Viniyoga

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Classical Yoga: the Sutras of Patanjali

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Translation by Chester Messenger

Introduction

The greatest classical text from the yoga school of Indian philosophy is the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, written in the second century BC. These "threads" on yoga or union, are extremely terse, stating concisely and often precisely, essential points or techniques. Originally these teachings were oral and were explained and interpreted by commentaries from a teacher guiding the student. 

This meditative discipline of liberation is called raja or royal yoga or the yoga of the eight steps, which may be listed as follows: 

ASHTANGA YOGA (8 Limbs)

1. Restraint: nonviolence, not lying, not stealing, not lusting, and nonattachment YAMAS

2. Observances: cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study, and surrender to the Supreme God NIYAMAS

3. Posture or physical exercises ASANA

4. Breath control PRANAYAMA

5. Sublimation or withdrawal from the senses PRATYAHARA

6. Attention DHARANA

7. Concentration DHYANA

8. Meditation SAMADHI

Meaning and Purpose of the Yoga Sutras

here are some strings.....(This shows how much leeway there is in interpretation by scholars. Sutras are COMMON ways in which oral traditions and great sage's teachings were compiled and recorded:

2.35 AHIMSA-PRATISHTAHYAM-TAT-SMNIDHAU-VAIRA-TYAGAH

Nonviolence-having  established-in his-presence-given up.

2.36 SATYA_PRATISTHAYAM-KRIYA-PHALASRA-YATVAM

Truthfulness-having established-actions-fruits or results-become subservient.

2.37 ASTEYA- PRATISTHAYAM-SARVA-RATNOPA-STHANAM

nonstealing-having established-all the-gems -approaches.

2.38 BRACHMACHARYA- PRATISTHAYAM-VIRYA-LABHAH

continence-having established-vigor-gained

2.39 APARAIGRAHA-STHAIRYE-JANMAKATHAMTA-SAMBODHAH

nongreed-confirmed-how and why of birth-through illumination

2.41 SATTVASUDDHI-SAUMANASYAIKAGRYEN-DRIYAJAYATMADARASANA-YOGYATVANI-CA

purity of sattva-cheerfulness of mind-one pointedness-mastery of the senses-realization of self,-fitness-and.

2.42 SAMTOSAD-ANUTTAMAH-SUKHA-LABHAH

by contentment-supreme- joy- gained

2.43 KAYEDRIYA-SIDDHIR-ASUDDHI-KSAYAT-TAPASAH

body-senses-occult powers-impurities due to destruction-austerities

2.44 SVADHYAYAD-ISTADEVATA-SAMPRAYOGAH

by study of spiritual books-chosen diety-communion

2.45 SAMADHI-SIDDHIR-ISVARAPRANIDHANAT

contemplation-attainment-by total surrender to god

Asana

 2.46 STHIRA-SUKHAM-ASNAM

steady-comfortable –posture

asana is steady, comfortable posture.

2.47 PRAYATNA-SAY\ITHILYANANTHA-SAMAPATTI-BHYAM

natural tendency for restlessness-by lessening –infinite-meditating on

2.54 SVA-VISAYASAMPRAYOGE-CITTA-SVARUPANUKARA-IVENDRIYANAM-PRATYA-HARAH

their own-objects-withdrawal-nature of the mind stuff-imitate-as it were-senses-abstraction.  

2.7-8 SUKHANUSAYT-RAGAH

DUHKHANUSAYT-DVESAH

pleasure-follows-with  attachment

pain-follows-with aversion.

 DHYARANA

3.1 DESABANDAHS-CITTASYA-DHARANA

binding-to ones place- of the mind-concentration

4.21 CITTANTARA-DRYSE-BUDDHIBUDDER-ATIPRASANGAH-SMRTISAMKARAS-CA

another mind-perception-perceiver of perceivers-endlessness-confusion of memory-and

4.22 CITER-APRATISAMKRAMAYAS-TADAKARA-PATTAU-SVABUDDHIISAMVEDANAM

consciousness-of purusha is unchangeable- it-by getting the reflection of the purusha-becomes self-conscious 

4.12 ATITANAGATAM-SVARUPATOSTY-ADHVA-BHEDAD-DHARMANAM

past-future-own form-exist-in conditions-difference-characteristics

3.6 TASYA-BHUMISU-VINIYOGAH

its-by stages-practice

3.11 SARVARTHATAIKAGARATAYOH-KSYAYODAYAU-CITTASYA-SAMADHIPARINAMAH

running around-sticking to one-declining-appearance-of the mind-development of Samadhi

Yoga means Union and the purpose is to teach the practitioner of Yoga, called the Yogi, how to achieve Union or Spiritual Absorption into the Supreme Absolute or God. Yoga teaches us that our true self is the soul and that our self identity is an illusion to be overcome. 

These sutras do not go into the specifics of meditation, such as how to sit, what postures are best, etc... because it was assumed this material would be taught by a teacher to a student and that certain basics would be part of the instruction. It is recommended that the reader become familiar with basic meditation techniques and postures before practicing these precepts.

Organization of the Yoga Sutras

These sutras are in four parts (padas).

