This is the eleventh post in a series intended to shed light on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the authoritative text on classical Indian yoga, or meditation.
The first chapter of the Yoga Sutras introduced the state of enlightenment (i.e., what it is, how to achieve it, requirements, obstacles, how to recognize progress). The second chapter of Patanjali’s epic tutorial is about preparing to meditate – to improve our chances of attaining enlightenment.
Patanjali begins Chapter two by expanding on a point raised in sutra 1.5, which loosely says, “There are five types of thought which may be influenced by conditions that further obscure Consciousness”. While Chapter one describes the types of thought we need to transcend, Chapter two begins with a description of the conditions which may influence those thoughts (sutras 2.3 – 2.9), how to minimize their gross effects (sutras 2.1 – 2.2), and how to reduce and eliminate their subtle effects (sutras 2.10 – 2.11).
Chapter 2, aphorisms 1-11, loosely [note: while the Sanskrit is omitted herein for simplicity, reading it is critical to a thorough “unpacking” of Patajali’s sutras]:
2.1 Kriya Yoga is a three-fold discipline: fortitude, introspection and devotion
2.2 [Kriya Yoga] minimizes conditions which influence thoughts
2.3 [The five conditions which influence our thoughts are] ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion and fear
2.4 Ignorance gives rise to four natural impulses [ego, attraction, aversion, fear], which can be dormant, feeble, intermittent or sustained
2.5 [Herein] Ignorance is mistaking the impermanent [body/mind] for the permanent [Consciousness]
2.6 Ego is mistaking mind for Consciousness
2.7 Attachment stems from pleasant experiences
2.8 Aversion stems from unpleasant experiences
2.9 Fear, specifically of loss and death, is natural
2.10 The subtle effects of these conditions [ignorance, ego, attraction, aversion, fear] may be reduced via concentration…
2.11 …and may be eliminated altogether via meditation
In other words, by dint of determination, self-awareness, and devotion (Kryia Yoga), we can learn to focus our mind sufficiently to override the conditions which would otherwise negatively influence our thoughts, words, and actions.
It works. It’s simple – though not easy.
Real-life, practical examples: nature and nurture have conspired to make me very impatient. So when I feel rushed, and the dog won’t do its business, or the person driving the car in front of me seems to be crawling along, or I’m stuck behind someone in an “express” checkout line with 89 items – I override the aspect of my mind that would otherwise register exasperation and stress by concentrating on something else until the situation resolves itself. My go-to is to simply recite the alphabet backwards, silently in my mind, visualizing each letter. I can’t tell you how many times that trick has saved me from flying off the handle and subsequently regretting it, as I often used to!
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God bless, Skip
#patanjali #consciousness #meditation
