This is the second in a series of posts intended to shed light on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, one of two authoritative texts on the ancient Indian practice of yoga or meditation [the other being the Bhagavad Gita].
For context, the first few aphorisms or sutras described yoga as the process of transcending our thoughts to experience Consciousness.
These next several sutras describe the types of thoughts we’re trying to transcend, in part so we can discriminate between them and cultivate those conducive to clarity and peace of mind.
Chapter 1, aphorisms 5-11:
1.5 “vrittayah pancatayah klishta aklishta”; loosely, “there are five types of thought; they may be influenced by conditions that further obscure Consciousness”
1.6 “pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smritayah”; loosely, “[the five types of thought are] correct, incorrect, imagined, neutral and remembered”
1.7 “pratyaksha anumana agamah pramanani”; loosely, “correct thoughts are verifiable by observation, inference and authentication”
1.8 “viparyayah mithya jnanam atad rupa pratistham”; loosely, “incorrect thoughts are caused by misperception”
1.9 “shabda jnana anupati vastu shunyah vikalpah”; loosely, “imagined thoughts have no basis in reality”
1.10 “abhava pratyaya alambana vritti nidra”; loosely, “neutral thoughts are non-cognitive observations”
1.11 “anubhuta vishaya asampramoshah smritih”; loosely, “remembered thoughts are impressions that remain of the other four”
From Swamij.com, “By learning to observe the thinking process, and then to discriminate between these five types of mental objects, we start to gain a mastery over them and their ability to control our actions, speech, and thoughts…Of the five kinds of thought patterns, pramana, or correct knowledge is the one to cultivate.”
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God bless, Skip
#patanjali #consciousness #meditation