1. Samadhi Pada I: Contemplation and Meditation

2. Sadhana Pada II: The Steps To Union

3. Vibhuti Pada III: Union Achieved And Its Results

4. Kaivalya Pada IV: Illumination and Freedom

Historical Context

It is generally accepted that the Sutras were written in approximately 200 years BCE, although some scholars believe that they may have been written as recently as 200 AD.  Interestingly, the vocabulary of the Sutras are somewhat similar to that of Mahayana Buddhism which helps date the writing at the earlier date. In addition to the mystery surrounding the date the Sutras, the author of the Yoga Sutras is also shrouded in mystery. There is some debate as to whether “Patanjali” was a single writer, a fictitious name, or the work of a combination of several writers. (108 headed serpent) 

     Nevertheless, if we accept his existence, Patanjali is usually considered to have been a Sanskrit scholar, teacher and physician who codified the extant wisdom of yoga into a book of four chapters or padas which were written in sutra form.  The English word “suture” is related to the Sanskrt word “sutra” and underscores the concept that the verses were strung together like beads on a string. Sutras are terse sentences and were meant to be chanted or sung.  Some sects did indeed chant the entire 195 sutras before each meal.  

     The fact that the information is found in sutra form tells us that they had evolved in a time when oral teaching was important; written teachings were rare.  And the brevity of the Sutras underscores the fact that a teacher/interpreter was considered essential for the student to understand the depth of the wisdom presented by this basic text of yoga.  

     The most important thing however is not information about the author of the Sutras, or even the form in which they are presented, but rather what they teach us about ourselves and how we function as human beings.  Approximately five hundred years after the Buddha's writings on the Eight-Limbed Path, Patanjali practiced yoga. He  (???? or a compilation of people) compiled and wrote the Yoga Sutras, which were threads (sutra means thread) of this same ancient oral teaching, being entirely devoid of any sectarianism, religiosity, authoritarianism, nationalism, racism, or theism and containing much the same general universal principles and practices of that which Buddha practiced and taught himself.

Patanjali's conception of freedom is related to the ancient BUDDHIST view that the source of suffering is the craving for permanence in a universe of impermanence, which encourages a false belief in an enduring individual self. Attachment to life is powerful and it affects even those who intellectually understand the transience of all things. THIS IS WHY WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF YOGA  

In Hindu tradition, authentic spiritual teachings are teachings from direct experience devoid of prejudice, provincialism, or predilection. That is based on eternal living tradition motivated and animated by a living truth. (Compare that to dead teachings, rote memorization, conformity, and mechanical obedience to external authoritative systems and one can easily understand human history and its discontents).

“Upanishadic Learning” (REVISITED) is based on these principles and has specific rights and responsibilities assigned to the guru (teacher/sage) and the Sadhaka (seeker/student/adept). There are three stages of learning:

1.      Student is ready to listen (this enables him to hear what the guru says)- "like a deer in the forest"

2.      Student “ruminates on” what the guru says- "Like a cow chewing its cud"

3.      Student gets meaning from the gurus teachings based on his concentration/focus/meditation on it. "Like an owl perched on a branch"

Upanishad means “to sit near” and is emblematic of the relationship between the guru and the student. the guru imparts knowledge directly to the student. It is difficult to “hear” (often spoken in a “whisper”) and the student must listen closely to hear both what is said specifically to him/her, and then use their intellect and finally their clear concentrative focus to ascertain meaning themselves.

Patanjali divided his Yoga Sutras into 4 chapters or books (Sanskrit pada (steps)), containing in all 196 aphorisms, divided as follows:

    * Samadhi Pada (51 sutras)

Samadhi refers to a blissful state where the yogi is absorbed into the One. The author describes yoga and then the nature and the means to attaining samādhi. This chapter contains the famous definitional verse: "Yogaś citta-vritti-nirodhaḥ" ("Yoga is the restraint of mental modifications"[18]).

    * Sadhana Pada (55 sutras)

Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for "practice" or "discipline". Here the author outlines two forms of Yoga: Kriya Yoga (Action Yoga) and Ashtanga Yoga (Eightfold or Eight-limbed Yoga). Kriya yoga, sometimes called Karma Yoga, is also expounded in Chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Arjuna is encouraged by Krishna to act without attachment to the results or fruit of action and activity. It is the yoga of selfless action and service. Ashtanga Yoga describes the eight limbs that together constitute Raja Yoga.

    * Vibhuti Pada (56 sutras)

Vibhuti is the Sanskrit word for "power" or "manifestation". 'Supra-normal powers' (Sanskrit: siddhi) are acquired by the practice of yoga. The temptation of these powers should be avoided and the attention should be fixed only on liberation.

    * Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras)

    Kaivalya literally means "isolation", but as used in the Sutras stands for emancipation, liberation and used interchangeably with moksha (liberation), which is the goal of Yoga. The Kaivalya Pada describes the nature of liberation and the reality of the transcendental self.

The Eight Limbs (ashtanga) of Raja Yoga

The eight "limbs" or steps prescribed in the second pada of the Yoga Sutras are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Ashtanga yoga consists of the following steps: The first five are called external aids to Yoga (bahiranga sadhana) The first four, the “lower observances” the final four, the “higher Observances”

* Yama refers to the five abstentions. (These are the same as the five vows of Jainism).

