twelve verses are devoted to

a description of the various levels or states of consciousness.The different

phonemes in the sacred syllable “Om” are identified with the first three

states of consciousness.

In the first state of consciousness,

jagrata, that of the ordinary waking

state, a person perceives what is outside. Perception here is an out-sight.

The Mandukya Upanishad refers to this state of consciousness as

vaishvanara—the universal one. This is the most common state of ordinary
humanity which lives in sleep, as the Buddha would say, or in illusion, as

the Vedantist would say, even when they are awake in the usual sense of

the word. When all our perceptions are occupied with the external world,

when we are happy or unhappy with the events and situations of our

lives, we live in the most superficial state of consciousness.

Some people are not satisfied exclusively by the external world. They
are interested not only in the visible world, but also in a more subtle

reality in the world and in the self. The oldest upanishad, Brihadaranyaka

Upanishad, says “Whoever departs from this world without having realized
his own inner world, to him life has been of no service; it remains unlived,
like the unrecited Vedas or any other undone deed”(I.4.15).

The next higher state of consciousness is that of

svapna (literally,

dream) in which a person is more awake innerly, and begins to recognize

the dream-like nature of the external world. It is not a state of dreaming in

the usual sense of that word. A person in the state of svapna perceives what

is inside and enjoys finer aspects of reality. Mandukya Upanishad refers to

this state as taijasa—the brilliant one. Perception here is an insight.

The next higher state of wakefulness, labeled

nidra (literally, deep

sleep) in the classical literature and in the sutra (1.38) above, is not a

deep sleep in the usual meaning of these words. The states of progressive

wakefulness cannot be more and more unconscious; a person in a coma

is not at a higher level than the Buddha. Nidra (also called sushupta) is a

state of awareness in which a person is asleep to the world, in a state of

high vairagya. This is the state of real insight (prajña). It is worth quoting

the Mandukya Upanishad in this context, where this third state is called
prajña—the intelligent one. In this state, a person “entertains no desires

and sees no dreams; having become unified, and thus with a wholeness

of perception, consisting of bliss, facing the truth, he is the lord of all, he

is the knower of all; he is the inner controller; he is the womb of all—for

he is the origin and the dissolution of beings” (verse 5-6).

Beyond this state of prajña is the highest state of consciousness

which is simply called The Fourth (Turiya) because in this state the

mind is awestruck. Language is wholly inadequate to describe it. The

highest state, Turiya, is identified with Brahman, the Absolute, even

beyond Ishvara. About this Mandukya Upanishad (verse 7) says,

“Turiya, say the wise, is not subjective experience, nor objective

experience, nor experience intermediate between these two, nor is it a
negative condition which is neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. It is
not the knowledge of the senses, nor is it relative knowledge, nor yet

inferential knowledge. Beyond the senses, beyond the understanding,

beyond all expression, is The Fourth. It is a pure unitary consciousness,

wherein awareness of the world and of multiplicity is completely

obliterated. It is ineffable peace. It is the supreme good. It is One without a
second. It is the Atman (Self ). Know it alone.”

In the sutra (1.38) under discussion, Patañjali is not yet speaking

about the state corresponding to Turiya; that is for later when the
42

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

equivalent level of Kaivalya is considered. Here he is indicating that the

insights obtained in the states of svapna and nidra—states higher than

the ordinary waking state—can be stabilizers of the mind. The best of

course are our own insights obtained in the states of svapna or nidra.

But we can also rely on the realization of the sages who obtained these

insights in such higher states. Reading and reflecting upon their insights

can also assist quietening of our minds.

In the last sutra quoted above (1.39), Patañjali says that we can

meditate on anything that our heart desires. The important thing is not

what we meditate on, but more that we meditate. And then gradually to

meditate more and more on what corresponds to the innermost longing

of our heart. The practice of meditation—staying with one tattva, one

principle or one truth, being present to what is, being receptive and open,

deeply relaxed and intensely alert, like a relaxed arrow—itself gradually

works its magic in stilling the mind.

Fusion but not Confusion

A Clear Mind1.40

prm;ûuprmmhÊv;NtoåSy vxIk;r"

parama-aṇu-parama-mahatva-anto’sya vaśīkāraḥ

For one whose mind is clear, mastery extends from the most minute

particle to the largest expanse.

1.41
=IûvOÊ;eri.j;tSyev
mûeg[RhItOg[hûg[[;ÁeWu
tTSqtdÔnt;

sm;piÊ;"
kṣīṇa-vṛtter-abhijātasya-iva maṇer-grahītṛ-grahaṇa-grāhyeṣu

tat-stha-tad-añjanatā samāpattiḥ

When the vrittis are diminished, the mind is like a clear diamond

which reflects what is before it. Then fusion (samapatti) of perceiver,

perceiving, and the object of perception takes place.

The purification of the mind is a cleansing of the doors of perception. The

awakening of the senses is as necessary as the awakening of the mind and
of the heart. It is said that the late nineteenth century sage,

Ramakrishna, occasionally went into samadhi on seeing a beautiful sunrise

over the river Ganga. Clear perception is not limited to a particular scale,
and extends from the smallest to the largest, from elementary particles to
the entire cosmos.

As the vrittis, the movements of the mind, are diminished, the mind
45

becomes like a clear diamond reflecting the suchness of whatever is

attended to, large or small. In this state of samapatti, the seeing, the seer,
and the seen are all fused together. This is a state of clarity, order, and

coherence, and not of an undifferentiated chaos. In the suggestive remark

of Meister Eckhart, there is “fusion but not confusion.”

The identity of “subject” and “object,” which is sometimes called the

“supreme identity,” is often spoken about in the Upanishadic literature.

Identity is a much stronger claim than equality. An equality can arise

owing to contingent or incidental factors, but an identity depends on

the fundamental nature of the elements involved. When the sages in

the Upanishads speak about the identity of Atman and Brahman, they

are indicating their discovery about the essential nature of Atman and

Brahman, and their oneness. It is not that these two somehow turned out

to be the same, but that they are identical by the very nature of reality.

In the description of the supreme identity, the third element in this

identity, namely “seeing,” is often left out. On the other hand, there is

more emphasis on seeing (or pure seeing, or total attention) without the

separation of the seer and what is seen, in Buddhism and in the teaching

of Krishnamurti. Patañjali also emphasizes the coincidence of all three

elements—seeing, the seer, and the seen.

These great utterances of the sages can be helpful reminders of the

journey to be traversed and the immense amount of effort needed. These

remarks can be a focus for our pondering and meditation. But we should

try to avoid mere sloganeering with important ideas which come from

the direct perception of the sages unless we can use these formulations as

a call and a reminder to search for an experience of these insights. Some

harm is done to the profound articulation of the Upanishadic sages if we

simply parrot “Atman is Brahman,” or, in the context of the teaching of

Krishnamurti, if we glibly say that the observer is the observed. We also

harm ourselves by imagining and claiming that we have seen the face

when we have merely heard the name. We earn some right to use these

formulations only when our lips have been cleansed by a burning coal, to

use a metaphor from prophet Isaiah.

Perceiver, Perceived, Perceiving

1.42
t] xBd;qRD;nivkLp°" s'kIû;R
sivtk;R sm;piÊ;"
tatra śabda-artha-jñāna-vikalpaiḥ saṃkīrṇā savitarkā

samāpattiḥ

Savitarka samapatti is knowledge (jñana) based on thought, words and

their meaning.
1.43
SmOitpirxu´*
SvÂpxUNyev;qRm;]in.;Rs;
inivRtk;R
smṛti-pariśuddhau sva-rūpa-śūnya-iva-artha-mātra-nirbhāsā

nirvitarkā

Nirvitarka samapatti is knowledge beyond thought, when memory is

purified, emptied of its subjectivity, and the object alone shines forth.

1.44
Ety °v sivc;r; inivRc;r; c
sU+mivWy; Vy;:y;t;
etayā-eva savichārā nirvichārā cha sūkṣma-viṣayā vyākhyātā

Similarly, subtler savichara samapatti (fusion) involving reflection and

nirvichara samapatti, beyond reflection, are also explained.

1.45
sU=mivWyTv˘ c;il©pyRvs;nm(
sūkṣma-viṣayatvaṃ cha-alinƒga-paryavasānam

The range of subtle objects includes all levels of creation, extending to

the limits of the unmanifest.

1.46
t; Ev sbIj" sm;i/"
tā eva sabījaḥ samādhiḥ

These four levels of samapatti refer to samadhi seeded by external

objects (sabija samadhi).

1.48
AtM.r; t] p[D;
ṛtaṃ-bharā tatra prajñā

There, insight is full of order.

Patañjali speaks about four levels of samapatti, all of them leading to a

form of samadhi—to insight, presence, attention, or integrated intelligence.

These are called sabija samadhi, because they are seeded by external
objects;

that is to say that this kind of samadhi is stimulated by some external object

or idea. The four levels of samapatti—savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara,

nirvichara—are progressively freer of the thinking and reflective aspects of
the mind. In these states, an increasing freedom from subjectivity is
achieved.

Nirvichara samadhi is a state of attention and intelligence beyond thought,

freed from all discursive activity and images.

All levels of samadhi depend upon the capacity and the capability of

the mind and refer to the way that all kinds of objects are perceived, from

the coarse to the most subtle.

Analogically, the structure of consciousness, which pertains to the

levels of samadhi and the transformations (parinama) which bring about

change in these levels, can be likened to the hardware of the mind. The
contents of consciousness, the vrittis, correspond to the software of

the mind.

The Insight Which Is Full of Order

1.47
inivRc;rv°x;r¥eå?y;Tmp[s;d"
nirvichāra- vaiśāradye’ dhyātma-prasādaḥ

Further refinement of nirvichara brings lucidity of the authentic self.

1.49
≈ut;num;np[D;>y;mNyivWy;
ivxeW;qRTv;t(
śruta-anumāna-prajñābhyām-anya-viṣayā viśeṣā-arthatvāt

The knowledge obtained in this state of consciousness is different from

the knowledge obtained by testimony or by inference because of its

distinct purpose.

A further refinement of the state of attention beyond thought (

nirvichara) leads to a state of spiritual lucidity in which the authentic self

shines forth without any impressions coming from the outside. Samadhi

is not a state of reduced awareness, as is suggested by an occasional

translation of “samadhi” as “trance”; instead, it is a state of lucidity,
luminosity, and brightness.

As the movements of the mind subside, and as the disturbances

caused by the external impressions diminish, the mind dwells in a state

of clarity and stillness. The mind becomes emptier and emptier, gaining

more and more space. This is closer and closer to the experience of
shunyata. The doctrine of shunyata developed and flourished in Mahayana
Buddhism in India. Shunyata is usually translated as “emptiness,” but as

Buddhism moved to China, it was more and more understood as “silence,”

largely owing to the Taoist influences. In a conversation, Roshi Kobori

Nanrei, at that time the Head of Rinzai Zen in Japan, remarked that for

him the experience of shunyata is best described as “luminosity.” Clearly

the scholars have much to contribute in our understanding of the subtle

realities by clarifying the linguistic usages behind the relevant expressions.

But they bring the mind of this world, whereas the sages who have devoted
a life-time to a practice with their whole being, including the

mind, bring insights from a higher world. A translation provided by a

sage needs to be taken seriously even though it may not be “correct” from

a linguistic or scholarly point of view.

The words in the sutra (1.48) above,

ritambhara tatra prajña, are full

of mystery. “There, insight is full of order (rita).” This is the state of

consciousness in which we see things the way they are; not the way we
wish them to be or imagine them to be. Any level of consciousness below
this

level is in the realm of ignorance—more ignorance or less ignorance, but

it is not a state of total clarity.

“Rita,” related with “ritu” (season), is order. In the Vedas it has the

flavor of cosmological or naturalistic order. Later, “rita” gets supplanted by

“dharma” which also means order but more often refers to the social order,

especially in the Dharma Shastras, such as in the great epic The

Mahabharata.6 The very existence and continuation of the earth and heaven
depend upon rita. The Rig Veda says, “The whole universe is founded on
rita and moves in it”(IV.23.9). Rita is both all pervading and transcendent.

The Vedic rita is similar to the ancient Chinese Tao, the mother of all

things, and as the Tao Te Ching says,“The Tao that can be spoken of is not

the Eternal Tao.” Vak, which is said to be the first-born of Rita (Rig Veda

I.164.37), is the Word, which was in the Beginning, was with God and

was God, and apart from whom nothing came to be ( John 1:1-3). In some

passages rita and satya (truth) are used as synonyms; as are their opposites,
anrita and asatya—for example, in the celebrated mantra satyameva jayate
nanrita,“Truth alone triumphs, not untruth”(Mundaka Upanishad

III.1.6). A part of this mantra, “satyameva jayate,” is the epithet used on

the official seal of the Government of India.

The insight or the knowledge obtained in the state of ritambhara is

completely different from the knowledge obtained by testimony or

inference. Knowledge by testimony includes the knowledge from scriptures
and the writings of the sages, and knowledge by inference refers to the
whole

domain of scientific knowledge where all knowledge is based on inference,

either by deduction from some premises or by induction from

generalizations based upon observations. Thus the knowledge gained in the
state of ritambhara is entirely different from what we usually call
knowledge. In

describing a sthita prajña (a person of steady wisdom), Krishna says in

the Bhagavad Gita, “When your intelligence will go beyond the whorl

of delusion, you will become indifferent to scripture that is heard or that

which you have yet to hear. When your intelligence which is bewildered

by the revealed scripture will stand unmoving and stable in samadhi, then

you will attain to yoga” (2:52-53).

An important aspect of the insight gathered in the state of

ritambhara is that it is not an abstraction or a generalization. It is a direct

perception of a specific and a unique object in its suchness. A similar

point was much emphasized by the visionary poet, William Blake, in

his insistence that real insight had to do with the knowledge of what he

called “minute particulars.” Even God was a Minute Particular for him.

In the language of Patañjali (1.24), God is a purusha vishesha—unique

or particular being. The knowledge in the state of ritambhara is different

from scriptural or scientific-philosophic knowledge because of the quality

and directness of perception, without mediation by the rational mind; it

pertains to minute particulars, not abstract generalizations.

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, had a mystical experience

in which he had a direct vision of God and he had written “Fire, fire!

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, not that of

philosophers and theologians . . .” on a parchment which he had sown

into his undershirt in order to keep it close to his heart. The God that

Pascal experienced was not the God of Spinoza or Einstein, a God based
on theological proofs or philosophical arguments. Such a God does

not have the fire or the energy needed to bring about a transformation.

What Pascal and the prophets of Judea, and Arjuna in the Bhagavad

Gita (chapter 11), experienced was not an abstraction; it was the living

God with concreteness, specificity, and power.

The experiences of great visionaries or mystics and prophets—such

as Arjuna, Moses, and John of the Cross—are concrete and real, but when

they express what they see, they use words which may seem symbolic to

us, because what they see is not in our experience. Their description may

help us to find a way to a similar experience. However, an experience of

a higher-level reality or of subtler materiality requires subtler perception

and cognition. Philosophy, science, theology can free us from the lower

level concreteness to which we can get excessively attached, but then they

can trap us in abstractions, where having heard the name we can imagine

having touched the face, mistaking words for reality.

It is very important to prepare ourselves not only to

understand truth

but also to withstand it. A glimpse of truth in an unprepared body or

mind can shatter the apparatus—just as some drug-induced experiences

can. It is difficult to withstand the energy of the mysterium tremendum.

On seeing the great form of Krishna, Arjuna said, “Although my heart

rejoices, my mind is afraid” (BG 11:45). For the well-known physicist,

Richard Feynman, a measure of having come upon a great truth was that

it created a sense of awe, even terror, in him.

Krishnamurti often said that he was not at all influenced by all the

training and education he was given, and that his mind remained empty

and innocent.That would certainly be the case for someone in the state of

silence corresponding to ritambhara—free of the past, not by forgetting

but by remaining in a state free from the effects of conditioning.

A state of perfect samadhi, seedless contemplation, is reached when

even the impressions of the ritambhara state have subsided.This is a state

of presence or attention without stimulation from any external object. It

is pure seeing without the separation of the seer and the seen. Whatever

one attends to is seen in its suchness, the thing in itself, without any

subjectivity introduced by the categories of the mind. Using a felicitous

phrase of Plotinus, then one is in a flight from the alone to the Alone.

Contemplation Without Seed

Endnotes:
1

In this connection, the readers’ attention is drawn to an article “Is Religion

Psychotherapy?” in The Spiritual Roots of Yoga.
1.50
tJj" s˘Sk;roåNys˘Sk;rp[itbN/I
taj-jah saṃskāro’ nya-saṃskāra-pratibandhī

The subtle samskaras produced by this knowledge prevent the further

accumulation of other impressions.

2

Hujwiri in R.A. Nicholoson, The Kashf al-Mahjub: The Oldest Persian

Treatise on Sufism. London, Luzac, 1911, p. 39.
3

Soren Kierkegaard, “Man's Need of God Constitutes his Highest

Perfection” in Edifying Discourses. New York: Fontana Books, 1958, p.
151.
4

In this connection, please see the article “Is the Everlasting Eternal?”, in
The

Spiritual Roots of Yoga.

1.51
tSy;ip inro/e svRinro/;iÑbIRj"
sm;i/"
tasya-api nirodhe sarva-nirodhān-nirbījaḥ samādhiḥ

When even the subtle samskaras have subsided, all movement of the

mind ceases and there is contemplation without seed (nirbija samadhi).

For an understanding of the teaching of Sri Anirvan, two books are highly

recommended: Lizelle Reymond and Sri Anirvan, To Live Within and Sri

Anirvan, Inner Yoga.

For a further discussion of this concept, please see “Sacrifice and Order:

Yoga, Rita and Yajña” in The Spiritual Roots of Yoga.

The state of ritambhara itself produces subtle impressions in the

psyche, and these impressions prevent the accumulation of any external

impressions, or of the bondage of action according to the law of karma.

SAdhana PADA
Practice
The Practice of Yoga
The Forces of Hindrance2.1

tp" Sv;?y;yeêrp[iû/;n;in ik›y;yog"

tapaḥ svādhyāya-īśvara-praṇidhānāni kriyā-yogaḥ

The practice of yoga consists of self-discipline (tapas), self-study

(svadhyaya), and dedication to Ishvara.

It is also possible to translate the sutra above as “Tapas, svadhyaya,

and dedication to Ishvara constitute Kriya Yoga.” In this way of looking

at this sutra, Kriya Yoga is a separate yoga, even the most distinctive yoga

to be associated with Patañjali. However more simply, “kriya yoga” literally

means the activity of yoga and reminds us once again of the need to engage
in the practice of yoga.

“Tapas” is sometimes translated as “effort,”“austerity” or “asceticism,”

as well as “self-discipline.” It includes a reference to the heat which is

generated with intense effort. Self-discipline is absolutely crucial in any

practice of yoga. The whole of our psychosomatic organism needs to be

rightly ordered. The lower, which is to say less conscious, parts in us need

to be disciplined by the higher parts and brought to function with the

understanding coming from above. Otherwise, good ideas and resolutions

amount to nothing if the parts which have to carry out these resolutions
refuse to cooperate. As Madame de Salzmann said, “The body needs to be
disciplined—punished or rewarded—not tortured. It must

learn to obey something higher. The body needs to be available.”

Self-study (svadhyaya) is emphasized in the whole of the Indian
57

tradition. Any of our manifestations, such as the tone of voice, gesture,

posture, attitude to myself or to parents or to others, are fit subjects for

self-observation which can reveal more and more of ourselves and clarify

deeper tensions and motivations. Self-study may begin as a study of very

personal and quite particular likes and dislikes, but very soon we discover

that self-study is in fact a study of the human condition as it is expressed

in our individual situations.

The deeper the level of the self of our study, the more deeply do we

approach the generality of the human situation in all human beings. All

the sages in India have asserted that our deepest self, Atman, is identically
the same as the highest Universal Self, Brahman, and that the highest reality
dwells in the deepest part of every individual. With a similar insight,
Meister Eckhart said that our soul is as infinite as God.

In approaching self-study we need to ask what levels of the self

need to be known and also what the level of the self that knows is. The

answer to these questions will vary at different stages of the study. At the

beginning, we gather data about ourselves, and begin to see patterns of

behavior. Our own particular desires and fears and our specific ambitions,

mostly arising out of our conditioning, will become evident. Gradually,

we begin to see that fear and desire are universal characteristics of human
beings, although in each case manifesting in particular ways. We begin

to understand that the whole of humanity is run by forces of reward and

punishment, by the wish for approval and a fear of disapproval—from

parents, from the society, from traditions, from God. We also begin to

see that below the layer of fear and ambition, there is an aspiration for

a connection with the Source of all life and meaning. In moments of

insight, we realize that we are both the searchers and the objects of our

search. Ultimately, of course, as the Bhagavad Gita says, the Self knows

the Self by Itself. “Not I, the I that I am, know these things,” says the

Christian mystic Boehme, “but God knows them in me.”

“Svadhyaya” is sometimes translated as “a study of sacred literature.”

However, there is no meaning to a study of the sacred literature unless it

leads to an impartial observation of our selves, more and more deeply and

more and more clearly. A repeated emphasis of the sacred literature in

India is on self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is an essential step towards

an identity with God, because deep down there is a particle of divinity

dwelling in each of us. Krishna repeatedly says in the Bhagavad Gita that

he, the highest God, is seated in the heart of everyone. Even though the

canonical books of the Bible do not emphasize self-knowledge, Christ

says in the Gospel of Thomas, “The Kingdom is inside you, and it is

outside you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become

known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living

Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you live in poverty, and you

are poverty” (II, 2:3).

Dedication to Ishvara, God, is the other practice suggested here. (In

this connection, also see sutra 1.23.) Following a universal traditional

idea that the human microcosmos can in principle reflect the entire large

cosmos, the deepest part of oneself—the part which is beyond Prakriti,

which is “unaffected by suffering, by action, by fruits of action or by

subliminal intentions,” as is said in the sutra 1.24—is Ishvara, the
primordial and eternal teacher. The three practices—self-discipline, self-
study, and

dedication to God—are intimately connected with each other; one is not

possible without the other.

2.2
sm;i/.;vn;qR" kÿextnukrû;qRí
samādhi-bhāvana-arthaḥ kleśa-tanū-karaṇa-arthaś-cha

Yoga is for cultivating samadhi and for weakening the hindrances

(kleshas).

Here the purpose of yoga is defined differently, and somewhat more

positively, than in the first chapter where it was said that yoga is the
stopping of the movements of the mind. The purpose of yoga is now said to
be the weakening of hindrances to the attainment of samadhi—the state

of insightful attention in a totally still mind. It was partly in anticipation

of the present sutra that sutra 1.2 was rendered as “Yoga is establishing

the mind in stillness.”

Patañjali then proceeds to enumerate the various hindrances (kleshas) to

samadhi.

Hindrances

2.3
aiv¥;iSmt;r;g√eW;i.invex;" kÿex;"
avidyā-asmitā-rāga-dveṣa-abhiniveśāḥ kleśāḥ

The kleshas are ignorance (

avidya), the sense of a separate self (asmita),

attraction (raga), aversion (dvesha), and clinging to the status quo

(abhinivesha).

2.4
aiv¥;=e]muÊ;reW;'
p[suPttnuiviCzÑod;r;û;m(
avidyā kṣetram-uttareṣāṃ prasupta-tanu-vichchhinna-udārāṇām

Avidya is the cause of all the others, whether dormant, attenuated,

intermittent, or fully active.

of our human predicament is ignorance of our own true nature and of the

nature of the cosmos. Everything else follows from this. “

Avijja parmam

malam (ignorance is the great blemish),” is a remark of the Buddha in

the Dhammapada. It is in ignorance that we mistake the transient for

the eternal, the unsatisfactory as satisfactory, and the non-Self as Self.

All this leads to illusion, conflict and suffering, to be free of which is the

aim of yoga.

Since the root cause of the problem is ignorance, naturally, the solution is
jñana, knowledge. As was already said (see 1.49), this knowledge is a
radically different kind than the scientific or philosophic or scriptural
knowledge. There are several words to refer to this special kind of
knowledge: vidya (cognate with the English “video”, to see), jñana
(cognate with “gnosis”), bodhi (the root, budh, of which is the same as in

“buddha,” awake and discerning), prajña (insight). This insightful and

direct perception is possible only when the mind is in samadhi, a state of

consciousness in which there is a non-fluctuating and steady attention

so that the perceiving, the perceiver, and the perceived are fused into one

single ordered whole. When the hindrances to the state of samadhi are

removed, true insight into the nature of reality results.

2.5
ainTy;xuicdu"%;n;Tmsu
inTyxuicsu%;Tm:y;itriv¥;
anitya-aśuchi-duḥkha-anātmasu nitya-śuchi-sukha-ātmakhyātir-
avidyā

Avidya is seeing the transient as eternal, the impure as pure, dissatisfaction

as pleasure, the non-Self as Self.
2.6
ÎgdxRnxKTyorek;Tmtev;iSmt;
dṛg-darśana-śaktyor-eka-ātmatā-iva-asmitā

Asmita is the misidentification of the power of seeing with what is seen.

2.7

Several hindrances are enumerated here—avidya, asmita, raga,

dvesha, and abhinivesha—but the root cause of all of these kleshas is

ignorance. This is so according to all the sages in India: the basic source
su%;nuxyI r;g"
sukha-anuśayī rāgaḥ

Raga arises from dwelling on pleasant experiences.

2.8
du"%;nuxyI √eW"
duḥkha-anuśayī dveṣaḥ

Dvesha arises from clinging to unpleasant experiences.

2.9
Svrsv;hI ivduWoåip
tq;Â!oåi.invex"
sva-rasa-vāhī viduṣo’ pi tathā rūdḥo’ bhiniveśaḥ

Abhinivesha is the automatic tendency for continuity; it overwhelms

even the wise.

Asmita, the notion that I am a separate self, isolated from the

whole, with my own ego-centered projects, is the first product of avidya.

“Asmita” literally means “I am this” or “I am that,” thus separating the

small self from the entire vast reservoir of Being, from Brahman (literally,
The Vastness). The Self says “I AM”—as in the very grand sayings of
Christ, especially in the Gospel of John, in which he says in the state

of oneness with Yahweh (which in Hebrew means “I AM”), I AM is

the way and the truth and the life1—but the ego says “I am this” or “I

am that,” thus attaching itself only to a small portion of the Vastness.

Asmita is the result of the misidentification of the power of seeing, which

is Purusha (or Atman), with what is seen, namely chitta. Contrary to

William Blake’s reminder that “Perception is not limited by the organs of

perception,” the isolated self identifies itself increasingly with the mind

or with the body, seeing the vehicle (body-mind) as the self. In the
movement from asmita (I am this) to Soham (I AM), from a limited self to
the Self, from the identification with chitta to oneness with Purusha, from

the self-will of Arjuna to his willingness to carry out Krishna’s will, the

right order is discovered. The resulting insight is naturally full of truth

and order (rita), as an earlier sutra said, “ritambhara tatra prajña” (1.48).

Raga is the attachment to pleasure; dvesha is the attachment to suffering.

The natural tendency to wish to relive pleasurable experiences is
understandable, but it is particularly odd that we are more attached to

our suffering than to our pleasures. Moments of humiliation or situations

in which we were ridiculed or made to feel small come back to us much

more frequently and with a larger emotional force than the moments in

which we were admired or looked up to. Experiences of suffering,

especially psychological suffering, create deep grooves in our psyche,
drawing attention to themselves quite mechanically and frequently. Nations
and

groups can be attached to past humiliations and sufferings, perpetuating

a sense of victimization from generation to generation. No wonder that,

among many other definitions of yoga in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna

says that “yoga is the breaking of the bond with suffering” (6:23).

Freedom from the whole domain of like-dislike, and pleasure-pain

is a very great freedom. Then we do what needs to be done, whether we

like it or not. It is possible to say that the whole meaning of the exquisite

symbol of the cross for a serious Christian lies precisely in this: even
if something is disagreeable or unpleasant or will produce pain, if it is

necessary according to a higher understanding, then one would embrace

the suffering intentionally and submit oneself to the right action. The

outstanding example of this is the Christ himself. On the eve of his

crucifixion, he prayed to God in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass me by. Yet not my will but thine be done”

(Mark 14:36).

