Still Posture - Still Mind YS II - 47

Yoga Sutra II- 47 - PRAYATNA SAITHILYANANTA SAMAPATTIGHYAM - By lessening the natural tendency for restlessness and by meditating on the infinite, posture is mastered.

Swami Satchidananda says "If the body is still, it is easy to make the mind still." He said one of his teachers would say,"You need not repeat any prayers or even do japa. Just sit quietly for three hours in a row with no movement whatsoever, without even winking, then everything will be accomplished easily." Swami Satchidananda said that if we could sit that long, we could control our mind automatically. "Through the body we can put a brake on the mind." We are told that this an accomplishment of asana or the benefit of asana siddhi. (From the Wikipedia - Siddhi (Sanskrit:सिद्धिः; siddhiḥ) is a Sanskrit word that literally means "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success".[1] It is also used as a term for spiritual power (or psychic ability). The term is used in that sense in Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism)

Other illustrations of siddhis that can control the mind are given as follows:

• Bhojana, (eating) siddhi - Restriction to eating just a certain amount of food a day at a certain time.
• Sthala siddhi- Limiting your movement by taking a vow (like not moving out of state, or your apartment for a year.

Swami Satchidananda informs us that we might have experienced taking a vow to do something and then being immediately tested on it. Examples are given like if we decide not to leave a place and someone immediately afterwards offers us a free ticket somewhere else. Of we decide to go on a fast and someone brings us something delicious. Once we decide on taking a vow, the tests tend to come immediately.

A reference to Hindu philosophy (South Indian Saivism) is made about sixty-three Saiva Siddhanta saints by the name of Nayanars.
The Nayanars "realized the truth by taking just one vow and sticking to it, even at the cost of their lives." Swami Satchidananda tells a story of a king who made a vow of seeing holy ash on any forehead of a person that he would treat them as Lord Siva himself and would give him anything he asked. An enemy king heard of the vow and took advantage the situation by smearing ash on his forehead, disguised as a philosophy teacher. He ended up killing the king who made the vow. He died saying the Lord's name, with his last breath having a vision of God. He stuck to his word. Swami Satchidananda ends the commentary with "The idea behind taking one vow and sticking to it is that we become masters of our minds." He also uses Hindu marriages as an example of the same principle. The mate is accepted as whatever they are and looked at as the a gift from the Lord.

So the analogies given in this commentary can be viewed as an asana in the context that one becomes steady in a vow, takes a seat so to speak and does not waver. The asana is the firm, comfortable posture that helps to still the mind.

See related posts:

• Asana - Posture YS II - 46
• The Eight Limbs of Yoga - YS II - 28, 29
• Yoga As a Tool

Asana - Posture YS II - 46

Yoga Sutra II-46- STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM - Asana is a steady, comfortable position.

Swami Satchidananda starts his commentary with "Asana means the posture that brings comfort and steadiness. Any pose that brings this comfort and steadiness is an asana. If you can achieve one pose, that is enough. It may sound easy, but in how many poses are we really comfortable and steady?" He tells us that as soon as we sit in a position we get uncomfortable being continually being reminded of different parts of their bodies. "Unless the body is perfectly healthy and free from all toxins and tensions, a comfortable pose is not easily obtained. Physical and mental toxins create stiffness and tension. Anything that makes us stiff can also break us. Only if we are supple will we never break."

Swami Satchidananda shares a story of a weed and a big tree. The bottom line was that when the rainy season came bringing heavy rain, the big strong tree got swept away since it was big, stiff and could be supple like the weed. It is pointed out that we need the strength of steel, but with flexibility. "The body must be so supple it can bend any way you want it to. Such a body will always be healthy and tension-free. The moment we sit down for meditation in such a body, we'll forget it."

In order for us to attain such a meditative pose was the reason that Hatha Yoga was created. It was realized that the pain, stiffness, bile, gas, etc. was created by toxins that came from eating the wrong foods at the wrong times in wrong quantities. The questions of the proper foods, amounts and times lead to the Yogic diet which did not include meat, fish, eggs, stimulants and excessive use of spices.