        * Ahimsa: non-violence, inflicting no injury or harm to others or even to one's ownself, it goes as far as nonviolence in thought, word and deed.

        * Satya: truth in word & thought.

        * Asteya: non-covetousness, to the extent that one should not even desire something that is not his own.

        * Brahmacharya: abstain from sexual intercourse; celibacy in case of unmarried people and monogamy in case of married people. Even this to the extent that one should not possess any sexual thoughts towards any other man or woman except one's own spouse. It's common to associate Brahmacharya with celibacy.

        * Aparigraha: non-possessiveness

* Niyama refers to the five observances

        * Shaucha: cleanliness of body & mind.

        * Santosha: satisfaction; satisfied with what one has.

        * Tapas: austerity and associated observances for body discipline & thereby mental control.

        * Svadhyaya: study of the Vedic scriptures to know about God and the soul, which leads to introspection on a greater awakening to the soul and God within,

        * Ishvarapranidhana: surrender to (or worship of) God.

* Asana: “stable seat” Discipline of the body: rules and postures to keep it disease-free and for preserving vital energy. Correct postures are a physical aid to meditation, for they control the limbs and nervous system and prevent them from producing disturbances.

* Pranayama: control of breath. Beneficial to health, steadies the body and is highly conducive to the concentration of the mind.

* Pratyahara: withdrawal of senses from their external objects.

The last three levels are called internal aids to Yoga (antaranga sadhana)

* Dharana: concentration of the citta upon a physical object, such as a flame of a lamp, the mid point of the eyebrows, or the image of a deity.

    

* Dhyana: steadfast meditation. Undisturbed flow of thought around the object of meditation (pratyayaikatanata). The act of meditation and the object of meditation remain distinct and separate.

    

* Samadhi: oneness with the object of meditation. There is no distinction between act of meditation and the object of meditation. Samadhi is of two kinds:

          o Samprajnata Samadhi conscious samadhi. The mind remains concentrated (ekagra) on the object of meditation, therefore the consciousness of the object of meditation persists. Mental modifications arise only in respect of this object of meditation.

Sutras: Before beginning any spiritual text it is customary to clear the mind of all distracting thoughts, to calm the breath and to purify the heart. Definition and Heart of Yoga 

 

1. Atha yoga anushasam  (Chapter 1, v.l)  

     Now the discipline of yoga (is being presented)  

     Far from being a mere introduction along the lines of “Once upon a time”, this is an important verse.  Especially important is the use of the word “now” to begin the sutra.  This “now” implies several things.  

     First, it implies that now the student is ready to hear and now the teacher is available and willing to teach.  It implies additionally that the student has learned a great deal on his/her own before this point and is now willing to undertake the difficult and sometimes very demanding teaching of classical yoga.  Finally it implies that the understanding of now is the most important thing that can be learned from the study of yoga.  In its most simple and pure form, yoga brings one deeply into the present, into the now.  This is at the heart of the teachings of yoga and its profound significance can be found in the very first word of the Yoga Sutras.  

     The word “anusasanam” is an interesting one.  It is variously translated as “exposition” of “discipline”.  It concludes the verse as “now yoga is explained” or “now the discipline of yoga is presented”.  The important point here is to remember that yoga is considered a coherent discipline which requires focus and determination. Therefore Patanjali states clearly in verse one that progress in yoga does not come by accident. 

  

2. Yoga citta vritti nirodhah   (Chapter 1, v. 2)  

     Yoga is the resolution of the agitations of the mind.   

     This is the most famous verse in the entire Yoga Sutras, and rightly so, for it is the definition of yoga upon which the entire text turns.  

    “Citta” or “cittam” is usually translated as “mind-stuff”; I prefer to think of it in broad terms.  To me it is the entire sphere of consciousness, as we ordinarily understand that term.  This citta, according to Patanjali and others, is by its very nature expressed in “vritti” form.  These “vrittis” are agitations which are continual, both conscious and unconscious, and are the root of our avidya, or lack of understanding about both who we really are and what reality is.  According to the text, our consciousness is in constant fluctuation and agitation.  

     “Nirodhah” is sometimes translated as suppression.  I prefer the use of the term resolution  to describe the state of yoga.  Thus the verse translates as “Yoga is the state in which the agitations of consciousness are resolved.”  

  

3. Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam   (Chapter 1, v.3)  

     Then the seer abides in it own nature  

     This is one of the most important verses in the entire book.  It is based upon the fundamental concepts of purusa and prakrti.  Purusa is universal consciousness, immutable and untouchable; prakrti is “that which uses matter as its bed”.  It is the constantly unfolding, evolving and changing aspects of the universe.  Together purusa and prakrti are the yin and yang of yoga philosophy  They are expressed in the universe and in the individual as spirit and matter. (Samkhaya philosophy)

  

     “Tada” translates as “then”, meaning when one is in the state of yoga, then the seer, “drastuh”, abides, “vasthanam” in its own, “sva”, form, “rupe”.  Thus when one is living in the state of yoga, the seer or purusa which already exists within us, shines out. It is no longer hidden by the agitations of prakrti which have been resolved.  