Although “abhinivesha” is sometimes translated as “a wish to live,”

it is closer to “a wish to continue,” or “a wish to preserve the status

quo.”Abhinivesha is what is technically called “inertia” in physics, as in

Newton’s First Law of Motion (also called the Law of Inertia) according

to which a body continues in a state of rest or of motion in a straight

line unless acted upon by an external force. Abhinivesha is the wish for

continuity of any state and any situation, because it is known. We fear the

unknown and therefore we fear change which may lead to the unknown.

In fact, this fear is of a discontinuation of the known, simply because

the unknown, if it is truly unknown, cannot produce fear or pleasure. In

one of the dialogues of Plato, there is a scene in which Socrates has been

given hemlock to drink and he is about to die. Some of his disciples are

quite understandably very upset and are crying. Socrates says to them,
“You are behaving as if you know what happens at death. And furthermore,
as if you know that what happens is undesirable. As for me, I do not know.
Therefore, I am free.”

Freedom from abhinivesha, from the wish to continue the known,

is a dying to the self, or a dying to the world, which is so much spoken

about in so many traditions. It has often been said by the sages that

only when we are willing and able to die to our old self, can we be born

into a new vision and a new life. There is a cogent remark of St. Paul: “I

die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). A profound saying of an ancient Sufi

master, echoed in so much of sacred literature, says, “If you die before you

die, then you do not die when you die.” During a conversation about life

after death, Krishnamurti said, “The real question is ‘Can I die while I

am living? Can I die to all my collections—material, psychological,

religious?’ If you can die to all that, then you’ll find out what is there after
death. Either there is nothing; absolutely nothing. Or there is something.

But you cannot find out until you actually die while living.”

Dying daily is a spiritual practice—a regaining of a sort of innocence,

which is quite different from ignorance, akin to openness and humility.

It is an active unknowing; not achieved but needing to be renewed again

and again. All serious meditation is a practice of dying to the ordinary

self. If we allow ourselves the luxury of not knowing, and if we are not

completely full of ourselves, we can hear the subtle whispers under the
noises of the world outside and inside ourselves. Sri Anirvan remarked

that the whole world is like a big bazaar in which everyone is shouting at

the top of their voice wanting to make their little bargain. A recognition

of this can invite us to true metanoia, a turning around, to a new way

of being. Otherwise, abhinivesha, the wish which maintains the status

quo, persists.

This wish for continuity is rooted in a search for security and for

permanence. Abhinivesha, the wish to hold onto the past, keeps us in the

momentum of time. Being present from moment to moment requires a

freedom from abhinivesha, and a freedom from abhinivesha brings us to a

radiant presence, where we can be free of the fear of dying and of living.

Freedom from abhinivesha is intimately related with the Buddhist

understanding of anitya (“anichcha” in Pali): nothing is permanent and

therefore change is the norm of the cosmos. Noting that the Tao is
transformation, a Taoist sage said, “Ride the chariots of the
Tao.”Transformation is said to be the fundamental principle of the cosmos.
Fire, Agni, is the principal symbol of transformation and is invoked as a
priest. No

Hindu ceremony—whether name giving, initiation into schooling, marriage

or funeral—is complete without the presence of fire as a witness.

The very first mantra of the Rig Veda, the most ancient text in any
IndoEuropean language, is an invocation of Agni.
Om! agnimile purohitam
yajñasya devam ritvijam (Rig Veda I.1.1)
Om! I invoke Agni, the first Priest,
the lord of yajña, born of Order . . .

The vrittis and the kleshas both prevent a quiet and a steady attention, but
there are subtle differences between them. The vrittis, the distractions of the
mind, are personal and particular for each one of us, while the kleshas are
cosmological forces which constitute the psychological

reality of ordinary humanity. Freedom from the vrittis can be achieved

by finding a freedom from the noise within, possible with our own effort,

but freedom from the kleshas is the result of a transformation of the

ordinary level of the mind and this requires an internal reordering in the

light of a higher mind. Freedom from the vrittis is possible for the Son

of Man, but only the Son of God can find a freedom from the kleshas.

With dedication to Ishvara, we acknowledge that without a connection

to the larger cosmos and to the higher levels of reality we remain isolated

and imprisoned in our own smallness.

Vrittis are a result of human conditioning—which varies from

person to person—but the kleshas are a result of the human condition

to which we are all subject. Efforts to be free of both the vrittis and the

kleshas require a sacrifice of our smallness and of our attachment to the

way we are. What is needed is a dying to the old self, in order to allow a

new birth, a spiritual birth.

Freedom from Hindrances

2.10
te p[itp[svhey;" sU+m;"
te pratiprasava-heyāḥ sūkṣmāḥ

These subtle kleshas can be overcome by reversing the natural flow

(pratiprasava) and returning to the source.

2.11
?y;nhey;Std( vOÊ;y"
dhyāna-heyās-tad-vṛttayaḥ

Their effects can be reduced by meditation (

dhyana).

beings, is in harmony with our higher nature (or spiritual nature). What

we ordinarily regard as natural is what is usual and habitual with us. Our

automatic habitual postures, thoughts, and feelings are manifestations of

our ordinary state of consciousness, a state of sleep or of mechanicality.

It is through an impartial self-study (svadhyaya) that we become aware

of the enormous strength of these tendencies which we need to struggle

against as a part of self-discipline (tapas).

We can appreciate the force of the tendencies of our lower ordinary

nature during meditation where the distracted nature of our mind which

runs after one association and then another is obvious. As we persist in

abhyasa, we can gradually acquire an attitude of detachment (vairagya)

towards these distractions. As we identify ourselves less and less with

these tendencies, realizing that they do not represent our real identity,

we can become freer and freer of them. The force of the kleshas can

diminish in meditation as we practice dying to our ordinary, habitual self,

and orient ourselves to deeper aspects of our being.

The dynamic principle of Prakriti expresses itself as an externalizing force

through the force of creation and manifestation. The inherent movement of
Prakriti is that of pravritti, an outward centrifugal tendency, which moves
further and further away from the center where the Source of all creation is.
The counter force is that of nivritti, an inward

centripetal movement which seeks the center. Yoga is, as is all spiritual

teaching, for making a connection with the source of life; therefore its

movement is against the automatic flow of nature. As a fact of our human

condition (as in the Christian doctrine of “original sin”), we are all heirs

to the unrefined state of prakrita. To be transformed into a refined or

sanskrita being requires art, skill, education—in other words, this

transformation requires yoga.

Pratiprasava, the reversal of the natural flow, is required. It is the

reversal of the natural outward tendencies of Prakriti. Since the usual

tendency of the whole of creation, therefore also of our mind, is outward, in

order to move towards the center a reversal is needed, a turning around, a
metanoia. It is also possible to say that spiritual practice, yoga,

although opposed to the lower nature (or animal nature) in human

2.12
kÿexm‘l" km;Rxyo
β;βjNmvednIy"
kleśa-mūlaḥ karma-āśayo dṛṣṭa-adṛṣṭa-janma-vedanīyaḥ

Past actions, rooted in kleshas, give rise to experiences in present or

future births.
2.13
sit mUle ti√p;ko j;Ty;yu.oRg;"
sati mūle tad-vipāko jāty-āyur-bhogāḥ

As long as the root exists, the effects will be experienced as birth and in

the quality and duration of life.

2.14
te Ò;dpirt;pfl;"
puôy;puôyhetuTv;t(
te hlāda-paritāpa-phalāḥ puṇya-apuṇya-hetutvāt

Joy is the result of right action, sorrow of wrong action.

Every action leaves an impression on our being, and the quality of

our being predisposes us towards certain sorts of action. This is the law

of karma. Although this law applies to all creatures and things, if we

confine our attention to human beings, we can express the law of karma

as follows: as one is, so one acts; and as one acts, so one becomes. In the

mutually interactive system of action and being, according to the law of

karma, being affects action and action affects being.

If I am a certain kind of person, I naturally find myself doing certain sorts

of actions. In turn, the actions that I perform or the events that affect me,
leave grooves on my being and produce tendencies which

make me a different kind of person. At the next opportunity, I will act

in accordance with these tendencies of my being, and in this way my

future action (karma) is determined by my past actions. Major events

leave deep impressions in the psyche, creating knots in it that affect our

future actions for a long time without our necessarily being aware of the
knots or of their initial causes.

As a general principle, the effects of karma are not restricted to only

one lifetime; the law cuts across the boundary of what is ordinarily called

life and death. Action here does not mean simply physical activity, but

also includes thoughts and feelings and intentions. If we think hateful

thoughts about someone, not only does that reflect the quality of our

being, but it also further affects the quality of our being.

The law of karma is an example of a traditional law of nature as

understood by the Hindus and the Buddhists. This law is a law of

determinism; but it is also a law that makes freedom possible and provides
the basis for any spiritual practice. Understood partially, from the point of

view of only one level within a human being, the law of karma creates a

closed circle from which no one can escape, and it has quite often been

understood in this manner, leading to despair and resignation. However,

when viewed from the perspective of a whole person, the law of karma

can indicate to those willing to undertake the discipline involved in

the cleansing of their perceptions, precisely what the knots are in their

lives that compel them to act the way they do, even against the will and

understanding of their right mind, and how to resolve and overcome

these knots.

More importantly, a person can depend on the law of karma and

undertake a spiritual striving in the assurance of the knowledge that the

universe or the gods do not act capriciously and that no one is elevated

or degraded accidentally. Each one of us is responsible for our life—even

to the extent of salvation or perdition—and the dignity of our human

existence and action is founded on the solidity of a law working in every

part of the cosmos.

In correspondence with our own deep-seated spiritual urges, each

one of us has the possibility of making efforts in order to overcome the

compulsions of the lawful and natural workings of our tendencies, which

are based on our past experiences, knowledge, and impressions. This is

the meaning of spiritual striving, a struggle against our own determined

nature and conditioning. It is useful to remember that our struggle is in

the midst of large forces; the spiritual aspects of the cosmos help our own

spiritual endeavors, just as the mechanical or downward cosmological

forces aid our downward tendencies.

As the sutras above state, all our experiences in this life are the result

of past tendencies and actions, which have been rooted in the kleshas,

just as future births and experiences will be determined by the undertakings

in this life. Happiness and sorrow result from right and wrong actions.
However, Krishna reminds us in the Bhagavad Gita, “You have

the right to action, but only to action, never to its fruits. Let not the fruits
of your works be your motive, neither let there be any attachment to

inaction. Firm in yoga engage in actions, having abandoned attachment,

having become equable to success and failure, O Arjuna, for equanimity

is yoga” (2:47-48).

Yoga for the Ending of Sorrow

2.15
pirû;mt;ps'Sk;rdu"%
°guRûvOiÊ;ivro/;É du"%mev svR'
ivveikn"
pariṇāma-tāpa-saṃskāra-duḥkhair-guṇa-vṛtti-virodhāch-cha

duḥkham-eva sarvaṃ vivekinaḥ

For the discerning, all is sorrow, resulting from the mismatch between

what is actual and what is thought, and because of the suffering

inherent in change, pain, and from past conditioning.

2.16
hey ˘ du"%mn;gtm(
heyaṃ duḥkham-anāgatam

Future suffering is to be avoided.

completely free of the vrittis can it act as a perfect instrument of

knowledge.Then we do not have expectations about the world and about
others, we see and accept reality as it is.

Because of the consequences of the force of abhinivesha (see 2.9),

the klesha which causes us to wish to continue in the state which is

known, we suffer when there is a possibility of change. But change is

constant. The universe is dynamic, constantly subject to the force of time:

we move from one place to another; we see the seasons change and the

movement of the planets; we grow old; we die. Even when pleasure exists,

the very impermanence of pleasure leads to sorrow. There are instances

of pain, and sorrowful consequences of past experiences which are rooted

in all the kleshas. Therefore, for the discerning, dukkha is a pervasive

feature of life.

As the very next sutra indicates, this realistic assessment is not a

doctrine of pessimism. Patañjali is not simply saying that future suffering

can be avoided, but exhorts us to take up the challenge, to undertake the

practice of yoga so that ignorance can be removed and therefore all the

kleshas and the suffering arising from them can be overcome.

The fact of suffering (

dukkha) cannot be denied. That there is suffering is the First Noble Truth of
the Buddha. For the Buddha, the cause of suffering is tanha, selfish desire
or simply selfishness. For Patañjali,

the source of suffering is the mismatch between the way it actually is,

determined by the interaction of the gunas, the forces and constituents

of Prakriti, and what the mind thinks and expects, shaped by the vrittis.

The gulf between reality and thought leads to sorrow. In our life, this gap

is most manifest in our expectations of ourselves and of other people and

our actual experience.

For the existentialist philosophers, who assume that the mind is the

knower of reality, the recognition of the fact that reality does not correspond
to thought led to the conclusion that the universe is absurd.

This assumption is strenuously denied by all of Indian philosophy, and in

any case by Patañjali for whom the mind is an instrument of knowledge.

The real knower is Purusha who knows through the mind and not with

the mind. Purusha alone can know reality, and only when the mind is

The Seer and the Seen

2.17
{˛OÎXyyo" s˘yogo heyhetu"
draṣṭṛ-dṛśyayoḥ saṃyogo heya-hetuḥ

The cause of suffering is the misidentification of the seer with the seen.

2.18
p[k;xik›y;iSqitxIl˘ .UteiN{y;Tmk˘
.og;pvg;RqR' Îxym(
prakāśa-kriyā-sthiti-śīlaṃ bhūta-indriya-ātmakaṃ
bhogaapavarga-arthaṃ dṛśyam

The seen consists of material elements and the sense organs. These have

qualities of clarity, activity, and stability. The seen exists to serve the

aims of experience and liberation.

2.19
ivxeW;ivxeWil©m;];il©;in
guûpv;Riû
viśeṣa-aviśeṣa-linga-mātra-alingāni guṇa-parvāṇi

Everything that exists, whether particular, general, manifest, or unmanifest

is constituted by the gunas, the fundamental qualities of nature.

Patañjali emphasizes that suffering or dissatisfaction is caused by

the misidentification of the seer with the seen. The suggestion is not that

the coming together of the seer and the seen—that is, of Purusha and

Prakriti—causes suffering. This has unfortunately been sometimes

suggested as the meaning of Patañjali’s teaching. According to this
interpretation, the aim of yoga becomes a complete separation of Purusha
from Prakriti. As is clear from the sutras above and the ones to follow,
Prakriti

exists for the sake of Purusha, and provides the opportunity both for

experience and liberation (2.18, 21). Prakriti does not have any purpose

of its own; it exists only for the sake of Purusha. Sorrow arises when

the one is mistaken for the other because of ignorance. The solution is

not the separation of Purusha and Prakriti but the right cognizance of

their roles.

The whole realm of the seen,Prakriti,is the

kshetra (field),and the seer,

Purusha, is the kshetrajña (knower of the field). The field is the domain of

cause and effect, and the knower of the field belongs to an altogether
different dimension, that of awareness. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says,
“Know me as the knower of the field in all fields.True knowledge consists

in knowing the field and the knower of the field . . . Prakriti is said to be

the origin of cause and effect and the sense of agency; Purusha is said to

be the origin of the experiences of pleasure and pain. Purusha seated in

Prakriti enjoys the gunas born of Prakriti . . . the Witness, the Consenter,

the Sustainer, the Enjoyer, the almighty Lord and supreme Self, thus is

called Purusha in the body” (13:2, 20-22).

All of Prakriti, at all levels of manifestation, from the coarsest to

the subtlest, is constituted by the three gunas, three qualities and forces.

The three gunas are sattva, rajas, and tamas. Each of these qualities can

be expressed at all levels from the most negative to the most positive. At

best, sattva is clarity, purity, mindfulness, contentment; but at a lower level

this can lead to indifference and passivity. In its positive manifestation,

rajas is activity, exploration, and effort; but at a lower level this can lead

to agitation and grasping. Tamas is the force of stability; but at a lower

level this can lead to inertia and heedlessness. “Neither on earth, nor in

heaven among the gods, is there a being that is free from the working of

the three gunas, born of Prakriti. From sattva, jñana is born; from rajas,
greed; from tamas, proceed negligence and delusion, also ignorance” (BG

18:40; 14:17).

2.20
{˛; Îixm;]" xu´oåip p[Tyy;nupXy"
draṣṭā dṛśi-mātraḥ śuddho’ pi pratyaya-anupaśyaḥ

The Seer is only the power of pure seeing. Although pure, the Seer

appears to see with the mind.

2.21
tdqR Ev ÎXySy;Tm;
tad-artha eva dṛśyasya-ātmā

The seen is for the sake of the Seer.

Purusha, the Seer, only sees. Seeing is the only characteristic or

property of Purusha. By itself it is pure seeing, but it manifests its vision

through the categories and the qualities of the mind. Therefore a

purification of the mind is required so that it could be a proper instrument
without introducing any particularity or subjectivity.

This Seer—Purusha, Conscious Energy, Transcendent Being—sees

at every level of manifestation of Prakriti. It is not located at a singular

point somewhere outside Prakriti. The whole vertical axis of awareness,

orthogonal to the material manifestation of Prakriti represented by the

horizontal plane, shares in the being of Purusha. Along this vertical axis

of Conscious Energy, of consciring, of seeing, we can see more and more

clearly and impartially as our organs of perception are cleansed and the

vrittis and the kleshas are diminished. Purusha is only the witnessing
consciousness, or sakshi bhava. For Purusha to act, it must be associated
with Prakriti. The necessity of this relationship is expressed by
Ishvarakrishna,

the author of Samkhyakarika, when he points out that Purusha without

Prakriti is lame and Prakriti without Purusha is blind.

Sometimes, it is possible to submit the visible, the whole realm of

Prakriti, for the power to see. In that submission the right order between

Purusha and Prakriti, between Conscious Energy and matter, is found.

The right relationship cannot be found if one part of the relationship

is discarded.

Patañjali speaks in terms of Purusha and Prakriti; this can appear

like an excessively abstract philosophical principle. But because there is an

isomorphism between brahmanda (macrocosmos) and kshudra brahmanda

(microcosmos), we can recognize that the same relationship exists within

us.The relationship between the spirit and our body, or between the higher

and more conscious energy—which is in the body but is not of the body—

and the body-mind, is a necessary one. The Real I, the Atman (the Self )

and an individual self, jiva which includes the whole psychosomatic

complex, need to be rightly related. Madame de Salzmann so much
emphasized that the higher energy has to make a contact with the body:

The body has to serve something else, not itself.The body itself

is designed for destruction; it has to serve something else. This does not
mean that the human incarnation is not necessary.

As she continues,

One need not change what one is. But what is this for?

All this, all of one’s life and activities, are not for oneself,

but for something else. They are for the sake of the higher
energy. The body is necessary, but it is not the most important thing. It must
obey something else. In fact, the body wants and likes the contact with the
energy which comes

from above, which comes from God. But we are taken by

automatism. One must liberate the subtle body from the

prison of habits of the ordinary body.

Freedom from Ignorance

2.22
k’t;q'R p[it n˛mPyn˛˘
tdNys;/;rûTv;t(
kṛta-arthaṃ prati naṣṭam-apy-anaṣṭaṃ tad-anya-sādhāraṇatvāt

Having served its purpose, for one who is liberated, the phenomenal

world no longer appears as before, but it continues as such for others.

2.23
SvSv;imxKTyo" SvÂpopliB/hetu"
s'yog"
sva-svāmi-śaktyoḥ sva-rūpa-upalabdhi-hetuḥ saṃyogaḥ

The connection between the Seer and the seen causes a mistaken

perception of identity between the force of the visible and the power

to see.

2.24
tSy heturiv¥;
tasya hetur-avidyā

The cause of this is ignorance (avidya).

Prakriti, the phenomenal world, does not disappear for a realized

yogi. The world is not an illusion or a dream or a nightmare from which

the yogi needs to wake up.The world exists and its reality and its
bewitchment continue to be experienced by others. But for one who realizes
the Self, is freed from the allurements of the world and is asleep to its
temptations, the ordinary world acquires a dreamlike quality. To use a
classical metaphor, “a sage is like a dead man walking.” The world is no
longer

fascinating or bewitching for a liberated person.

There is a persistent tendency in Indian thought, especially in the

ascetic tradition, to denigrate the world of space and time and the world

of matter and energy. For people with such an attitude, it seems as if

the world is a mistake, and the chief purpose of our existence is to undo

the world and life, in order to merge into the undifferentiated ocean of

consciousness. This point of view would suggest that those who have

attained enlightenment can exit the world because they have nothing

left to do. Such an attitude can only be a terrible misunderstanding.

Enlightenment has no meaning unless it is accompanied by compassion. In
fact, we would recognize those who have reached a higher level of
understanding by their compassion. Such beings are quite aware of

the suffering of humanity and of other creatures, and they do their best,

directly or indirectly through their followers, to alleviate suffering. The

Bodhisattvas take the remarkable vow that they will continue being
reincarnated again and again to help suffering creatures until every blade of
grass is enlightened.

We have a very helpful reminder from Krishna that we are responsible for
the maintenance of order (dharma) in the world and among people: “It is
not possible for an embodied being to entirely abandon

action; but one who gives up the attachment to fruits of action is a true

renouncer (tyagi). Even though there is nothing in the three worlds that

I need to do, nor is there anything that I have to gain, I engage in action.

If I do not engage ceaselessly in action, all these worlds will perish. Those

who know do not act with attachment to the fruits of action; those who

know should act without attachment” (BG 18:11; 3:22-25).

The world would not exist if Purusha and Prakriti were completely

separated from each other. Purusha is what vivifies and animates Prakriti

as the breath of God animates the human body. What is important, and

Patañjali emphasizes this point again and again, is not to confuse Purusha

with Prakriti, or Spirit with the body. This misidentification is rooted in

ignorance and leads to illusion and suffering.

2.25
td.;v;Ts˘yog;.;vo h;n' t˝Oxe"
k°vLym(
tad-abhāvāt saṃyoga-abhāvo hānaṃ tad-dṛśeḥ kaivalyam

With the disappearance of ignorance, the misidentification no longer

exists. Then pure seeing alone remains.

2.26
ivvek:y;itrivPlv; h;nop;y"
viveka-khyātir-aviplavā hāna-upāyaḥ

Steady vision of discernment (viveka) is the way to overcome ignorance.

2.27
tSy sPt/; p[;Nt.Uim" p[D;
tasya saptadhā prānta-bhūmiḥ prajñā

Wisdom (prajña) is accomplished in seven stages.

Ignorance, the source of suffering, consists in the misidentification

of Prakriti with Purusha, and can be removed by viveka, right discernment.

Viveka is the highest virtue in Indian spirituality. It may seem that the
Bhakti tradition of spirituality regards love as the highest virtue

rather than viveka. On the face of it, viveka and love may seem far apart,

but as has been remarked upon by many sages, the driving force of higher

love (parabhakti, in the language of the Bhagavad Gita) is the recognition

that what calls us and what attracts us at our depth, is not what we know.

What we most love is not what we know, but what knows us and draws

us; and a constant vigilance, a steady discernment, is needed in order to

be mindful of what is Ultimately Real and what is below that. It is the

love for the subtler realities which drives us to be clearer and clearer

about those realities.

The only one thing which is needed is to remember that God exists

and that we exist under His gaze. The only practice that is needed is

the practice of the presence of God. Everything else follows from that
one thing. The Christian classic of spirituality, The Cloud of Unknowing,

is one of the best illustrations of this point of view. We are situated in

the middle of two clouds. These are two domains, two atmospheres of

being—one below us and the other above. Below us is the “cloud of

forgetting,” the subjective cloud which needs to be formed by us and needs
to be expanded so that it could contain the whole creation, everything

other than God. We need to practice placing more and more things in

this cloud so we can rise above them. But the things of the world, or of

worldliness, keep asserting themselves again and again. The aim here is

to put the whole of creation, the whole of Prakriti, coarse and subtle,

in the cloud of forgetting. This includes everything we call ourselves.

To forget ourselves and the world is to place all this in the cloud of

forgetting. This is the consummate practice of vairagya. Nothing else is

worth remembering except God.The cloud of forgetting is the domain of

total self-forgetfulness. That is the highest vairagya, freedom from

selfishness, which is the same as freedom from myself.

Just as the cloud of unknowing lies above you, between

you and your God, so you must fashion a cloud of forgetting beneath you,
between you and every created thing.

(The Cloud of Unknowing, p. 53)

The “cloud of unknowing” is the one domain which needs to be

penetrated if one wishes to come to God who is on the other side of

this cloud or above it. This cloud is objective, existing by itself and forever.
It is not something we need to fashion, but we need to penetrate it.

The attitude which is essential here is of unknowing—not ignorance but

innocence. “The wisdom of the wise is folly in the eyes of God,” says St.

Paul (1 Corinthians 3:19). The true religious mind is silent, free of fear

and self-importance, innocent, open, and vulnerable.

Thought cannot comprehend God. And so, I prefer to

abandon all I can know, choosing rather to love him whom

I cannot know. Though we cannot know him, we can love

him. By love he may be touched and embraced, never by

thought. (The Cloud of Unknowing, p. 54)

Love for God is a love for something we do not know, but we are

drawn to.This is true for us at all levels of love; we do not know rationally

why we love. I participated in several small group discussions with

Krishnamurti, and sometimes I could not understand why he gave so little
importance to making efforts, to undertaking practice, and to thought.

On one occasion, there must have been some exasperation in my voice.

He stopped me in mid-sentence, and asked: “But sir why do you keep

coming?” Without the intervention of any thought or hesitation, I said,

“Because I love you.” This was the truth of the matter. One does not

know why one does certain things but there is an interaction of subtle
forces, inside as well as outside, and in matters of love or spiritual
influences, there is a mutuality of relationship. Does an iron filing decide to
be attracted to a magnet? Does it know why? As long as we are making

decisions we are not following the heart. The heart chooses without an

enumeration of mental reasons which can give a satisfactory explanation

to somebody else.

Love for God is at the heart of

The Cloud of Unknowing. “He whom

neither men nor angels can grasp by knowledge can be embraced by love.”

(The Book of Privy Counseling, by the same author, p. 50). But “whatever

we may say of it [love] it is not it, but only about it.” (p.169, ibid.)

And so stand firmly and avoid pitfalls, keep to the path

you are on. Let your longing relentlessly beat up the cloud

of unknowing that lies between you and your God.

Pierce that cloud with the keen shaft of your love, spurn

the thought of anything less than God.” (The Cloud of

Unknowing, p. 63)

Through a steady practice of discernment we can learn to distinguish

between the real and the unreal, between Purusha and Prakriti, between the
Self and non-Self. Towards one a searcher needs to cultivate vairagya, and
place it in the cloud of forgetting; towards the other, which is beyond the
cloud of unknowing, dedication and submission.

The last sutra above speaks about seven stages in which wisdom
or prajña is cultivated. These stages may well refer to the previously

mentioned various realizations in which the vrittis and the kleshas are

progressively diminished. In every spiritual journey there are stages and

levels; the number of divisions made depends on what aspects are found

to be useful to be emphasized. According to Vyasa, the seven stages of

prajña are 1) future suffering has been identified; 2) causes of suffering

have been eliminated; 3) nirodha samadhi has been attained; 4) viveka

has been realized; 5) the purified chitta has accomplished its purpose

of providing experience and liberation; 6) any further transformation of

the gunas has ceased; 7) Purusha abides in its true form. 2

The human incarnation, which is a conjunction of Purusha and

Prakriti, is for a sacred purpose. This purpose constitutes the raison

d’être of a person. To search for that purpose requires a clear perception

and a high level of consciousness. A development of will is necessary to

be able to undertake the action which corresponds to a more awakened

conscience in order to fulfill that purpose. As we understand this, we

begin to see that our body—or our mind or resources or life—is not

only for ourselves alone. Madame de Salzmann said, “Your body is not

only yours. You need to work in order to relate the higher with the

lower. That is the purpose of human existence . . . There is an energy

which is trying to evolve. That is why it comes into a body. If a person

works and helps the evolution of this energy, at death this energy goes

to a higher level. If one does not work, the energy returns to its own

level. But the human life is wasted.”

