Continuous Effort YS I - 13, YS I - 14

One can view our life process as that which consists of continuous effort. Effort is defined as exertion of physical or mental power or the use of physical or mental energy to do something; exertion. Continuous is defined as uninterrupted in time; without cessation.

To answer the question how do we control the vrittis (modifications of the mind or thoughts) to have peace of mind, the term continuous effort comes into play to address this issue. In the Yoga Sutras (YS) I-13 - TATRA STHITAU YATNO'BHYASAH - Of these two, effort toward steadiness of mind is practice and YS I-14 -SA TU DIRGHA KALA NAIRANTARYA SATKARASEVITO DRDHABHUMIH - Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness, the words effort and without break appear.

Continuing with Swami Satchidananda's commentary, he states for YS I - 13 that Pantanjali does not refer to continuous practice for just one or two days. This line means that you become eternally watchful, scrutinizing every thought, word and action. For YS I-14, he elaborates on "the first qualification for the practice is that it should be done for a long time." He further comments on how we want results immediately and that we do a practice for a few days and then state nothing happens and then we want a different practice. Swami Satchidananda's states that the second qualification is "without break" and the third qualification is "in all earnestness." In other words we should be serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous. He ends his comment here by stating "If you are unsettled and anxious to get the result, you are already disturbed; nothing done with that disturbed mind will have quality. So it is not only how long you practice, but with what patience, what earnestness and what quality also."

In "Mystery of the Mind" by Swami Muktananda, he interprets these sutras as seen in the previous post on Practice and Detachment . Swami Muktananda comments that "not everyone's mind is strong enough to maintain the constant awareness of unity." He states "for this reason Pantanjali gives various practices which are suitable for different seekers." He extols mantra repetition at this point.

As you can see, according to your mind, this can be a complex topic. So I will continue to make an effort to simplify it. Some of us may need time to digest it. This is why continuous effort is needed to get to that place of fully digesting material like this so it can help us grow more in awareness. Stay tuned.