     A simple example can explain this verse.  In order to create a statue, a sculptor merely removes all the stone that is not the statue; nothing is added to the stone.  Likewise, the practice of yoga is not about adding anything to the individual.  Instead, as this verse explains, the state of yoga is that state in which everything which is not equanimity is removed from the citta and thus purusa is free to shine out unabated.  

  

How to Change Your Mind   

4.  abhyasa vairagyabhyam tan nirodhah  (Chapter 1, v. 12)  

     By practice and detachment these can be stopped.  

     Patanjali presents one of his most practical verses here.  The author is referring to methods for calming the citta and thus allowing the practitioner to enter the state of yoga. “Abhyasa” is translated as determined action or practice, and “vairagyabhyam” as surrender or supreme detachment.  All the practices of yoga can be subsumed under one of these techniques.  

     Determined action is discipline, focus, one-pointedness.  The practitioner of yoga is required to apply him/herself in order to still the agitations of the mind.  But letting go  of one’s attachment to the achievement of the goal of enlightenment is also considered an important part of the formula.  Vairagyabhyam therefore can be considered an expression of strength:  the strength to allow, to receive, to be.  

     The metaphor of a river can make these concepts more clear.  In order for a river to exist, there must be two things, banks and water.  If there are only banks with no water, there is a dry gulch.  If there is water but no banks to give direction and shape to the water, there is only a swamp.  But with the banks of abhyasa to give shape and the water of vairagyabhyam to give flow and release, there is a river of awareness.  

  

5.  maitri karuna mudita upeksanam sukha duhkha punya apunya visayanam bhavanatas citta prasadanam  

(Chapter 1, v. 33).  

     Mind becomes purified by cultivation of feelings of amity, compassion, goodwill and indifference respectively towards happy, miserable, virtuous and sinful creatures.  

      This verse is important not just for what it says but also for what it implies.  Obviously the verse is discussing ways that the mind can enter the state of yoga in which the vrittis are pacified.  But what is more intriguing about this verse is that it is one of the few which overtly discusses the yoga practitioner’s relationship with others as an elemental part of practice.  This verse makes clear that Patanjali considers relationships important and relevant to spiritual evolution.  

     Patanjali suggest that we cultivate friendship toward the happy, compassion toward the miserable, goodwill toward the virtuous and indifference toward those who are sinful.  The choice of his words is deliberate.  By cultivating friendship toward the happy we learn what it is to be happy and content with what is.  By cultivating compassion toward the miserable we can see our own miserableness.   Practicing goodwill toward the virtuous can help us to overcome our natural tendency toward jealousy.  Indifference toward the sinful keeps us from judging and hating others.  It seems clear that Patanjali expects the practice of yoga to be carried far beyond the meditation cushion. 

  

6.  yatha abhimata dhyanadva  (Chapter 1, v. 39)  

    Or by contemplating on whatsoever thing one may like (the mind becomes stabilized) 

     In this section of Chapter I, Patanjali lists a number of ways that the mind can become stabilized.  The final entry in the list is verse 39 which is a very powerful one.  After all the discipline that is presented in the Yoga Sutras, one could become discouraged.  But this verse gives hope.  Patanjali states that it is possible to for the mind to become stable by the process of focus on whatsoever thing that it pleases.  This verse is important because it underscores that it is the process of focus and meditation which makes something yoga practice, not the specific practice itself.  

     Sometimes yoga students become more and more narrow in their definition of yoga.  They feel that their approach and/or the approach of their teacher is the best and only way.  Patanjali makes it clear in verse 39 that one can practice from the heart and let the natural attraction each of us has toward an aspect of life draw us into deeper practice. 

  

Living Your Yoga:  Yoga in Action   

    While there is no doubt that the teachings of yoga are about liberation, there is also teaching in the Sutras about how to live well.  

7. Tapas svadhyaya isvara pranidanah kriya yogah  (Chapter II, v. I)  

     Self-discipline, self-study and devotion are yoga in the form of action.  

     Yoga is not just a state of being but also the practices which are associated with that state.  The second chapter is concerned with those practices.(Kriya yoga)  “Tapas” comes from the Sanskrt word “tap” which means “to burn”.  Tapas is therefore translated usually to mean austerity or discipline.  I prefer to translate it as “consistency”.  To me, there is no greater tapas than consistency.  This consistency means we practice  the postures, breathing and meditation of yoga regularly regardless of whether we want to, whether it is exciting, or whether we have a teacher at that time of life.  Tapas means continuing to practice regardless of the external circumstances.  

     “Svadyaya” is self-study; self-study means being aware of the inner dialogue, the words we speak, the thoughts we have.  Self-study can be practiced all the time, even eventually during dreams.  Self-study is not hard to practice.  Rather, remembering to practice svadyaya is the difficult part.  We get lost in the swirling currents of ego.  

      Isvara pranidanah is the surrender of all the fruits of practice to one’s chosen deity.  This deity can be whatever it is that one conceives to be a greater power beyond one’s self.  The choice of deity is not important; what is important is that one learns to let go of all the benefits and failures alike that are related to practice.  This letting go focuses the practitioner on the process of practice rather than on the goals of practice. 

  

8. Avidya asmita  raga dvesa abhinivesah panca klesah  (Chapter 11, v. 3)  

     Ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and fear of death and the five afflictions.  

