The Bhagavad Gita

Having completed the review of the Yoga Sutras has moved me to look at another great scripture that can help enlighten our lives. The Bhagavad Gita is a great yogic scripture to become familiar with and study. It is larger work than the Yoga Sutras. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia Wikipedia.

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit भगवद् गीता, Bhagavad Gītā, "Song of God") is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism,[1][2] and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world.[3] The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, comprising 700 verses. The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna, who is regarded by the Hindus as the supreme manifestation of the Lord Himself,[3] and is referred to within as Bhagavan—the divine one.[4] The Bhagavad Gita is commonly referred to as The Gita for short.

The content of the Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different Yogic[5] and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes it as a lighthouse of eternal wisdom that has the ability to inspire any man or woman to supreme accomplishment and enlightenment. [6] During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Svayam bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of his divine universal form.

See Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

Yog Sutra Book IV - Kaivalya Pada

Yoga Sutra - Book Four- Kaivalya Pada- Portion on Absoluteness.

Before Swami Satchidananda goes on to comment on the Fourth Book (section) of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, he tells us that this book is called Kaivalya Pada. "The root of kaivalyam is kevala, which means without qualities or conditions, that which is Cosmic. The one who has the quality of kevala is called kaivalyam. It's an experience of absoluteness, unlimitedness."

From the Wikipedia, under the word Kaivalya is as follows:

"Kaivalya, which is the ultimate goal of yoga, means solitariness or detachment.

The 34 Yoga Sutras of Patanjali of the fourth chapter deals with impressions left by our endless cycles of birth and the rationale behind the necessity of erasing such impressions. It portrays the yogi, who has attained kaivalya, as an entity who has gained independence from all bondages and achieved the absolute true consciousness or ritambhara prajna described in the Samadhi Pada."

Again as mentioned in the beginning of the third book (Vibhuti Pada), Swami Satchidananda tells us he has translated on all the sutras, but has chosen not comment on all of them. The ones he has commented on are the ones he feels most useful for the understanding of Yoga aspirants. For more information on the sutras he did not comment on, a selected reading section includes books that has comments. So in that case "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood is also referred to.

See related posts:

• Yoga Sutra Book III - Vibhuti Pada
• Absolute True Consciousness YS I - 48, 49
  

Single Moments/Sequence in Time YS III - 53

Yoga Sutra III- 53 - KSANA TAT KRAMAYOH SAMYAMAD VIVEKAJAM JNANAM - By samyama on single moments in sequence comes discriminative knowledge.

Swami Satchidananda translated sutra 53 without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood:

"By making samyama on single moments and on their sequence in time, the yogi comes to realize that the entire universe passes through a change within every single moment. Hence, he understands that the nature of the universe is transitory. This understanding is what is meant by discriminative knowledge. Because the yogi's mind is not subject to the illusion of 'time', he can understand the real nature of his experiences. The rest of us, who think in terms of time-sequences, are constantly generalizing our sensations, mentally carrying over the sensations of one moment into the next and the next. We say, 'I was sad the whole afternoon,' when in fact, we were only sad at 2:15, 3:01, and so forth." Thus we are deluding ourselves and suffer imaginary pain.

"For suffering is largely composed of our memory of past pain and our fear of repeated pain in the future, and this memory and this fear are dependent on our consciousness of a time-sequence.

See Samyama - Last Three Limbs of Yoga YS III - 4.

Samyama on Strength YS III - 25

Yoga Sutra III- 25 - BALESU HASTI BALADINI - By samyama on the strength of elephants and other such animals, their strength is obtained.

Swami Satchidananda - "That means you do samyama on a very strong animal; for example, an elephant. It is not that the elephant should come to you, but the strength of the elephant. If you do samyama on the Rock of Gibraltar, you will become real rocky. That means you become so heavy. You just simply stand on the scale and weigh 110 pounds. Stand on it doing samyama on the Rock of Gibraltar, the balance will immediately burst. In the same way, if you do samyama on a feather, the balance will record only zero. You can lighten yourself; you can make yourself heavy. It's all achieved by samyama. Do it; try it. Nice things will happen."

The following posts start with the beginning explanations of samyama:

• Practice in Stages YS III - 6
• Mastery of Samyama Yields Truth YS III - 5
• Samyama - Last Three Limbs of Yoga YS III - 4

As you can see there are many more sutras relating to samyama.

By Samyama... YS III - 19, 20

Yoga Sutra III-19 - PRATYAYASYA PARACITTA JNANAM - By samyama on the distinguishing signs of others' bodies, knowledge of their mental images is obtained.

