The Old Shalas

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There are 5 kinds of mental modifications which are either painful or painless. They are right knowledge, misconception, verbal delusion, sleep and memory. (YS I:5-6)

When a mental modification of an object previously experienced and not forgotten comes back to consciousness, that is memory. (YS I:11)

Yoga Sutras Q&A (Chapter 2)

While chapter 1 (part 1; part 2) of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali talks about yoga, how to achieve it through various techniques, and the different types of samadhi, chapter 2 deals with practice.

What constitutes yoga in practice?

• Tapas (accepting discipline as means for purification), svadhyaya (study of spiritual or inspiring books), and isvarapranidhana (surrender to the Supreme Being, in whichever form we acknowledge this being) constitute yoga in practice. - YS II:1

How can tapas, svadhyaya and ishvarapranidhana help us in the practice of yoga?

• They help us minimize obstacles and attain samadhi. - YS II:2

What are these obstacles?

• There are five obstacles in the practice of yoga: ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to bodily life. - YS II:3

What is ignorance?

• Ignorance is the field of the others mentioned after it, whether they be dormant, feeble, intercepted, or sustained (basically the reason for the other 4 obstacles). It is regarding the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant, and the non-Self as the Self. - YS II:4-5

What is egoism?
Egoism is the identification, as it were, of the power of the Seer with that of the instrument of seeing, which is body-mind (Satchidananda, 1978). - YS II:6
It is to perceive the seer and the seeing as one (Maehle, 2006).

What is attachment?

• Attachment is that which follows identification with pleasurable experiences. - YS II:7
  

What is aversion?

• Aversion is that which follows identification with painful experiences. - YS II:8
  

And clinging to bodly life?

• It flows by its own potency due to past experiences and exists even in the wise. - YS II:9
  

All these obstacles, whether dormant, feeble, intercepted or sustained should slowly be gotten rid of. Only then are we ready to go further (Satchidananda, 1978, p93).

How?

• In subtle form, these obstacles can be destroyed by resolving them back into their primal cause which is the ego. In the active state, they can be destroyed by meditation. - YS II:10-11

Reference: All are from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda unless otherwise specified.

To be continued...

Krishnamacharya in 1938 with Yoga Sutras

Thanks to Yogakayak for sharing these videos on youtube.

Something to meditate on...

If you have done something meritorious, you experience pleasure and happiness; if wrong things, suffering. A happy or unhappy life is your own creation. Nobody else is responsible. If you remember this, you won't find fault with anybody. You are your own best friend as well as your own worst enemy. – YS II:14

To one of discrimination, everything is painful indeed due to its consequences; the anxiety of fear on losing what is gained; the resulting impressions left on the mind to create renewed cravings; and the constant conflict among the three gunas, which control the mind. – YS II:15

Yoga Sutras Q&A II

What happens when success in yoga is achieved?

• From this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner self YS I:23

What are these obstacles?

1. disease
2. dullness
3. doubt
4. carelessness
5. laziness
6. sensuality
7. false perception
8. failure to reach firm ground
9. slipping from the ground gained

• YS I:30

What are the accompaniments /signs of these obstacles?

1. distress
2. despair
3. trembling of the body
4. disturbed breathing

• YS I:31

What is the best way to prevent these?

• the practice of concentration on a single object (or use of one technique) is the best way to prevent the obstacles and their accompaniments. - YS I:32

How do we maintain our peace or practice concentration?

1. by cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked - YS I:33
2. by the controlled exhalation or retention of the breath - YS I:34
3. by concentrating on subtle sense perception - YS I:35
4. by concentrating on the supreme, even blissful Light within - YS I:36
5. by concentrating on a great soul's mind which is totally freed from attachment to sense objects - YS I:37
6. by contemplation or concentrating on the experience had during dream or deep sleep - YS I:38
7. by meditating on anything one chooses that is elevating - YS I:39

The rest of Chapter I explains the different types of samadhi which I still need to understand more. The study of the Yoga Sutras takes time. It took me several versions and commentaries to really grasp its teachings... and the learning continues.

I hope this Q&A has somehow gave you an idea on this classical text by Patanjali.

Reference: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Swami Satchidananda.

Yoga Sutras Q & A

Yogena cittasya padena vacam
malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena
yopakarottam pravaram muninam
patanjalim pranajaliranato'smi

Abahu purusakaram sankha cakrasi dharinam
sahasra sirasam svetam pranamami patanjalim.

Let us bow before the noblest of sages Patanjali,
who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind,
grammar for clarity and purity of speech
and medicine for perfection of health.

Let us prostrate before Patanjali,
an incarnation of Adisesa,
whose upper body has a human form,
whose arms hold a conch, a disc and a sword,
and who is crowned by a thousand-headed cobra.

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The chant above may discourage a devout Catholic, dedicated Christian or a faithful Muslim from pursuing the study of yoga if we look at its literal translation. The Sanskrit language, like the old English, is very poetic. It is most helpful if we look at the meaning behind the words. The conch, for example, represents the Divine Sound and power.

"It is an emblem of power, authority and sovereignty whose blast is believed to banish evil spirits, avert natural disasters, and scare away poisonous creatures." - Exotic India

I told Chona I studied the Sutras in a Q&A manner and it made me understand this yogic text easier. As promised, I'm posting the questions for the first half of Chapter I.

What is Yoga? And why do we have to pursue it?

• Yoga is the control over the fluctuations of the mind (YS I:2). The Self either abides in his own nature of assumes the forms of the mental modifications (YS I:3-4)

What are the mental modifications?

1. Right knowledge
2. Imagination/misconception
3. Verbal delusion
4. Sleep
5. Memory

• Then are either painless or painful (YS I:6-11)
  

How can we control these mental modifications?

• Through practice and non-attachment (YS I:12)

What is practice?

• It is the effort toward steadiness of mind (YS I:13)

How can practice be successful?

• Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without braek and in all earnestness (YS I:14)

What is non-attachment?

• The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about (YS I:15)

When can one attain success in yoga?

• To the keen and intent practitioner this comes very quickly (YS I:21)
• The time necessary for success further depends on whether the practice is mild, medium or intense (YS I:22) or by devotion with total dedication to the Divine (YS I:23)