     Living with clarity is prevented by the active interference of the five klesas or afflictions, of which the first is the most important.  “Avidya” comes from “a” which is a negating prefix, “vid” which means to see from the inner eye, and “ya” which is an activating suffix.  “Avidya” translates then as “actively being in the state of not seeing the true nature of reality”.  This is not the ignorance of just not knowing a fact, but rather a very deep vritti which keeps us from knowing the Self.  In Vedanta philosophy, the equivalent term to avidya is “maya”, the great illusion.  Avidya is the root of all the other klesas. In the state of yoga, the veil parts and one directly comprehends reality as it is, purely, without any intervening thought, abstraction or judgment.  

     The next klesa is asmita or egoism.  Patanjali make another of his important distinction here.  Many beginning students of yoga think that the point of spiritual practice is to destroy the ego. The destruction of the ego is a state of mental illness, not enlightenment.  Patanjali uses two distinct words, one is “ahamkara” which is ego and “asmita” which is egoism.  The distinction is that one can have an functioning ego and still be a totally present being.  But w the klesa or affliction is asmita, or egoism.  This is the attachment to the ego and its understanding.  Having a functioning healthy ego is not the problem; unexamined attachment to the products of ego is the problem according to Patanjali.  

     The next two klesas are deeply related.  The first is “raga” which is strong desire and the second is “dvesa” which is strong aversion.  Both are actually a form of attachment;  one is a positive attachment and the other is a negative attachment.  An anorexic and an obese person are both attached to food.  One is attached to avoiding food and one is attached to acquiring it.  Both think about food all the time.  The important point is that both are attached.  It is this strong attachment, whether positive or negative, that Patanjali warns the practitioner about in this verse.  Pay attention to the strong swing of your emotional pendulum because you are likely to be drawn away from the practice of yoga at those times.  

     The fear of death or the clinging to life can interfere with our ability to remain in the present.  For this reason Patanjali reminds us to be vigilant about this klesa.  If we make decisions out of fear and attachment, we will not live the life we are given right now in this moment.  Paradoxically, when we are actually faced with a life and death situation, we usually become clear and calm and respond appropriately for the situation.  The rest of the time we may become either fiercely attached to life as we want it to be or fearful that that life will be taken away.  Both thoughts keep us from the moment to moment practice of yoga. 

  

9. Yama niyama asana pranayama pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhayo’ stavangani (Chapter 11, v. 29)  

     The practice of restraint, observances, posture, breath control, withdrawal from the senses, concentration, meditation and samadhi are the eight-fold path of yoga.  

     The astanga or eight-fold path of yoga is at the heart of the practices presented by Patanjali.  Interestingly enough, some scholars believe that this verse may have been added later to the Sutras. (3)   Whether or not this is true, this verse does bear a striking resemblance to the Noble Truths of Buddhism.  

     The first limb is yama; the yamas are considered the foundation of the house of yoga and begin with the most important teaching of “ahimsa”.  Ahimsa is nonviolence, or in the Buddhist tradition, non-harming.  Upon examination it is clear that harming others or self can come as easily from thoughts as from deeds.  

     The next yama is “satya” or truth, which is followed by “asteya”, non-stealing, “brahmacharya”, clarity in sexual relationships, and finally by “aparigraha” or non-greed.  Patanjali tells us that without these yamas all other attempts at the practice of yoga will fail eventually.  It is sad that most Western yoga classes make no mention of these yamas.  

     The second limb is “niyama” or the observances.  Three of the niyamas, tapas, svadhyaya, and isvara pranidanah have been discussed previously as kriya yoga in verse 1 of Chapter II.  The other two niyamas are sauca, purity, and samtosa, which is contentment.  The yogin/yogini is taught to actively to practice these two virtues before he/she can begin the third limb, asana.  

     Most familiar to Westerners as “yoga”, the practice of asana or posture is the first of a subset of limbs which also includes pranayama and pratyahara.  Pranayama is the restraint or “yama” of prana, the energy associated with breath.  While pranayama is most commonly considered to be just breath control, it is actually the restraint of the energy of breath, not just holding the actual physical breath.  The yogin/yogini is attempting to learn to channel and contain this energy so that it will be available for self-study and transformation.  

     Pratyahara is the conscious movement of the energy away from the senses.  In the state of pratyahara one still experiences the input from the senses but importantly, this input no longer agitates the mind as it does normally.  This fifth limb of the eight-fold path is the bridge to the so-called “spiritual” limbs of dharana and dhyana.  

     Dharana is the practice of focused attention.  The vrittis are still active but are now flowing in one direction.  In contradistinction, in dhyana this focus has become awareness which can be said to be the paradox of focus without a focal point.  All spiritual practices are basically either about focus or about awareness.  In dharana and dhyana one can see how the transformation is made from focusing “on” something like a mantra, the breath, or a chosen deity, to focusing “with” something so that the residue is simple awareness.  

