This is the fifth in a series of posts intended to shed light on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the original authoritative text on classical Indian yoga, or meditation.
Chapter 1 of Patanjali’s outline consists of 51 lines. So far we’ve looked at sutras 1-18:
1-4 Yoga is transcending thoughts to experience Consciousness;
5-11 There are five types of thought to transcend: correct, incorrect, imagined, neutral and remembered;
12-16 The key to success is never giving up & always letting go;
17-18 There are five levels of meditation; the first four involve focusing on something; in the fifth, we effectively merge with our own Consciousness
In the next four aphorisms, Patanjali identifies what’s required to achieve the fifth stage of meditation or enlightenment, and how long it might take:
Chapter 1, aphorisms 19-22:
1.19 “bhava pratyayah videha prakriti layanam”; loosely, “some people are predestined or predisposed to experience enlightenment”
1.20 “shraddha virya smriti samadhi prajna purvakah itaresham”; loosely, “for others enlightenment requires faith, vigor, mindfulness, meditation and wisdom”
1.21 “tivra samvega asannah”; loosely, “success comes readily to those with conviction”
1.22 “mridu madhya adhimatra tatah api visheshah”; loosely, “though the time it takes is affected by the degree of effort one puts into it”
Since most of us weren’t born predisposed to experience enlightenment, we pursue the inter-connected, five-fold path of:
- Faith – cultivating a sense of certainty that this pursuit is the right thing to do;
- Vigor – fostering the conviction and energy that we can succeed;
- Mindfulness – maintaining awareness of whether we’re acting in accordance with our goal;
- Meditation – seeking the objective, subjective and intuitive knowledge that comes from meditating;
- Wisdom – acting upon the correct knowledge that comes from meditating
For info about private lessons or workshops in self-discovery and peace of mind see the ‘Contact Us’ page of this site.
God bless, Skip
#patanjali #consciousness #meditation