Self-restraint
Yama and Niyama2.28

yog;©;nuœ;n;dxui´=ye D;ndIiPtr;ivvek:y;te"

yoga-anƒga-anuṣṭhānād-aśuddhi-kṣaye jñāna-dīptir-ā-
vivekakhyāteḥ

By practicing the limbs of yoga, impurity is destroyed and the radiance

of jñana leads to viveka.

2.29
yminym;snp[;û;y;mp[Ty;h;r/;rû;?
y;nsm;?yoå˛;v©;in
yama-niyama-āsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra-dhāraṇā-
dhyānasamādhayo’ ṣṭāv-anƒgāni

The eight limbs of yoga are:

yama (self-restraint), niyama (right observance), asana (right alignment or

posture), pranayama (regulation of breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the
senses), dharana (concentration),

dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (free attention).

Patañjali lists eight limbs of yoga—this is why his yoga is often given

the name ashtanga (eight-limbed) yoga—the practice of which gradually

destroys the impurities or the obstructions and leads to right discernment.
Each of the eight limbs is a necessary part of the teaching of yoga. After
listing the limbs, each one is elaborated further. The first

five—yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara—together are

regarded as the outer limbs of yoga, and the remaining three—dharana,

83

dhyana, and samadhi—as internal limbs. There is not a definite linearity

of progression from one limb to another, as if one limb has to be thoroughly

mastered before moving on to the next limb; all the limbs can be
simultaneously practiced even though there is some importance to the

sequence.
It is also clear from looking at these aspects of yoga that Patañjali

regards a sensitive body as necessary for spiritual realization as a clear

mind and a compassionate heart.

2.30
aih's;sTy;Steyb[˜cy;Rpirg[h;ym;"
ahiṃsā-satya-asteya-brahmacharya-aparigrahā yamāḥ

The yamas are non-violation, truthfulness, non-stealing, containment,

and non-grasping.
2.31
j;itdexk;lsmy;nviCzÑ;" s;vR.*m;
mh;v[tm(
jāti-deśa-kāla-samaya-anavachchhinnāḥ sārva-bhaumā
mahāvratam

These restraints are not limited by birth, time, or circumstance; they

constitute the great vow everywhere.

These yamas, and the niyamas which follow, are moral practices for

the development of conscience, a gateway to higher consciousness. In

many languages—for example in French, Spanish, and Sanskrit—there is

only one word which covers both “consciousness” and “conscience”

indicating that there is an intimate relationship between the two. As a
general remark we could say that real conscience is related with higher
feelings and consciousness with higher intelligence. It is a universal
assertion of the sages that there can be no higher consciousness without
higher

conscience.

These restraints are recommended by Patañjali in all circumstances

without regard to time, place or station in life. In other words, these

practices are relevant across cultures, no matter what the social upbringing
and material position in life.

Non-violation—Ahimsa:

The first restraint mentioned above is

ahimsa.3 This word is almost

always translated as “non-violence.” This is not wrong, but it is partial;

and partiality is itself a form of himsa, the opposite of ahimsa. “Ahimsa”

means “non-violation,” “non-manipulation,” and “non-interference.”This

certainly includes non-violence but is subtler and more comprehensive.

It is necessary to distinguish between the use of violence and the use of

force. It is not possible to be violent without using force, but it is possible

to use force without being violent. No action can be undertaken and

nothing can be accomplished without energy, power, and force. Having

energy gives one power; misplaced application of energy is violence.

In the Bhagavad Gita, himsa is the violation of right order, it does not

necessarily mean physical fighting or harming. For example, it is himsa by

emotional blackmail if a person threatens to commit suicide unless there is

an expression of love from the object of desire. External action alone does

not determine whether there is himsa or not; intention, motive and the

relationship between the parties involved are also relevant. Externally an

action may appear violent, but it may arise because of love and compassion.

“Whoever I love, I reprove and chastise” (Revelation 3:19).

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna urges Arjuna to fight while he maintains that
the characteristics of a wise person are “ahimsa, truth, absence of anger,
non-identification, peace, loyalty, compassion for all, lack of
greed, gentleness, modesty, reliability” (16:2).

It is important to keep in mind a central idea of the Indian tradition,

namely that of levels. There is a hierarchy of levels within a person, in the

society, and in the cosmos.The lower levels in all these are lower precisely

because the level of insight and understanding there is not as subtle nor

as comprehensive as it is at the higher levels. For example, those parts

which are at a lower level in a person or in humanity, wish to live by their

own likes and dislikes and not by what is good or right for the whole

person or the whole society. Those parts of us, or those among us, which

understand the needs and requirements of the whole, need to persuade or

educate the lower parts to obey the higher vision. Otherwise, there will

be chaos internally, in the society and in the cosmos, leading to a violation

(himsa) of right order (dharma) and of wholeness.

Once the idea of levels is understood, it becomes clear that the

higher levels need to use force to discipline the lower levels. In order

to gain an inner integration, there is an obvious place for the exercise of

strength and determination in controlling the lower tendencies of the

mind during the practice of yoga, or any other spiritual discipline. All

transformation needs force and energy, whether this transformation is an

inner one or an external (technological) one. The use of force is violent

when it does not serve the purposes of the higher levels. Here are some
remarks of Madame de Salzmann:

Make a demand upon yourself. If you don’t come to something when you try,
punish yourself. Deprive yourself of what you like. But have patience. Don’t
get angry at yourself and beat yourself. Not to try all at once, but slowly,
steadily. All the time, try something. There is deep passivity. You must see
this and struggle against it. If necessary, one should punish the body.
Maybe one says, “Unless a connection is made, I shall not eat.” Maybe one
denies

the body some other pleasure. The body needs to be perfectly

alert and perfectly relaxed. Any tension anywhere, and the

connection is broken. The body needs to be disciplined—

punished or rewarded—not tortured. It must learn to obey

something higher. The body needs to be available.

Ahimsa needs to be understood not in terms of appearances and

external forms of conduct, but in relation to the internal intention and

order involved. Egotistic intent and motivation, however placid, peaceful,

and non-harming the external behavior may be, always carry seeds of

violence in their very core. Krishnamurti said, “As long as I am, love is

not.” As long as the ego is in charge, which is to say as long as there is

selfishness, all our actions are without love. If we act without love, there

is a violation of the spirit. Ahimsa in full measure is not possible for a

person as long as the person is ego-centered. There are many relative

levels of freedom from violence and manipulation. Ahimsa is not
accomplished once forever, and we need to continually search for its
dynamic source. Only at the highest level of being can someone naturally
manifest

ahimsa; below that we can only approach it.

True ahimsa is a property of the real world where it is a natural

consequence of insight, as are compassion and love. To fix its

understanding as non-harming at the level of the ordinary world is like
taking sentimental love and attachment as the core of the compassion of the

Buddha or of Christ. Giving an exclusive importance to avoiding physical

harm, and not taking into account the mental, psychological, and spiritual
anguish caused by our actions, further strengthens the fallacy

that a person is primarily a body, a fallacy which all spiritual traditions

are at pains to dispel.

Only a sage on the mountaintop of consciousness sees the proper

place of everything and everyone; such a person comes to a deep-seated

acceptance of all there is. But all the sages who return to the world in

order to be active in it and to teach others, commend struggle—always

internal and sometimes external. Perhaps it is only by an endless struggle

between the higher energies of consciousness and the lower ones of

forgetfulness that the play of forces, which constitute the cosmos,
continues.

A complete destruction of one side or the other would bring this play

to a halt—a possibility only for the end of days when time shall be no
more. Otherwise, as Krishna says in The Mahabharata, the choice is not

between battle (yuddha) and absence of it, but only between one kind of

battle or another. The real question then concerns the level of the battle

we are going to fight. As St. Paul says, “Finally then, find your strength

in the Lord, in His mighty power . . . For our fight is not against human

foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates

of this dark world, against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens”

(Ephesians 6:10-12).

Truthfulness—Satya:

The next restraint is satya which means truth, truthfulness, sincerity,

authenticity. Satya is closely associated with rita which was spoken about

earlier (see 1.48-49).Though in its original intrinsic sense, rita transcends

the power of space and time, the gods apply it to the affairs of the universe

in the form of satya. Also, it is said that rita and satya were born from

tapas, self-discipline (Rig Veda X.190.1), and are thus twins—coexistent

and coeternal. In this connection, it is useful to recall sutra 2.1 in which

tapas is said to be one of the three fundamental practices of yoga.

Just as the practice of ahimsa, the practice of telling the truth, or

of not lying, has many levels. When we speak of what we do not know,

when we are partial, and when we are convinced that we know all there is
to know about something, we lie. We lie when we speak as if we are the

center of the universe and can pass judgment on everyone and everything.

We lie when we weave fantasies in our minds and do not see the way it

is. All theological arguments—about whether Christ is ultimately of the

same substance as God or not, or whether the Divine Nature is that of

trinity or unity, or whether Atman is identically the same as Brahman or

different—cannot not be lies. Those who know about God or Brahman,

such as the Christ or the Buddha or Ramana Maharishi, do not engage

in arguments. They say what they see, not what they have read or heard

or thought. The gospel writer says of Christ that “he spoke as one with

authority, not as the scribes do” (Mark 1:22). Christ himself warned his

disciples: “Beware of the scribes [in order to make the context more
relevant to our situation, we should not hesitate in substituting here
“theologians,”“scholars,”“priests,” and “pundits” and the like] who like to
walk about in long robes, and who love salutations in the market-places,
and

first seats in the synagogues, and first places at suppers; who devour the

houses of widows, and as a pretext make long prayers. These shall receive

a harsher judgment” (Luke 20:46-47).

The grand enunciations of the sages and the scriptures which are

beyond our experience can invite us to wonder and inquire and to undertake
the sadhana which can lead us to see what the sages saw. We are not equally
drawn to all great utterances, but it is wise to refrain from
theological disputes. The first requirement of self-knowledge is sincerity

and as we begin to see the various ways we lie, we can understand the

need for practicing truthfulness.

Non-stealing—Asteya:

Non-stealing (

asteya) is not only refraining from taking something

that does not belong to us, but also taking or accepting some privileges

without making a proper payment for them. This is especially important

in the vertical dimension of spiritual hierarchy. To acquire some insight

from the sages or from the tradition, or to assume some advantages from

the society or the family, without paying something back with a

corresponding responsibility is theft. According to the Shatapatha
Brahmana (I.7.2: 1-5), when a person is born, simultaneously obligations or
debts to the Gods, to the sages, to the ancestors, and to the community

are born. If we do not attempt to pay these debts by appropriate forms

of payment—for example, by studying the teachings of the sages and

trying to live them—we continue to be selfish thieves. Krishna says in the

Bhagavad Gita: “Foster the gods with yajña (sacrifice, sacred exchange of

energy between levels) as they foster you; by nourishing each other, you

will attain the supreme good. Fostered by yajña, the gods will bestow on

you the joys you cherish. Those who enjoy the gift of the gods without
giving to them in return are verily thieves” (3:10-12).

Containment—Brahmacharya:

Brahmacharya is almost always translated as sexual chastity or continence,

but it literally means “dwelling in Brahman.” Brahman literally means the
Vastness.To dwell in the Vastness, which is possible only when

one is freed of self-occupation and me-me-me, is the real brahmacharya.

However, everywhere there is special fixation and fascination with sex.

Whenever people are asked about sin, they think first of all of sex, but

the first sin in any category of sins, as listed in any tradition, is “pride” or

“self-importance.” In any case, we need not underestimate the force and

importance of sex. The whole of nature is driven by this energy. Even the

Buddha is said to have said that if there were another force as strong as

sex, he would not have realized enlightenment. Gurdjieff said in one of his

talks: “Seventy-five percent of thought and feeling comes from sex.”

In many spiritual teachings, much emphasis is placed on sexual

abstinence, with the understanding that the sexual energy can be transmuted
into spiritual energy. That is true, but what is most important to note is that
this transmutation is possible only when an intense spiritual

effort (tapas) is undertaken; otherwise, if abstinence is adhered to as a

religious injunction, without the accompanying effort of awareness, of

meditation or of prayer and other forms of spiritual practice, the mind

is likely to dwell on various sexual pleasures in fantasy. As a result, more

harm is done to the pursuit of the purification of the mind by this than

by engaging in sexual acts. Quite often, feelings of guilt and an

accompanying anxiety about punishment result from an occupation with
sex.

This may lead to vehement attempts to cover up the inner states of the

mind or to fanatic reactions against those who are suspected of indulging

in sexual pleasures.

When Madame de Salzmann was asked about the need for sexual
continence during intensive periods of the practice of the work, she said,
“The work takes a lot of sexual energy. When it is needed, it will be taken.
Sex

energy can be used in the work, but only when one is very advanced. At

present don’t do anything about it, otherwise, one can do something wrong.

It is like food and drink. The body needs it and wants it; it is quite right.”

It is the experience of many serious students of yoga that an intensive

practice of yoga uses up a lot of sexual energy, leaving the sadhaka without
much interest in sexual activity. But the reverse is also true on

occasion. There are situations when an intensive spiritual practice is

accompanied by an enhanced sexual energy. On one occasion of sustained

work, Madame de Salzmann was asked about the relationship of sex with
subtler and higher energy experienced during practice. She said,

“This energy touches every part of the body, including sex. Then one feels

the sexual impulse and wants to express it. But one does not always have

to have the usual action.”

Attachment to sexual pleasures is one of the major supports of ego,

and its addiction to self-occupation. The important thing is to return

to the real meaning of brahmacharya, to dwell in Brahman, the Vastness. All

practice of yoga is intended to assist us in relating us more and more with
the subtler and vaster realities, in which we live and move and

have our true being. In this effort, a repeated practice of containment

of all our energies—of sex, of mind, of speech as well as of feeling—is

required, always searching for the right balance between indulgence and

deprivation.

Non-grasping—Aparigraha:

Non-possession or non-grasping (

aparigraha) is recommended as a

practice by Patañjali. It is as relevant to psychological possessions as to

the physical or material ones.The force of possession is primarily

psychological and we can be addicted to an accumulation of goods, of
power, of knowledge, or of thrilling experiences. That is why there is the
repeated

suggestion by the sages, such as Krishnamurti, that in order to be free,

one needs to die to the habit of accumulation. Dying to oneself is to die

to this accumulator, which is more psychological than physical.

We can, as can a whole culture, become addicted to acquiring more

and more possessions. Among the temptations which Mara tried in order
to waylay the great yogi Siddhartha, the Buddha-to-be, was possession.

Mara offered to turn a nearby mountain into a mountain of gold if

Siddhartha would abandon his search for Truth. But, owing to a clear
abhyasa of steady viveka, Siddhartha was able to persist in vairagya
towards all

temptations in the realm of Prakriti. It is said that as Siddhartha understood

that Mara was a part of himself, a projection of his own mind, he became
the Buddha, realizing his identity with nothing less than Purusha,

free of all the projections of Prakriti, either alluring or frightening.

The social forces of advertising are geared to manipulate our sense

of greed and fear, in creating competition with others for more and more

possessions. It is important to understand the force of possessiveness,

acquisitiveness, and grasping in ourselves as well as in our culture.

Ironically, it is our inborn wish for a greater being that ignorance turns into
a wish, or even a need, for more and more possessions. Unless we see the

strength of acquisitiveness in ourselves—for wealth, fame, information,

knowledge, experience and approval of others—we will not appreciate the

need to struggle against this tendency to rid our psyche of this obstacle.

Observances

2.32
x*cs˘toWtp" Sv;?y;yeêrp[iû/;n;in
inym;"
śaucha-saṃtoṣa-tapaḥ-svādhyāya-īśvara-praṇidhānāni niyamāḥ

The niyamas are purity, contentment, self-discipline (tapas), self-study

(svadhyaya), and dedication to Ishvara.

2.33
ivtkRb;/ne p[itp=.;vnm(
vitarka-bādhane pratipakṣa-bhāvanam

When negative thoughts and feelings arise, the opposite should be

cultivated.
2.34
ivtk;R ih's;dy" k’tk;irt;numoidt;
lo.k›o/mohpUvRk;

mOdum?y;i/m;]; du"%;D;n;nNtfl;
îit p[itp=.;vnm(
vitarkā hiṃsā-ādayaḥ kṛta-kārita-anumoditā lobha-krodhamoha-
pūrvakā mṛdu-madhya-adhimātrā duḥkha-ajñānaananta-phalā
iti pratipakṣa-bhāvanam

Cultivating the opposite is realizing that negative feelings, such as that

of violence, result in endless suffering and ignorance—whether these

feelings are acted out, instigated or condoned, whether motivated by

greed, anger, or delusion, whether these are mild, medium, or extreme.

Three of the niyamas (observances)—tapas, svadhyaya, and Ishvara

pranidhana—were included in the practices of kriya yoga, in sutra 2.1.

As was mentioned earlier, while commenting on that sutra, these three

practices—self-discipline, self-study, and dedication to God—are intimately

connected with each other; one is not possible without the other.

Cleanliness or purity—of the heart and of the mind more than of

the body—is clearly an important aim and practice. What we feel in our
heart is closer to the spirit than what we do with our body. It is much

more important to have freedom from anger and hatred in our heart

than to be free of dirt. The great saint and poet Kabir says:

Ages have passed turning the beads,

But turning the heart has not occurred.
Put aside the beads of the hand,
And turn the beads of the heart.4

It is possible to get too occupied with external purity. Some Brahmins

can get upset if even the shadow of a shudra, a person of the lowest caste,

falls on them. In my own experience, I was saddened to discover that a

Sanskrit teacher in Varanasi felt obliged to go and bathe in the sacred river

Ganga in order to purify himself after giving me a lesson. I was considered

impure because I had started learning Sanskrit in a foreign country and
from a woman. As Vivekananda so strongly and with much sorrow

expressed, some Brahmins have forgotten the need of the purification of

the heart and have turned Hinduism into “Don’t Touchism.”

Contentment rarely enters the list of virtues in the scheme of Western

philosophers. They often include courage, truth, bravery, humility, but

not contentment. It is important, of course, that contentment does not

become a heedless acceptance of the status quo which is fostered by

laziness and strengthens the force of abhinivesha. The value of the practice
of contentment lies in its effect in freeing us from hankering after more

and more. Especially in the matter of external possessions and physical

comforts, contentment with what we have can free us to turn attention to

concerns which are more essential for the welfare of our soul.

Even though the aim of yoga is to go beyond what we ordinarily

term good or bad, and to be free of all personal thoughts and feelings

so that we could be established in the suprapersonal intelligence beyond

thought, when we are invaded by negative thoughts and emotions which

pervert the practice of yama and niyama, it is useful to cultivate the

opposite feelings and ideas. For example, if a feeling of unfriendliness or

hatred arises towards someone, we need to search for something about

that person which we can admire and be grateful for.

Whatever be the cause of these negative feelings and thoughts, and

whatever their intensity, and whether these feelings are externally acted

out or not, they affect us. No amount of self-justification in having bad

feelings is useful. It is for the sake of our own physical, psychological

and spiritual well being that we need to be free of negative thoughts

and feelings, as well as for the sake of the others and of the world. An

increasing recognition and understanding that negative attitudes, such as

of violence or jealousy or greed, cause suffering and increase ignorance,

both for ourselves and as well as for others, help us to see that they need

to be overcome. Also, any effort of not giving into the negative feelings
increasingly reveals to us both their strength and the immense amount of

harm done by them. The practice of cultivating the opposite feelings acts

as a counter current to minimize the negative feelings.

Being Established in Yama and Niyama

2.35
aih's;p[itœ;y;' tTs'in/* v°rTy;g"
ahiṃsā-pratiṣṭhāyāṃ tat-saṃnidhau vaira-tyāgaḥ

In the presence of one who is established in ahimsa, there is cessation

of hostility.
2.36
sTyp[itœ;y;' ik›y;fl;≈yTvm((
satya-pratiṣṭhāyām kriyā-phala-āśrayatvam

When one abides in truthfulness, actions result in their desired end.

2.37
aSteyp[itœ;y;' svRrTnopSq;nm(
asteya-pratiṣṭhāyāṃ sarva-ratna-upasthānam

When one is established in non-stealing, riches present themselves

freely.

The practice of yama and niyama leads to many benedictions. As

was mentioned earlier, ahimsa is not only non-harming physically, it is

non-violation, and therefore lack of manipulation, as well as non-

imposition. It is important to emphasize that in the presence of someone
who is established in ahimsa, hostility or enmity is abandoned, not only by

human beings but even by animals. It is a part of the traditional folklore

that cobras or lions or other animals are not violent in the presence of

a person established in ahimsa. There are stories about many saints—

especially about the Buddha and the Christ—in whose presence both the

lamb and the lion could be together without fear or hostility.

The fundamental principle of true ecology is ahimsa, non-violation

and non-manipulation. All action arising from an idea of doing good

leads to manipulation and violence. From true insight right action follows
automatically, without deciding to do the right action. Usually when we
decide to do the right thing, thinking enters and mental ideals occupy

our attention. Besides, expectations are set up both about ourselves as

well as about the recipients of our good deeds, preparing the ground for

disappointment and resentment.

Laura Huxley, the wife of the well-known writer Aldous Huxley

reported an incident with Krishnamurti. On one occasion in a small

gathering, he was saying that one should not go about doing good. She

reminded him that he goes around the world doing good. “Not
intentionally,” he said. The point is that a rose does not decide to smell like
a rose; it is from the fragrance that we conclude that it is a rose. Similarly,

a sage does not decide to do good or to be compassionate; these attitudes

are a natural by-product of their wisdom. To say that the Buddha is wise

but not compassionate is an oxymoron.

Great sages do not practice virtue or compassion or good works; these

kinds of behavior are a natural outcome of their quality of being. When

established in the yamas and niyamas, a person’s atmosphere changes. In

other modes of speaking, the aura of the person changes or the subtle
vibrations emanating from the person change in quality, influencing all
those who come in their presence. The good do good by merely being good.

The middle path, which is not a middling path, requires that we not

decide things once and for all. We need to be awake to the situation and

the right response will follow. That is the practice of yoga. This is why

the path is said in the Katha Upanishad to be as sharp as a razor’s edge.

Krishnamurti said, “Be totally attentive and do nothing.”The needful and

the true action will flower from the soil of choiceless insight.

There is a strong tendency in all of us which makes us ask for clear

rules and regulations which can be decided before-hand and can be

applied in all circumstances. This tendency is further enhanced in the

name of dharma, which means law, order, duty, responsibility. But yoga

requires a vigilance and an awareness arising from being present here and

now, to this situation, at this time and responding to it. Dharma has to do

with doing the right thing; yoga has to do with being the right person.

Dharma leads towards making a system, yoga requires being present.

Thus there is always a tension between dharma and yoga. By having

definite rules and regulations, we can become bureaucrats of consciousness;
but if someone is in charge—if we are present—then the rules can be

suspended in a particular case, or applied differently. Being awake to the

situation, we will be able to see what is needed and act accordingly.

Abiding in truthfulness gives a great deal of force. There are many

stories in India in which a person invokes a life-long adherence to

truthfulness and asks for the protection of higher forces in overcoming the
laws of physical nature at the ordinary level. Such a person cannot be

burnt by fire or drowned by water, much to the amazement of everyone.

Actions of such truthful people result in their desired end, however

strong the odds against them.

Even though the sutra (2.37) above literally speaks in terms of

jewels flying to one established in non-stealing, it is not to be taken so

materialistically. What is suggested is that whatever is needed by those

established in non-stealing comes to them quite unexpectedly. The first

requirement of non-stealing is gratitude and a recognition of what one

has been given. Those who have gratitude come to realize that whatever

they have is precious.

2.38
b[˜cyRp[itœ;y;' vIyRl;."
brahmacharya-pratiṣṭhāyām vīrya-lābhaḥ

When brahmacharya is established, great vigor is obtained.

2.39
apirg[hSq°yeR jNmkq't;s'bo/"
aparigraha-sthairye janma-kathaṃtā-saṃbodhaḥ

When one is established in non-grasping, there is knowledge of the

nature and purpose of existence.

2.40
x*c;TSv;©juguPs; pr°rs'sgR"
śauchāt-svā-anƒga-jugupsā parair-asaṃsargaḥ

Purity leads to non-identification with one’s own body and to a

freedom from the need for contact with others.

2.41
sÊvxui
´s*mnSy°k;g[yeiN{yjy;TmdxRnyo
GyTv;in c
sattva-śuddhi-saumanasya-eka-agrya-indriya-jaya-ātmadarśana-
yogyatvāni cha

Purity of mind, cheerfulness, mastery of the senses, one-pointedness,

and ability for Self-realization follow.

2.42
s'toW;dnuÊ;m" su%l;."
saṃtoṣād-anuttamaḥ sukha-lābhaḥ

Contentment leads to unsurpassed joy.

2.43
k;yeiN{yisi´rxui´=y;Ê;ps"
kāya-indriya-siddhir-aśuddhi-kṣayāt-tapasaḥ

Self-discipline leads to the destruction of impurity and to the perfection of

the body and the senses.
2.44
Sv;?y;y;id˛devt;s'p[yog"
svādhyāyād-iṣṭa-devatā-saṃprayogaḥ

From self-study one reaches union with the chosen deity (ishta devata).

2.45
sm;i/isi´rIêrp[iû/;n;t((
samādhi-siddhir-īśvara-praṇidhānāt

Perfection in samadhi arises from dedication to Ishvara.

Brahmacharya was spoken about above in connection with general

comments on all the yamas. Some comments were also made about
nonacquisitiveness (aparigraha). As is clearly emphasized in sutra 2.39
above, aparigraha needs to be understood much more widely than as the
nonacquisition of material goods. There can be a grasping for knowledge or
for experiences or fame. Freedom from acquisitiveness in the widest sense

will bring about an understanding of the nature and purpose of existence.

Greed has a tendency to squeeze the whole vastness into the smallness of

me-me-me. Freedom from acquisitiveness allows us to accept our situation

and the world as it is and to be related with the whole more and more
joyously.

Sutra 2.40 is a reminder of what all the great traditions have asserted:

the person is not the body; therefore the death of the body is not the

death of the person. Developed yogis naturally become more and more

aware of the fact that they are not their bodies. However, we should be

aware that this sutra has sometimes been interpreted to mean that a yogi

should develop disgust for the body. Following this notion, all sorts of

rules and prohibitions get formulated, such as a yogi cannot be in the

physical presence of a woman. We find a similar sort of extremism on

Mount Athos, the holy mountain for Orthodox Christians: this mountain is
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and there can be no other female presence,
even among the animals. However Patañjali emphasizes a

purity of mind, as is clear from the very next sutra.

It is always easier to get stuck on surface understandings rather than

to search for the deeper meaning. Literal interpretations of scriptures or

the teachings of the sages result from understanding spiritual realities

materially. There is an incident described in the life of the famous sixteenth-

century saint, Mira. She was a great devotee of Krishna, wedded to him in
her heart and soul. Once a well-known yogi came and stayed

for a short while at the edge of the town where Mira lived. Mira wished

to meet this great yogi and sent word to that effect. Her request was

refused because the yogi said that his spiritual practice forbade any contact
with a female. Mira, who understood the need for all aspirants to be deeply
receptive to the Divine active initiative, sent a word to him saying,

100

The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

“O Yogi, I should have thought that in the presence of Krishna we are

all females.”

It is said that the famous yogi was pierced to the core of his being

by the spear of insight, and came running to Mira and adopted her as

his teacher.
It is necessary to be satisfied with what we have, to be contented

with our situation if we are going to be dedicated to and have enough

energy for a serious search of subtler realities. Otherwise, there is no end

to our wanting. In the process of an impartial self-study, it is important

to ask ourselves: “What or how much is enough?” “What is needed for

me to be able to turn towards what really matters?”

Asana, Pranayama, Right Alignment and
Pratyahara
2.46
iSqrsu%m;snm(
sthira-sukham-āsanam

Right alignment (asana) is accompanied by steadiness and ease.

2.47
p[yt±x°iqLy;nNtsm;piÊ;>y;m(
prayatna-śaithilya -ananta-samāpattibhyām

This is attained when there is complete relaxation and samapatti

(fusion, union) with the Infinite.

2.48
tto √N√;ni.`;t"
tato dvandva-anabhighātaḥ

Then one is no longer assailed by opposing dualities.