     I have not translated from the Sanskrt the final step of the eight-fold path:  samadhi.  This is a state of oneness which has a number of levels or graduated states.  It can be variously a state of pure clarity, pure bliss or pure oneness with all that is.  The difference between dhyana, meditation, and samadhi is the difference between a sense of the union of two into one, dhyana, and a unitary consciousness existing with no distinctions between self and all else, samadhi.  If these concepts seem confusing and arcane, it is because they are.  They are not written about well by any author and like all the important things in life, defy description.  As all the great teachers tell us, they are best understood by experience not by words. (There are levels of SAMADHI...samadhi and its achievement are Classical Yoga's Goal).

  

10. samtosad anuttamah sukhalabhah (Chapter II, v. 42)  

    From contentment unsurpassed happiness is obtained  

     An even bigger problem than how to choose the ten most important Sutras, was how to end the list.  I have chosen one of my favorite verses because I think it gives hope and joy.  

     This verse states several important things.  First, that happiness is indeed obtainable.  This is a very hopeful statement to anyone past babyhood.  Secondly, the way to happiness is to follow the path of contentment.  Contentment is not a sissy concept.  In order to be content, one must have won and lost, gained and given up, been up and been down.  In order to be content, one must have lived fully.  

     What this verse means to me is that contentment is the willingness to live in this present moment.  Contentment is the willingness to accept the failure and success of this very minute.  In order to do this we must become a wider container so that we can hold all of this moment.  Contentment is letting go of greed, letting go of the desire to change anything, including one’s self.  In order to be content one must embrace perfection and imperfection equally as part of the great panoramic of life.  Most of the time, we just want “it” to be different, whether that “it” is one’s body, mind, relationship, job or an unpleasant task.  

     Samtosha is the ability to remain present with, and in fact remain happy with, the circumstances of just this moment.  What an important attitude with which to live!  This may be, in fact, the secret to life --- simply be content with hard work or no work, riches or not, difficulty or ease.  If one lives with samtosha as Patanjali suggests, then one can live in joy regardless of what happens next.  What a delightful concept; what a delightful way to live. 

Part One
on Contemplation

1.1 Now, instruction in Union. 

1.2. Union is restraining the thought-streams natural to the mind. 

1.3. Then the seer dwells in his own nature. 

1.4. Otherwise he is of the same form as the thought-streams. 

1.5. The thought-streams are five-fold, painful and not painful. 

1.6. Right knowledge, wrong knowledge, fancy, sleep and memory. 

1.7. Right knowledge is inference, tradition and genuine cognition. 

1.8. Wrong knowledge is false, illusory, erroneous beliefs or notions. 

1.9. Fancy is following after word-knowledge empty of substance. 

1.10. Deep sleep is the modification of the mind which has for its substratum nothingness. 

1.11. Memory is not allowing mental impressions to escape. 

1.12. These thought-streams are controlled by practice and non-attachment. 

1.13. Practice is the effort to secure steadiness. 

1.14. This practice becomes well-grounded when continued with reverent devotion and without interruption over a long period of time. 

1.15. Desireless-ness towards the seen and the unseen gives the consciousness of mastery. 

1.16. This is signified by an indifference to the three attributes, due to knowledge of the Indweller. 

1.17. Cognitive meditation is accompanied by reasoning, discrimination, bliss and the sense of 'I am.' 

1.18. There is another meditation which is attained by the practice of alert mental suspension until only subtle impressions remain. 

1.19. For those beings who are formless and for those beings who are merged in unitive consciousness, the world is the cause. 

1.20. For others, clarity is preceded by faith, energy, memory and equal-minded contemplation. 

1.21. Equal-minded contemplation is nearest to those whose desire is most ardent. 

1.22. There is further distinction on account of the mild, moderate or intense means employed. 

1.23. Or by surrender to God. 

1.24. God is a particular yet universal indweller, untouched by afflictions, actions, impressions and their results. 

1.25. In God, the seed of omniscience is unsurpassed. 

1.26. Not being conditioned by time, God is the teacher of even the ancients. 

1.27. God's voice is Om. 

1.28. The repetition of Om should be made with an understanding of its meaning. 

1.29. From that is gained introspection and also the disappearance of obstacles. 

1.30. (KLESAS) Disease, inertia, doubt, lack of enthusiasm, laziness, sensuality, mind-wandering, missing the point, instability- these distractions of the mind are the obstacles. 

1.31. (accompanying the KLESAS) Pain, despair, nervousness, and disordered inspiration and expiration are co-existent with these obstacles. 

1.32. For the prevention of the obstacles, one truth should be practiced constantly. 

1.33. By cultivating friendliness towards happiness and compassion towards misery, gladness towards virtue and indifference towards vice, the mind becomes pure. 

1.34. Optionally, mental equanimity may be gained by the even expulsion and retention of energy. 

1.35. Or activity of the higher senses causes mental steadiness. 

1.36. Or the state of sorrow-less Light. 

1.37. Or the mind taking as an object of concentration those who are freed of compulsion. 

1.38. Or depending on the knowledge of dreams and sleep. 

1.39. Or by meditation as desired. 

1.40. The mastery of one in Union extends from the finest atomic particle to the greatest infinity. 

1.41. When the agitations of the mind are under control, the mind becomes like a transparent crystal and has the power of becoming whatever form is presented. Knower, act of knowing, or what is known. 

