The Secret Teachings Of Patanjali Yoga Sutras

The secret teachings of Patanjali Yoga Sutras Once upon a time, so goes a tale from Indian mythology, all the Munis and Rishis approached Lord Vishnu to tell him that even though he, incarnated as Lord Dhanvantari, had given them the means to cure illnesses through Ayurveda, people still fell ill. They also wanted to know what to do when people got sick. Sometimes it is not just physical illness, but mental and emotional illness too, that need to be dealt with. Anger, lust, greed, jealousy etc. How does one get rid of all these impurities? What is the formula? Vishnu was lying on the bed of snakes, the serpent When the Rishis approached him, he gave them Adi Shesha, the symbol of awareness, who took birth in this world as Maharishi Patanjali. Hence, Patanjali came to this earth to give this knowledge of Yoga, which came to be known as the Yoga Sutras. Patanjali said that he was not going to discuss the Yoga Sutras unless 1000 people got together. So, 1000 people gathered south of the Vindhya mountains to listen to him. Patanjali had another condition. He said that he would put a screen in between him and his students and told them that nobody was to lift the screen or leave. Everybody had to stay in the hall till he finished. Patanjali stayed behind the curtain and he transmitted his knowledge to all the 1000 students and each of them absorbed this knowledge. It was an amazing phenomenon and even the students could not believe how they were getting this knowledge. They could not believe how the master was making each of them understand the knowledge without uttering a single word from behind the curtain. Thus, out of that mystery was born the Patanjali is not the inventor of Yoga but rather Yoga's most popular known scribe. What has become known simply as the Yoga Sutras, Sutra means thread or the Yoga Darshana, the vision of Yoga, is a compendium of an ancient pre-existing oral Yoga tradition consisting of both practical advice and theoretical context. The most accepted format of the Yoga Sutras consists of four chapters called Padas written in the Sanskrit language approximately 2000 years ago in northern India while utilizing the terminology of the time that is the Sankhya philosophical system. The dates ascribed to the Yoga Sutras vary widely from 250 BC to 300 AD. The Yoga school of Patanjali within Indian philosophical traditions specifically attempts to reach the ultimate knowledge of the self through a spiritual practice that strives to seamlessly blend the self and the world, the spirit and the body into one single consciousness. Yoga literally means union, it means the union of the parts of ourselves which were never divided in the first place. Yoga literally means to yoke from the root yuj which means to join, it is the same as the absorption in the state of Samadhi. Sutra means thread and this thread or multiple threads weave a tapestry of insights and direct experience. The Yoga philosophy speaks about the theory and practice for the realization of the ultimate truth concerning human beings and the world. Classical Indian historians pay little detail to linear aspects of time. We may still say that Yoga Sutras were most likely penned somewhere around the time of Jesus plus or minus 200 years. We may assume that Patanjali was an educated man who in his middle or latter life received oral instructions in Raj Yoga practices and took up the practices of Yoga in the remote caves, forests or river banks which were the most frequent practicing grounds of the time. There Patanjali the Yogi gained the Siddha, perfection of Nirbija Samadhi, seedless Samadhi, the crown achievement of Yoga as the remote havens of the Yogis were receding and the true aspirants dwindling. It is through that Patanjali decided to record the most essential Yoga teachings which were his guide and inspiration to enlightenment. Thus were born the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is the first systematic and authoritative presentation of Yoga in both its theoretical and practical aspects. Followed by Patanjali Vyasa's Yoga Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra's Tattva Vyasa Radhi are good additions to Yoga philosophy. These two works are treated as commentaries on Yoga Sutras. The Yoga philosophy is closely associated with Sankhya philosophy. Yoga presents a practical path for realization of the Self whereas the Sankhya emphasizes the attainment of knowledge of the Self through concentration and meditation. Thus, Yoga is the practice and Sankhya is its theory. The Gita says that Yoga and Sankhya are the practical and theoretical sides of the same system. Both the schools uphold that liberation can be attained through knowledge and to attain this knowledge requires the power to control the and ego. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras consist of four parts. These are Samadhipada deals with the introduction to the nature and methods of Yoga in its various forms. It describes the various modifications of the organs including Chitta which is an internal organ of a human being. Sadhanapada, practice, explains the causes of sufferings and how to eradicate them. It talks about the law of karma and human bondage. Vibhutipada, progressing, in the third part elucidates the concept of how to achieve the supranormal powers and in which ways Yoga helps it. Kaivalyapada, liberation, the final part describes the nature of liberation and spiritual union with the Supreme Soul or Self. A basic understanding of psychology helps us to understand the mystic path of Yoga in a clear form. Thus, we need to understand what is the psychology of Yoga. The most important element in the psychology of Yoga is Chitta. Chitta means the three internal organs as described in the Sankhya philosophy, buddhi or intellect, ahamkara or ego and manasa or mind. It is the first modification of the prakriti in which sattva guna dominates rajas and tamas. It is material by nature but due to nearness or closeness with the purusha, it acquires consciousness. But when it relates to an object, it assumes the form of that object. This form is called vritti or modification. Due to the modifications of chitta, the self knows the worldly objects. No real or actual modification occurred in the self. But due to the reflections of the purusha in the modifications of chitta, there is an appearance of change found in it. Just as the moon appears as moving in the river and the waves of the river appear as luminous, similarly purusha appears as undergoing modification and chitta appears as conscious due to purusha's reflection in