Yoga Sutra III-20- NA CA TAT SALAMBANAM TASYAVISAYI BHUTATVAT - But this does not include the support in the person's mind [such as the motive behind the thought, etc.], as that is not the object of the samyama.

Swami Satchidananda translated the above sutras without commentary.

From "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood the only comment is:

"In order to know the contents of another man's mind, the yogi would have to make a second samyama on the heart (aphorism 35 of this chapter)."

Omniscience YS I -25; The Guru YS I-26

Yoga Sutra I-25- TATRA NIRATISAYAM SARVAJNA BIJAM - In Him complete manifestation of the seed of omniscience.

Swami Satchidananda uses the word omniscience in his translation of the the word sarvajna. From the Wikipedia omniscience is defined as "the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In monotheism, this ability is typically attributed to God".

Swami Satchidananda commented "He" is all-knowing and knowledge itself. "The cosmic knowledge is called the supreme soul, or Purusha". Then he asks us how we can imagine this. He gives the example of a circle stating that the space within the circle is finite and the space outside it is infinite. "If you accept the existence of a finite space, automatically you have to accept an infinite one. Without infinite there can be no finite." If we feel we are limited and finite (our minds and knowledge), then there must be a source of infinite knowledge beyond.

Yoga Sutra I- 26- SA PURVESAM API GURUH KALENAANAVACCHEDAT- Unconditioned by time, He is the teacher of even the most ancient teachers.

Here Swami Satchidananda says "Although all knowledge is within you and you need not get it from the outside, somebody is still necessary to help you understand your own knowledge." This is why we need a teacher or guru to help us to go within and understand ourselves. From the Wikipedia - A guru (Sanskrit: गुरु, Hindi: गुरु, Bengali: গুরু) is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others.

Swami Satchidananda asks "where did your guru get that knowledge?" "Then who is the first guru?" He speaks about there being a reservoir of knowledge from which all knowledge comes from and "That's why Patanjali says the supreme Purusha, or Isvara, is the Guru of the gurus." And devotion to the all knowing Isvara is another method for obtaining samadhi. This devotion is an emotional path and is a method easier than the others mentioned to attain the different levels of samadhi. Surrendering to"Him" and "The moment you have resigned yourself completely, you have transcended your own ego."

Satchidananda speaks about how we try to practice yoga with our egos, saying "I" can., for example, empty the mind. It is when we realize that it is not "I", but "You, Lord" (that is doing the action), then we have risen above nature. The bottom line is that nobody can obtain eternal peace by doing something with the mind, which is a part of nature. The supreme joy we seek can only be acquired by rising above nature by complete surrender.

To go to the sutra you can check with the post for December 16, 2008. This post wraps up book I of the Yoga Sutras. I will periodically come back and revisit this section.

Keen, Intent, Time and Practice YS I-21,22

Yoga Sutra I-21 - TIVRA SAMVEGANAM ASANNAH - To the keen and intent practitioner this [samadhi] comes very quickly.

Yoga Sutra I- 22 - MRDU MADHYADHIMATRATVAT TATO'PI VISESAH - The time necessary for success further depends on whether the practice is mild, medium or intense.

There are no comments here from Swami Satchidananda on these two sutras, just the translations. However in the book "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, they say for these sutras "Theoretically, there is no reason why we should not achieve the perfect state of yoga within the space of a single second-- since the Atman is eternally within us and our ignorance to this fact could be instantaneously dispelled."

They go on to say that it is our past karmas, present fears and desires and the relative strength of our energies that retard our progress. They say no time period can be put on when this state could be achieved. For some of us it might take months, years or even lifetimes and it all depends on us individually. All they can say that "no effort , however small, is wasted, and the harder we try, the sooner we shall succeed."

Methods to Attaining Asamprajnata Samadhi YS I-20

Yoga Sutra I-20 -SRADDHA VIRYA SMRTI SAMADHI PRAJNAPURVAKA ITARESAM - To the others, this asamprajnata samadhi could come through faith, strength, memory, contemplation or by discernment.

Swami Satchidananda states that these methods will be discussed further in the second book of Yogic practice. Very briefly he says that faith or at least courage should be present. One must be strong and should "have a good memory of all the mistakes you have made and the lessons you've learned so as not to fall back into the worldly rut again." And contemplation , or samadhi is a must as Patanjali has been expounding on throughout these sutras. Finally there is "discernment or discrimination between the real (Self) and the unreal (Prakriti)."