1.42. The argumentative condition is the confused mixing of the word, its right meaning, and knowledge. 

1.43. When the memory is purified and the mind shines forth as the object alone, it is called non-argumentative. 

1.44. In this way the meditative and the ultra-meditative having the subtle for their objects are also described. 

1.45. The province of the subtle terminates with pure matter that has no pattern or distinguishing mark. 

1.46. These constitute seeded contemplations. 

1.47. On attaining the purity of the ultra-meditative state there is the pure flow of spiritual consciousness. 

1.48. Therein is the faculty of supreme wisdom. 

1.49. The wisdom obtained in the higher states of consciousness is different from that obtained by inference and testimony as it refers to particulars. 

1.50. The habitual pattern of thought stands in the way of other impressions. 

1.51. With the suppression of even that through the suspension of all modifications of the mind, contemplation without seed is attained. 

End Part One. 

Part Two
on Spiritual Disciplines

2.1 Austerity, the study of sacred texts, and the dedication of action to God constitute the discipline of Mystic Union. 

2.2 This discipline is practiced for the purpose of acquiring fixity of mind on the Lord, free from all impurities and agitations, or on One's Own Reality, and for attenuating the afflictions. 

2.3 The five afflictions are ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and the desire to cling to life. 

2.4 Ignorance is the breeding place for all the others whether they are dormant or attenuated, partially overcome or fully operative. 

2.5 Ignorance is taking the non-eternal for the eternal, the impure for the pure, evil for good and non-self as self. 

2.6 Egoism is the identification of the power that knows with the instruments of knowing. 

2.7 Attachment is that magnetic pattern which clusters in pleasure and pulls one towards such experience. 

2.8 Aversion is the magnetic pattern which clusters in misery and pushes one from such experience. 

2.9 Flowing by its own energy, established even in the wise and in the foolish, is the unending desire for life. 

2.10 These patterns when subtle may be removed by developing their contraries. 

2.11 Their active afflictions are to be destroyed by meditation. 

2.12 The impressions of works have their roots in afflictions and arise as experience in the present and the future births. 

2.13 When the root exists, its fruition is birth, life and experience. 

2.14 They have pleasure or pain as their fruit, according as their cause be virtue or vice. 

2.15 All is misery to the wise because of the pains of change, anxiety, and acts of purification. 

2.16 The grief which has not yet come may be avoided. 

2.17 The cause of the avoidable is the superimposition of the external world onto the unseen world. 

2.18 The experienced world consists of the elements and the senses in play. It is of the nature of cognition, activity and rest, and is for the purpose of experience and realization. 

2.19 The stages of the attributes effecting the experienced world are the specialized and the unspecialized, the differentiated and the undifferentiated. 

2.20 The indweller is pure consciousness only, which though pure, sees through the mind and is identified by ego as being only the mind. 

2.21 The very existence of the seen is for the sake of the seer. 

2.22 Although Creation is discerned as not real for the one who has achieved the goal, it is yet real in that Creation remains the common experience to others. 

2.23 The association of the seer with Creation is for the distinct recognition of the objective world, as well as for the recognition of the distinct nature of the seer. 

2.24 The cause of the association is ignorance. 

2.25 Liberation of the seer is the result of the disassociation of the seer and the seen, with the disappearance of ignorance. 

2.26 The continuous practice of discrimination is the means of attaining liberation. 

2.27 Steady wisdom manifests in seven stages. 

2.28 On the destruction of impurity by the sustained practice of the limbs of Union, the light of knowledge reveals the faculty of discrimination. 

2.29 The eight limbs of Union are self-restraint in actions, fixed observance, posture, regulation of energy, mind-control in sense engagements, concentration, meditation, and realization. 

2.30 (YAMAS) Self-restraint in actions includes abstention from violence, from falsehoods, from stealing, from sexual engagements, and from acceptance of gifts. 

2.31 These five willing abstentions are not limited by rank, place, time or circumstance and constitute the Great Vow. 

2.32 (NIYAMAS) The fixed observances are cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study and persevering devotion to God. 

2.33 When improper thoughts disturb the mind, there should be constant pondering over the opposites. 

2.34 Improper thoughts and emotions such as those of violence- whether done, caused to be done, or even approved of- indeed, any thought originating in desire, anger or delusion, whether mild medium or intense- do all result in endless pain and misery. Overcome such distractions by pondering on the opposites. 

2.35 When one is confirmed in non-violence, hostility ceases in his presence. 

2.36 When one is firmly established in speaking truth, the fruits of action become subservient to him. 

2.37 All jewels approach him who is confirmed in honesty. 

2.38 When one is confirmed in celibacy, spiritual vigor is gained. 

2.39 When one is confirmed in non-possessiveness, the knowledge of the why and how of existence is attained. 

2.40 From purity follows a withdrawal from enchantment over one's own body as well as a cessation of desire for physical contact with others. 

2.41 As a result of contentment there is purity of mind, one-pointedness, control of the senses, and fitness for the vision of the self. 

