Pleasure and Pain - YS II- 14

Yoga Sutra II- 14- TE HLADA PARITAPA PHALAH PUNYAPUNYA HETUTVAT - The karmas bear fruits of pleasure and pain caused by merit and demerit.

The commentary by Swami Satchidananda for this sutra is very short. If we have done or performed some action that is meritorious, we will experience pleasure and happiness. If we have performed demeritorious actions, we will experience suffering and pain. "A happy or unhappy life is your own creation. Nobody else is responsible." If we can remember this sutra and or the meaning of it, we won't be able to blame or find fault with others. "You are your own best friend as well as your worst enemy."

There really is not much more to be said of this. We can all look at our lives and see the answers for ourselves, especially if one is awake and alert. Needless to say, if we look at everyday life whether the news, our families, our daily situations in our lives we can see this for ourselves. And if we can't , read the previous posts on karmas and obstacles (klesas):

• Karma Past, Present & Future - YS II - 12
• Five Obstacles -YS II-3
• Avidya -Ignorance YS II-4
• Between Ignorance - YS II - 5
• Egoism - Asmita YS II - 6
• Attachment and Aversion YS II-7 - YS II - 8
• Abhinivesa - Fear of Death YS II- 9

Attachment and Aversion YS II-7 - YS II - 8

Yoga Sutra II-7 - SUKHANUSAYI RAGAH- Attachment is that which follows identification with pleasurable experiences

Yoga Sutra II- 8 -DUHKHANUSAYI DVESAH - Aversion is that which follows identification with painful experiences.

Sukha, a Sanskrit word in the Wikipedia is defined as
“happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss." Dukha in sanskrit is defined as "uneasy". Swami Satchidananda comments on these two sutras together (as they are two sides of the same coin). He reminds us "that happiness is always in us as the true Self", however "We attach ourselves to pleasure because we expect happiness from it". This pleasure is from outside of us. Things that make us unhappy and are painful we attempt to avoid. He says that attachment and aversion are impediments to the spiritual path. Swami Satchidananda paints a picture of the musk deer with the analogy of the musk being compared to the happiness we all have inside and running around looking for it on the outside.

In the book "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, for both of these sutras are basically similar agreeing (with what Swami Satchidananda says above) that these are obstacles to enlightenment."The spiritual aspirant must not love the things of this world too much; but he must not hate them either." Aversion is a form of bondage which ties us to what we hate of fear. They explain that this is the reason that what you have an aversion to will show up again and again in various aspects of our lives as long we resist it.