It is clear from these three sutras that Patañjali places a great deal of

emphasis on right posture or alignment and that alignment or posture

is not to be taken only in a physical sense. We see a similar emphasis

103

in the Zen tradition, especially in Soto Zen. Dogen Zenzi said, “Zen is

nothing but zazen, sitting rightly.” The search for right alignment is the

effort to align the personal self with the Infinite so that there is the right

flow of energies inside, from above downwards. Although asanas refer to

physical posture, the emotional and the mental postures are also important
in the search for right alignment. The word for “posture” is in French
“attitude”—a reminder of the inclusion of the inner state as well as the

outer position in the right posture.

Madame de Salzmann so much emphasized the right bodily posture

as a prerequisite for a higher quality of attention. At one moment, sitting

very straight in her chair, she said that body posture is all. “If the ankle

or the arm is one way rather than another, the connection is lost, and the
higher energy cannot pass. If even a foot is not rightly aligned, the
connection with the higher energy can be broken . . . Higher enregy is there
but cannot come down unless the body is available and in equilibrium,

without tension. Everyone is imprisoned in their physical postures and

attitudes, and the consequent emotional and mental postures. It is necessary

to find a way of being which frees one from this limitation. It is necessary
to find a connection with higher energy.”

The relationship between effort and grace, between a path and pathlessness,
between discipline and freedom requires an ongoing search.

All transformation and insight come from levels above ourselves, but a

preparation of the psychosomatic organism can make us more available

and receptive to what comes from above. Nirvana is uncaused freedom

and no effort can bring it about in any determined manner. However, the

eightfold path is highly recommended to all searchers who wish to reach

Nirvana. Each one of us needs to discover the proper balance between the

masculine and feminine energies, between the active and the receptive.

We find a classical image and expressions of this in Ardhanaranarishvara

(half male half female) forms of Shiva, the Lord of Yoga. The image of

woman above and man below where the woman faces upwards and man

downwards in some Tantric paintings conveys the need to be receptive

to the higher and to be active with respect to the world for which we are

responsible. Meister Eckhart said, “What we receive in contemplation,

we give out in love.”

No particular yoga posture is mentioned by Patañjali. Initially one

has to struggle to find the right posture so that the body is more and more

rightly aligned to permit the harmonious flow of energies inside. Much

vigilance is needed to guard the inner temple so that the marauding

forces of stray thoughts do not invade the sanctuary, causing a deviation

from the true inner form and outer posture. Finding and maintaining the

right posture needs an active and alert attention. On the other hand, the

right alignment aids the maintenance of an active attention.

Soon the need to act as a warrior gives way to the possibility of

becoming a lover who is naturally interested in the connection with the

subtler energies. When there is a right alignment with the Infinite, it is

possible to let go of all effort, all struggle, and all tension. Then even the

image of a lover is no longer relevant; the searcher is now like the beloved

who is embraced by the lover who was earlier longed for. In this union,

there is no longer any struggle between opposites, between above and

below, between lover and beloved. Not only is there a physical relaxation,

but also an emotional and mental reconciliation of dualities.

The Breath of Life

2.49
tiSmNsit ê;sp[êv;syogRitivCzed"
p[;û;y;m"
tasmin-sati śvāsa-praśvāsayor-gati-vichchhedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ

With right alignment, the regulation of the flow of breath in and out is

pranayama.
2.50
b;Á;>yNtrStM.vOiÊ;deRxk;ls':y;i.
" pirβo dI`RsU+m"
bāhya-abhyantara-stambha-vṛttir-deśa-kāla-saṃkhyābhiḥ

paridṛṣṭo dīrgha-sūkṣmaḥ

When the movement of breath in and out and the stopping of breath

are observed, according to time, place, and number, breathing becomes

deep and subtle.

2.51
b;Á;>yNtrivWy;=epI ctuqR"
bāhya-abhyantara-viṣaya-ākṣepī chaturthaḥ

The fourth stage of pranayama takes one beyond the domain of inner

and outer.
literature which refers to the fact that a yogi can be in a closed space

without any perceptible breathing activity for a long time. This is clearly

a very advanced stage of psychic and physical development, requiring a

long and steady work. Practice of these advanced kinds of breathing

exercises is not recommended until the searcher has purified the body, mind
and emotions by a serious engagement with yoga.

At any stage of practice of pranayama there is an expansion of

the inside to include what is usually outside, and an obliteration of the

boundary between the internal and external domains of existence. It is

as if the psyche and the cosmos become interpenetrated; then because of

their isomorphism, by studying oneself internally one can acquire

knowledge of the cosmos. Psychology and cosmology thus become one
seamless science. This is the basis of many sutras in the third chapter of the
Yoga Sutras.

Patañjali has emphasized the importance of right breathing in controlling

the distractions of the mind (see sutra 1.34, and the comments on it which
follow). Here more emphasis is placed on this important

subject. It is worth remarking again that prana is not simply breath in the
ordinary sense of the word. It refers to the whole spectrum of vital energies,
much like Chi (or Qi) in the Chinese spiritual traditions. Ordinary breath is
the least subtle aspect of prana which also includes all levels

of subtle life energies. After finding the right posture and alignment,

if we simply watch our breath, the quality of breathing changes. Yoga

masters have developed many techniques of varying the length of

inhalation, exhalation, and the retention of breath inside or outside. When
the breath is focused on different parts of the body, those parts are energized

with the subtler and subtler components of prana, producing subtle

sensations inside. We have a privileged position with respect to the
processes which take place within our body and we can become aware of
the subtle

changes which take place inside.

The fourth stage of pranayama is not elaborated by Patañjali. It

may refer to the sort of extremely slow breathing attested to in the Yoga

2.52
tt" =Iyte p[k;x;vrûm((
tataḥ kṣīyate prakāśa-āvaraṇam

Then the covering over the inner light of truth is dissolved.

2.53
/;rû;su c yoGyt; mns"
dhāraṇāsu cha yogyatā manasaḥ

And the mind (manas) becomes fit for dharana.

The whole of yoga practice is an aid to the removal of the veil covering the
face of Truth. The veil is that of our sleepiness, the quite lawful tendencies
of our lower nature. The sutra (2.52) above is very reminiscent

of the Isha Upanishad where the sole seer, Purusha, is Pushan, the Sun:

“The face of Truth is covered with a golden disk. Unveil it, O Pushan, so

that I who love the Truth may see it” (verse 15). A yogi is naturally a lover

of Truth, and when the veil is dissolved, the mind gradually becomes fit

for the first stages of meditation, dharana—concentration.

Withdrawal of the Senses

2.54
SvivWy;s'p[yoge icÊ;Sy
SvÂp;nuk;r îveiN{y;û;' p[Ty;h;r"
sva-viṣaya-asaṃprayoge chittasya sva-rūpa-anukāra
ivaindriyāṇāṃ pratyāhāraḥ

Pratyahara is the withdrawal of the senses from their objects by following

the essential nature of the mind.
2.55
tt" prm; vXyteiN{y;û;m(
tataḥ paramā vaśyata-indriyāṇām

From this comes the perfect mastery over the senses.

Quieting of chitta is aided by the reduction in sensory stimulation.

We can withdraw from an attachment to, or even attention to, external

objects anywhere, even in a market place. However this process is helped

by having fewer external stimuli because we tend to be seduced by the

external. This is why in so many monasteries, or meditation halls, dark

colors rather than the bright ones are used. We need to practice an inward

attention by turning from looking outward to an inward perception. The

inward extension of the senses is analogous to outward seeing, hearing,

touching, tasting, and smelling, but inward perception has different

possibilities. There is a vast inner world and as we become more and more
sensitive inward, we can begin to be aware of deeper and deeper aspects

of ourselves.

Cutting out the external stimuli does not by itself reduce the vrittis

of the mind; in fact, fear or imagination can enter and agitate the mind.

Depending on their psychic make up, for some people, closing the eyes

or being quiet produces anxiety and increases mental agitation. In such

situations it is better to undertake the practice of yoga—whether physical

yoga or meditation—with other people with whom one is comfortable

and at ease. Gradually, as we see more and more clearly their roots, the

fears and the imaginings will diminish. Mental distractions are harder

to overcome when practicing alone. It is said on Mount Athos, the holy

mountain of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, that a solitary monk is much

more tempted by the Devil than the monks in a community.

It is commonly understood that a wandering mind, drawn to this

sense-object or that sensual experience, is the problem. Therefore there

is sometimes a wish to bypass the mind—more like blowing the mind—

with excessive drugs, alcohol, loud music, sex, strobe lights, excessive

stimulation. But at what cost? The use of powerful mind affecting drugs

depletes subtle alchemical substances which aid the power of attention.

This may lead to a more subtle kind of attention deficit disorder than

is usually recognized. The procedure followed in pratyahara is just the

reverse: here the senses are withdrawn from the objects as the mind

gradually turns inward in meditation. In this process, the mind is not

destroyed, but the energies which are continually turned outward are
harnessed so that attention can be given to subtler and deeper levels inside.

A subtler attention is called for and developed in this process.

It is unfortunate that even in some of the sayings of the great sages

and sacred texts, we come across expressions indicating the need to destroy

the mind rather than to transcend it and to harness its energies. For

example, Ramana Maharishi often speaks of the necessity of manonash;

this literally means the “destruction of the mind.” And we find Madame

Blavatsky saying in The Voice of the Silence, “Mind is the slayer of truth,
slay

the slayer.” It is certainly true that the mind is always introducing its own

subjectivity and distractions, thus covering the truth with fantasy, but if the

metaphorical language is taken literally, the mind would not be able to play

its necessary role. Patañjali is much more interested in the purification of

the mind so that it can become a proper instrument of true perception.

It should also be noted that silence is not absence of sound. We can

easily test this in wilderness which can be full of sound, but if we feel the

presence of the peace and the vastness and we can let go of our inner talk,

we feel a silence. Some sounds, usually natural and coherent ones, can

enhance the sense of silence. A sense of wonder brings silence because

we are silenced. The aim of good music is to lead to an inner silence,

through the call to listen without commentary. An inner silence brings us

a different experience of being as it connects us to the subtler vibrations

within ourselves and outside ourselves. If we do not have the experience

of an inner silence, and if suddenly everyone around us becomes silent,

we can become apprehensive, usually because we imagine we are the

center of the universe, and that others are talking about us or shutting us

out by their silence. Consequently, in the culture at large, more inclined

to commerce than to the cultivation of inner silence, almost everywhere

we find some background music or noise.

Just as silence is not absence of sound, stillness is not absence of

motion, as one can see in the performance of an exquisite Bharat Natyam

dance, or in the sculptures of the dancing Shiva, where the movement

highlights, protects, and enhances stillness. We have the experience of

stillness in action, when we know what is needed and we are able to carry

it out without an inner agitation. In such situations, we can begin to

understand the call and the possibility of an inner connection. “Be still,

and know that I AM” (Psalm 46:10). “The Lord will fight for you; you

need only be still”( Exodus 14:14).

We can be much aided by an external silence and a physical stillness;

these affect the mind and help in bringing about internal quiet.Both silence

and stillness are characteristics of presence, of being present, of being here

and now, where there is no time. This is why those who are deeply innerly

quiet can be engaged in any activity and be in meditation; they do not have

to sit down or adopt any particular posture for meditation. If we could be

completely centered and still, the right action would be done through us.
Everything comes to those who do not crave for anything.

Endnotes:
1

In this context, please see R. Ravindra, The Gospel of John in the Light of

Indian Mysticism; especially chapters 6 and 14.

2

Adapted from the quote from Vyasa provided by Christopher Chapple and

Yogi Ananda Viraj, p. 68.

3

The readers’ attention is drawn to an article “Ahimsa, Transformation and

Ecology” in The Spiritual Roots of Yoga.

In the Hindi original, the lines are very simple and beautiful and employ a

charming play on the word manaka, which means both “bead” and “of the

heart (mind).” In the original, the lines are:

Manaka pherata yuga bhaya,

Bhaya na manaka phera.

Karaka manaka chhandike,

Manaka manaka phera.

VibhutiPada
The Way of Splendor
Total Attention
Discipline 3.1 and Transformations

dexbN/iíÊ;Sy /;rû;

deśa-bandhaś-chittasya dhāraṇā

Dharana is holding the mind in one place.

3.2
t] p[Tyy°kt;nt; ?y;nm((
tatra pratyaya-ekatānatā dhyānam

Dhyana is the uninterrupted flow of awareness towards the object of

attention.
3.3
tdev;qRm;]in.;Rs' SvÂpxUNyimv
sm;i/"
tad-eva-artha-mātra-nirbhāsaṃ sva-rūpa-śūnyam-iva samādhiḥ

Samadhi is the state when the self is not, when there is awareness only

of the object of meditation.

After enumerating the five external limbs of yoga—yama, niyama,

asana, pranayama, and pratyahara—in the previous chapter, Patañjali

elaborates the three inner limbs—dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. These
three inner limbs are all different kinds of attention. The last of the external

limbs and the first two of the internal limbs, namely pratyahara, dharana,

115
and dhyana, constitute one continuous process of interiorization.

Dharana, concentration, is the warrior or masculine phase of sadhana. As

Madame de Salzmann repeatedly advised, “Stay in front.”

Struggle, determination, will and effort are all relevant and applicable in

the process of dharana. It is like bringing a flashlight into a dark room

and pointing to one particular object in order to bring it into focus.

Dhyana, usually translated as “meditation,” is more like a general

illumination in a room rather than a flashlight focused on one object.1 It

involves knowing the relationships between the parts and the whole, and
the relationship of one thing with respect to another. This kind of attention
is closer to being available and surrendering to something subtler. It
requires a receptivity to finer energies. It is the lover or feminine phase

of sadhana.

Samadhi is a state in which the “I” does not exist as separate from

the object of attention. It is a state of self-naughting, the state spoken of

in Buddhism as akinchan, a state of freedom from myself or a freedom

from egoism. There is no observer separate from the observed, no subject

separate from the object. Only the knowledge gained in such states of

consciousness can be called objective in the true sense of the word;

otherwise, it is more or less subjective. Even scientific knowledge which
has been considered to be objective because it is intersubjective, amenable
to

verification by competent researchers everywhere, is not objective in the

sense of being completely free of subjectivity.

It is useful to remark that there is nothing wrong with the existence

of the ego. Without a strong ego, there would be no possibility of the

warrior stage of dharana. However, the difficulty arises when the ego

takes over and assumes that it constitutes the whole of myself, with its

attendant self-importance. Here are some remarks of Madame de Salzmann

directly relevant to the question of the ego:

The important thing is to be. If there is no real I, then the

ego takes over. Energy cannot be without relationship. If it

does not serve I intentionally, then it automatically serves

the ego. Watch for the point in working when it is necessary

to let go. Something has to be abandoned. Ego makes the

effort, but one comes to a point when the ego has to be passive. The point of
transition is subtle. There can be too much effort or too little. Unless there
is the I, there is only the ego.

So let it be. One recognizes the presence of I from the fact

that I wishes to serve. Ego does not wish to serve. But until

there is the I, let the ego be. It can be useful. What else are

you going to do? When the I appears, the ego automatically

loses energy and becomes unimportant. It can still be there

but it is not in control. When real individuality is there,

the ego finds its proper place. For some people, Mr. Gurdjieff used to advise
them to develop their ego because they

were too weak. Then later, when it is not needed to be the

master, he would ask them to soak it in cold water.

It is important for sadhakas to keep their attention oriented towards

the radiant flower of wisdom, Purusha, the real I, rather than getting too

immersed in the weeds of the ego which are always there. With selfstudy,
we see and acknowledge the mischievous maneuverings of our ego, but
again and again we need to return to what is of real interest—the real

Self. As a Chinese classic puts it, “When the lion is departed from the
mountain, the monkey becomes the king.” When the real I is not present

to us, we are ruled by the monkey ego.

This is a fundamental point in Indian thought and needs to be

emphasized. The whole tradition is unanimous in insisting that deep

down, at the very core of ourselves, we are divine. One of the four great

utterances (mahavakyas) of the Hindu tradition is “I am Brahman.”2 We

do not live in actuality from the truth of this identity—which itself is

real as far as all the sages in India are concerned. The purpose of spiritual

practice is to actualize the real. If we get thoroughly immersed in the

actual—the state of sleep, or of mechanicality, or of illusion, or of

sinfulness, depending on the tradition from which we approach this—we
can get disheartened and feel guilt-ridden. Such attitudes can lead to
weakness, but inner strength, and feelings of courage and hope are needed
to undertake the arduous task of transformation. Spiritual teachings are

teachings of hope. Sages may describe our actual situation in stark terms,

emphasizing the terror of our human situation, but they always point to

a level of reality free from suffering, illusion and sin, and assure us that it

is possible to connect with what is real, however difficult the journey.

The great nineteenth-century Indian saint, Ramakrishna, told a

story about a tigress who attacked a herd of goats. Shot by a hunter just

as she sprang on her prey, the tigress gave birth to a cub and died. The

cub grew up in the company of the goats. Following their example, it

started eating grass and bleating like them, even when it grew to be a big

tiger. One day another tiger attacked the flock and was amazed to see a

grass eating tiger in the flock. When the wild tiger caught up to the grass

eating tiger, the latter began to bleat. The wild tiger dragged the other to

the water and asked it to look at its face in the water and see that it was

identical to that of the wild tiger. The wild one gave a little meat to the

bleating tiger, who had difficulty eating it. Gradually, however, the grass

eating tiger got to know the taste of blood, and came to relish the meat.

Then the wild tiger said: "Now you see there is no difference between you

and me; come along and follow me into the forest.”3

We can well imagine the jungle reverberating sound of the two free

tigers roaring! We have forgotten our face, our wild roar, and we bleat as

if we were goats. When we remember ourselves, it is like the prodigal son

when he came to himself. This our brother “was dead and is alive again,

was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). Miserable though we may be, we can

come alive; we can reorient ourselves and undergo a radical transformation.

With effort, knowledge, and guidance, one can become what one truly is,
"Son of the Most High,” partaker of Divine Nature, and a child

of God (Psalm 82:6; II Peter 1:4; I John 3:1-2).

In samadhi the seeing is without subjectivity. Attention in the state

of samadhi is free attention, freed from all constraints and all functions.
Attention in this state is not conditioned by any object, even very subtle

ones, such as ideas and feelings.

This stage is closer to that of being the beloved when Purusha, the

Conscious Energy and Transcendent Being, is the sole initiator; all the

elements of Prakriti in a human being—body, mind, feelings—are

completely relaxed and receptive.

The three stages—dhyana, dharana, samadhi—are like those of a

warrior, lover and beloved—in the movement from the ego to the Self

or to God.

3.4
]ymek] s'ym"
trayam-ekatra saṃyamaḥ

Total attention (samyama) is when dharana, dhyana, and samadhi are

together.
3.5
tJjy;Tp[D;lok"
taj-jayāt prajñā-ālokaḥ

The illumination of insight results from the mastery of this.

3.6
tSy .UimWu ivinyog"
tasya bhūmiṣu viniyogaḥ

The practice of samyama is accomplished gradually.

3.7
]ymNtr©' pUveR>y"
trayam-antar-anƒgaṃ pūrvebhyaḥ

These three limbs of yoga are inner limbs with respect to the limbs

discussed previously.
3.8
tdip bihr©˘ inbIRjSy
tad-api bahir-anƒgaṃ nirbījasya

Still, these are external to nirbija samadhi.

All spiritual practice is for this inner birth. Meister Eckhart said, “A

Christian is called to be Mary and to give birth to the Word.”

Transformations of the Mind

Samyama, total attention, is realized when all three forms of attention—

dharana, dhyana, and samadhi—are practiced together at the same time.
This seems to be much like the “total attention” spoken of by Krishnamurti.
In this state the splendor of insight emerges, and the person sees the
suchness, the thing-in-itself (ding en sich of Immanuel Kant), of

whatever the attention of samyama is directed upon.

This is a state of pure consciousness, a state totally empty of my ego

self but full of Purusha, the Conscious Energy. Purusha is wholly other

(totaliter aliter) than anything that can be known. But it is intimately

my Self; the Highest and Unknowable God resides in my deepest, in its

true form.4 “Look within, you are the Buddha” said the Enlightened One.

Samyama attention is the entry to direct insight. With this attention, we can
see into the nature of reality. Like any other process, it is accomplished in
stages, even though the precise moments of insight are

like quantum jumps and cannot be mapped in time.

Even though the three limbs of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi are

internal to the other five limbs of yoga, it is now said that these three

are external compared with nirbija samadhi, contemplation without seed.

The process described so far—including dharana, dhyana, and samadhi

and their composite, samyama—is concerned with the quieting of vrittis,

the contents of consciousness. When the mind is cleansed, then it is

possible to know without the interference of the categories of the mind

and to gain the knowledge of the noumenon. In what follows, Patañjali

discusses the transformation of the structure of consciousness, which is

more like a transmutation of the mind, as in a species change.

After this transmutation, there will be a new birth—the birth of a

radically new person with new being, “born, not of blood, nor of carnal

will, nor by man's desire, but of God” ( John 1:13).

3.9
VyuTq;ninro/s'Sk;ryori..vp[;du.;Rv
*

inro/ÃûicÊ;;Nvyo inro/pirû;m"
vyutthāna-nirodha-saṃskārayor-abhibhava-prādur-bhāvau

nirodha-kṣaṇa-chitta-anvayo nirodha-pariṇāmaḥ

Nirodha parinama, transformation towards silence, is the transformation

of the mind in which the attention moves from the rise and fall of the

external impressions to the silence which pervades when the mind is

settled.

3.10
tSy p[x;Ntv;iht;s'Sk;r;t(
tasya praśānta-vāhitā saṃskārāt

The flow of silence becomes constant from the internal impressions of

this quiet.
3.11
sv;RRqRt°k;g[tyo" Ãyody* icÊ;Sy
sm;i/pirû;m"
sarva-arthatā-ekāgratayoḥ kṣaya-udayau chittasya
samādhipariṇāmaḥ

Samadhi parinama, transformation towards realization, is the gradual

settling of distractions and the simultaneous rising of one-pointedness.

3.12
tt" pun" x;Ntoidt* tuLyp[Tyy*
icÊ;Sy°k;g[t;pirû;m"
tataḥ punaḥ śānta-uditau tulya-pratyayau chittasya-
ekāgratāpariṇāmaḥ

Ekagrata parinama, transformation towards one-pointedness, is the

stage of transformation in which activity and silence are equally balanced in

the mind.

Various transformations of the mind, or of consciousness, are spoken about

in the above sutras. These are transformations in the material substratum

of Prakriti, both inside the mind as well as outside it. This constitutes the

basis of the miraculous knowledge that can be obtained by performing

samyama on different parts of the organism.

The one-pointedness mentioned in the sutra (3.12) above is not a

focusing of the mind as in dharana, but it is a one-pointed directionality of

attention, a constancy and a steadiness, towards the flow of silence. All the
three kinds of transformations (parinama) mentioned

above—nirodha, samadhi, and ekagrata—have to do with the relationship

between the impressions coming from outside and the underlying silence of
a still mind. In the nirodha parinama, the attention moves

repeatedly from the disturbance created by an impression to the silence

of the mind. In the samadhi parinama, there is a gradual diminishing of

the distractions caused by the impressions and an increasing orientation

to the silence of the mind. In the ekagrata parinama, there is a balancing

of the impressions and the silence; the impressions are received in the

mind but the fundamental underlying silence remains. That is closer to a

transmutation of the structure of the mind, a new birth and a new being.

As Plotinus says of a transformed person, “this man has now become

another and is neither himself nor his own" (Enneads vi 9.10).

The sages who have undergone this kind of radical transformation

have a different quality of mind. It seemed obviously true in the case of

Krishnamurti. I was struck by the special nature and quality of

Krishnamurti's mind, so I often asked him about the particularities of his
mind.

He frequently spoke about the religious mind and its innocence,freshness

and vulnerability. He would often suggest that he was just like everybody

else and not someone special. But I was never convinced of this. On one

occasion, when I persisted in asking about the nature of his extraordinary

mind, he said, “Sir, do you think the speaker is a freak?” Freak or not, he

certainly was extraordinary and unusual. As was mentioned earlier, his

mind was like a mill-pond; any disturbance that was created in it by an

external stimulus soon died down, leaving it unruffled as before.

Patañjali tells us that the whole difference between an ordinary

person and an accomplished yogi is in the quality and depth of the silence

of mind and how soon this silence returns after an external impression

is received.

3.13
Eten .UteiN{yeWu
/mRlÃû;vSq;pirû;m; Vy;:y;t;"
etena bhūta-indriyeṣu dharma-lakṣaṇa-avasthā-pariṇāmā

vyākhyātāḥ

By extension, the transformations of the mind explain the transformations

of material nature—transformations of quality, form, and state.

3.14
x;Ntoidt;VypdeXy/m;Rnup;tI /mIR
śānta-udita-avyapadeśya-dharma-anupātī dharmī

The substratum underlying the essential properties of material nature

endures whether these properties are at rest, arising, or unmanifest.

3.15
k›m;NyTv' pirû;m;NyTve hetu"
krama-anyatvaṃ pariṇāma-anyatve hetuḥ

Variations in the sequence of properties cause differences in the

transformation of material nature.

After mentioning the three kinds of transformation of the mind,

Patañjali makes the somewhat startling comment that these very

transformations also apply to the transformation of material nature. As the
mind undergoes the three transformations mentioned above, there are

transformations of the quality, form, and state of the objects of samyama

corresponding to those. Even though the underlying material essence

of the object remains unchanged, the quality, form, and the state of the

material can be changed corresponding to the transformations of the

mind. This is the basis of the miraculous powers described further in this

chapter of the Yoga Sutras that an advanced yogi can acquire over the

objects of attention.

Subtle Knowledge

3.16
pirû;m]ys'ym;dtIt;n;gtD;nm(
pariṇāma-traya-saṃyamād-atīta-anāgata-jñānam

By samyama on the three kinds of transformations (nirodha, samadhi,

ekagrata) knowledge of the past and of the future can be gained.

3.17
xBd;qRp[Tyy;n;imtretr;?y;s;t(

s˘krStTp[iv.;gs˘ym;TsvR.Ut®tD;n
m(
śabda-artha-pratyayānām-itara-itara-adhyāsāt-saṃkaras-
tatpravibhāga-saṃyamāt-sarva-bhūta-ruta-jñānam

Understanding of an object is usually confused because the name, the

meaning, and the perception of the object are mistakenly identified.

Through samyama on the distinction among these three, the knowledge

of the sound of all beings can be gained.

3.18
s˘Sk;rs;Ã;Tkrû;TpUvRj;itD;nm(
saṃskāra-sākṣāt-karaṇāt-pūrva-jāti-jñānam

Knowledge of previous births can be gained from direct perception of

samskaras.

The basic principle underlying this discussion is that in a fully

developed person, the microcosmos (kshudra brahmanda) mirrors the

megalocosmos (brahmanda). Many vibhutis (powers, manifestations,

phenomena) accompany the yogic journey; they are not a separate issue.

They cannot be denied and need not be ignored. In fact, the kinds of

knowledge which are mentioned here may be needed by a master to help

students or for other purposes. However, increased powers bring greater

responsibilities; therefore, the attitude to these powers is of paramount

importance.

The ability to bring samyama attention is an indication of a highly

developed consciousness. These powers are not something which are

available to the lower level mind. The right use of such powers requires a
developed will, great insight, and enormous compassion. If powers are
acquired (through sadhana or through magic, or drugs, or will), they can be
misused

if there is not a continuing work towards freedom from the ego and its
greed and self-importance. We all have powers and talents which we can

use and whatever is true about more unusual powers is also true about the

powers we already have. What is the right use of these powers? What is

required of us in order not to misuse what we have been given?

Patañjali has said more than once that the combination of tapas, svadhyaya,
and Ishvara pranidhana is the way to invite Purusha, the sole seer, to see
through our organism.Tapas is the self-discipline required to persist

with our undertaking, to stay in front of the object of our search, to make

an effort and not to give up. In Ishvara pranidhana we are reminded that

there are higher and larger forces and that we need to be in accord with

them. Ishvara pranidhana is not a dedication to a particular form of God,

but to the higher and more conscious energies within the universe and

within ourselves. It is only possible when I realize that I am not the crown

of creation and that the universe was not made for me. Ishvara is seated

within each one of us, as Krishna repeatedly says in the Bhagavad Gita,

but this subtle energy is not exclusively mine or yours. Ishvara is at the very

center of myself, but Ishvara is everywhere, at the center of every being. Its

center is everywhere and its circumference nowhere.