it. When the knowledge of an object is attained, the self ceases to exist from the modification of chitta. It is even detached from the association and aversion to worldly joys and pain. This attachment is nothing but bondage. To get rid of this bondage, human beings need to control the modifications of chitta. One can control the modifications of chitta only by practicing yoga continuously. In this regard, Patanjali defines yoga as a cessation of the modification of chitta. We the human beings have a body, sense organs and mind. And hence, it is obvious to have sensual attachment and passion towards worldly objects, to get rid of earthly suffering and to remove the ignorance that we find within us. We have to conquer our sense organs, mind and even our bodily acts. To do this, the chitta needs to be controlled. In this respect, yoga philosophy prescribes an eightfold path that helps us to control our passions and craving for worldly pleasures. These eightfold paths are as follows. Yama – It is the control of mind, body and speech. Niyama – It speaks about the rules for possessing good conduct. Asana – It is an advanced stage of yoga. It speaks about doing various bodily postures, which help to retain concentration of chitta and even help to control the body as well as mind. Pranayam – This is the fourth stage in the practice of yoga. Pranayam is understood as control of breath. It suggests that practicing pranayam helps the agent to control his or her inhaling and exhaling of breath. This helps the chitta to remain concentrated and focused. Pratyahara – In this stage, the agent should control his or her sense organs for not to be attached to worldly objects. He or she will try to restrain the sense organs for not clinging desperately to the objects of the world. Hence, the craving for an object would cease. Dharana – Our mind constantly shifts from one object to another. To keep our mind focused on one particular point and to check from its frequency of shifting from one object to another is called dharana. Dhyana – In this stage, the aspirant becomes successful to remaining concentrated on an object for a longer time. Here, the aspirant realizes the whole object by concentrating its one part. This step is known as meditation. It helps to realize the true nature of the chitta. Samadhi – The eighth and the last step of yoga is known as samadhi. This is the apex stage of yoga. In this stage, the aspirant negates the difference between subject and object and realizes the true nature of the chitta and how it attains the form of the object. Here, the process of concentration and the object becomes one and identical. This stage is known as cessation of modification of the chitta. Samadhi is of two kinds – samprajanat or sabīja-attributed samadhi and asamprajanat or nirbīja-attributeless samadhi. In samprajanat or conscious samadhi, the aspirant becomes aware of his or her concentration. This helps to receive the real knowledge of an object and becomes free from the law of karma or karmic influx. Asamprajanat – supra-conscious – this is the highest form of samadhi. In this stage, there will be no distinction found between subject and object. The worldly attachment and suffering disappear. Having explained the general assumptions in pada 1 defining yoga and samadhi as a trans-conceptual alignment, communion, harmonization, trans-substantiation and holistic trans-personal non-dual integration, explaining the practices sadhana in pada 2 and the attainments vibhuti in pada 3, here in pada 4, kaivalyam, Patanjali describes the ultimate liberation, which is a self-liberation without qualification as realized in nirbīja samadhi, seedless samadhi. Thus, ultimately in pada 4, Patanjali answers the question of what is ultimate liberation through the process of yoga. In the context of yoga, which means to join together or to merge to one, kaivalya includes the freedom from limited identification, from separateness itself, from ego. Yoga thus culminates with the realization of nirbīja samadhi, where one's separate self is seen as part of the illusory process and it is no longer drawn into it. Hence, all vritti, all bias, all perturbations and agitations of the psychic field rests in the empty field of separateness, kaivalyam being our natural state. In the tradition of the Himalayan masters, yoga, vedanta and tantra complement one another, leading one systematically along the path of self-realization. The aspirant clears the mind through the practice of yoga meditation, as codified in the yoga sūtras of Patanjali, does self-enquiry of vedanta and then breaks through the final barrier with tantra, experiencing the heights of kundali awakening. The practices, sadhna of yoga can be described as processes and procedures of deprogramming or negative conditioning, liberating the modified consciousness back to its original, natural and unmodified state, a source of inspiration, genius and creativity. This is described as the realization of the non-dual state of union, as yoga. Thus, the yoga sūtras describe how a confused, lonely, alineated, nihilistic and fragmented existence can be reunited, harmonized and integrated with natural order and thus unite in forming a natural and intimate sense of belonging in the world, of profound well-being, contentment, fulfillment, peace and joy devoid of fear or attachment. We can conceive the central teachings of Patanjali in this yoga sūtras as ultimately the ancient but still valid Hindu theory of the evolution of our species. All progress and power are already in every man, says Swami Vivekananda. Perfection is in every man's nature, only it is barred in and prevented from taking its proper course. Let us remember that Hegel, the renowned 19th century German idealist philosopher, conceived of the world and history itself as progressively evolving towards the absolute mind or spirit. Teller du Chardin, the renowned 20th century French theologian and scientist, formulated a metaphysics of the evolution, holding that it was a process converging towards final unity, which is called the omega point. They are in fact only confirming what Patanjali had asserted thousands of years back. Patanjali declares that the true secret of evolution is the manifestation of the perfection that is already in every being. The final sutra of Patanjali says, here in the eternal now, all tendencies to project a separate self have become totally extinguished and only the creative intelligent power of evolutionary consciousness shines forth in all directions simultaneously. Therein, absolute liberation reigns by itself, unimpeded forever, as it always has and will be.