Rebirth - YS I-19

Yoga Sutra I- 19 - BHAVAPRATYAYO VIDEHA PRAKRTILAYANAM - Those who merely leave their physical bodies and attain the state of celestial deities, or those who get merged in Nature, have rebirth.

Swami Satchidananda exlplains this sutra to us saying if we die after practicing a little samprajnata samadhi, Patanjali is telling us that we do not lose all the benefits of the practice. Wherever ever we have stopped, or gained mastery over nature, we will go on to become one of the controllers of nature. "Such people are called videhas." Videha in the glossary of "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" translated and commented by Swami Satchidananda is defined as "bodiless".

Examples of dying mastering:

• the gross elements (without going to the subtler ones) makes one the controller of the gross elements of nature.
• the very depth of nature makes one become the Master of Nature. " Such people are called the siddha purushas, or the gods who control the different phenomena - Indra, Varuna, Agni and so on, according to the Hindu names."

Whatever level, we have to come back and study further and get liberated. It's like going to a university. If you drop out temporarily, you don't get a degree. You have to go back to get the degree. You go to a certain point and get into a higher abode and control nature, but the seeds of desires and attachment are still there. "That is why even gods have to become human beings." It is only in the human being level that there is a possibility of liberation. Swami Satchidananda said that "The gods are just human beings who have evolved a little further and learned to control nature and , by that control, have earned the enjoyment of certain pleasures in the heavens. But, after that , they come back" . So the cycle of birth and death will continue until all the seeds of desire get burnt and they become completely liberated by knowing themselves.

This is definitely food for thought. Stay tuned.

Samprajnata (Distinguished) Samadhi-YS I -17

If you have been following the posts on the Yoga Sutras , the last one was #51. That sutra ended book I of the The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Before I go on to book II on the practice of yoga, I will go back to a samadhi I did not initially post. Yoga Sutras (YS) I-17 - VITARKA VICARANANDASMITANUGAMAT SAMPRAJNATAH - Samprajnata samadhi (distinguished contemplation) is accompanied by reasoning, reflecting, rejoicing and pure I-am-ness.


Swami Satchidananda states in his commentary for this sutra that Patanjali is speaking of the final practice called samadhior contemplation, and its variations. Swami Satchidananda says of Patanjali that he is completely scientific as "He sees yoga as a rigorous science and never hesitates to give all aspects of the practice and their ramifications. It is the duty of a scientist to understand and explain every aspect of his discoveries."

Swami Satchidananda tells the reader that you might think you are ready to practice samadhi right now, however, it should be known that this practice only becomes possible after achieving perfection in concentration and meditation. He stresses that the mind must have one-pointedness and be completely under control because the entire mind must be used in the practice of samadhi.

Satchidananda says that Patanjali talks about 2 kinds of samadhis: samprajnata (distinguished) is in this sutra. In the following sutra(which I will cover in the next post) the second kind of samadhi is asamprajnata ( undistinguished). As a scientist, Patanjali further divides the distinguished samadhi into four forms. But before we can even understand these samadhis, we have to understand what nature or Prakriti which'is a closer definition of 'basic matter;' is made up of. "According to Patanjali, Prakriti is also has four divisions: the very gross material; the subtle elements called the tanmatras, which ultimately express as the concrete forms which you see; the mind-stuff (chittam), and the ego or individuality."

"So, samadhi is practiced first on gross objects(savitarka samadhi), then on the subtle elements (savichara samadhi), then on the mind devoid of any objects except its own joy- in other words on the sattvic mind (sa-ananda samadhi)- and finally on the 'I' feeling alone (sa-asmita samadhi)".

"When the mind is focused on a concrete object, that is called savitarka samadhi." Swami Satchidananda reminds us at this point the mind is already well under control. He speaks of "The moment the purely focused mind contemplates an object, it goes to the very depth of that object and understands every particle of it." He uses the example of scientists probing matter and discovering atomic energy. By them practicing savitarka samadhi, they got knowledge and gained power over the atom. He said the benefit of this contemplation is understanding the inner secrets and powers of the object contemplated. He asks what do you do with that power, seeing how the atomic energy was "used for destructive bombs instead of soothing balms."

Savichara samadhi or reflection has to to with contemplating something abstract (tanmatras or subtle elements) like red or white or love or beauty. Because of the abstractness of the word, help of a concrete object is needed for comprehension. Satchidananda says "But if you are able to contemplate and understand concrete objects well, your mind gets the capacity to understand abstract things even without the concrete objects."