Our self includes the whole range, from the isolated and exclusive

ego-self to the highest Self which is identical with Brahman. And spiritual
development has to do with what part in this spectrum from the isolated
ego-self to the Self we are identified with. Although there is a
repeated reminder in the Gurdjieff teaching that we human beings are

afflicted with self-love and that this is one of the greatest obstacles in

our search, yet on one occasion Madame de Salzmann said, “You don’t

love your self enough, the Self that wishes and needs to emerge.” We

need repeatedly to turn to svadhyaya—self-knowledge, self-study,

selfobservation, self-realization—more and more impartially, without fear
and self-importance.

Attention is the main power of transformation. Transformation is

not brought about by a decision of our ordinary mind, nor by any efforts

arising from the level of consciousness which needs to be transformed.

Seeing is at a level higher than what is seen, and therefore it can bring

about a transformation in the quality of what is seen. Seeing the way it is

in myself,steadily and impartially,brings about a transformation of myself.

I need to acknowledge myself, accept myself, and love myself—ego and

all—without manipulation, without himsa. I cannot love another, or be

compassionate to another, unless I accept myself and am compassionate

to myself. If I am not right by myself, I cannot be right by anyone else or

by God. The whole range of myself needs to be acknowledged. To truly

see “what is” transforms “what is” in actuality to “What Is” in reality.

As the sutras above say, to understand the change involved in

transformation is to understand time sequence. The Greek word physis
which is translated as “nature” means “change.” The whole natural world is
dynamic; change is a constant feature of everything which exists in time.

By understanding the laws which govern change, past and future can be

understood. This has been the undertaking of science, but the laws
governing subtler and non-physical levels of reality require a subtler
science such as yoga.

How do we understand an object? Is the understanding obtained by

hearing the name of the object, the label attached to it? Does the
understanding arise from knowing the meaning of the words used to
describe something? Or from a perception of the object? The name of
something

is not the same as the thing itself, nor the same as the perception of the

thing. We can falsely assume that we know something because we have

heard the description in words, either from having heard them, or read

them or from memory. The meaning of an experience or an object is not

necessarily what we think,or what others say,but needs to be received with

an open mind. Usually we speak of the meaning of words, but objects and

experiences also have meanings, which includes their intention, purpose

and significance. The sutras above suggest that if we pay total attention

(samyama) to the differences among the name of an object, the meaning

of that object and the perception of it, we can begin to hear the subtler

vibrations behind the words and then we can understand the language of

animals, other human beings and of angels. Listening with a silent mind,
without its chatter, is difficult but necessary.

In the sutra (3.18) above, the Sanskrit word

sakshatkara which means

“direct perception” is used in much the same way as samyama. This

indicates something of the quality of samyama, perfect discipline and total
attention. It is much closer to a direct look at something without the

distractions of the mind than thinking about that thing. By a direct

perception of our latent tendencies or predispositions, we can gain
knowledge of our previous births in which these tendencies were formed.
This knowing is not for the sake of gaining information about past lives in a

historical sense, but for the sake of knowing ourselves at depth.

p[TyySy pricÊ;D;nm(
pratyayasya para-chitta-jñānam

Through direct perception of their intention, knowledge of another’s

mind can be gained.

m°}y;idWu bl;in
maitry-ādiṣu balāni

From samyama on friendliness and similar qualities, these qualities can

be gained.
3.20
n c tTs;lMbn˘ tSy;ivWyI.UtTv;t(
na cha tat-sa-ālambanaṃ tasya-aviṣayī-bhūtatvāt

This does not involve knowledge of the underlying object of thought

since that is not in one’s field of perception.

3.24
bleWu hiStbl;dIin
baleṣu hasti-bala-ādīni

From samyama on the strength of an animal, such as an elephant, one

gains that strength.

3.21
k;yÂps'ym;Ê;d(g[;ÁxiKtStM.e
cÃu"

p[k;x;s˘p[yogeåNt/;Rnm(
kāya-rūpa-saṃyamāt-tad-grāhya-śakti-stambhe chakṣuḥprakāśa-
a-saṃprayoge’ ntardhānam

From samyama on the form of the body, by breaking the contact

between the eye of the observer and the light reflected by the body, the

body becomes invisible.

3.22
sopk›m' in®pk›m' c kmR
tTs'ym;dpr;NtD;nmir˛e>yo v;
sa-upakramaṃ nir-upakramaṃ cha karma tat-saṃyamād-
aparaanta-jñānam-ariṣṭebhyo vā

From samyama on the immediate and remote effects of action (karma)

foreknowledge of death can be gained.

3.25
p[vOÊy;lokNy;s;TsU+mVyviht
ivp[k’˛D;nm(
pravṛtty-āloka-nyāsāt sūkṣma-vyavahita-viprakṛṣṭa-jñānam

Knowledge of the subtle, the concealed and the remote can be achieved

by directing the inner light.

3.26
.uvnD;n' sUyeR s'ym;t(
bhuvana-jñānaṃ sūrye saṃyamāt

Knowledge of the universe can be gained by samyama on the sun.

3.27
cN{e t;r;VyUhD;nm(
chandre tārā-vyūha-jñānam

Knowledge of the arrangement of the stars can be gained by samyama

on the moon.
/[uve tÌitD;nm(
dhruve tad-gati-jñānam

Knowledge of the movement of the stars can be gained by samyama on

the polar star.

p[;it.;√; svRm(
prātibhād-vā sarvam

And, knowledge of the all can be reached through intuitive perception.

3.29
n;i.ck›e k;yVyUhD;nm(
nābhi-chakre kāya-vyūha-jñānam

Knowledge of the bodily system can be gained by samyama on the

navel center.
3.34
˙dye icÊ;s'ivt(
hṛdaye chitta-saṃvit

Samyama on the heart leads to an understanding of chitta.

3.30
kô#kUpe =uiTpp;s;invOiÊ;"
kaṇṭha-kūpe kṣut-pipāsā-nivṛttiḥ

Hunger and thirst can be overcome by samyama on the throat hollow.

3.31
kUmRn;@(y;˘ Sq°yRm(
kūrma-nāḍyāṃ sthairyam

Stability can be achieved by samyama on the kurma nadi (tortoise vein).

3.32
mU/RJyoitiW is´dxRnm(
mūrdha-jyotiṣi siddha-darśanam

Samyama on the light in the head brings vision of perfected beings.

Changing the scale of perception—as we do with a microscope or

a telescope—is different from changing the level of perception. As William

Blake says, “What a sage sees is not what an ordinary person sees.”

The perception of the Buddha, a third-eye perception, is different in

quality from our perception.

A master of yoga can become invisible by affecting the consciousness of the

perceiver. At a much lower level, we know that in hypnosis a person can be
given a suggestion not to see the things or the events

which are objectively there, and to see some things which are not there.

Several sutras above, especially 3.25-29, give some hints of the yogic

method of research into natural phenomena. The principle of analogy

or isomorphism between one thing—nearby or within ourselves—and

another which could be remote, is a fundamental premise of traditional

knowledge. In particular, the human being mirrors the cosmos. With

a sensitive and sustained observation (samyama) it is possible to know

the laws which govern the processes in ourselves and in others, but also

by analogy the laws in larger spheres. The method practiced by a yogi to

study the cosmos is through self-study without self-occupation.

Another principle which is suggested here is the holographic principle

according to which if a part is known the whole can be known. For
example, as is said in sutra 3.28-30, knowledge of the movement of the

stars can be gained by samyama on the polar star, and knowledge of the

132

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

bodily system can be gained by samyama on the navel center.

Knowledge leads to power; but it can lead to black magic if it is

not accompanied by a fully developed conscience. All the great sages

have warned against being fascinated by the magical powers which

somewhat naturally develop on the spiritual journey. One can fall at any

stage of development. Lucifer was the highest of all angels, closest to the

Almighty, but in his hubris he wanted to be like the Most High, and was

banished from heaven. Similarly, Ravana, the titanic demonic figure in

the Ramayana, the most ancient epic of India, was such a learned man

that he is shown with ten heads. He was a great devotee of Shiva and

because of his austerities he had won all sorts of powers and protections.

But because of one fundamental flaw in his character, that of pride and

self-importance, he became a great tyrant and had to be killed by Rama,

an incarnation of Vishnu. In the right development of a human being,

development of conscience needs to precede the development of
consciousness. No doubt this is the reason why yama and niyama are placed
by Patañjali as the first two limbs of his eight-limbed yoga.

Siddhis as Impediments
Miraculous Powers3.35

sÊvpu®WyorTyNt;s'kIûRyo"
p[Tyy;ivxeWo .og"

pr;q;RTv;TSv;qRs'ym;Tpu®WD;n
m(
sattva-puruṣayor-atyanta-asaṃkīrṇayoḥ pratyaya-aviśeṣobhogaḥ

para-arthātvāt sva-artha-saṃyamāt-puruṣa-jñānam

When the quality of perfect sattva is close to the quality of Purusha,

experience serves Purusha. By samyama on the purposes of perfect

sattva, one gains insight into Purusha.

3.36
tt" p[;it.≈;vûvedn;dx;RSv;dv;t;R
j;yNte
tataḥ prātibha-śrāvaṇa-vedanā-ādarśa-āsvāda-vārtā jāyante

Thus, subtle hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling are born.

3.37
te sm;/;vupsg;R VyuTq;ne is´y"
te samādhāv-upasargā vyutthāne siddhayaḥ

These powers (siddhis) are attainments in the world, but they are

impediments to samadhi.
135

Again and again, Patañjali returns to the question of the right relationship
between Purusha and Prakriti, between Atman and sharira (body), between
spirit and matter, between God and the world. In general, we are lost in the
world or in the comforts and pleasures of the body-mind. How can we
understand the right place and function of the

body-mind? How can we see God in the world? How can we have some

relationship with God? How can we come to a realization of the real Self,

the true I, in this body?

The first time Madame de Salzmann said to me, “Your body is not

only yours” I was completely perplexed. Who else or what else could

have a stake in my body? Gradually it began to be clear to me in feeling

that something higher than what I usually call myself has taken on my

body-mind for some purpose, and that the body exists for that. I began

to understand that if my body does not serve a higher purpose, then this

incarnation is wasted.

Madame de Salzmann added, “The Lord, the Seigneur, is there, but

he needs my body to come.The body is not ready. It needs to be prepared.

If the mind and the body are connected, then the higher energy, which

is what religions call Seigneur, will appear. It cannot be done easily or

cheaply. But it must be done. It is necessary for the maintenance of our

world. The body has to serve something else, not itself. The body itself is

designed for destruction; it has to serve something else.”

It is a lesson of all the great traditions that without God it cannot be

done, but without human beings it will not be done. We need to play our

part in welcoming God to work through us.

There is no suggestion in the sutras above that experience is a bad

thing or that it is undesirable. Experience constitutes life and being alive

means that we experience. However, in order to serve Purusha, the spiritual

element which is incarnated in the body, we need to be very clear about the
distinction between Purusha and Prakriti so that we do not

confuse the rider with the vehicle. According to Patañjali, Purusha is

always the subject; it cannot be an object of knowledge. Whatever can be

an object of knowledge, however refined and subtle, is not Purusha. But

Purusha needs the purified mind—of the nature of sattva, the clearest

aspect of Prakriti—to know itself. As Meister Eckhart said, “God cannot

know himself without me.” In one hadith, a divine saying in Islam, Allah

says, ”I was a hidden Treasure and I loved to be known. So I created

humanity—and the other creatures—that I might be known.”

We cannot know Purusha, but Purusha can know itself through us.

“Self alone knows the Self,” said Aristotle. Whatever can be known is

not God. Purusha cannot be known; it is the knower. Still the sutra says

that by samyama on the purpose of Purusha as distinct from the purpose

of Prakriti, which is to serve Purusha, leads to Purusha jñana. Jñana, as

it occurs in the sutra (3.35) above, is usually translated as “knowledge.”

How can there be knowledge of Purusha? Jñana is not knowledge by

separation in which subject and object remain distinct; it is “knowledge,”

or rather gnosis, by participation, by the fusion of subject and object. It

is a knowing which is the same as becoming. The kind of insight that

can lead us to the Spirit has a transforming character; in the process we

become different. In order to know what is higher than us, we have to be

higher. In fact, being and knowing are so intimately connected that the

Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9) declares, “Brahmanvid brahmaiva bhavati:

One who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.” For Parmenides (Diels,

Fr. 185) and Plotinus (Enneads vi. 9) “to be and to know are one and the

same.” Opening oneself to the Spirit is thus already a movement towards

being born of the Spirit.

It is possible to think of Purusha as consciousness; but we must not

confuse consciousness with the contents of consciousness. The contents

of consciousness and Purusha are not the same. Purusha is pure
consciousness.

Bringing the attention of samyama on the purposes of Purusha leads

to the enhancement of all the senses—seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing,

and touching—and an increased sensitivity discloses hidden and remote

objects. Masters of yoga can acquire powers of clairaudience and

clairvoyance, which is to say they can hear at a distance or see at a distance.

Patañjali has nothing against magical or occult powers; to him they

are a natural extension of the senses. When asked about these miraculous

powers, Madame de Salzmann said, “There are no miracles. It is all a play

of forces.” However, she warned against using these powers for egotistic

purposes. This is a precaution given by all the great teachers, including

Patañjali, the Buddha and the Christ. Superpowers can present the

greatest temptations for an aspirant; if these powers or these enhanced

senses are turned outward and used for worldly success or control over

others, then they become impediments to samadhi. We can appreciate

again the necessity of practicing yamas and niyamas, the first two limbs

of yoga in order to develop a clearer conscience as we work for greater

consciousness and will.

Even at the highest stages of spiritual development, self importance

or egotistic ambition can arise, tempting a yogi to use the occult powers
for manipulating the world for selfish purposes. Lucifer was the highest

of all angels, nearest to God, but pride and ambition got hold of him

and he was expelled from heaven. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O

Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground . . .

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my

throne above the stars of God . . . I will ascend above the heights of the

clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).

3.39
¨d;njy;Jjlp˚kô$k;id„vs© ¨Tk›;iNtí
udāna-jayāj-jala-panka-kaṇṭaka-ādiṣv-asanƒga utkrāntiś-cha

From the mastery of the movement of subtle breath rising in the body,

one is freed from being caught by mud, thorns, and water, and one can

rise above them.

Several supreme powers (

siddhis) which result from samyama, total

attention, on various aspects of Prakriti are described in this chapter.

Generally these siddhis are ascribed to the physical body (sthula sharira),
but it is more reasonable to assume that they belong to the subtle body
(sukshma

sharira). There are eight siddhis which are associated with advanced yogis.

According to the Yoga Bhashya5 of Vyasa these are:

1.

Animan: atomization, miniaturization of the body. By this siddhi

a yogi can make the body very small.

Mastery over Natural Forces

3.38
bN/k;rûx°iqLy;Tp[c;rs'vedn;É
icÊ;Sy prxrIr;vex"
bandha-kāraṇa-śaithilyāt-prachāra-saṃvedanāch-cha chittasya

para-śarīra-āveśaḥ

Being free of the sources of bondage, perceiving the manifestations of

another, one is able to enter their body through consciousness.

2.

Mahiman: magnification, the power to expand infinitely. This

power is just the opposite of the previous one and a yogi can

appear very large if needed.

3.

Laghiman: levitation. An outstanding example of this power is

presented by St. Teresa of Avilla. She did not ask for this power

nor did she wish it. It is said that she was often bothered by levitation while
sweeping the floor in her monastery and she would pray to God to free her
of this nuisance.

4.

Prapti: extension, the power to reach everywhere. An example of

this power can be found in a remark of Meister Eckhart: “Yesterday I said

something that would seem truly incredible. I said: Jerusalem is as near to
my soul as the place where I am now

standing. Yes, in all truth; what is even more than a thousand

miles farther than Jerusalem is as near to my soul as my own

body; and I am as sure of this as I am of being a man.”

5.

Prakamya: freedom of will. Most of us assume that human

beings have free will. However, this siddhi implies that ordinarily we do not
have free will. We are very much conditioned by our species, culture,
family, and by the past in general. Even

a spiritually developed person like St. Paul can have a divided

will which results in a lack of freedom and self-control. “I do not

even acknowledge my own actions as mine, for what I do is not

what I want to do, but what I detest,” says St. Paul. “The good

which I want to do, I fail to do; but what I do is the wrong which

is against my will” (Romans 7:15, 20). Similarly, Arjuna asks

in the Bhagavad Gita (3:36), “Krishna, what is it that makes a

man do evil, even against his own will; under compulsion, as it

were?” It is rare for a human being to have free will; however, an

advanced yogi who is freed of all conditioning can have free will

and be able to act freshly without the constraints of the past.

6.
Vashitva: mastery over the entire creation. This siddhi is a continuation of
the idea that those who wish to possess nothing and do not hanker after
anything, will have all that they need

without their asking. Thus they become masters of the whole

world.

7.

Ishitritva: the power of creation. This is the power which in

mythology is attributed to Brahma, the God of creation in the

Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, where Vishnu is

the preserver and therefore the God of Dharma, and Shiva is

the transformer, the god of dance, theater, music, grammar, and

yoga. All the gods in the Trinity have their feminine counterparts—
Sarasvati, Lakshmi, and Shakti, respectively—and it is with the help of the
feminine energies that they carry out their

functions.The creator God, Brahma, has the goddess of wisdom,

Sarasvati, as his consort. A yogi who has great wisdom acquires

the siddhi of ishitritva and is able to create whatever is needed.

8.

Kamavasayitva: the power of wish fulfillment. It is often said

in the Indian tradition that the whole universe is like a wish

fulfilling tree (kalpavriksha) or a wish granting cow (kamadhenu), but that

our wishes and desires are generally chaotic and self-contradictory. In a
developed yogi, wish is more unified and
consistent with the universal forces.

3.40
sm;njy;JJvlnm((
samāna-jayāj-jvalanam

Radiance is the result of mastery of the movement of the mid-breath.

In the sutra above, Patañjali speaks of the radiance produced by

samyama on samana, breath in the middle region of the body. The breath

(prana) is intimately related with the spirit in many traditions. In Japan,

the center of the body and the soul in a person is called hara and this

center is given a particular emphasis in many spiritual disciplines of Japan,

and especially in Zen Buddhism where it is maintained that anyone not

centered in the hara is not centered at all.This center is in the belly, below

the solar plexus. This designation itself is suggestive of the great

importance attached to the solar plexus, for the spirit is symbolized by the
sun in many traditions. The center is near the navel which physically is the

place for the inflow of the life-sustaining energies through the umbilical

cord. In the theory of yoga, one of the very important chakras (centers of

energy) is located near the navel. It is called the manipura chakra which

literally means the center which is filled with jewels.

The seat of the spirit in the sutra is identified with the belly (Greek

koilia), in keeping with many spiritual traditions, including the Hebraic.

One finds in Proverbs (20:27), “The breath of man is the lamp of the

Lord, searching all the inner parts of his belly.”

“On the last and the greatest day of the festival Jesus stood and cried

aloud: ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come; let him drink who believes in
me.’”As

Scripture says, “From his belly rivers of living water shall flow” (John
7:37-38).

3.41
≈o];k;xyo" s'bN/s'ym;i˝Vy' ≈o]m
śrotra-ākāśayoḥ saṃbandha-saṃyamād-divyaṃ śrotram

The divine ear develops with samyama on the connection between ear

and space.
3.45
ttoåiûm;idp[;du.;Rv"
k;ysMpÊ;ım;'Rni.`;tí
tato’ ṇima-ādi-prādurbhāvaḥ kāya-saṃpat-tad-
dharmaanabhighātaś-cha

Then extraordinary powers appear, such as the power to be as small as

an atom, as well as bodily perfection and indestructibility.

3.42
k;y;k;xyo" s'bN/s'ym;Ll`utUl
sm;pÊ;eí;k;xgmnm(
kāya-ākāśayoḥ saṃbandha-saṃyamāl-laghu-tūla-samāpatteścha-
ākāśa-gamanam

From samyama on the connection between the body and space and by

samapatti with the lightness of cotton, one can move through space at

will.

3.46
Âpl;vôyblvj[s'hnnTv;in k;ysMpt
rūpa-lāvaṇya-bala-vajra-saṃhananatvāni kāya-saṃpat

Perfection of the body is expressed in beauty of form, vigor, strength,

and firm stability.

3.43
bihrkiLpt; vOiÊ;mRh;ivdeh; tt"
p[k;x;vrû=y"
bahir-akalpitā vṛttir-mahā-videhā tataḥ prakāśa-āvaraṇakṣayaḥ

The veil covering the light within is destroyed by contacting the state of

consciousness which is beyond the body and is inconceivable.

3.47
g[hûSvÂp;iSmt;Nvy;qRvÊvs'ym;id
iN{yjy"
grahaṇa-sva-rūpa-asmitā-anvaya-arthavattva-saṃyamādindriya-
jayaḥ

Samyama on the real nature of the senses and their process of perception
and of identification with the separate self leads to mastery over the senses.

3.44
SqUlSvÂpsU+m;Nvy;qRvÊvs'ym;d
( .Utjy"
sthūla-sva-rūpa-sūkṣma-anvaya-arthavattva-saṃyamād-
bhūtajayaḥ

From samyama on gross, intrinsic, subtle, relational, and purposive

aspects of the elements of matter, one attains mastery over them.

3.48
tto mnojivTv' ivkrû.;v" p[/;njyí
tato mano-javitvaṃ vikaraṇa-bhāvaḥ pradhāna-jayaś-cha

From this one acquires quickness of mind, super-sensual perception and

mastery over primordial matter.

3.49
sÊvpu®W;Nyt;:y;itm;]Sy svR.;v;i/
œ;tOTv' svRD;tOTv' c
sattva-puruṣa-anyatā-khyāti-mātrasya sarva-
bhāvaadhiṣṭhātṛtvaṃ sarva-jñātṛtvaṃ cha

Knowledge of all and sovereignty over all are achieved from a discernment
of the difference between sattva and Purusha.

In the sutra (3.41) above the development of

divya shrotram, the

divine ear, is mentioned. When Krishna shows his great form to Arjuna,

he says, “O Arjuna, now behold the entire creation; animate, inanimate,

and whatever else you like to see; all at one place in my body. But, you

are not able to see Me with your physical eye; therefore, I give you divya

chakshu (a divine eye) to see my majestic power and glory” (Bhagavad

Gita 11:7-8).

We can understand from this parallel that it is not only a matter of

clairaudience or clairvoyance, but also of subtle hearing and seeing. With

the divya shrotram one can hear the voice of the silence, or the anahata

nada, soundless sound which the sages have said fills the whole universe.

In the other sutras above many other powers and accomplishments

are mentioned. Patañjali places an enormous importance on making a

clear distinction between Purusha and Prakriti, or between the Self and

non-Self, as the Vedantists would say. Discernment of the difference is

not in order to separate the two but to discover the right relationship

between them. By sustained discernment (viveka) and the clear vision

(khyati), the right order and the proper relationship between Purusha

and sattva, the most refined aspect of Prakriti, will arise. It is not that a

yogi would then have personal sovereignty over Prakriti; it is more that

Purusha has the sovereignty through the yogi whose consciousness as

well as conscience are purified, and who has freedom from the ego and

from all selfishness.

Unconditioned Freedom

3.50
t√°r;gy;dip doWbIj=ye k°vLym(
tad-vairāgyād-api doṣa-bīja-kṣaye kaivalyam

Vairagya even from this destroys the seed of bondage and leads to

Kaivalya (freedom without measure).

3.51
Sq;NyupinmN]ûe s©Smy;krû'
punrin˛p[s©;t(
sthāny-upanimantraṇe sanƒga-smaya-akaraṇaṃ punar-
aniṣṭaprasanƒgāt

One should not respond with pleasure or pride to the alluring invitations of
exalted beings lest harmful attachment recur.
3.52
=ûtTk›myo" s'ym;i√vekj' D;nm(
kṣaṇa-tat-kramayoḥ saṃyamād-viveka-jaṃ jñānam

From samyama on the moment of time and on time sequence, jñana

born of viveka, insight born of discernment, is gained.

3.53
j;itl=ûdex°rNyt;nvCzed;t(
tuLyyoStt" p[itpiÊ;"
jāti-lakṣaṇa-deśair-anyatā-anavachchhedāt-tulyayos-tataḥ

pratipattiḥ

Through discernment one realizes the different origins, characteristics,

and positions which distinguish two seemingly similar things.

3.54
t;rk' svRivWy' svRq;ivWymk›m'
ceit ivvekj' D;nm(
tārakaṃ sarva-viṣayaṃ sarvathā-viṣayam-akramaṃ cha-iti

viveka-jaṃ jñānam

This jñana born of viveka is liberating, comprehensive, eternal, and freed

of time sequence.
3.55
sÊvpu®Wyo" xui´s;Mye k°vLyimit
sattva-puruṣayoḥ śuddhi-sāmye kaivalyam-iti

When sattva and Purusha are equal in purity, Kaivalya is there. It

is thus.

Kaivalya is the aloneness of seeing,or pure perception.It is achieved—

or we should rather say that it is arrived at, or it arrives—by vairagya

towards even the most subtle satisfactions, experiences and powers.

High beings, such as devas or angels, can offer all sorts of pleasures

and comforts of heaven or paradise. Hearing subtle truths, being able

to do magical things, or being an important person, are all temptations

of the ego. These exalted celestial beings are as much within ourselves

as outside. This was a realization of Siddhartha as he became Buddha

(awake, discerning, enlightened); he saw that Mara, the tempter, was a

projection of his own yearnings. Patañjali warns against these allurements,

not because they do not exist, but because they are not Purusha which is the
aim of our sadhana. We can be waylaid in our quest by

falling into self-pride and by becoming attached to the experiences and

powers which accompany any inner development.

Time sequence and spatial distance are transcended in the state

of Kaivalya, and all happenings are present to Purusha, the Transcendent
Conscious Energy, simultaneously. The insight gained in the state of
Kaivalya is comprehensive, eternal and nonsequential. All events are

present at once. Above all, this insight is liberating, for it is free of all

bondage and free of the kleshas.

Prakriti fulfills her purpose when she allows Purusha to see and act

through her without distortion. All spiritual practice is for this inner

reorientation in which the body fulfills its purpose by serving the Spirit.

As was quoted earlier, Meister Eckhart said, “Every Christian is called to

be Mary and give to birth to the Word.”

It is sometimes said that for a yogi in a state of samadhi, Prakriti

ceases to dance. It is closer to the truth to say that the dance of Prakriti

ceases to assert a hold on the yogi’s attention. The Yoga Sutras represents a
continuation of the Vedic yajña (sacrifice). It is said in the Rig Veda that
yajña is the navel of the cosmos around which everything turns

(I.164.35). Sacrifice is at the heart of all spiritual practice; this is how our

life is made sacred. Here, in the recurring metaphor in the Yoga Sutras,

the entire realm of the visible (Prakriti) is submitted for the power to see

(Purusha); thus the whole manifestation of Prakriti becomes sacred.

Sacrifice is also at the heart of the process of transmission of a

teaching. This point has been emphasized by Sri Anirvan: “One touches

here a state of deep spiritual existentialism which is the eternal present.

But every time one speaks about it, one destroys something of the power

that is in action, for instead of interiorizing it, one exteriorizes it. That is

why a Master who has accepted the task of teaching is sacrificing himself.”6
Every parent is aware of the sacrifice necessary for the birth, nurturing, and
spiritual growth of a child. A real guru is like a parent who is related with
the disciple through many trials. It is said in the Indian

tradition that the physical birth takes place in the womb of the mother,

but the spiritual birth is in the womb of the heart of the guru.

In the state of Kaivalya, Purusha, the real Self, the sole Knower and

Seer, matches the vibration of the subtlest product of Prakriti, refined

consciousness, the purest sattva. Then there is the aloneness of seeing,

and a fusion of seeing, seer, and seen.

