I found faith and purpose in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:
Faith in the existence of something much greater than myself, something otherworldly, something divine: the unknowable source of our intangible, immutable consciousness.
Purpose in a sense of responsibility to help others who are suffering find it too, because faith is the most powerful healing and motivating force there is.
Patanjali tells us this about the source of our own consciousness:
- It’s unaffected by emotion, thought, action, and the consequences thereof;
- It’s the source of all knowledge;
- It’s unaffected by time and space.
My philosophy teacher takes the point of view that the source of consciousness isn’t so much something external to ourselves, as it is an archetype of humanity to aspire to emulating; holding that the actual discipline of Patanjali’s Raja Yoga (Kryia and Ashtanga practices) guides us to “relate to the world in an ethical manner”: to take responsibility for our behavior in the tangible world we currently exist in.
Symantics? Perhaps, but the bottom line is that within each of us is something immutable, something unaffected by fear, desire, or physical distress: our awareness OF those things.
Learn to distinguish between your ever-changing thoughts and body, and your never-changing awareness of them, and contemplate the difference. May doing so give rise in you to faith in the source of your own intangible consciousness, and may doing so lead you to live a happier, healthier, more faithful and purposeful life.
God bless, Allan 🙏❤️🕉
