This is the third in a series of posts intended to introduce Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras to those interested in the spiritual and mental aspects of classical Indian yoga. This series focuses on the first 100 lines (aka aphorisms or sutras) of Patanjali’s epic 3,000-year-old Sanskrit “poem”.
Having described yoga as the transcendence of thought into consciousness, and described the nature of the thoughts we’re trying to go beyond, Patanjali now implicitly acknowledges that the process takes a while and isn’t easy, by sharing the two-fold key to success: never give up & always let go.
Chapter 1, aphorisms 12-16:
1.12 “abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah”; loosely, “practice and non-attachment lead to success”
1.13 “tatra sthitau yatnah abhyasa”; loosely, “practice means never giving up”
1.14 “sah tu dirgha kala nairantaira satkara asevitah dridha bhumih”; loosely, “by practicing continuously and earnestly over a long time efforts become habitual”
1.15 “drista anushravika vishaya vitrishnasya vashikara sanjna vairagyam”; loosely, “non-attachment means always letting go (mastering desire)”
1.16 “tat param purusha khyateh guna vaitrshnyam”; loosely, “with ultimate self-awareness all attachments fall away”
From Swamij.com:
“[T]here are two directions that one can go in life…One direction is towards truth, reality, Self, or spiritual realization. The other direction is opposite….
Abhyasa [Practice or “never give up”] means cultivating the lifestyle, actions, speech, and thoughts, as well as the spiritual practices that lead in the positive direction…
Vairagya [Non-attachment or “always let go”] is the practice of gradually letting go of the mental colorings that lead one away from the spiritual…
Love is what is left when you let go of all the things you love.”
For info about workshops in self-discovery and peace of mind see the ‘Contact Us’ page of this site.
God bless, Skip
#patanjali #consciousness #meditation
