Defining Yoga
1. अथ मोगानशु ासनभ ॥् १॥ atha yoganushasanam
“Now Yoga is explained.”
Patanjali is announcing the specific nature of his subject matter. Just as the Vedanta school in the Brahma Sutras would say “Now Absolute Truth is explained” so that you would know what was about to be expounded upon, or the Mimamsa school would say “Now Dharma is explained”, or the Samkhya school would say “Now Purusa is explained”. And, so Patanjali is saying Yoga.
Vyasa, who was the foremost commentator on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras would clarify yoga as it’s root- yuj (to contemplate). English root etymology has in the main translated yoga to ‘yoke’ and, Panini the primary sanskrit grammarian, would gloss over the word ‘Yoga’ and replace it with the term Samadhi - Samadhi being various forms of contemplation and mental concentration.
As we are here for the purposes of applied-practice then as it is a doorway, meaning that the practices affect the outcome and the outcomes affect the practice, we shall not get into scholarly wranglings and let the introduction stand as we see it today and allow for the practices themselves to provide access to the wisdom that surpases all mind knowledge. Less is more.
It is often interesting that we take mental snapshots or notes sharing considering how we feel toward Yoga say at the beginning of this book and then again at the end.
2. मोगणित्तवणृत्तणनयोध् ॥ २॥ yogashchittavrittinirodhah
“Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Citta) from taking various forms (Vrttis)”
There are many definitions of yoga. From the Rig Veda unspeakable, unperceivable, knowledge, to the Bhagavad Gita’s bhakti -devotional yoga.
It is helpful when interpreting this vast oceanic all-inclusive dharmic world, to remember the ancient antiquity of this great land of Bharat (India). These sutras would have began as verbal instructions, master to student or schools or sects way before being committed to the written word. And when we connect with these threads we become part of it.
The sutras are as relevant today as they have ever been and they themselves always remain open to current contemporary motions (the cycles of time) and cultural notions. These sutras are entangled with nature itself.
So yoga is not only a goal but a thread, a lineage, and a reflection of the time it is held within.
Patanjali is a sage, a scientist, a rishi. Here he is clearly defining yoga here as a complete codified scientific exploration of your own self, through your experience experience and through the lineage or wisdom of truth, you told that yoga is the stilling the mind of all thought. So are you suffering? Then Yoga.
As an applied practice we can deem from this that our mind fluctuations are the various forms they take within the mind are what requires our attention in order to achieve yoga, any practice that we enter into is with this goal in mind to subvert to become unattached to and to rise above the vibrations into the states of less activity such as theta, delta and beyond to bliss and union.
Citta - is the mind substance as a whole or sometimes referred to as ‘mind stuff’ collectively
Vrttis - are the actual waveforms of thought that they take. The thoughts neurological location, motion and pathways within the brain (mind) rather than a theoretic notion
Nirodhah - cessation (to cease) or control - remember the how varies from aspirant to aspirant. To have mastered (not to have suppressed) the mind is the fifth highest state of meditation in Yoga
Both Vrttis and Citta are matter / nature / prakriti to Patanjali and Samkhya philosophy.
Applied Practices
Truth {Wisdom beyond mind, thought or intellect}
Yoga is both the destination and the process
Inference {Logic / Reasoning}
Cessations of mind stuff and it’s fluctuations brings stillness and a greater ability to achieve meditative absorption
Experience {Practice}
Observe your own mind’s fluctuations, thoughts and processes
Contemplate your mind as motion, matter, nature
Choose a practice that most puts your mind at ease rather than what you ‘think’ you should practice
Let’s Discuss
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