Sa-ananda samadhi, which is going subtler, is only joy with no reasoning or reflecting. Not using the intellect and just contemplating the tranquil mind itself, one experiences joy.

In sa-asmita samadhi, there is just the awareness of individuality. You are just there aware of nothing else, contemplating "I-ness." Swami Satchidananda says that the samskaras (past impressions are still in the mind in seed form. "Even though you are only aware of the "I", the samskaras are still buried in the mind."

"The samprajnata samadhis are a process of going inward-not evolution, but involution." Swami Satchidananda further says that "In Yogic meditation we experience involution."

The commentary gets a little involved as you can see. But basically, Swami Satchidananda is saying that we have to work with what we see, the known, and then work ourselves back out to the unknown. He said we cannot just ignore the known and tackle the unknown. It is easier to deal with something concrete, which we can see, feel and touch. Unless you understand Prakriti (Nature) very well you cannot get out of it. This is why one would have to practice the four samprajnata samadhis first in order, one after the other.

Swami Satchidananda warns that there is a danger in practicing Samprajnata samadhis, however we do have to face them. The primary thing here is to prepare oneself with purity and selflessness. "Otherwise , you will be in danger with your new found powers." "These mysterious powers should not be used for selfish purposes."

Samskara - Impression YS I - 50

Samskara(s): Sanskrit word meaning impression left by a previous thought or action; latent tendency; are the seed of our past actions. We all have samskaras in our lives that either help or hinder us. So now we come to the following sutra:

Yoga Sutra I- 50 - TAJJAH SAMSKARO'NYA SAMSKARA PRATIBANDHI - The impression produced by this samadhi wipes out all other impressions.

Swami Satchidananda says in his commentary of this sutra that the impression which comes from the samadhi in which you get ritambhara prajna will block all other impressions. Here everything dies away and there is no more returning back as an ordinary person, who is unaware of his own true nature. When one gets to this stage, the stage of no return, one always retain this knowledge (of his true nature). This stage is when one becomes a realized saint or a jivamukta. The word jivan means one who is lives and mukta means liberated. The jivanmukta lives, eats, talks, does business like everyone else but liberated. This liberated person doesn't get excited. This person as a jivanmukta can do anything, like being involved in the world for the sake of humanity without any personal attachment.

Swami Satchidananda concludes the commentary by stating that a liberated person will not be attached to anything, not have impressions or old thoughts to bring them back to ordinary life. The seeds of desire will be completely burnt up and that liberated person will always live in an unattached state.

Absolute True Consciousness YS I - 48, 49

Yoga Sutra I- 48 - RTAMBHARA TATRA PRAJNA - This is ritambhara prajna, or the absolute true consciousness.

"After attaining the pure, non reflective samadhi, the Yogi gets 'wisdom-filled-with-truth." which is the meaning of ritambhara.

According to Swami Satchidananda Patanjali continues on to the next sutra:

Yoga Sutra I-49 SRUTANUMANA PRAJNABHYAM ANYA VISAY VISESARTHATVAT- This special truth is totally different from knowledge gained by hearing, study of scripture on inference.

Swami Satchidananda says here that when one achieves ritambhara prajna, one can understand everything without study. And when you can transend the mind with proper concentration, "you can feel the cosmic force or God." "Experiencing God is something that is genuine and comes only when you transcend the mind." He says that the mind cannot understand God, because it is made of matter and it could not possibly understand that which is more subtle than matter. So basically here, Swami Satchidananda says" that in ritambhara prajna you transcend the mind and gain a knowledge that is realization. " And in order for that to happen, the mind must be completely silent.

Samadhis with Seed YS I - 46

Yoga Sutra I-46 -TA EVA SABIJAH SAMADHIH - All these samadhis are sabija (with seed), which could bring one back into bondage or mental disturbance.

The seeds being spoken about here are desires and attachments. Swami Satchidananda states that in all the samadhis previously mentioned, the goal has not been reached. "Even after acquiring all these states," (of samadhi) "you can come back as an ordinary person because of the impressions are still there." In other words, you can experience these states, but if the desires are not completely burned up because the mind is not completely purified, you can once again become plagued with the vrittis of the mind . Therefore, Swami Satchidananda says that is why one should make the mind purified before one practices deep meditation. He goes on to illustrate that even an "impure" mind can see GOD but from a wrong angle.