Swami Satchidananda informs us that the squeezing of the body in different directions was to get rid of toxins that were already inside the body. Some positions are mentioned and if they were not enough, other deeper postures were developed to deal with the toxins. "When the spine was stiff and didn't want to move, they employed postures that bent it forward, backward, sideward and upside down. Although Hatha Yoga is several thousands of years old, it never becomes outdated." The truths are always current, like gold always staying the same.

Total Surrender Yields Samadhi -YS II - 45

Yoga Sutra II- 45 - SAMADHI SIDDHIR ISVARAPRANIDHANANT - By total surrender to God, samadhi is attained.

Swami Satchidananda says that "Isvara pranidhatnam is a life of dedication, of offering everything to the Lord or to humanity." Swami Satchidananda tells us that he includes humanity in the category of the Lord because the whole world is God. "When we dedicate out lives to the benefit of humanity, we have dedicated ourselves to God. Whatever we do can easily be transformed into worship by our attitude." We are told that even treating items we have roughly will be felt as painful and that we should have "gentle, Yogic touch with everything." "Convert every work into Yoga with the magic wand of right attitude."

If we can renounce our attachments to our possessions, we will have nothing to worry about. The worries we have come from these mental attachments. When we can possess things without the attachments, Swami Satchidananda says that "This is continuous "samadhi." Real samadhi is tranquility of mind, not just sitting in a corner like a rock. This tranquility of mind can come when the mind is free from all attachment. The Gita is quoted as saying "Either give everything to the world, to the community of your fellow people, or give everything to God." A stanza quoted from the Gita "Do everything in My name. Then you will get peace and joy." Swami Satchidananda says at this point in the commentary that if we can understand this, there is no need to read further. However, this might not be want some people want, thus the scriptures give different paths. He said there are numerous paths*, religions and philosophies. It doesn't matter what path and that "By practicing one these virtues, all the rest will follow. If one is perfected, concentration , meditation and even samadhi will come."

*Some of the numerous paths are referred to in - "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood are as follows:

• Bhakti yoga - the path of devotion to God through ritual worship, prayer, japa


• Karma yoga - the path through selfless service (God dedicated action). Dedication of the fruits of one's work to God


• Jnana yoga - the path of intellectual discrimination; the way of finding Brahma (God) through analysis of the real nature of phenomena


• Raja yoga - the path of meditation combining all of the paths. Included also is the study of body as a vehicle of spiritual energy.

It is noted that one yoga cannot be practiced to the sole exclusion of the others. It is pointed out that love, discrimination and dedicated action are all included in any religious path. "Just as the devotee may choose a particular aspect of God he feels most inclined to worship, so also he may the particular kind of he wants to establish between God and himself."

This ends the last observance category of Niyama, the second limb of yoga.

See related posts:

• The Eight Limbs of Yoga - YS II - 28, 29
• Yama - Abstinence YS II - 30
  
  

Swadhyaya - Study of Spiritual Books YS II - 44

Yoga Sutra II-44- SWADHYAYAD ISTADEVATA SAMPRAYOGAH- By study of spiritual books comes communion with one's chosen deity.

" Swadhyaya,or spiritual study, means study of scriptures and also any practice that is our own personal sadana into which we've been initiated. Regular practice becomes study. By it we get ishta devata samprayogah--the vision, or darshan, of the Lord. By constant effort, we get a vision of the deity connected with our particular mantram, for each mantram has a deity. In other words, each name has a form. If we just stick to a certain name, eventually the form will appear automatically. It may come as a human form, a light or a sound." - Swami Satchidananda

See related posts:

• Swadhyaya
• Scriptures
• Reflection upon Meaning
  

Tapasah - Austerities YS II - 43

Yoga Sutra II- 43- KAYEDRIYA SIDDHIR ASUDDHI KSAYAT TAPASAH - By austerity, impurities of body and senses are destroyed and occult powers are gained.

Tapasya (tápasya) in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá (a Vrddhi derivative meaning "a practitioner of austerities, an ascetic").

Swami Satchidananda says "The direct meaning of tapas is "to burn," as was discussed in the first Sutra of this portion." Examples of tapas are given :

• physical tapas or fasting - burns away excess fat with toxins that have accumulated in the body.


