yoga in patanjali yoga sutra is defined as?
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Yoga is the removal of the fluctuations of the mind. (Yoga Sutras: I, 2)
Jan: Patanjali’s famous definition of yoga is “yogas chitta vritti nirodhah”, which means “yoga is the removal of the fluctuations of the mind”. Chitta is mind, vrittis are thought impulses, nirodah is removal.
Question: But those fluctuations are never removed, thought impulses are there even for the enlightened one. If there are no impulses it’s just a great impersonal samādhi with no awareness of anything.
Jan: Yes, Patanjali’s definition has been misunderstood as describing the state of enlightenment as a state where there are no thoughts at all and you are blank. But what Patanjali is describing is the method, not the goal.
Later Patanjali describes the things that spoil one’s meditation. In other words, what the fluctuations are.
The distractions are: Ignorance, I-ness, desire, aversion and attachment. (Yoga Sutras, II, 3)
It is obvious that the first distraction is ignorance, but interesting that the second distraction is I-ness (asmitā, the sense of being someone, ego). Patanjali later defines I-ness like this:
I-ness is the merging, as it were, of the power of knowing with the instruments thereof. (Yoga Sutras, II, 6)
The instruments of knowing are not only the senses, but also the mind and the cognitive faculties. “Merging” of the two is a metaphor, Patanjali writes “as it were”. What happens is that the identification mechanism becomes active and parts of the psyche/mind-complex identify with the parts that are perceiving or cognizing. This gives rise to the sense of being an individual, in other words, I-ness.
Q: What could you say about “attention” Jan? I have noticed there is not only “I Am”, there is also attention which is also a thought. All that attention is “falling” upon is what is being experienced. But I wonder if attention is also a part of the mind. It must be!
Jan: “I Am” and “attention” are a pair; actually there are three that arise: I Am (or Me), attention and other. You can’t have one without the other two. But all three are saturated with pure, unmanifest awareness which is the Self. Once in the Self, “I Am “, “attention” and “other” remain, but the awareness that permeates them has become Self-aware.
Later "I am, attention and other" become seen as Spanda, which is the technical term for vibrating, manifesting Shakti.
Q: How does this relate to Patanjali’s statement that one should get rid of fluctuations of the mind?
Jan: All three are distractions, but fortunately all three can be used as an entry point to the Self: “Me” can become “I am” which can be an entry to the Self. “Attention” can become one-pointed meditation. “Other” can be reduced to a mantra or some other object of meditation. When you are in “I am”, you have stepped out of the mind-fluctuations. You are also out of the fluctuations when your meditation is one-pointed, like when your whole attention is on a mantra. Once you are out of the fluctuations they tend to fade out. What happens next? Patanjali says that after one has removed the fluctuations of the mind…
Then one abides in the Self (Yoga Sutras I, 3)
Q: So attention is in itself a quality of the mind? Just like objects of attention are?
Jan: Attention is a function of the mind and therefore part of the mind just like objects of attention are. That is why attention in itself is not enough. Just as one-pointed meditation in itself is not enough, nor is “I am” enough. What is essential is that a pure awareness permeates all three and that it can become Self-aware and watch itself. But what I find more beautiful is that all three can become experienced as Shakti, as a vibration of the Self. This vibration is technically called Spanda.
Q: So awareness watching awareness is Shakti reflecting on itself?
Jan: Not quite. Well, ultimately, yes it is, but you should understand that in the progress of deeper and deeper realization, there is at first no sense of Shakti in awareness watching awareness, there is just pure being. Only much later does one realize pure being is Shakti and that everything is Shakti.
Q: What’s the relationship between attention and the fluctuations of the mind?
Jan: Patanjali’s famous definition of yoga is “yogas chitta vritti nirodhah”, which means “yoga is the removal of the fluctuations of the mind”. Chitta is mind, vrittis are thought impulses, nirodah is removal.
Question: But those fluctuations are never removed, thought impulses are there even for the enlightened one. If there are no impulses it’s just a great impersonal samādhi with no awareness of anything.
Jan: Yes, Patanjali’s definition has been misunderstood as describing the state of enlightenment as a state where there are no thoughts at all and you are blank. But what Patanjali is describing is the method, not the goal.
Later Patanjali describes the things that spoil one’s meditation. In other words, what the fluctuations are.
The distractions are: Ignorance, I-ness, desire, aversion and attachment. (Yoga Sutras, II, 3)
It is obvious that the first distraction is ignorance, but interesting that the second distraction is I-ness (asmitā, the sense of being someone, ego). Patanjali later defines I-ness like this:
I-ness is the merging, as it were, of the power of knowing with the instruments thereof. (Yoga Sutras, II, 6)
The instruments of knowing are not only the senses, but also the mind and the cognitive faculties. “Merging” of the two is a metaphor, Patanjali writes “as it were”. What happens is that the identification mechanism becomes active and parts of the psyche/mind-complex identify with the parts that are perceiving or cognizing. This gives rise to the sense of being an individual, in other words, I-ness.
Q: What could you say about “attention” Jan? I have noticed there is not only “I Am”, there is also attention which is also a thought. All that attention is “falling” upon is what is being experienced. But I wonder if attention is also a part of the mind. It must be!
Jan: “I Am” and “attention” are a pair; actually there are three that arise: I Am (or Me), attention and other. You can’t have one without the other two. But all three are saturated with pure, unmanifest awareness which is the Self. Once in the Self, “I Am “, “attention” and “other” remain, but the awareness that permeates them has become Self-aware.
Later "I am, attention and other" become seen as Spanda, which is the technical term for vibrating, manifesting Shakti.
Q: How does this relate to Patanjali’s statement that one should get rid of fluctuations of the mind?
Jan: All three are distractions, but fortunately all three can be used as an entry point to the Self: “Me” can become “I am” which can be an entry to the Self. “Attention” can become one-pointed meditation. “Other” can be reduced to a mantra or some other object of meditation. When you are in “I am”, you have stepped out of the mind-fluctuations. You are also out of the fluctuations when your meditation is one-pointed, like when your whole attention is on a mantra. Once you are out of the fluctuations they tend to fade out. What happens next? Patanjali says that after one has removed the fluctuations of the mind…
Then one abides in the Self (Yoga Sutras I, 3)
Q: So attention is in itself a quality of the mind? Just like objects of attention are?
Jan: Attention is a function of the mind and therefore part of the mind just like objects of attention are. That is why attention in itself is not enough. Just as one-pointed meditation in itself is not enough, nor is “I am” enough. What is essential is that a pure awareness permeates all three and that it can become Self-aware and watch itself. But what I find more beautiful is that all three can become experienced as Shakti, as a vibration of the Self. This vibration is technically called Spanda.
Q: So awareness watching awareness is Shakti reflecting on itself?
Jan: Not quite. Well, ultimately, yes it is, but you should understand that in the progress of deeper and deeper realization, there is at first no sense of Shakti in awareness watching awareness, there is just pure being. Only much later does one realize pure being is Shakti and that everything is Shakti.
Q: What’s the relationship between attention and the fluctuations of the mind?
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Explanation:
Yoga's incorporation of meditation and breathing can help improve a person's mental well-being. “Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration,” says Dr. Nevins
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