The Purusha/Atman is Luminous YS IV - 20

Yoga Sutra - IV - 20 - EKA SAMAYE COBHAYANAVADHARANAM - The mind-stuff cannot perceive both the subject and object simultaneously [which proves it is not self-luminous].

Swami Satchidananda - "The mind-stuff perceives objects outside. At other times, if is is clean enough, it can turn within and reflect the Purusha also. So, it can be either subject or object. As subject, it see other things. As an object, it is seen by the Purusha. But the Purusha can never be both. It is always the subject."

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

As we saw at the very beginning of this book (I, 2), the mind is not the seer, but the instrument of the Atman, which is eternally conscious. The mind is only intermittently conscious of objects, and its perceptions of them vary according to its own fluctuations. The mind is changing all the time, and so is the object of perception. The Atman alone, by remaining unchanged, provides a standard by which all perception can be measured.

We are given a partial quote from Swami Vivekananda that "Motion can only be perceived when there is something else which is not moving..."

We are given the statement - The mind is just as much an object of perception as any object it perceives in the external world. The mind is not self-luminous; that is to say, it is not a light-giver, like the sun, but a light-reflector, like the moon. The light-giver, the "sun," is the Atman, and the mind only shines and perceives by the reflected light of the Atman. The mind cannot perceive both itself and an external object simultaneously.

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.

The Mind as A Crystal YS I - 41

Pantanjali's Yoga Sutra I-41 KSINA VRTTER ABHIJATASYEVA MANER GRAHITR GRAHANA GRAHYESU TATSTHA TADANJANATA SAMAPATTIH - Just as the naturally pure crystal assumes shapes and colors of objects placed near it, so the Yogi's mind, with its totally weakened modifications, becomes clear and balanced and attains the state devoid of differentiation between the knower, knowable and knowledge. This culmination of meditation is samadhi. (transliteration by Swami Satchidananda)

Swami Satchidananda says if you develop one idea or use one particular method through constant meditation, "all other thoughts and desires will gradually die away." It's like once you pay attention to something constantly, your awareness of all else withers away. Our habits that we don't want will wither and die if we don't give them the opportunity to manifest. So we don't have to fight the habit, just cultivate a proper one. So in regard to the crystal taking on the color of what is near it, if you place purple color near a crystal (like a clear quartz crystal) it will take will appear purple. In the same way once the mind accepts the your idea of meditation, it takes that form. The end result of meditation is samadhi which is a higher level of concentrated meditation. The Wikipedia defines samadhi "as a non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object,[2] and in which the mind becomes still (one-pointed or concentrated)[3] though the person remains conscious. "

Another way to say this sutra is "Just as the pure crystal takes color from the object that is nearest to it, so the mind, when it is cleared of thought-waves, achieves sameness or identity with the object of its concentration. This may be either a gross object, or the organ of perception, or the sense of ego. This achievement of sameness of identity with the object of concentration is known as samadhi." - transliteration by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood of "How To Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali". You can click here to hear a little from Swami Prabhavananda addressing the Yoga Sutras.

Regardless of which transliteration you like, the bottom line is do the process. For this New Year 2009, this is a perfect way to start it off and continue. I wish you a Happy New Year and I warmly invite you to join me in Salutations New Year 2009! Come and tune up your body so you can help the process of meditation. You can also go to http://www.bometernally.com/

How is your Mind? YS I -5, YS I - 6, YS IV - 15

The mind can be defined as "The human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and imagination" as per the http://www.freedictionary.com/.

The mind is such a vast subject and yet it is what is used to live through our days. In the Yoga Sutras (YS) IV - 15 Vastu Samye Citta Bhedat Tayor Vibhaktah Panthah is translated as " Due to difference in various minds, perception of even the same object may vary." This is very evident in how our day unfolds. We see this everyday in the news. Because there are differences in people' s minds there are uplifting events as one helping others or stealing and/or killing others. Due to these varying emotions and wills we vote for people, tolerate situations or petition for different beliefs we have. These differences are reflected in how we live, what we wear, how we eat and what we focus on.

It is interesting to note in the Yoga Sutras how Patanjali explains the vrittis:
Vritti (plural: Vrittis), in the context of Hinduism and its yoga stream, is the name given to different tendencies which come to our mind without our conscious knowledge. In YS I-5 Vrttayah Pancatayyah Klista Aklistah it is stated that there are five kinds of mental modifications which are either painful or painless. Swami Satchidananda's commentary of this sutra is to substitute "painful" or "painless" as "selfish" thoughts and "selfless" thoughts. Satchidananda states that "The selfish thoughts ultimately bring pain." and that selfless thoughts will bring peace. Near the end of this sutra commentary he states "In our daily lives we always work with these two categories of thoughts....We have to watch carefully the moment a thought-form arises in the mind. We become analysts. This itself is Yoga practice- watching our own thoughts and analyzing them."

In YS I-6 Pramana Viparyaya Vikalpa Nidra Smrtayah Patanjali lists the five types of vrittis (mental modifications) as right knowledge, misconception, verbal delusion, sleep and memory. As you can see this all affects the mind. How is your mind?

Study your mind and stay tuned.

Practice as a Tool YS I - 1, YS I - 2

Practice is a tool we all utilize it to some degree everyday of our lives. We might not readily acknowledge or view the word practice as tool .

Some definitions of practice are : 'Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise.' Another definition is 'Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition'. Other examples of our 'habitual performance' or practice used everyday are brushing our teeth, walking, breathing, thinking, disagreeing, being fearful, arguing, being lazy, being a workaholic, cooking, drawing, playing an instrument etc.

The word practice can pertain to positive and negative habits in our life, or as two sides of the same coin. So in this post I am focusing on practice as a tool of yoga. So now I will refer to the word sutra : (Sanskrit) "Thread." An aphoristic verse; the literary style consisting of such maxims. From 500 bce, this style was widely adopted by Indian philosophical systems and eventually employed in works on law, grammar, medicine, poetry, crafts, etc. Each sutra is often accompanied by a commentary called bhashya and sometimes subcommentary called tika, vyakhyana or tippani.

In the Yoga Sutras (YS) of Pantanjali- YS I-1 is ATHA YOGAANUSAASANAM

It means " Now the exposition of Yoga is being made" as translated and commented on by Swami Satchidananda . In his commentary, he says we cannot reach the goal (yoga) by mere words alone. Without practice, nothing can be achieved.

The second YS I-2. YOGAS CITTA VRTTI NIRODHAH

The meaning here is "The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga". Basically what is being said here is if the restraint of the mental chatter is achieved, or if the mind becomes quiet, the goal of yoga would be obtained. In a nutshell, it goes back to the word practice.

So when we are having a "bad "day, when things are not going the way we want, instead of letting it sap our energy, or making us unhappy, we need to practice being present. We can start paying attention to our breath. We can stretch our bodies consciously. We can practice mindfulness. We can get in the habit of using this tool day by day, until it becomes automatic and natural. And it is a tool that is accessible all the time.