Except for the point, the still point,

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

—“Burnt Norton” in The Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot

148

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Endnotes:
1

In the movement of Buddhism from India “Dhyana” became “Ch’an” in

China, “Sôn” in Korea, “Thôn” in Vietnam, and “Zen” in Japan.

The four great utterances are: "Thou art that" (tat tvam asi) Chhandogya
Upanishad 6:8.7; "This Atman is Brahman" (ayam atma brahman)
Mandukya Upanishad 2; “I am Brahman" (aham brahmasmi)
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4:10; and "Consciousness is Brahman”
(prajñanam brahman)

Aitareya Upanishad 3:3.

The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna, Translated with an introduction by Swami

Nikhilananda (Madras: Mylapore, 1947), p. 170.

To refer to the Highest God in a neuter grammatical form is not meant to

suggest that it is not developed enough to have a gender, as is the custom in

English language; on the contrary, far from being sub-gender it is so

developed that it is super gender. Here a specification of gender, male or
female, would be imposing a limitation.

As quoted by Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Sutra of Patañjali, p. 118.

To Live Within, p. 151.

KAivalya PADA
Freedom Without Measure
Subtle Impressions
Reality and Freedom 4.1

jNm*Wi/mN]tp" sm;i/j;" is´y"

janma-oṣadhi-mantra-tapaḥ-samādhi-jāḥ siddhayaḥ

Powers may be present at birth, or they may result from drugs, mantras,

tapas, or samadhi.

A person can be born with the powers (siddhis) that were spoken of

in the previous chapter of the Yoga Sutras, but they can also be cultivated

by various means, such as by mantras, self-discipline, and by samadhi.

This is also the case with talents. Child prodigies are born with unusual

abilities, but talents can also be developed through practice and discipline.
It is certainly borne out from historical evidence that some people have
certain powers from childhood and regard them as quite natural.

According to Patañjali, siddhis can also be cultivated with the use of

herbs or drugs. This fact can lend itself to all sorts of misuse and fantasy.

There have been cases in which people under the influence of LSD or

other drugs have imagined that they can fly, and have jumped out of

windows and have harmed themselves.

There is no suggestion anywhere in the yoga literature that seekers

of truth can dispense with the strenuous work of self-discipline and can

acquire these siddhis by taking drugs. Patañjali is not at all interested in

pursuing the matter of siddhis any further, and there is no more mention

of them. These powers are not the aim or purpose of yoga. The aim of

151
yoga is a radical transformation of consciousness and the powers which

are spoken of are a by-product of the discipline.

4.2
j;TyNtrpirû;m" p[k’Ty;pUr;t(
jāty-antara-pariṇāmaḥ prakṛty-āpūrāt

Transformation into a new state of being is the result of the fullness of

the unfolding of the inherent potential of Prakriti.

4.3
inimÊ;mp[yojk' p[k’tIn;' vrû.edStu
tt" =ei]kvt(
nimittam-aprayojakaṃ prakṛtīnāṃ-varaṇa-bhedas-tu tataḥ

kṣetrikavat

The apparent causes of transformation do not in fact bring it about.

They merely remove the obstacles to natural growth, as a farmer clears

the ground for the crops.

From the first of the two sutras above, we see that revealing Purusha

in its own true form is not against the purposes of Prakriti; in fact it

is the fulfillment of the whole purpose of Prakriti. The transformation

into a new being is a result of the unfolding of the inherent potential

of Prakriti. As was discussed earlier, yoga practice is the reversal of the

natural outward tendencies of Prakriti. But deep down everything in

Prakriti wishes to serve the purposes of Purusha. It is therefore useful

to return to the distinction between “higher nature” and “lower nature,”

or between “spiritual” and “carnal” nature. We are two natured, and yoga

practice is against the tendencies of our lower nature, so that the tendencies
of our higher nature can be supported. Pratiprasava is a reversal of the flow
of the usual outward tendencies of Prakriti in order to aid the
inward tendencies and aspirations.

Whatever we do from the lower mind, in the realm of thought and

effort, cannot bring about transformation which comes only from above.

However,effort and practice can prepare the ground by removing the

obstacles, as a farmer helps the growth of the plants by removing the weeds.

Einstein, who was widely recognized as one of the most creative

scientists of all times, was periodically asked about the nature and origin

of creativity. On one occasion when he was asked whether creative work

was ultimately a matter of hard work or of chance, he remarked, “Creativity

is essentially a matter of chance; but chance seems to flavour the prepared.”

Krishnamurti once said during a conversation with me that the

intelligence beyond thought is just there, like the air, and does not need

to be created by discipline or effort. “All one needs to do is to open the

window.” I suggested that most windows are painted shut and need a

lot of scraping before they can be opened, and asked, “How does one

scrape?” He did not wish to pursue this line of inquiry and closed it by

saying, “You are too clever for your own good.” But Patañjali provides

practical help in preparing the body-mind so that the window of our

consciousness can be opened. Purusha is just there, it does not need to be

created; it cannot be created; however, purification of the instruments of

perception in Prakriti allows Purusha to reveal itself.

The Sanskrit word

nimitta in sutra 4.3 above is the occasion, or the

instrument, the incidental cause or apparent cause, as contrasted with

the first cause, or the ultimate cause. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna

says, “These warriors have already been killed by me; Arjuna, you be the

apparent cause (nimitta)” (11:33). Our effort and sadhana are the nimitta

for the obstacles to be removed, but the transformation is brought about

by levels of consciousness above ourselves. A seed grows into a tree; we

cannot make it grow, but we can remove the impediments to its growth.

As was mentioned earlier also, it is a general lesson of all the scriptures that
without God it cannot be done; but without human beings it will not be
done. As Madame de Salzmann said, “Religious people talk

about the Lord, Seigneur. That is an energy of a very high level. They say,

‘The Lord helps me’.That is true. But something is required of me. I have

to prepare myself for this Seigneur to help.”

All our work is to prepare ourselves to be able to be useful to the

Spirit. Prakriti wishes to be of service to Purusha who is seated in the

heart of Prakriti. The whole purpose of Prakriti is to serve Purusha; the

whole purpose of the body, or of our incarnation, is to serve the spirit.

Although the body and the mind resist letting go of self-centeredness,

we are deeply satisfied when there is a right relationship between the

body-mind and the spirit. We need continually to return to the question

about the purpose and meaning of our incarnation in this body, at this

place and at this time.

Both Purusha and Prakriti are needed. The body-mind resists, but

when something real is present, the body-mind gladly submits.The

bodymind needs to be disciplined but not brutalized. Madame de Salzmann
said, “Energies of different qualities have different durations. The energy

of a higher level does not die at the death of a lower level. At the death

of the body, not all the energies in the body die. These higher energies

are in the body, but they are not of the body. The body is not the most

important thing. The important thing is the real I, which is independent

of the physical body. But the body is very necessary because the higher

energy needs the body in order to manifest itself. The body is needed so

that the I can have an action.”

Asmita (I-am-this, or I-am-that) is much like

ahamkara (“I-maker,”

as well as “I am the doer”) in Samkhya philosophy or in the Bhagavad

Gita.The question about the relationship between the One Cosmic

Consciousness and individual consciousness, or between the Universal
Spirit and individual soul, is extremely important. According to the sutras

above, there is One Consciousness behind the various minds which are

engaged in multiple activities. The sense of a separate ego arises from

asmita, which according to Patañjali (2.4) is the first product of ignorance.
This is what generates the separative mind fabricating this or that fantasy
and ego-importance as well as fears and pervading background

apprehension. It is asmita which attaches us to a small amount of

consciousness, cut off from Brahman, the Vastness.

4.6
t] ?y;njmn;xym(
tatra dhyāna-jam-anāśayam

What is born of dhyana leaves no trace of impressions (samskara).

4.4
inm;RûicÊ;;NyiSmt;m;];t¯
nirmāṇa-chittāny-asmitā-mātrāt

Fabricating minds arise only from asmita.

4.7
km;RxuKl;k’„û'
yoignißiv/imtreW;m(
karma-aśukla-akṛṣṇaṃ yoginas-trividham-itareṣām

The actions of a yogi are beyond good and evil, the actions of others are

threefold (good, bad and mixed).

4.5
p[vOiÊ;.ede p[yojk'
icÊ;mekmnekeW;m(
pravṛtti-bhede prayojakaṃ chittam-ekam-anekeṣām

But there is one mind that is the source of the many minds which are

involved in activity.
4.8
ttSti√p;k;nuguû;n;mev;i.VyiKtv;Rs
n;n;m(
tatas-tad-vipāka-anuguṇānām-eva-abhivyaktir-vāsanānām

These actions sow the seeds of vasanas—deep tendencies and habit

patterns—which bear fruit corresponding to their nature.

4.9
j;itdexk;lVyviht;n;mPy;nNtyR'

smOits'Sk;ryorekÂpTv;t(
jāti-deśa-kāla-vyavahitānām-apy-ānantaryaṃ smṛtisaṃskārayor-
eka-rūpatvat

Because memory and samskaras are both results of the sequence of

karma, their continuity is maintained even if their cause is separated

from their effect by time, by space or by lifetimes.

4.10
t;s;mn;idTv' c;ixWoinTyTv;t(
tāsām anāditvaṁ cha-āśiṣo nityatvāt

These samskaras are without beginning because the desires that sustain

them are everlasting.

4.11
hetufl;≈y;lMbn°"
s'gOhItTv;deW;m.;ve td.;v"
hetu-phala-āśraya-ālambanaiḥ saṃgṛhītatvād-eṣām-abhāve
tadabhāvaḥ

Samskaras are the fruits of previous causes. When the causes are
eliminated, there are no further samskaras.
past action affects the nature of the person which in turn determines the

sort of action which is likely to be done in the future. This produces the

bondage of karma, slavery to the past.

The question about the kind of action which is free of the bondage

of action is an important one. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that

all actions lead to bondage except those done as sacrifice (yajña karma).

“Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from

attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice” (3:9). Patañjali in sutra

4.6 above brings a related but different perspective: actions done in

dhyana do not leave a residue. The actions of those established in dhyana

are not personal; their actions are done through them rather than by

them.Therefore these actions are not subject to the law of karma; they are

beyond good or evil and leave no grooves or consequences, good or bad,

which condition and bind. For others, actions are either good or bad or
mixed and leave a residue. These residues of these actions create vasanas

(habit patterns and deep tendencies) in us corresponding to the nature

of the actions.

The consequences of karma, good or bad, will affect us even after

many births, or even if we go a great distance away or if much time has

elapsed. The working of the law of karma cannot be suspended. This is

true of all the laws. None of the fundamental laws can be suspended but

they can be overcome, or supplanted by higher laws. An airplane does

not fly by suspending the law of gravitation, but by overcoming it with

another force. Similarly, the effects of the universal law of karma can be

overcome by those who have cultivated the state of dhyana.

The idea of

karma bandhana, the bondage of action, is very important

in Indian thought. Every action launches a series of reactions, effects, and

further causes. The person initiating the action is responsible for the
consequences of the action. Thus every action snares the actor in the whole
web of cause and effect according to the law of karma. As was said earlier

also, this law is best understood in terms of two clauses: as one is, so one

acts; as one acts, so one becomes. Because of the intimate relationship

between the quality of being of a person and the nature of the actions,

each person’s past conditions the present through the chain in which
Objective Reality

4.12
atIt;n;gt' SvÂptoåSTy?v.ed;
´m;Rû;m(
atīta-anāgataṃ sva-rūpato’ sty-adhva-bhedād-dharmāṇām

The past and the future exist within the essential form of the object,

but they appear different due to the difference in the paths taken by the

properties of that object.

4.13
te VyKtsU+m; guû;Tm;n"
te vyakta-sūkṣmā guṇa-ātmānaḥ

Manifestations of the properties, whether gross or subtle, are colored by

the gunas.
4.14
pirû;m°kTv;√StutÊvm(
pariṇāma-ekatvād-vastutattvam

The “thatness” (tattvam) of an object maintains a uniqueness through

various transformations of the gunas.

4.15
vStus;Mye icÊ;.ed;Ê;yoivR.Kt"
pNq;"
vastusāmye chittabhedāttayorvibhaktaḥ panthāḥ

Although an object remains constant, people’s perceptions of it differ

because they have different associations.

4.16
n c°kicÊ;tN]' vStu tdp[m;ûk˘ td;
ik˘ Sy;t(
na cha-eka-chitta-tantraṁ vastu tad-apramāṇakaṃ tadā kiṃ syāt

The object is not dependent on one mind alone; otherwise, what would

become of the object when not cognized by that mind?

4.17
tdupr;g;pei=Tv;iÉÊ;Sy vStu
D;t;D;tm(
tad-uparāga-apekṣitvāch-chittasya vastu jñāta-ajñātam

An object is known or unknown depending on whether or not a mind

gets colored by it.

Time is a great mystery. Gurdjieff speaks of time as a “unique subjective.”

St. Augustine said, “When I am not asked about time, I know what time is.
But when someone asks me about the nature of time, I do

not know.”

Patañjali places the sequence of time, past and future, within the

object (sutra 4.12). Time itself is given an objective status as inherent

to the structure of Prakriti. Because the properties of the object take

through different forms (dharmas), we would say that change has taken

place in time. What is essential to the object and what are the various

forms it goes through? Water can exist as a gas, a liquid, or a solid. These

different forms have different characteristics in time. But is there something

which is essentially water? Patañjali answers in the affirmative: there is
something about the waterness of the water which remains the same

through all these changes.That is the tattvam—thatness, essential nature,

suchness—of water. There is an objective reality of the object whether

anyone perceives it or not. Although there is much “idealism” in Indian

thought—in the philosophical sense that the perception of any object

depends very heavily on the state of the cognizing mind—Patañjali,

along with most of the rest of Indian philosophers, does not subscribe to

an idealism in which the object depends on the cognizing mind and does

not exist otherwise. For the strict idealists, such as Berkeley, an object is

totally dependent for its existence on the perception of it by some mind,

if not human then divine.This is not so, according to Patañjali.The essential

nature or the tattvam of the object is quite unique and independent of any
cognizing mind. There is an objective reality but our perception of

that reality depends upon our state of consciousness. Our perception of

another person or of any object or process depends upon and constitutes

our relationship with that person, process, or thing.

There is an interesting story in Chhandogya Upanishad (VI.2. 1-6):

There was Shvetaketu Aruneya. His father said to him,

“Live the life of a religious student. Verily, my dear, there is

no one in our family who is unlearned, who is a Brahmana

only by birth.”

He then, having become a pupil at the age of twelve,

returned when he was twenty-four years of age, having

studied all the Vedas, greatly conceited, thinking himself

well read, arrogant. His father then said to him, “Shvetaketu, since you are
now so greatly conceited, think yourself well read and arrogant, did you ask
for that instruction

by which the unhearable becomes heard, the unperceivable

becomes perceived, the unknowable becomes known?”

“How, Venerable Sir, can there be such teaching?”

“Just as, my dear, by one clod of clay all that is made of

clay becomes known, the modification being only a name

arising from speech while the truth is that it is just clay . . .

thus, my dear, is that teaching.”

When the Upanishad speaks of the various forms of clay and that

all this is verily clay, the reference is to the tattvam of clay, the clayness of

clay, by which all the forms of clay, the whole variety of pots made from

it, can be known in their fundamental essence by someone who can bring

total attention to bear on the clayness of any pot made out of clay.

Again and again, a direct perception by a purified mind is emphasized. The

object exists by itself certainly; its existence does not depend on the
perceiving mind, but how it is perceived depends on the quality

of the perceiving mind. As long as the perceiving mind is not completely

clear (or colorless) it keeps introducing blemishes in the perception of

the thatness of the object.

If our mind is completely clear, it can see the real tattvam of the
object. Only the chitta which is able to let Purusha reveal itself can see

the true nature of Prakriti.

Mind and Spirit

4.18
sd; D;t;iíÊ;vOÊ;yStTp[.o"
pu®WSy;pirû;imTv;t(
sadā jñātāś-chitta-vṛttayas-tat-prabhoḥ puruṣasya-apariṇāmitvāt

Purusha, owing to its changelessness, is the master of the vrittis of

chitta which it always knows.

4.19
n tTSv;.;s˘ ÎxyTv;t(
na tat-sva-ābhāsaṃ dṛśyatvāt

Since chitta is an object of perception, it cannot illuminate itself.

4.20
Eksmye co.y;nv/;rûm(
eka-samaye cha-ubhaya-anavadhāraṇam

Chitta cannot be aware of its object and of itself at the same time.

There are three levels: Purusha, chitta, and the objects of perception.

Purusha is eternal and not subject to time; therefore it can know chitta.

Chitta can be aware of the objects of perception which it can know,

but chitta cannot know itself at the same time as it knows the object.

Another way of saying this is that chitta’s knowing power is derivative,

derived from Purusha, as the light of the moon is derived from the sun.

The moon is not self-luminous, nor is chitta.

4.21
icÊ;;NtrÎXye bui´bu´eritp[s©"
Sm»its˘krí
chitta-antara-dṛśye buddhi-buddher-atiprasanƒgaḥ
smṛtisaṃkaraś-cha

If the perception of one chitta by another chitta were postulated, there

would be an endless regression of intelligence and the result would be

confusion of memory.
self-awareness is really Self-awareness, awareness not so much of the Self

but by the Self.

Chitta provides experience by being colored by the objects and can

lead to liberation when colored by Purusha. Again we see that chitta

acts as an intermediary between Purusha and objects. But, chitta here, at

this purified level, is of the nature of pure sattva, the most refined part of

Prakriti. Chitta is like “psyche” (soul) in the philosophy of Plotinus: it is

amphibious in character; it can sink into the matter or soar into the One.

Sattva, the most refined part of the body-mind, can soar into Purusha,

the One and Only Seer.

Only the chitta which is aware of both Purusha and the object, or

of kshetrajña (knower of the field) as well as of kshetra (field) in the

language of the Bhagavad Gita (chapter 13), is all comprehending. The real
knowledge consists of both the knowledge of the field and of the knower

of the field.

4.22
icÊ;erp[its'k›m;y;Std;k;r;pÊ;*
Svbui´s˘vednm(
chitter-apratisaṃkramāyās-tad-ākāra-āpattau sva-
buddhisaṃvedanam

Chitta becomes self-aware when its consciousness assumes the immovable

form of Purusha.
4.24
tds˘:yeyv;sn;i.iíÊ;mippr;qR'
s˘hTyk;irTv;t(
tad-asaṃkhyeya-vāsanābhiś-chittam-api para-arthaṃ
saṃhatyakāritvāt

And chitta, despite its countless habits, exists for the sake of the Other

(Purusha) on whom it is dependent.

4.23
{˛OÎXyoprKt˘icÊ;˘ sv;RqRm(
draṣṭṛ-dṛśya-uparaktaṃ chittaṃ sarva-artham

Chitta which is colored both by the object and the Seer (Purusha) is

all-apprehending.
4.25
ivxeWdixRn a;Tm.;v.;vn;
ivinvOiÊ;"
viśeṣa-darśina ātma-bhāva-bhāvanā-vinivṛttiḥ

One who sees the distinction between the mind and Atman ceases to

cultivate the self.

Just as the eye cannot see itself, chitta cannot know itself. All awareness is
from Purusha, the real witness or seer cannot be witnessed or seen. When
chitta has the same pure form as Purusha—sarupya (1.4) or

samyoga (2.17)—then it can become aware of itself. Thus what we call

4.26
td; ivvekinm¸' k°vLyp[;G.;r'
icÊ;m(
tadā viveka-nimnaṃ kaivalya-prāgbhāraṃ chittam

Then, deep in viveka, chitta gravitates towards Kaivalya.

Again and again, Patañjali returns to the question of the purpose of

Prakriti or of incarnation, and here in the particular form of chitta. “Why

do you have a body?” asked Madame de Salzmann. This question could

equally well be expressed as “Why do you have a mind?” Or “Why do

you exist?” For Patañjali the answer is unequivocal: everything in Prakriti

exists for the purposes of Purusha; Prakriti has no purposes of its own.

As Madame de Salzmann said, “The body must serve something else. It

cannot serve itself, for it is designed for destruction.”

The Spirit needs the body in order to know itself. Purified chitta

becomes a spotless mirror in which Purusha can see its own true form.
“There is an energy which is trying to evolve. That is why it comes

into a body. If a person works and helps the evolution of this energy, at

death this energy goes to a higher level. If one does not work, the energy

returns to its own level. But the human life is wasted,” said Madame de

Salzmann. The whole raison d’être of the human incarnation is for the
sake of the subtler energy which for its own purposes needs a body and

comes into a body.

The whole of the Indian tradition is quite unequivocal in saying that

the Spirit (Atman, Purusha) is above the mind (chitta), and that the real

knower is not the mind, but Purusha which knows through the mind.

Besides, as the sutra 4.25 above says, when one is completely clear about

the distinction between Purusha and chitta, then one is freed of all sense

of egoism, asmita, I-ness.

In contrast to all spiritual traditions, Descartes explicitly maintained

that “spirit” is the same as “soul” and that “soul” is the same as “mind,” all

belonging to the realm of res cogitans (thinking beings) as contrasted with

the whole of nature, including the body and the animals, which belongs

to res extensa (physical world). This resulted in the mind-body, or in

theological terms soul-body dualism. In the Cartesian system, which has

had an enormous effect on Western philosophy and theology, there is not

a place for the transformable chitta (mind, soul) which can be purified by

spiritual practice and can provide a dynamic link between Purusha and

Prakriti by becoming aware of the distinction between the two.

Madame de Salzmann said, “What religions call God is the higher

level, above the mind, but understood through a higher part of the mind.

Man is made to create a link between two levels, to receive energy from
a higher level in order to have an action on the level below—not a
reaction.”
Each one of us has a subjective reality, determined by the conditioning—of
our species, of our culture, gender, religion, family, personal history in this
life and in our previous lives. To be free or liberated is

to be free of our past and of conditioning. Liberation (Moksha, Mukti,

Nirvana, Kaivalya) is freedom from the tyranny of time. We see repeatedly

that true freedom is freedom not for myself but from myself. Real freedom
is not a license to do what the ego likes; a free person naturally

conforms to the cosmic laws. Unified internally, such a person’s wishes,

desires, intentions and undertakings are indivisible. A sage voluntarily

places the ego-self under the laws of higher being, of Purusha. Madame

de Salzmann said, “True individuality consists in voluntarily placing

oneself under a law.”
When chitta has developed viveka, that is, when the mind has developed
discernment, it naturally gravitates towards Kaivalya, unconditioned
freedom, the aloneness of the power of seeing. At the highest level, a
difference between Purusha and the most refined part of chitta cannot be
identified. When Chitta is one with Purusha, Purusha has found a bride

in Prakriti, and there is ecstasy of union.

Freedom Without Measure

4.27
tiCz{eWu p[Tyy;Ntr;iûs'Sk;re>y"
tach-chhidreṣu pratyaya-antarāṇi saṃskārebhyaḥ

In the process of chitta gravitating to Kaivalya, interruptions may arise

due to past samskaras.

4.28
h;nmeW;' kÿexvduKtm(
hānam-eṣāṃ kleśavad-uktam

They can be removed in the same manner as the kleshas.

4.29
p[s':y;neåPykusIdSy svRq;
ivvek:y;te/RmRme`" sm;i/"
prasaṃkhyāne’ py-akusīdasya sarvathā viveka-khyāter-
dharmameghaḥ samādhiḥ

One who, due to perfect discrimination, is totally non-grasping even of

the highest rewards, remains in constant viveka, which is called

dharmamegha (cloud of dharma) samadhi.

4.30
tt" kÿexkmRinvOiÊ;"
tataḥ kleśa-karma-nivṛttiḥ

From that follows freedom from action colored by kleshas.

4.31
td; sv;Rvrûml;petSy
D;nSy;nNTy;JDeymLpm(
tadā sarva-āvaraṇa-mala-apetasya jñānasya-ānantyāj-
jñeyamalpam

Then all the coverings and impurities of knowledge are totally removed.

Because of the vastness of this jñana, little remains to be known.

Even when almost the entire ground of consciousness has been

cleansed, there may still be distractions. Other inclinations, taking us

away from Purusha, may arise because of previous samskaras (subliminal

impressions), from childhood or from previous lives. As long as we are

alive, there will be a pull towards self-occupation. The effort to be free

of self-occupation needs to be undertaken again and again. The task is

difficult because we exist at every level of Prakriti, and the world is full of

many distractions, interesting projects, temptations, and fears.

The process described for the attenuation of the hindrances or the

kleshas, (in sutras 2.10-11), is pratiprasava—a reversal of the flow of the

usual tendencies of the mind, a metanoia, turning inwards rather than

the natural tendency of turning outwards. This leads to a subtler and

quieter level of consciousness and a steadiness of attention.

Patañjali had earlier (1.16) said that the higher form of detachment, of
vairagya, results from a vision of Purusha or Self. Here, being situated in
the discerning vision of Purusha, with vairagya towards even

the highest rewards, there is dharmamegha (literally, a cloud of dharma)

samadhi. This expression may have been borrowed from the Mahayana

Buddhist literature in which it occurs frequently.However,dharmamegha

is like saying “ritambhara tatra prajña” (there the insight is naturally full

of order) as in 1.48. The suggestion is that at this stage, the aspirant is

enveloped in a cloud of order and truth. It is a cloud of unknowing—

because we cannot know Purusha or God, but with a steady vision of

discernment without distractions, or an unwavering love as described in

the great Christian spiritual classic, The Cloud of Unknowing, it is possible

to be lifted into that cloud and to be embraced by Purusha.

This is the stage of the “beloved” in meditation, as briefly described

earlier. The God, Krishna, pines for and embraces Radha, the archetypical
representation of the human soul, as delicately described in the great love
poem Gita Govinda of Jayadeva.

There is an interesting distinction between the Indic approach which

ultimately takes its stand either on love (bhakti) or on viveka and the

Christian approach which takes its stand largely on love. The emphasis

on viveka is much more masculine, whereas the emphasis on love is much

more feminine. Many of the great warriors of the spirit in India—
Yajñavalkya, Patañjali, Mahavira, the Buddha, Shankara—are arahatas
(Pali for the Sanskrit arihantas meaning “killers of the enemies”),
nirgrantha (without knots or scriptures), maharathi (great charioteers), and
the like.

They do not surrender; they almost seem to conquer.

In a different mode, the Bhakti saints like Mira, Surdas, and Tulsi

surrender themselves to the spirit, yearning to be the beloved of God.

Jayadeva tells the story of the love between the God, Krishna, and Radha,

the human soul, between Purusha and Prakriti. Radha pines for union

with Krishna, but Krishna also pines for union with Radha. The poet,

Jayadeva, in his sadhana came to the stage of becoming the beloved

himself. He is delighted with Krishna, and is wholly receptive; all action

now belongs to Krishna, not to Jayadeva. Jayadeva could not write the

final scene in which Krishna and Radha, the beloved, are united in love.

Legend has it that Krishna himself came and wrote the final scene in

which Radha rides Krishna in a passionate and joyous play of love.

Jayadeva did not, and could not, initiate any action, even that of completing
his poem; it is all up to Krishna.1

It is interesting to note that all the commandments of Christ, given

in general—“Love God,” “Love thy neighbor as thyself ”—or specifically

to the disciples—“Love each other as I have loved you,” “Love your
enemies”—have the word “love”in them.In the Indic philosophic thought,

as indeed in the practical teaching of Christ himself, strictly speaking

we cannot love God, but we can be loved by God. Whenever disciples

say, “Lord, I love you,” Christ stops them and says, “If any one loves me,

he will keep my word. Then my Father will love him, and we shall come

to him and abide in him” ( John 14:23). If the disciples remain rightly

ordered internally, which is to say that they abide in Christ, and Christ

abides in them through his words and love, then they are connected with

the Source of all energy.Then they are one with the Vastness,within which

they are hierarchically ordered,and they are able to accomplish everything

they will, precisely because what they will is not to do their own personal

projects but to do that alone which is in harmony with the will of the

Source. Christ himself is the model: he loves his disciples as his Father

loves him; he obeys the Father, as they must obey him. This is how he

dwells in the Father’s love, as they must dwell in his. “And you will

dwell in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I have kept

my Father’s commandments and dwell in His love”( John 15:10).