In his commentary scientists are illustrated as "Yogis" in the sense of how deep they concentrate and meditate producing discoveries and inventions. They are able to get to plumb the secrets of the atoms. He ends his comments stating if we are" to go into the secrets of life and the universe and gain control over them, we should have pure minds to make the proper use of them." If not we will bring destruction on the whole of humanity. Purification of the mind is very necessary.

Nirvitarka Samadhi YS I - 43

Yoga Sutra I-43 - SMRTI PARISUDDHAU SVARUPA SUNYEVARTHA MATRA NIRBHASA NIRVITARAKA - When the memory is well purified, the knowledge of the object of concentration shines alone, devoid of the distinction of name and quality. This is nirvitarka samadhi, or samdhi without deliberation.


What this type of samadhi is (without deliberation) is unmixed with the sound or name, the object or meaning and knowledge. Here in nirvitarka samadhi there is only knowledge (jnana) of the object meditated on. This is when the memory is purified or devoid or qualities, according to Swami Satchidananda. So this is to know nothing but the object itself as it truly is without our reactions and or preconceived thoughts.

Savitarka Samadhi YS - I - 42

Pantanjali's Yoga Sutra I-42 - TATRA SABDARTHA JNANA VIKALPAIH SAMKIRNA SAVITARKA- The samadhi in which name, form and knowledge of them is mixed is called savitarka samadhi, or samadhi with deliberation.

A definition of Savitarka Samadhi is that the second state of samadhi where there is alternating association of the consciousness between word, knowledge and sensory perception ...

Swami Satchidananda says " that in savitarka samadhi you can actually understand the sound, the meaning, and the resulting knowledge of an object." In an earlier sutra I- 17 VITARKA VICARANANDASMITANUGAMAT SAMPRAJNATAH Swami Satchidananda said "When the mind is focused on a concrete object, that is called savitarka samadhi."

Some of you reading this might think what is this all about. Basically Swami Satchidananda gives an example of this sutra by giving an example of the fact that every time we hear a sound (like the word dog), we simultaneously do all these three things:

• Hear the word
• try to understand the object by the sound
• gain the knowledge of the object

The sound of the word "dog" goes into the brain and tries to find a similar grove. If it does, then we understand the word "dog" that we heard before. So the sound or name (sabda), the object (artha) and the knowledge (jnana) all happen spontaneously. In this samadhi Swami Satchidananda says we can separate them one after the other and that it is a process that we can stop whenever we want.

Obstacles

Obstacles- can be defined as One that opposes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress;An obstruction, barrier, blockage, hindrance. We are all familiar with the experience of having obstacles in our lives in different situations. If we look at the Yoga Sutra, we can learn and gain more insight on obstacles.

Yoga SutraI-29 - TATAH PRATYAK CETANADHIGAMO-'PYANTARAYABHAVAS CA - From this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self. Here Swami Satchidananda comments that "You get in tune with the cosmic power." The tuning is in reference to japa , the repetition of the mantra OM that connects us with the infinite within us. See the previous post on sutra I-28 regarding reflection on the meaning.

So if you have read the previous posts on the mantra, on OM you might have gained some insight that this practice can plug you into your inner power. Swami Satchidananda says that the mind and body limit us. However, if we hold something infinite(like the mantra OM) we can raise ourselves from the finite objects (obstacles) that bind us and transcend them. With this method we can get rid of all the obstacles freeing our pathway.

Stayed tuned to the different kinds of obstacles.

OM - AUM YS I - 27

Om is such a vast subject. But then that is no surprise as it is the Name that gives the experience of the Divine Creator which is vast and limitless. Have you tried it yet? Have you felt the effect of OM? It truly brings us home, to that real place within us. It is within and without. It is everywhere - see AUM

To listen to the sound inside when one is quiet, one will notice a hum. That hum is called pranava. And pranava is connected to prana, the basic life force vibration that always exists whether it si manifested or not. Swami Satchidananda continues his commentary of OM in the Yoga Sutra - I -27 stating that no one can stop that atomic vibration. So even without repeating it, the sound continues to vibrate within you. He states that no one invented OM and it does not belong to any one country or religion. It is universal. God Himself manifested as OM.

Swami Satchidananda concludes his commentary giving an example of how a word might be interpreted differently by different people. So he relates that some might say OM as Amen, Ameen, or Mmmmm. In other words, one Truth is seen or expressed in many ways. This is the greatness of the basic seed word OM.

