Another article briefly mentioned an example of how a certain population may utilize the 1st Sutra pf Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The population I referred to consisted of inmates in a medium security prison.
If an inmate behind bars can use yoga to achieve a sense of freedom I’d say yoga is a technology which deserves our attention. What is your reason for practicing yoga? That’s the question I ask you. I’d say the First Sutra of Patanjali means much more then, “Let’s go do some yoga.”
My first yoga class was taken on a whim. I was surprised at how good it made me feel. How could I feel this good I thought? I was on college probation, my young life was falling apart. As I continued my classes, I wondered, what gives. My grades were improving and my head cleared as I maintained a weekly yoga class. My college aspirations bore fruit. I was transformed as I utilized the first four sutras.
The first sutra paraphrased says, “NOW the Practice of Yoga Begins.” Inmates who are backed into a corner saw yoga as a way out of that corner as they began to practice it. I saw yoga as a way off of college probation. For I, too had felt backed into a corner. I discovered that yoga would do minimal good in one’s life unless one’s reason for doing yoga/meditation came from your heart.
If the first sutra bears the fruit of an inspired life style, what is the next sutra all about? To make a long story short the whole practice of a Yoga/Meditation practice can be explained by the first four sutras of Patanjali for Patanjali was a genius. He truly was and is the Einstein of Yoga. He explained the whole practice of yoga through a system of precise sutras of energy & information with the precision of mathematical formulas. The beauty of Patanjali’s Sutras, as you follow their direction, is the realization that they actually work.
All the knowledge of yoga and the purpose of meditation can be found by understanding these first four sutras of the first chapter of Patanjali’s manuscript. The sutras are used to find out who one is by practicing the method to initiate the progressive settling of the mind, this takes one to the essential state, which in daily life is usually overshadowed by the constant activity of the mind. Understandably Meditation is much more then the relaxation response. As one meditates he/she realizes that the main reason to meditate is to transcend human limitations. One can experience this transcendence and will not go wrong if one follows the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
The second sutra paraphrased says, “Through the progressive settling of the mind we begin to enter silence.” So the heart of a yoga practice is to settle the mind. Your yoga instructor is able to guide you to attain that state. Basically the instructor guides you to pay attention & concentrate by centering the mind on the body & breath or by the incorporation of a mantra in one’s meditation.
In Hatha Yoga one pays attention to the breath and concentrates on the feelings associated with the stretch. This brings one from willful alignment to feeling sensations within the body and ultimately to make contact with simply being one’s essential self. In silent Meditation one pays attention & concentrates on the breath or on a mantra until one falls into the silence of the essential self. A mantra is an instrument of the mind and it is used to progressively settle and silence the mind. The mantra is repeated silently as one slips into the silence between thoughts. As this occurs, realization comes that between thoughts the one who is having the thoughts appears. That one is recognized in the silence.
When one has slipped into the “gap” between thoughts they have entered Patanjali’s third sutra. In the “gap” one is in touch with his/her essential state, pure unbounded consciousness/spirit. The fourth sutra paraphrased says, “Our essential state is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind.” We can witness it in the silence within.
Yoga is the union of the three levels of our existence; 1) Physical Body, 2) Subtle Body (Mind) and 3) Causal Body (Spirit). The Physical Body is composed of matter and energy. The Subtle Body is composed of mind, intellect and ego. The Causal Body is composed of soul and spirit. In the silent spaces, in the “gap” is Universal Consciousness or spirit. Yoga allows us to experience the union of all of these.
According to our normal experience these three levels of existence don’t seem to be unified. However, by progressing through the four sutras one finds that meditation creates the inner environment that allows the experience of advancing into the state of silence through the settling of the mind to occur. With the sutras, one goes from the level of mental activity and beyond the ego to the soul. There one finds out that he/she is Universal Consciousness. It is a journey to universality. Why not let your yoga meditation instructor introduce you to the path to travel there?
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