We should not over emphasize the difference in the approaches

focused on love and on viveka.They are both needed. With so many sages

in India—especially with Kabir, Ramakrishna, and Vivekananda—bhakti

and viveka very much come together in the higher levels of consciousness.
We see a strong emphasis on viveka in The Cloud of Unknowing in keeping
a clear distinction between what is God—although unknowable
and therefore in and above the cloud of unknowing—and what is not

God and therefore to be placed in the cloud of forgetting. “Just as the

cloud of unknowing lies above you, between you and your God, so you

must fashion a cloud of forgetting beneath you, between you and every

created thing.” (The Cloud of Unknowing, p. 53)

The only thing which is needed is to remember that God, or Purusha

or Brahman, exists, and that we exist under His gaze. The only practice

that is needed is the practice of the remembrance of the presence of God.

Everything else follows from that one thing.A natural consequence of the

dharmamegha samadhi is a freedom from kleshas and karma bandhana.

All the obstacles to real jñana, gnosis, are destroyed when we dwell in the

Spirit or in Purusha. Then nothing that matters is left to be known.

4.32
tt" k’t;q;Rn;˘
pirû;mk›msm;iˇ;gRuû;n;m(
tataḥ kṛta-arthānaṃ pariṇāma-krama-samāptir-guṇānām

Then the sequence of transformations (parinama) of the gunas ends,

because they have fulfilled their purpose.

4.33
=ûp[ityogI pirû;m;pr;Nting[;RÁ"
k›m"
kṣaṇa-pratiyogī pariṇāma-apara-anta-nirgrāhyaḥ kramaḥ

Time succession and its correlates, moments in time, are ended with the

ending of parinama.

The body-mind or the individualized Prakriti which functions

through the gunas has now fulfilled its purpose. The yogi is freed from

the constraints of the body as well as of all materiality, including space

and time. As the transformations of the gunas end, the succession in

time, sequence, ends, and the aspirant’s consciousness rests in a dimension

freed of time. As it is said in the case of the Buddha after his enlightenment,
one who is established in yoga becomes kala vimukta (freed from time,
timeless, eternal) as well as trikala darshi (seer of three times—past,

present, and future).

A periodic reminder is needed: to be free of the body does not mean

to be rid of the body. The spiritual journey is not possible without the

body. Everything takes place in the body, and the body is very important,
but it is not the ultimate thing. Here is a remark of Madame de Salzmann:

The body is necessary, but it is not the most important

thing. It must obey something else. In fact, the body wants

and likes the contact with the energy which comes from

above, which comes from God. But we are taken by automatism. One must
liberate the subtle body from the prison of

habits of the ordinary body. The important thing is the real

I, which is independent of the physical body. But the body

is very necessary because the higher energy needs the body

in order to manifest itself. The body is needed so that the

I can have an action. That I can create a new body if the

connection is strong enough, that is to say, if one permits

the higher energy to pass into me. The conscious response

or attention, which arises from the me, which is personal,

serves as a thread for connecting the I and the me. The I is

not personal. I can awaken me and serve the Earth. The

Earth as a whole has need of more conscious energy.

4.34
pu®W;qRxUNy;n;˘ guû;n;˘
p[itp[sv" k°vLy˘SvÂpp[itœ;

v; icitxiKtirit
puruṣa-artha-śūnyānāṃ guṇānāṃ pratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṃ
svarūpa-pratiṣṭhā vā chiti-śaktir-iti

The gunas, their purpose fulfilled, return to their original state and pure

unbounded Purusha remains forever established in its essential nature.

This is Kaivalya, freedom without measure, the Aloneness of the power

of seeing. It is thus.

When the gunas, the constituents and the forces of Prakriti, have

fulfilled their purpose in this way, no further transformation is necessary

or possible. All the elements of Prakriti return to their state of original

harmony, and the pure Unbounded Purusha is eternally established in

its own absolute and essential nature. This brings us back to what was

already mentioned in the beginning of the Yoga Sutras (1.3).

Kaivalya is the state of Aloneness: freedom without measure and

the power of pure seeing. This is not a state of isolation of Purusha from
Prakriti, as is unfortunately sometimes maintained by translators and

commentators, but the state in which the seer, the seen and seeing are

one. In the happy phrase of Plotinus, this is the “flight of the alone to

172

The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

the Alone.”

This is Self-realization, making the Self real in actuality. Now one

has become truly what one always was and is. We could say that now the

searcher knows the answer to the quest “Who am I?” It is better to say

that now the whole body-mind and the entire life of the searcher lives

the answer to this question.

The question “Koham? Who am I?” is responded with “Soham.

I AM.” And there is ananda, celebration and joy, without measure.

Endnotes:

Gita Govinda is a classic of mystical love and has had a large impact on the

culture of India—especially in poetry, painting, dance, and music.There has

been an unbroken recitation every day from this book in a great temple in

Orissa for nearly eight hundred years.

May We All Be Blessed

into Usefulness
The real obstacle on any spiritual path is the passivity of attention, in

our own lives and towards our lives. Without an active attention we

cannot take responsibility for our life. This passivity is cosmological

in nature and arises owing to the inherent dynamism of Prakriti with

its outward tendencies. Everything, both what we find pleasant and

what we find unpleasant, happens mechanically according to the laws

of nature inside us as well as outside, and will continue in this way. If

we do not bring an active attention, we are only objects affected by the

play of forces. If we do bring active attention, the forces still operate,

but as we become more and more aware of them we can participate in

the vast play of Prakriti with more consciousness.

A dependence on traditions, scriptures, gurus, social customs or

scholars and theologians or upon the approval of others leads to a fear

of disapproval, and a need to maintain the status quo, abhinivesha. The

obverse side of fear is pretension and a need for self-assertion, which

leads to the self-importance of asmita. Thus, self-doubt is the source of

self-importance. A need for approval lies behind all efforts of evangelism.

If someone else can be convinced, that will show us that we are on the

right path. The attempt to convince someone of anything is a mark

of insecurity.

The kleshas of abhinivesha and asmita, which lead to fear and

173

self-importance are maintained in the darkness of ignorance, but when

we look, when we become conscious of our situation, we see that we are

not what we might be. We find ourselves living in a haze of non-awareness,

as if asleep, veiled from reality, constantly reacting to external events and
actions; we see that we are not free. Conditioned by the past, we

find ourselves unable to respond freshly to situations and people. Then a

subtle yearning expresses itself in us: we wish to wake up to the real, to be

mindfully aware of the present situation and to respond with freedom.

In spiritual matters, a certain amount of restlessness or dissatisfaction, or

hunger, is an indication that something is still alive in us and that we still
wish for something other than what we now are. There is

a classical expression in the Rig Veda, “neti, neti,” which means “not

yet, not yet.” It is an indication of an ongoing search. Whenever we are

satisfied, we are no longer searching.

The main source of this dissatisfaction is the awareness in us of the

gap between what we know and what we are. We often know what the

right thing to do is, what the right dharma, responsibility, is; but we
find ourselves unable to carry it out. This is why yoga is needed—so that

we can learn to be disciplined, learn to cultivate steadier and steadier

attention, and learn to search for the essential. In a conversation with

Madame de Salzmann I once told her about a recurring feeling that I

live as if the whole cosmos was designed for my benefit, for me to get

ahead. She said, “This is why one needs to work. To have a different
relation with the world. Human beings are links between two levels. One
needs to learn to work consciously in order to pay for one’s existence.”

The more developed and the steadier our attention is, the closer we

are to Purusha, which is pure seeing, or pure attention. The more active

our attention is, the higher we are on the axis of Purusha. Purusha is

not an object of attention; in that sense it cannot be passive. The only

appropriate grammatical case applicable to Purusha is third person

singular nominative. The more the passivity, the closer to dead matter

we are. A feature of passivity is predictability, subjection to laws and

bondage. The closer something is to dead matter at absolute zero

temperature, the more predictable it is. The closer it is to the Spirit or God
or Purusha, the less predictable it is. The Spirit bloweth where it listeth,

as is said in the Bible. The ability to surprise oneself or to surprise

another and also to be surprised is a mark of freedom.

Patañjali recommends abhyasa, vairagya and Ishvara pranidhana as

the main practices, all under the overarching canopy of viveka so that we
would acquire finer and finer attention and a corresponding discernment

in order to distinguish between the Real and the relatively less real. With

a more conscious awareness of the situation and a more developed

conscience, we can participate more and more in the Real. Spiritual
development is a cosmological need; it is not only the need of an individual
undertaking a spiritual discipline. It is important for the establishment

and the maintenance of true order that there be the right relationship

between Purusha and Prakriti, between the Spirit and the body. Then

there can be the right flow of subtle energies from above downwards.

Otherwise,Prakriti itself falls into chaos—and by the principle of analogy,

our planet and our body will fall into sickness and disease.

The function and purpose of a human being is to become a link, a

conduit, for Purusha to manifest through Prakriti, for higher energy to

come down to the Earth—to bring Heaven down to Earth. Our Father

who is in Heaven may do His will here on Earth as He does in Heaven,

but this is possible only if the River Ganga which flows in Heaven may

flow down to the Earth, the body, and irrigate her. The Rig Veda says

we are children of Heaven and of Earth. Perhaps we have forgotten our

connection with Heaven. Letting this energy descend into the body is

to let Heaven come down to Earth.That is the incarnation of the Word.

Again quoting Meister Eckhart: “Every Christian is called to be Mary

and give birth to the Word.”

In general, we do not see what the life of the Earth is; nor do

we see what our responsibility is in the maintenance and evolution of

the life of the Earth. But a part of us understands. It is necessary that

the connection with the conscious energy be strengthened. When we

undertake a sustained spiritual effort, as in yoga, a fine energy comes

from above and has an effect on the whole body, and by osmosis on

the Earth. This requires a very strong and steady effort. We must work

for ourselves and for the Earth. In this way, we can approach the great

Bodhisattva vow to help the evolution of all sentient beings.

The emphasis on abhyasa assumes that there is a process, and

some progress can be made by persistence in practice. Abhyasa requires

determination, persistence in inquiry, and steadfastness in effort. There

is a doha of Saint Kabir:

Karat karat abhyasa se, jadamati bhaye sujan.

Rasri avat jata se sil par pare nishan.

By repeated abhyasa, even a dull mind

becomes a knower.
By the repeated movement of the rope
even a hard rock gets marked.

Real vairagya is not a renunciation of this or that, but it is a renunciation of

that in me who is addicted to myself as I am. It is freedom from myself,
from selfishness; it is a non-identification with myself, with my
sufferings and pleasures, with my fears and desires, with my knowledge

and experiences. It is really a dying to myself so that a radically new being

can be born in me. Vairagya is the essential quality for placing everything

under the cloud of forgetting so that we can be turned more and more

towards the cloud of unknowing. We do not know Purusha, we cannot

know Purusha, but we can be more and more drawn to it. Love is at the

heart of vairagya. We can be more easily detached from something if

we are attached to something superior in quality. This is why Patañjali

says that “The higher vairagya arises from a vision of the Transcendent

Being (Purusha) and leads to the cessation of craving for the things of the

world” (1.16). There are two ways of non-identification: one is the result

of a recognition of the negative effects of craving, of being snared in the

nets of the world. The other is the higher and it is a result of a glimpse of

the kingdom of heaven, of the higher possibility, a vision of God, even a

fleeting awareness of Purusha.

Ishvara pranidhana, the love for God or for Purusha is the real motivation
for vairagya. This then also expresses itself as love for the uniqueness of
everything in nature and for the world generally. This love is not pity,

but love for the life within every creature, and therefore a wish to serve. A

dedication to service is not for the sake of the others, but because the
Creator is seated in the heart of every creature. Krishna repeatedly declares
in the Bhagavad Gita that he is seated in the heart of everyone. In a
television

interview with Mother Teresa, an interviewer once said, “You must love the

poor.” He was not at all prepared for her answer, “No, I don’t love the
poor.”

The interviewer was thoroughly flummoxed by this. After some hesitation,

he said, “But you spend so much time and energy taking care of the poor

and the sick. You must love them.” She said, “I don’t love the poor; I love

the Christ in them.”

Vivekananda, the extraordinary late nineteenth century sage of

India, said, “For thy good, O Shraman, may thine be Vairagya, the

feeling of which is love, which unifies all inequalities, cures the disease

of Samsara, removes the three-fold misery inevitable in the phenomenal

world, reveals the true nature of all things, destroys the darkness of Maya,
and which brings out the Selfhood of everything from Brahma

to the blade of grass!” (Badrinath, p. 352).

What Vivekananda here is calling Selfhood of everything is

uniqueness or individuality in a true sense. This uniqueness is a

manifestation of the essential Oneness of all there is.

Ishvara pranidhana is a celebration of the Mystery that cannot

be known. The surrender to God is really surrendering to what is the

deepest within ourselves, rather than to what is superficial in us. It is

a recognition of the higher dimensions, of worlds within worlds. In a

state of wonder we are no longer convinced that we know all there is to

know. Wonder requires a state of unknowing—not a state of ignorance,

but of innocence in which one is free from knowledge, known, knower

and the need to know. Then sometimes one is connected with a quality

of awareness in which the Mystery is still not solved, and it has no publicly
communicable logical answer, but it is dissolved. This Mystery no longer
troubles one or makes one apprehensive or anxious; it does not

evoke a denial or a rejection. The only response to it is celebration—in

dance or music or painting or science or philosophy or love.

At the heart of all practice in the

Yoga Sutras is viveka. Real viveka

is to distinguish between what belongs to the cloud of forgetting

and what belongs to the cloud of unknowing, discernment between

Purusha and not-Purusha. Towards one a searcher will cultivate vairagya,

towards the other a dedication and submission.

The inevitable consequences of all practice are both wisdom and

compassion, better to say love, which is love of God and love for the
creatures of God. We become responsible for the welfare of and the
maintenance of order in the creation—on the planet, in the society, in the
family, and in ourselves—as we begin to see that it is God manifesting
Himself

in His creation and we are instruments of His care for the world.
“The last, and the highest manifestation of Prana (life force) is

love. The moment you have succeeded in manufacturing love out of

Prana, you are free. It is the hardest and the greatest thing to gain.”—

Vivekananda (Badrinath, p. 307).

“All expansion is life, all contraction is death. All love is expansion, all

selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who

loves lives, he who is selfish is dying.Therefore, love for love’s sake,

because

it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live. This is the secret of
selfless love, selfless action, and the rest.” —Vivekananda (Badrinath, p.
vi).

There is always a wonder, even awe, connected with an encounter

with Mystery. “Unless it is wonderful, wonderful, it cannot be holy,”

says an Upanishad. There is a non-canonical saying of Jesus Christ,

found on some papyri discovered in Oxyrhynchus in Egypt at the end

of the nineteenth century: “Let not him who seeks cease until he finds,

and when he finds he shall be astonished. Astonished he shall reach the

Kingdom, and having reached the Kingdom, he shall rest.”

But until then, we listen to Rainer Maria Rilke:

. . . Be patient towards all that’s unsolved in your heart

And learn to love the questions themselves.

Like locked rooms
and like books that are written in a foreign tongue

Do not seek the answers that cannot be given to you,

because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then, gradually, without noticing it.

Live along some distant day into the answers.

—Letter 3, Letters to a Young Poet

To hold a question about the meaning and purpose of life is a

quest, a journey without end. A questioning which demands answers

becomes an inquisition. Settling for doctrines or formulations kills the

inquiry.

The middle path is not a middling path; there is no refuge in the

security of one doctrine or another. It is as sharp as a razor’s edge, as the

Katha Upanishad says, and calls for me to live in inquiry, not knowing

but wondering. Who am I? Why am I here?

I am in question and I am the question, but it is not for myself. It is

for the sake of Purusha, the Wholly Other, Unknown and Mysterious.

It is a wonder that the Wholly Other is intimately myself. And there is

a celebration of this Mystery.

May we all be blessed into willingness and usefulness!

THe Yoga Sutras

in Translation

Timeless Insight

1.1
Here, now, is the teaching of yoga.
1.2
Yoga is establishing the mind (chitta) in stillness.
1.3
Then the Seer dwells in its essential nature.
1.4
Otherwise the movements of the mind (vrittis) are regarded as the Seer.
1.5
There are five types of vrittis, which may be pleasant or unpleasant.
1.6
These are true knowledge, false knowledge, imagination, sleep,

and memory.
1.7
True knowledge is based upon perception, inference, and valid testimony.
The Yoga Sutras in Translation

181
1.8
False knowledge is conception with no basis in reality.
1.9
Imagination is thought based on images conjured up by words devoid

of substance.
1.10
Sleep depends upon and leads to non-being.
1.11
Memory is recollecting past experience.
1.12
Stillness develops through practice (abhyasa) and non-identification

(vairagya).
1.13
Abhyasa is the effort of remaining present.
1.14
Continuous care and attention for a long time establishes this practice.
1.15
Vairagya is the mastery over the craving for what has been seen

or heard.
1.16

The higher vairagya arises from a vision of the Transcendent Being

(Purusha) and leads to the cessation of craving for the things of

the world.

1.17

Samprajñata is the state of consciousness in which there is an awareness

of the object with thought, reflection, pleasure and a sense of a separate

self (asmita).

180
Beyond this, when the mind is emptied with practice, there is a state in

which only the trace impressions (samskaras) remain.

1.19
This is the nature of existence for beings without physical bodies and

for those who are absorbed in the womb of life awaiting reincarnation.
1.20
For others, this state is realized through faith, will, mindfulness, tranquility,
and wisdom.
1.21
It is near for those who ardently desire it.
1.22
Even among these there are degrees—mild, moderate, and intense.
1.23
Samadhi—timeless insight and integration—may be reached by
selfsurrender to God (Ishvara).
1.24

Free of the bondage of action, the laws of cause and effect, and past

impressions, Ishvara is the unique being who is unaffected

by suffering.

1.25
In Ishvara lies the incomparable seed of all insight and wisdom.
1.26
Unconditioned by time, Ishvara is also the teacher of earlier seers.
1.27
Om is the expression of Ishvara.
1.28
Repetition of this sacred syllable can lead to the realization of

its meaning.
Then there is no interference and inward-mindedness is attained.
1.30

Sickness, apathy, doubt, carelessness, laziness, indulgence, confusion,

unsteadiness, and feeling stuck are the interruptions which cause dispersion
of attention.

1.31
Dissatisfaction, despair, nervousness, and irregular breathing accompany

this dispersion.
1.32
Dispersion is prevented by the practice of focusing on one truth

(tattva).
1.33

A clear and tranquil mind results from cultivating friendliness towards

those who are happy, compassion towards those who suffer, joy towards

the virtuous, and impartiality towards

wrong-doers.

1.34
Or from attention to the outward and inward flow of breath (prana).
1.35
Or from steady attention to subtler levels of sensation.
1.36
Or by experiencing inner radiance free from sorrow.
1.37
Or by turning to those things which do not incite attachment.
1.38
Or by depending upon insights obtained in the states of greater awakening
called svapna and nidra.
Or by meditating on the longing of the heart.
1.40
For one whose mind is clear, mastery extends from the most minute

particle to the largest expanse.

1.41

When the vrittis are diminished, the mind is like a clear diamond

which reflects what is before it. Then fusion (samapatti) of perceiver,

perceiving, and the object of perception takes place.

1.42
Savitarka samapatti is knowledge (jñana) based on thought, words and
their meaning.
1.43
Nirvitarka samapatti is knowledge beyond thought, when memory is

purified, emptied of its subjectivity, and the object alone shines forth.
1.44
Similarly, subtler savichara samapatti (fusion) involving reflection and

nirvichara samapatti, beyond reflection, are also explained.

1.45
The range of subtle objects includes all levels of creation, extending to

the limits of the unmanifest.

1.46
These four levels of samapatti refer to samadhi seeded by external

objects (sabija samadhi).

1.47
Further refinement of nirvichara brings lucidity of the authentic self.
1.48

There, insight is full of order.

The knowledge obtained in this state of consciousness is different from

the knowledge obtained by testimony or by inference because of its

distinct purpose.

1.50
The subtle samskaras produced by this knowledge prevent the further

accumulation of other impressions.

1.51
When even the subtle samskaras have subsided, all movement of the

mind ceases and there is contemplation without seed (nirbija samadhi).

Practice
2.1
The practice of yoga consists of self-discipline (tapas), self-study
(svadhyaya), and dedication to Ishvara.
2.2
Yoga is for cultivating samadhi and for weakening the hindrances

(kleshas).
2.3

The kleshas are ignorance (

avidya), the sense of a separate self (asmita),

attraction (raga), aversion (dvesha), and clinging to the status quo

(abhinivesha).

2.4
Avidya is the cause of all the others, whether dormant, attenuated,

intermittent, or fully active.

2.5
Avidya is seeing the transient as eternal, the impure as pure, dissatisfaction
as pleasure, the non-Self as Self.
Asmita is the misidentification of the power of seeing with what is seen.
2.7
Raga arises from dwelling on pleasant experiences.
2.8
Dvesha arises from clinging to unpleasant experiences.
2.9
Abhinivesha is the automatic tendency for continuity; it overwhelms

even the wise.

2.10
These subtle kleshas can be overcome by reversing the natural flow
(pratiprasava) and returning to the source.
2.11
Their effects can be reduced by meditation (dhyana).
2.12
Past actions, rooted in kleshas, give rise to experiences in present or

future births.
2.13
As long as the root exists, the effects will be experienced as birth and in

the quality and duration of life.

2.14
Joy is the result of right action, sorrow of wrong action.
2.15

For the discerning, all is sorrow, resulting from the mismatch between

what is actual and what is thought, and because of the suffering

inherent in change, pain, and from past conditioning.

2.16

Future suffering is to be avoided.

The cause of suffering is the misidentification of the seer with

the seen.

2.18

The seen consists of material elements and the sense organs. These have

qualities of clarity, activity, and stability. The seen exists to serve the

aims of experience and liberation.

2.19
Everything that exists, whether particular, general, manifest, or unmanifest
is constituted by the gunas, the fundamental qualities of nature.
2.20
The Seer is only the power of pure seeing. Although pure, the Seer
appears to see with the mind.
2.21
The seen is for the sake of the Seer.
2.22
Having served its purpose, for one who is liberated, the phenomenal

world no longer appears as before, but it continues as such for others.

2.23

The connection between the Seer and the seen causes a mistaken

perception of identity between the force of the visible and the power

to see.

2.24
The cause of this is ignorance (avidya).
2.25
With the disappearance of ignorance, the misidentification no longer

exists. Then pure seeing alone remains.

2.26
Steady vision of discernment (viveka) is the way to overcome ignorance.

Wisdom (prajña) is accomplished in seven stages.

2.28
By practicing the limbs of yoga, impurity is destroyed and the radiance

of jñana leads to viveka.

2.29

The eight limbs of yoga are: yama (self-restraint), niyama (right

observance), asana (right alignment or posture), pranayama (regulation of
breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration),

dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (free attention).

2.30
The yamas are non-violation, truthfulness, non-stealing, containment,
and non-grasping.
2.31
These restraints are not limited by birth, time, or circumstance; they

constitute the great vow everywhere.

2.32
The niyamas are purity, contentment, self-discipline (tapas), self-study

(svadhyaya), and dedication to Ishvara.

2.33
When negative thoughts and feelings arise, the opposite should

be cultivated.
2.34

Cultivating the opposite is realizing that negative feelings, such as that

of violence, result in endless suffering and ignorance—whether these

feelings are acted out, instigated or condoned, whether motivated by

greed, anger, or delusion, whether these are mild, medium, or extreme.

2.35
In the presence of one who is established in ahimsa, there is cessation

of hostility.
When one abides in truthfulness, actions result in their desired end.
2.37
When one is established in non-stealing, riches present themselves freely.
2.38
When brahmacharya is established, great vigor is obtained.
2.39
When one is established in non-grasping, there is knowledge of the

nature and purpose of existence.

2.40
Purity leads to non-identification with one’s own body and to a
freedom from the need for contact with others.
2.41
Purity of mind, cheerfulness, mastery of the senses, one-pointedness,

and ability for Self-realization follow.

2.42
Contentment leads to unsurpassed joy.
2.43
Self-discipline leads to the destruction of impurity and to the perfection of
the body and the senses.
2.44
From self-study one reaches union with the chosen deity (ishta devata).
2.45
Perfection in samadhi arises from dedication to Ishvara.
2.46
Right alignment (asana) is accompanied by steadiness and ease.
2.47
This is attained when there is complete relaxation and samapatti

(fusion, union) with the Infinite.

Then one is no longer assailed by opposing dualities.
2.49
With right alignment, the regulation of the flow of breath in and out is

pranayama.
2.50

When the movement of breath in and out and the stopping of breath

are observed, according to time, place, and number, breathing becomes

deep and subtle.

2.51
The fourth stage of pranayama takes one beyond the domain of inner

and outer.
2.52
Then the covering over the inner light of truth is dissolved.
2.53
And the mind (manas) becomes fit for dharana.
2.54
Pratyahara is the withdrawal of the senses from their objects by

following the essential nature of the mind.

2.55
From this comes the perfect mastery over the senses.

The Way of Splendor

3.1
Dharana is holding the mind in one place.
3.2

Dhyana is the uninterrupted flow of awareness towards the object

of attention.
Samadhi is the state when the self is not, when there is awareness only

of the object of meditation.

3.4
Total attention (samyama) is when dharana, dhyana, and samadhi

are together.
3.5
The illumination of insight results from the mastery of this.
3.6
The practice of samyama is accomplished gradually.
3.7
These three limbs of yoga are inner limbs with respect to the limbs

discussed previously.
3.8
Still, these are external to nirbija samadhi.
3.9
Nirodha parinama, the transformation towards silence, is the transformation
of the mind in which the attention moves from the rise and fall of the
external impressions to the silence which pervades when the

mind is settled.

3.10
The flow of silence becomes constant from the internal impressions of

this quiet.
3.11

Samadhi parinama, the transformation towards realization, is the

gradual settling of distractions and the simultaneous rising of

one-pointedness.

3.12

Ekagrata parinama, the transformation towards one-pointedness, is the

stage of transformation in which activity and silence are equally

balanced in the mind.

3.13
By extension, the transformations of the mind explain the transformations
of material nature—transformations of quality, form, and state.
3.14
The substratum underlying the essential properties of material nature

endures whether these properties are at rest, arising, or unmanifest.

3.15
Variations in the sequence of properties cause differences in the

transformation of material nature.

3.16
By samyama on the three kinds of transformations (

nirodha, samadhi,

ekagrata) knowledge of the past and of the future can

be gained.

3.17

Understanding of an object is usually confused because the name, the

meaning, and the perception of the object are mistakenly identified.

Through samyama on the distinction among these three, the knowledge

of the sound of all beings can be gained.

3.18
Knowledge of previous births can be gained from direct perception

of samskaras.
3.19
Through direct perception of their intention, knowledge of another’s

mind can be gained.

3.20
This does not involve knowledge of the underlying object of thought

since that is not in one’s field of perception.

3.21

From samyama on the form of the body, by breaking the contact

between the eye of the observer and the light reflected by the body, the

body becomes invisible.

3.22
From samyama on the immediate and remote effects of action (karma)
foreknowledge of death can be gained.
3.23
From samyama on friendliness and similar qualities, these qualities can

be gained.
3.24
From samyama on the strength of an animal, such as an elephant, one

gains that strength.

3.25
Knowledge of the subtle, the concealed and the remote can be achieved

by directing the inner light.

3.26
Knowledge of the universe can be gained by samyama on the sun.
3.27
Knowledge of the arrangement of the stars can be gained by samyama

on the moon.
3.28
Knowledge of the movement of the stars can be gained by samyama on

the polar star.

3.29
Knowledge of the bodily system can be gained by samyama on the

navel center.
3.30
Hunger and thirst can be overcome by samyama on the throat hollow.

Stability can be achieved by samyama on the kurma nadi (tortoise vein).

3.32
Samyama on the light in the head brings vision of perfected beings.
3.33
And, knowledge of the all can be reached through intuitive perception.
3.34
Samyama on the heart leads to an understanding of chitta.
3.35
When the quality of perfect sattva is close to the quality of Purusha,

experience serves Purusha. By samyama on the purposes of perfect

sattva, one gains insight into Purusha.