• mental tapas - burning all old impressions


• verbal tapas - observing silence to control speech

He says when we burn, pain and heat are felt and we undergo suffering. "So, tapas also means to accept suffering. If someone suffers, he or she is blessed, because by that suffering some impurities are purged out." Swami Satchidananda says that we should never run from pain and how our lives are filled with hundreds of opportunities for tapas. Washing a piece of cloth is given as an example of going through tapasya to become pure. "The mind must be washed, squeezed, tossed, dried and ironed" like the cloth. We are informed that people who cause us pain are actually helping to purify us. If we still get upset from insults, our mind is not yet strong.

"Adapt, adjust, accommodate. Bear insult. Bear injury. That is the highest sadhana (spiritual practice)." was what Swami Satchidananda's Master told him. It is easy sadhana to go in a corner and say a mantra, however, to keep a serene mind when insulted is higher than saying a thousand rosaries of japa. "That is tapasya. The power to control the body and senses comes by tapasya."

"The practice of self-discipline refines our sense-perceptions and even our physical substance until we become aware of latent psychic powers, such as the power of clairvoyance, telepathy, levitation, etc. " - "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood

See related posts:

• Niyama - The Observances - YS II - 32
• The Eight Limbs of Yoga - YS II - 28, 29
• Mantra

Santosha - Contentment - YS II - 42

Yoga Sutra II- 42 - SAMTOSAD ANUTTAMAH SUKHA LABHAH - By contentment, supreme joy is gained.

Santosha (सन्तोष), contentment, is one of the niyamas of Yoga.
According to the Wikipedia definition, contentment (also called complacence) is the neuro-physiological experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one's situation, bodymind (cf. John Money[1]), body, and/or mind.

Swami Satchidananda - "As a result of contentment, one gains supreme joy. Here we should understand the difference between contentment and satisfaction. Contentment means just to be as we are without going outside things for our happiness. If something comes, we let it come. If not, it doesn't matter. Contentment means neither to like or dislike."

An additional view of this sutra from "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood is:

"It is well worth analyzing the circumstances of those occasions on which we have been truly happy. For, as John Masefield says, 'The days that make us happy make us wise.' When we review them, we shall almost certainly find that they had one characteristic in common." It is pointed out that it was when we lived in the depths of the present moment, not being anxious of the past or future. "This is what Patanjali means by contentment."

Also our attention is directed to happiness we get "from the satisfaction of a desire", which although being very vivid, is comparatively short in duration. For as one desire is satisfied, another one arises producing anxiety, thus a shadow that accompanies it. We are told that if we compare our memories of satisfaction versus contentment, we will see that the satisfaction wanes whereas the contentment moments remain throughout the years.

See related posts:

• The Eight Limbs of Yoga - YS II - 28, 29
• Niyama - The Observances - YS II - 32

Purity -Benefits -YS II - 41

Yoga Sutra II-41 - SATTVASUDDHI SAUMANASYAIKAGRYEN-DRIYAJAYATMADARSANA YOGYATVANI CA - Moreover, one gains purity of sattva, cheerfulness of mind, one-pointedness, mastery over the senses, and fitness for Self-realization.

Swami Satchidananda tells us for this sutra that once there is an understanding of the body, the heart is purified as well. With a pure heart, one is always happy and concentration of the mind comes automatically. He points out that "an impure mind runs here and there, forcing us to bring it back again and again." The senses get controlled and the comes fitness for Self-realization which is referred to as Atma darshana yogyatvani. "These are all benefits of following niyama's first observance, purity. Just be pure in thought, word and deed." He says that this easy, however, the ego doesn't want us to accept things easily. "If we can practice purity for just one day, we will really enjoy the benefits."

"Purity of mind shows itself in a man's mood. He becomes increasingly dominated by sattva, the guna of illumination and peaceful happiness." - "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood

Related posts:

• Sauchat - Purification YS II - 40
• Niyama - The Observances - YS II - 32
• The Eight Limbs of Yoga - YS II - 28, 29