So practice repeating and listening to the sound of OM. It is written that chanting OM for 15 minutes everyday can have a remarkable effect on you. You can calm your mind, settling your vrittis (modifications of the mind, thoughts) and even realize your Self!

Memory - Smritih YS I - 11

Memory. What does that word bring to mind? Ironically you have to use memory to think about the word. A definition for memory is the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, and knowledge. The Sanskrit word for memory is smritih.

This writing today continues with a review of the five vrittis (the modifications of the mind) in the Yoga Sutra (YS). The fifth and last vritti is YS I- 11 ANUBHUTA VISAYASAMPRAMOSAH SMRTIH. This means When a mental modification of an object previously experienced and not forgotten comes back to consciousness, that is memory. Swami Satchidananda's commentary of this sutra is that "memories create impressions in the mind" that come up to the surface from time to time whether we want them or not. He further states there are two ways memories surface: 1. as dreams when we sleep and 2. as daydreams during the day. "Both are impressions which, when formed, slowly descend to the bottom of the mind and come to the surface when they are rekindled for some reason." Satchidananda concludes his commentary he as explained what the five vrittis, thought forms, are that "must be controlled".

Swami Muktananda, author of "Mystery of the Mind" comments on this same sutra as the "memory is nothing but the impression of the other four modifications, that are not allowed to escape." To remind you again of the other four vrittis: right knowledge, misconception, verbal delusion and sleep. He gives an example how one could be sitting in meditation and a thought pops up of a fight twelve years ago with someone. Or a person who cannot forget a girl and the thought disturbs them. Muktananda says that "memory is the secretary of the other four vrittis ; no matter where one is, it opens the file and shows one what took place in the past." He concludes that we are not tortured by the mind but by the five vrittis. As long as these modifications are active we do not have peace and that we act according to the feelings of the mind.

Sleep / Nidra ( YS I - 10)

I'm sure we are all familiar with the word sleep. Ever since we were born, we have had to sleep everyday. Sleep is a natural state of bodily rest and essential for survival.

Nidra is the Sanskrit word for sleep. So as I continue with a review of the five vrittis (the modifications of the mind) in the Yoga Sutra I-10, the fourth type is ABHAVA PRATYAYALAMBANA VRTTIR NIDRA. Translated it means That mental modification supported by cognition of nothingness is sleep. Swami Satchidananda's commentary that "Normally, we say we do not have any thought in the mind during sleep. But actually we have the thought of having no thought." He furthers says that's why we can say we slept well. He continues to say that if there were no thought and we were completely unconscious, we would not feel that we had slept. He concludes that "All other thoughts are temporarily suspended except for this one thought of emptiness in the mind, which leaves its impression upon waking." With this information we can start to ask ourselves who is the one who is watching?

Now in "Mystery of the Mind" by Swami Muktananda, he interprets this sutra as Sleep is the modification based on the absence of any content in the mind. He talks of the nidra vritti as ignorance or lack of knowledge of true Reality. He further stated that this vritti not only operates during the sleep state. This sleep can also happen when one's eyes are open and appears to be listening. I'm sure everyone may have experienced this when maybe one has not had enough sleep and is in class trying to stay awake. Also some of us who are 'waking up' or are becoming more consciously aware can begin to see that some of the people around us are literally asleep.

Delusion - YS I - 9

This picture illustrates the next Yoga Sutra I-9 SABDAJNANANUPATI VASTU SUNYO VIKALPAH translated as An image that arises on hearing mere words without any reality [as its basis] is verbal delusion. The picture has the microphone from which we can hear sounds from.

We hear things all the time. If you listen to someone speak from a radio, on the telephone or in person we get different impressions all the time. And those impressions might not be true. The commentary from Swami Satchitananda on this sutra is that "in vikalpa (verbal delusion) there is nothing there , yet you still create some opinion about it." He gives an example of a guy taking his car to a garage and on the way all four of his tires are punctured. One might deduce that maybe the driver got into an accident, not really hearing the words and not taking time to think about what was actually said. This reminds me of how gossiping starts from hearsay.

Swami Muktananda, author of the book "Mystery of the Mind" refers to vikalpa vritti as "imagination or fantasy." " Imagination is the supporter of wrong knowledge." This brings to mind the times I hear someone over the radio or over the phone and I imagine how the person looks. Then when I actually see an image of the person or meet the person, they look completely different from what I imagined. Have you had that experience? Now you know that this is one of the mental modifications that we experience in the mind. So become mindful of your thoughts.

Stay tuned for the other vrittis (modifications of the mind)