3.36
Thus, subtle hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling are born.
3.37
These powers (siddhis) are attainments in the world, but they are

impediments to samadhi.
3.38
Being free of the sources of bondage, perceiving the manifestations of

another, one is able to enter their body through consciousness.

3.39

From the mastery of the movement of subtle breath rising in the body,

one is freed from being caught by mud, thorns, and water, and one can

rise above them.

3.40
Radiance is the result of mastery of the movement of the mid-breath.
3.41

The divine ear develops with samyama on the connection between ear

and space.
From samyama on the connection between the body and space and by

samapatti with the lightness of cotton, one can move through space

at will.

3.43
The veil covering the light within is destroyed by contacting the state of

consciousness which is beyond the body and is

inconceivable.

3.44
From samyama on gross, intrinsic, subtle, relational, and purposive

aspects of the elements of matter, one attains mastery over them.

3.45
Then extraordinary powers appear, such as the power to be as small as

an atom, as well as bodily perfection and indestructibility.

3.46
Perfection of the body is expressed in beauty of form, vigor, strength,

and firm stability.

3.47

Samyama on the real nature of the senses and their process of perception
and identification with the separate self leads to mastery over the senses.

3.48
From this one acquires quickness of mind, super-sensual perception and

mastery over primordial matter.

3.49
Knowledge of all and sovereignty over all are achieved from a discernment
of the difference between sattva and Purusha.
3.50

Vairagya even from this destroys the seed of bondage and leads to

Kaivalya (freedom without measure).

One should not respond with pleasure or pride to the alluring invitations of
exalted beings lest harmful attachment recur.

3.52
From samyama on the moment of time and on time sequence, jñana
born of viveka, insight born of discernment, is gained.
3.53
Through discernment one realizes the different origins, characteristics,

and positions which distinguish two seemingly similar things.

3.54
This jñana born of viveka is liberating, comprehensive, eternal, and freed

of time sequence.
3.55
When sattva and Purusha are equal in purity, Kaivalya is there.

It is thus.

Freedom without Measure

4.1
Powers, siddhis may be present at birth, or they may result from drugs,

mantras, tapas, or samadhi.

4.2
Transformation into a new state of being is the result of the fullness of

the unfolding of the inherent potential of Prakriti.

4.3

The apparent causes of transformation do not in fact bring it about.

They merely remove the obstacles to natural growth, as a farmer clears

the ground for the crops.

4.4

Fabricating minds arise only from asmita.

But there is one mind that is the source of the many minds which are

involved in activity.
4.6
What is born of dhyana leaves no trace of impressions (samskara).
4.7
The actions of a yogi are beyond good and evil, the actions of others are

threefold (good, bad and mixed).

4.8
These actions sow the seeds of vasanas—deep tendencies and habit

patterns—which bear fruit corresponding to their nature.

4.9

Because memory and samskaras are both results of the sequence of

karma, their continuity is maintained even if their cause is separated

from their effect by time, by space or by lifetimes.

4.10
These samskaras are without beginning because the desires that sustain

them are everlasting.

4.11
Samskaras are the fruits of previous causes. When the causes are
eliminated, there are no further samskaras.
4.12

The past and the future exist within the essential form of the object,

but they appear different due to the difference in the paths taken by the

properties of that object.

4.13

Manifestations of the properties, whether gross or subtle, are colored by

the gunas.
The “thatness” (tattvam) of an object maintains a uniqueness through
various transformations of the gunas.

4.15
Although an object remains constant, people’s perceptions of it differ

because they have different associations.

4.16
The object is not dependent on one mind alone; otherwise, what would

become of the object when not cognized by that mind?

4.17
An object is known or unknown depending on whether or not a mind

gets colored by it.

4.18
Purusha, owing to its changelessness, is the master of the vrittis of

chitta which it always knows.

4.19
Since chitta is an object of perception, it cannot illuminate itself.
4.20
Chitta cannot be aware of its object and of itself at the same time.
4.21

If the perception of one chitta by another chitta were postulated, there

would be an endless regression of intelligence and the result would be

confusion of memory.

4.22
Chitta becomes self-aware when its consciousness assumes the immovable
form of Purusha.
4.23

Chitta which is colored both by the object and the Seer (

Purusha) is
all-apprehending.
And chitta, despite its countless habits, exists for the sake of the Other

(Purusha) on whom it is dependent.

4.25
One who sees the distinction between the mind and Atman ceases to

cultivate the self.

4.26
Then, deep in viveka, chitta gravitates towards Kaivalya.
4.27
In the process of chitta gravitating to Kaivalya, interruptions may arise

due to past samskaras.

4.28
They can be removed in the same manner as the kleshas.
4.29

One who, due to perfect discrimination, is totally non-grasping even of

the highest rewards, remains in constant viveka, which is called

dharmamegha (cloud of dharma) samadhi.

4.30
From that follows freedom from action colored by kleshas.
4.31
Then all the coverings and impurities of knowledge are totally removed.

Because of the vastness of this jñana, little remains to be known.

4.32
Then the sequence of transformations (parinama) of the gunas ends,

because they have fulfilled their purpose.

4.33
Time succession and its correlates, moments in time, are ended with the
ending of parinama.
200

The Wisdom of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

4.34

The gunas, their purpose fulfilled, return to their original state and pure

unbounded Purusha remains forever established in its essential nature.

This is Kaivalya, freedom without measure, the Aloneness of the power

of seeing. It is thus.
SUGGESTIONS

FOR PRACTICAL Exploration

All serious students of the

Yoga Sutras will agree that this remarkable

text is a wonderful source of profound psychological and philosophical

insights. There is a repeated emphasis in this text on svadhyaya—selfstudy

and self-knowledge. To bring an impartial look at ourselves, with more and
more sincerity, it is necessary to gather true self-knowledge.

The following exercises may be helpful for this. These exercises can be

tried without reference to any specific sutra; but they are correlated with

the sutras indicated and may deepen an understanding of these sutras.

Introduction

What is meant by the expression “spiritual search”? What are you

searching for?
Have you experienced different levels of attention? How do you distinguish
them? What factors affect the level of attention we can bring?

Whatever speaks to us, also reveals us. Write down two or three remarks

from any source—from the scriptures, poetry, the sages, or yourself—

which you find inspiring and challenging. “God is love” or “All there is is

Krishna” are examples.

201

Yoga Here and Now 1.1

How do you understand being present here and now? Does this have

anything to do with time, past, present or future?

In Its True Form 1.3-4

Do you identify yourself with your body or with your mind and feelings,

or with the seer who sees through the mind? How would you recognize

these different ways of seeing ourselves?

How does the nature of your ego affect learning new things?

A Progressively Settled Mind 1.17-22

Describe your relationship with your body during different stages of

meditation. Is there a stage in which you experience a freedom from the

body? If there is, what impulse brings you back to a feeling of “I am the

body” rather than “I have a body”?

Movements of the Mind 1.5-11

Can you verify the suggestion that the root cause of all distractions is

fear or self-importance? Try to see the roots or the causes of distraction

in meditation.

Write a minimum of fifty words, but no more than one hundred, on

“Who am I?”
Share what you wrote on “Who am I?” with one other person, someone

close to you—friend, husband, wife, lover—but only one other person.

The condition is that you also listen (or read) her or his piece without

approval or disapproval, or judgment or commentary. Ask the other

person to try the same while reading your piece.

Surrender to God 1.23-32

What does God mean to you? Has your image of God changed from

childhood to now? Write briefly on your understanding of and your

image of God.

What do you most desire? Without considering how it would appear to

anyone, how would you express your deepest wish?

Sit in a quiet place with your eyes closed and slowly recite “Om.” (“Om”

is also written as “Aum” because of the three sounds which make up the

vibration. Begin by sounding “A” in the belly, moving up through the

chest as “U” is sounded as “oo” and then finish with a nasalization “m”

as the vibration moves to the top of the head.) After saying "Om," pay

attention to the vibrations which are in the body. Repeat this for a total

of four times. How has your state changed?

Stay in Front 1.12-14

How could you verify these two statements: “We do not have steady
attention” and “What we attend to is affected by our attention”? Try this

by watching your breath, or watch what happens to the attitude of your

acquaintances towards you when you listen to them with attention.

Freedom from the Known 1.15-16

Recall your own experience of feeling disillusioned with the world. Is this

a disenchantment with the world or with worldliness? Is worldliness in

the world or within yourself?

How do you determine whether you have a strong ego or a weak one?

Tranquil Mind 1.33-39

You have just heard that a friend has won a great deal of money in a lottery.

What is likely to go through your mind? Soon after, you hear that a person

who had humiliated you last week in public has suffered severe injuries in

a bad car accident. What goes through your mind? What practices do you

find helpful in reducing the agitations in your mind and heart?

Listen without judgment to the tone of your own voice as you speak. Does

it change in the presence of people you like and those you don’t like? Is

there a change when speaking to the people who have some authority

over you and to those over whom you have some authority? Does your

tone betray the fact that you are telling a lie, even an innocent and harmless

one, including when you are speaking about things you do not know?
A Clear Mind 1.40-151

Can you recall the conditions which elicited an experience of feeling

oneness with respect to your surroundings or with another person?

Have you ever had an insight into an idea or a scriptural passage which

has not been produced by thought? What conditions allowed such

an experience?

Have you encountered situations or experiences where it makes sense to

say that we need to prepare ourselves not only to understand truth but

also to withstand it?

The Practice of Yoga 2.1-2

What is the nature of spiritual effort? Have you made any?

cause of dukkha (suffering) is tanha (selfishness, selfish desire)?

The Seer and the Seen 2.17-21

Look at yourself in a mirror. What do you see? Who sees? Who do you

see? Are you the one who sees or are you the one who is seen? Can

you look at yourself without thinking, commenting, approving or

disapproving?

Freedom from Ignorance 2.22-27

Do you feel there is a reason or a purpose for your existence? How is this

purpose served by your incarnation in this body at this time and this place?
Self-Restraint 2.28-31

Look at yourself in relationship with one other person to see if you are

free of himsa (manipulation, violation, imposition) or not.

How do you understand the statement that the major forces running the

society are those of reward and punishment? How does this apply to you?

Hindrances 2.3-9

Do you know of occasions in your life when your mind kept returning to

some incident in which you felt humiliated or assaulted or victimized in

some other fashion? On the other hand, recall the occasions when you

were honored and when you felt strong and admired. Which of these two

categories has a greater hold on your psyche?

Observances 2.32-34

Try for a day not to express any negative thoughts or feelings. Choose

one feeling such as anger, jealousy, or impatience which occasionally

takes hold of you. What would be required for you not to be assaulted

by this feeling?

Being Established in Yama and Niyama 2.35-45

How would you answer in your own case, regarding money, information
and position in the society, “What is enough?”, or “How much is enough?”,
“When is it enough?”, “Enough for what?”

Freedom from Hindrances 2.10-14

How do you understand the effort of pratiprasava (reversal of the flow)

in practice?

Right Alignment 2.46-48

How does your mental posture and emotional state affect your physical

posture? And vice versa?

How can pride of success and sadness about failure be let go?

Yoga for the Ending of Sorrow 2.15-21

How can you verify the Noble Truths of the Buddha which say that the

If you have seen directly or in a photograph the famous sculpture by

Rodin called “The Thinker,” would you say that the thinker in the sculpture
is sitting in a good posture for clear thinking?

The Breath of Life 2.49-53

After you spend some time simply breathing in and breathing out and

paying attention to the breath, how would you respond to the question

“Do I breathe or am I breathed?”

Unconditioned Freedom 3.50-55

How do you distinguish between “freedom for myself ”and “freedom from

myself ”? What practical implications does this distinction have in life?

Withdrawal of the Senses 2.54-55

Have you had experiences in which certain kinds of sounds enhanced

silence? Also, have you encountered situations in which external silence

has produced an emotional agitation? What tentative conclusions can

you draw from these experiences about the relationship between external

sound and a feeling of silence?

Subtle Impressions 4.1-11

Can you identify in yourself two natures—lower and higher, or carnal

and spiritual? What are the tendencies and habits of these two natures?

Objective Reality 4.12-17

What do you think is the relationship between the existence of something

and its perception by someone?

Total Attention 3.1-8

Look at a flower or a plant for some time. Can you watch and say what

the causes of the fluctuation of our attention are and what stands in the

way of samyama?

Mind and Spirit 4.18-26

The basic question asked by Patañjali is, “What is the right relationship

between Prakriti and Purusha?” How would you phrase this question for

yourself, and then what will be the direction of your response?

Transformations of the Mind 3.9-15

Watching your own mind in a quiet place, can you say whether the noise

in the mind is the basic ground with occasional moments of silence; or

is silence the ground with occasional movements in the mind? Has this

balance changed since you started your practice of yoga?

Subtle Knowledge 3.16-34

What are your major powers or talents (such as intelligence, charm,

interpersonal skill, or any other)? What do they serve?

Freedom Without Measure 4.27-34

There is a story of three old monks in a Jewish monastery, who waited

for the Messiah (an avatar) to come. After many years, they found
themselves irritated with each other and complaining about the conditions.

Finally they traveled to a distant monastery and spoke to the abbot there.

The abbot told them that the Messiah had already come, and that he was

one of them. They now looked at each other a little differently.

Siddhis as Impediments 3.35-37

You have just heard that a friend of yours has developed extraordinary

powers. What is your reaction to this news?

If you have been assured that one of your friends, or you yourself, is the

Messiah or avatar or a jivan mukta (liberated while still alive), what will

change in your relationships?

Mastery over Natural Forces 3.38-49

Do you wish to have siddhis (super-powers)? Should you? What will you

do with them?

May We All Be Blessed Into Usefulness

Write down three insights from the Yoga Sutras, which you wish to carry
with

you in your life. Arrange them in order of significance to your own search.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED

SANSKRIT AND PALI WORDS

First and foremost I would like to thank my friend and editor, Priscilla

Murray. Without her help, this book could not have been written.

I am grateful to the Theosophical Society for providing a venue and

a context to teach a course on Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras in the School of the

Wisdom in Adyar, Chennai, India, and again in the Krotona School of

Theosophy in Ojai, California. Many students in these courses undertook

the exercises which are included in the book and helped in checking their

suitability and usefulness.

I am very grateful to my friend and fellow searcher Dennis Pence for

his generosity of the spirit and of the heart.

There are two sages who have been sources of great inspiration and
clarity for me. They are Madame Jeanne de Salzmann and J. Krishnamurti.
Their teachings have been constant reminders of the existence of higher
levels of being and the possibility of connecting with these.

Whenever I was unclear about the meaning of any sutra in Patañjali’s

Yoga Sutras, I would turn to their teachings and find helpful insights. No

words are adequate to express my gratitude to them; I feel blessed having

had some contact with them.

This glossary provides a quick reference for useful Sanskrit and Pali

words. It is hoped that readers will become familiar with the Sanskrit

words for the central concepts which cannot be translated adequately

with a single word in English.

In the glossary, the English phonetic spelling of the words is followed by
the word spelled with diacritical marks, using the ususal scholarly
conventions, which provides a more precise pronunciation guide.

abhinivesha (abhiniveśa): momentum to continue in the state one is in

abhyasa (abhyāsa): practice, repetition
adhyatma (adhyātma): the deepest self
ahamkara (ahaṃkāra): egotism, sense of self, pride; literally, “I am the
doer”
ahimsa (ahiṃsā): nonviolation, nonviolence
akinchan (akiñchan): self-naughting, freedom from egotism
alinga (alinga): traceless, without a mark, the meeting ground of
manifestation

and non-manifestation
ananda (ānanda): delight, bliss, joy
antaraya (antarāya): interference
208
209
aparigraha (aparigrahā): non-possession, non-grasping, non-covetousness

asana (āsana) : posture, alignment; one of the five external limbs of yoga
according

to Patañjali
Buddha: awakened, awake, enlightened, liberated; used as a proper name of
the

historical Siddhartha Gautama

buddhi: soul, will, intellect, integrated intelligence, understanding

asmita (asmitā): egoism, “I am this”

chakra: center of energy related to the human organism

asteya: non-stealing

chitta: mind, consciousness, psyche

ashtanga (aṣṭāñga): eight-limbed

darshana (darśana): point of view, perspective, school of philosophy

Atman (ātman) : Self, Spirit, soul, the deepest part of a person; often used
in the

nominative form atma

Dhammapada: an early Buddhist document discussing the chief values of
life and

the path which leads to enlightenment

Aum: same as Om
avatara (avatāra): descent of a deity; incarnation—particularly of Viṣṇu,
the
maintainer of cosmic order
avidya (avidyā, avijjā in Pali): ignorance, illusion, sometimes personified
as

Maya

Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad Gītā) : Song of the Blessed

One; perhaps the single most important work to originate from India. It is a
part of the

great epic Mahabharata; date range 600–200 bce.

dharma: law, order, responsibility for the maintenance of order, duty,
religion,

righteousness, obligation, teaching

dharana (dhāraṇā): concentration, focused attention, one of the three

internal

limbs of Patañjali Yoga

dhyana (dhyāna): meditation, contemplation; one of the three internal
limbs of

Yoga. Dhyana becomes Ch’an in Chinese, Sˆon in Korean, and Zen in

Japanese
dhyana yoga (dhyāna yoga): the way of contemplation

bhakti : devotion, adoration, love and worship

dukkha (the Sanskrit equivalent of this Pali word is duḥkha): suffering,

anguish,

affliction, angst, sorrow, frustration

bhakti yoga: the way of love

dvesha (dveṣa): aversion, dislike, hate

bodhi: perfect knowledge or wisdom (by which a person becomes buddha)
Brahma (Brahmā): first of the triad of personalized gods, Brahma-Vishnu-
Shiva;

the Universal Spirit manifested as Creator; the Great Being

brahmacharya: dwelling in Brahman; the student stage of life;
containment;

sexual continence

Brahman : Godhead, Deitas, Absolute, self-existent nonpersonal Spirit, the

Ultimate Reality; literally,Vastness
ekagrata parinama (ekāgratā pariṇāma): transformation in the state of
onepointedness

gopi: (literally, cowgirl) In the loveplay of Krishna and the gopis, the gopis
represent the human soul

guna (guṇa) : fundamental quality of nature, strand, constituent; the three

gunas—sattva, rajas, tamas—are the three fundamental constituents of the

whole

of Prakṛti (Nature) even at the most subtle level

brahmanda (brahmāṇḍa): cosmos; literally, egg of Brahman

brahmin (brāhmaṇa) : one who has sacred knowledge; one belonging to

the first

of the four castes

hatha yoga (haṭha yoga): physical yoga with an emphasis on asanas and

pranayama

himsa (hiṃsā): violence, violation, manipulation, the opposite of ahimsa.

ishta devata (iṣhṭa devatā): one’s chosen deity
mukti: freedom, liberation, final beatitude; same as moksha
Ishvara (Īśvara): God, the supreme Being, personal Deity

jagrata(jāgrata) : the ordinary state of waking consciousness

nidra (nidrā): in the Upanishads it is a level of consciousness higher than

the level

of svapna; literally, sleep

jñana (jñāna): gnosis, wisdom, sacred knowledge (as distinct from vijnana
which

is profane knowledge, science)

jñana yoga (jñana yoga): the way of knowledge

nirbija samadhi (nirbīja samādhi): seedless samadhi

nirvana (nirvāṇa, nibbāna in Pali): extinction of tanha (selfish craving),
the

highest felicity
kaivalya: freedom without measure, the highest state of consciousness,
Aloneness

nirvitarka: super-rational, beyond thought

kala (kāla): time; also identified with Yama (Lord of death as well as of
dharma);

the root word is kal, which means to calculate or enumerate

nishkama karma (niśkāma karma): action without selfish desire
nishkarma kama (niśkarma kāma): desire without action, fantasy
kama (kāma): wish, desire, longing; Kama is god of love and desire

nivritti (nivṛtti): returning to the source, withdrawal, tendency opposite to

pravritti
karma: act, action, work; result, effect; law of karma (cause and effect) is
cosmic,

that applies to moral and psychological, as well as physical, spheres

niyama: restraint, control; one of the five outer limbs of Yoga

Om: primordial vibration, most sacred syllable; same as Aum

karma yoga: the way of sacred action

pāda (pada): section, path; literally, foot

klesha (kleśa): obstacle, impediment

parinama (pariṇāma): transformation

Krishna (Kṛṣṇa) : the divine teacher in the Bhagavad Gita; the eighth
incarnation

(avatar) of Vishnu; linguistically, “Krishna” is derived from two roots,

meaning

“the dark one” and “the attractor”

prajña (prajñā): insight, wisdom, understanding

prakrita (prākṛta): natural, unrefined, vulgar, common

kriya (kriyā): practice, action; Kriya Yoga consists of tapas, svadhyaya,

ishvarapranidhana
prakriti (prakṛti): nature; materiality; sometimes same as maya

kshatriya (kṣatriya): the warrior or administrator caste

prana (prāṇa): subtle energy, breath; equivalent to Chi (Qi) in Chinese

thought
kshudra brahmanda (kṣudra brahmāṇda): microcosmos; literally, small
egg of

Brahman
pranayama (prāṇāyāma): regulation of prana, breath control; one of the
five outer

limbs of Yoga
linga (linga): mark, sign, trace; Shiva-linga is the phallus of Shiva; linga
sharira is

the subtle body which does not die at the death of the physical body

pranidhana (pranidhāṇa): dedication, respect, surrender

pratiprasava: reverse flow

manas: lower mind, reason; the faculty by which objects of sense affect
buddhi

pratyak chetana (pratyak chetanā): inwardness; to turn one's thoughts

inward

maya (māyā) : illusion, unreality, deception, power; from the same root as
“measure”; Maya is illusion personified, identified with Prakriti
pratyahara (pratyāhāra): drawing back the senses; one of the five outer
limbs

of Yoga

moksha (mokṣa): unconditioned and uncaused freedom, liberation

pravritti (pravṛtti): manifestation, outward and expansive tendency, as

opposed

to nivritti

Sanskrit (Saṃskṛta): name of the sacred language of India

Purusha (Puruṣa): Transcendent Person, Supreme Being, also identified
with

Atman and Brahman

sanskrita (saṃskṛta): well-formed, perfected, refined, educated

sattva : the guṇa of lucidity and mindfulness

raga (rāga): liking, attraction, melody; opposite of dvesha

satya: truth
rajas: the guna of passion and activity
savitarka: with thought, rational

raja yoga (rāja yoga): the royal yoga, another name for the yoga taught in
the Yoga

Sutras, also associated with dhyana yoga and Patanjali’s yoga

shakti (śakti): energy, power, the feminine counterpart of Shiva

Rig Veda (Ṛg Veda) : the oldest of the four Vedas and the oldest text in any
IndoEuropean language; the oldest parts may date back to 3000 bce
Shankara (Śaṇkara): one of the greatest philosophers of India who
propounded

Advaita (nondual) Vedanta

rita (ṛta): cosmic order

sharira (śarīra): body (including the mind and emotions)

ritambhara (ṛtambharā): full of order, truth-bearing

shastra (śāstra): teaching, sacred book

sabija samadhi (sabīja samādhi): samadhi with seed

shraddha (śraddhā): faith, trust

sadhaka (sādhaka): aspirant, practitioner

sadhana (sādhanā) : practice, effort, quest

Shiva (Śiva): auspicious; lord of sleep; third of the Hindu triad of

personalized

Gods, Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva; lord of transformation; awakener

sakshatkara (sākśātkāra): direct perception

shruti (śruti): that which has been heard, revelation
samadhi (samādhi): timeless insight, free attention, integration, synthesis,
tranquility, profound meditation; the eighth and last limb of Yoga
samapatti (samāpatti): fusion, union, coincidence, coming together
shudra (śūdra): worker, laborer, one of the four castes
shunyata (śūnyatā): zeroness, emptiness, the doctrine that anything in
isolation

from the whole is insignificant and nonexistent

samsara (saṃsāra): world, secular life, worldly illusion; the circuit of
mundane

existence; the cosmic flux

siddhi: power, accomplishment

smriti (smṛti): mindfulness, memory, remembered tradition

samskara (saṃskāra): impression, influence

sushupta (suṣupta): a state of consciousness in nidra

samyama (saṃyama): total attention, perfect discipline; a combination of

dhyana,

dharana and samadhi in Patañjali’ s yoga.

sutra (sūtra): aphorism; litterally, thread

samkalpa (saṃkalpa): imagination, self-will, or desire-will

svabhava (svabhāva): inner calling, essential nature, own being

Sankhya (Sāṇkhya): one of the important schools of philosophy in India,
often

closely associated with Yoga

svadharma: dharma (obligation) corresponding to one’s svabhava

svadhyaya (svādhyāya): self-study, study of sacred texts

sanyasi (sanyāsi): One who has renounced

svakarma: karma (action) corresponding to one’s svabhava

svapna: in the Upanishads, it is a level of consciousness higher than of

jagrata;
literally, dream
Vishnu (Viṣṇu): second of the Hindu triad of Gods, Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva;
the

preserver and the sustainer

tamas: the guna corresponding to inertia and sloth, as well as stability

vitarka: reasoning
tanha (tanhā in Pali, tṛṣṇā in Sanskrit): selfishness, egotistic craving,
desire

viveka: discernment, discrimination

tapas: heat; spiritual austerity, penance, effort, self-discipline

vritti (vṛtti): movement of the mind, distraction, modification, fluctuation

tapasya (tapasyā): effort, sustained practice, austerity

yajña (yajña): sacrifice; a sacrificial rite or ceremony; an exchange between

levels
tattva: the essential nature, suchness, thatness

yama: one of the five outer limbs of yoga

turiya (turīya): the highest state of consciousness in the Upanishads;
literally, the

fourth

Upanishad (Upaniṣad) : important sacred writings of the Hindus, usually

philosophical in nature. These constitute the concluding portion of the
Vedas, and number over 200 different works, dating between 800 and 500
bce.

Yama: Lord of death as well as of dharma;

yoga: integration, union, the art of yoking, joining, attaching; any path with
the
aim of union with Ishvara or the Supreme Spirit
Yoga Sutra (Yoga Sūtra): the most important text of yoga, attributed to the
great

sage Patañjali
upeksha (upekṣa): impartiality, equanimity

vairagya (vairāgya): non-identificaiton, detachment, withdrawal from the

world

of reward and punishment

vaishya (vaiśya): the merchant caste
vasana (vāsanā): habit, pattern, innate and deep tendency
vishayavati (viśayavati): sensation; literally, object-centered
Veda: the most sacred literature of the Hindus; knowledge. There are four
Vedas,

the oldest being the Rig Veda, composed around 1500 bce or before.
Vedanta (Vedānta): the name of the most influential school of philosophy in

India; literally, the end of knowledge

vibhuti (vibhūti): splendor, glory, power
vichara (vichāra): thought, reflection, reason
vidya (vidyā): knowledge, wisdom
vishesha (viśeṣa): special, particular, unique
virya (vīrya): energy, vitality
Bibliography

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Commentary. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 1989.

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About the Author

———. Pilgrim Without Boundaries. Sandpoint: Morning Light Press,

2003.
———. Centered Self without Being Self-Centered: Remembering
Krishnamurti. Sandpoint: Morning Light Press, 2003.
———. Science and the Sacred. Wheaton: Quest Books, 2002.
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1995.
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New York: Norton, 1993.

Ravi Ravindra received his early education in India before moving to

Canada. He has been a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study in

Princeton, and a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in

Shimla. At present Dr. Ravindra is Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie

University, Halifax, Canada, where he was Professor and Chair of

Comparative Religion and Adjunct Professor of Physics.

In addition to a profound study of the great traditions, Ravi Ravindra

has had a longstanding and serious engagement with spiritual search. He

has been nourished by his close association with Krishnamurti, with Zen
and with the Gurdjieff Work. He has been practicing yoga for more than

half a century. He received blessings and instruction from the great yoga

exponent Sri Krishnamacharya and studied with Sri TKV Desikachar at

the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India.

Other books by Ravi Ravindra include:

Heart Without Measure: Gurdjieff Work with Madame de Salzmann

Krishnamurti: Two Birds on One Tree

The Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism
Science and the Sacred: Eternal Wisdom in a Changing World

Centered Self without Being Self-Centered: Remembering Krishnamurti

Pilgrim Without Boundaries

The Spiritual Roots of Yoga: Royal Path to Freedom