2.42 Supreme happiness is gained via contentment. 

2.43 Through sanctification and the removal of impurities, there arise special powers in the body and senses. 

2.44 By study comes communion with the Lord in the Form most admired. 

2.45 Realization is experienced by making the Lord the motive of all actions. 

2.46 The posture should be steady and comfortable. 

2.47 In effortless relaxation, dwell mentally on the Endless with utter attention. 

2.48 From that there is no disturbance from the dualities. 

2.49 When that exists, control of incoming and outgoing energies is next. 

2.50 It may be external, internal, or midway, regulated by time, place, or number, and of brief or long duration. 

2.51 Energy-control which goes beyond the sphere of external and internal is the fourth level- the vital. 

2.52 In this way, that which covers the light is destroyed. 

2.53 Thus the mind becomes fit for concentration. 

2.54 When the mind maintains awareness, yet does not mingle with the senses, nor the senses with sense impressions, then self-awareness blossoms. 

2.55 In this way comes mastery over the senses. 

End Part Two 

Part Three
on Divine Powers

3.1 One-pointedness is steadfastness of the mind. 

3.2 Unbroken continuation of that mental ability is meditation. 

3.3 That same meditation when there is only consciousness of the object of meditation and not of the mind is realization. 

3.4 The three appearing together are self-control. 

3.5 By mastery comes wisdom. 

3.6 The application of mastery is by stages. 

3.7 The three are more efficacious than the restraints. 

3.8 Even that is external to the seedless realization. 

3.9 The significant aspect is the union of the mind with the moment of absorption, when the outgoing thought disappears and the absorptive experience appears. 

3.10 From sublimation of this union comes the peaceful flow of unbroken unitive cognition. 

3.11 The contemplative transformation of this is equalmindedness, witnessing the rise and destruction of distraction as well as one-pointedness itself. 

3.12 The mind becomes one-pointed when the subsiding and rising thought-waves are exactly similar. 

3.13 In this state, it passes beyond the changes of inherent characteristics, properties and the conditional modifications of object or sensory recognition. 

3.14 The object is that which preserves the latent characteristic, the rising characteristic or the yet-to-be-named characteristic that establishes one entity as specific. 

3.15 The succession of these changes in that entity is the cause of its modification. 

3.16 (SIDDHIS) By self-control over these three-fold changes (of property, character and condition), knowledge of the past and the future arises. 

3.17 The sound of a word, the idea behind the word, and the object the idea signifies are often taken as being one thing and may be mistaken for one another. By self-control over their distinctions, understanding of all languages of all creatures arises. 

3.18 By self-control on the perception of mental impressions, knowledge of previous lives arises. 

3.19 By self-control on any mark of a body, the wisdom of the mind activating that body arises. 

3.20 By self-control on the form of a body, by suspending perceptibility and separating effulgence there from, there arises invisibility and inaudibility. 

3.21 Action is of two kinds, dormant and fruitful. By self-control on such action, one portends the time of death. 

3.22 By performing self-control on friendliness, the strength to grant joy arises. 

3.23 By self-control over any kind of strength, such as that of the elephant, that very strength arises. 

3.24 By self-control on the primal activator comes knowledge of the hidden, the subtle, and the distant. 

3.25 By self-control on the Sun comes knowledge of spatial specificities. 

3.26 By self-control on the Moon comes knowledge of the heavens. 

3.27 By self-control on the Polestar arises knowledge of orbits. 

3.28 By self-control on the navel arises knowledge of the constitution of the body. 

3.29 By self-control on the pit of the throat one subdues hunger and thirst. 

3.30 By self-control on the tube within the chest one acquires absolute steadiness. 

3.31 By self-control on the light in the head one envisions perfected beings. 

3.32 There is knowledge of everything from intuition. 

3.33 Self-control on the heart brings knowledge of the mental entity. 

3.34 Experience arises due to the inability of discerning the attributes of vitality from the indweller, even though they are indeed distinct from one another. Self-control brings true knowledge of the indweller by itself. 

3.35 This spontaneous enlightenment results in intuitional perception of hearing, touching, seeing and smelling. 

3.36 To the outward turned mind, the sensory organs are perfections, but are obstacles to realization. 

3.37 When the bonds of the mind caused by action have been loosened, one may enter the body of another by knowledge of how the nerve-currents function. 

3.38 By self-control of the nerve-currents utilizing the lifeforce, one may levitate, walk on water, swamps, thorns, or the like. 

3.39 By self-control over the maintenance of breath, one may radiate light. 

3.40 By self-control on the relation of the ear to the ether one gains distant hearing. 

3.41 By self-control over the relation of the body to the ether, and maintaining at the same time the thought of the lightness of cotton, one is able to pass through space. 

3.42 By self-control on the mind when it is separated from the body- the state known as the Great Transcorporeal- all coverings are removed from the Light. 

3.43 Mastery over the elements arises when their gross and subtle forms, as well as their essential characteristics, and the inherent attributes and experiences they produce, is examined in self-control. 

3.44 Thereby one may become as tiny as an atom as well as having many other abilities, such as perfection of the body, and non-resistance to duty. 

3.45 Perfection of the body consists in beauty, grace, strength and adamantine hardness. 

3.46 By self-control on the changes that the sense-organs endure when contacting objects, and on the power of the sense of identity, and of the influence of the attributes, and the experience all these produce- one masters the senses. 

3.47 From that come swiftness of mind, independence of perception, and mastery over primordial matter. 

3.48 To one who recognizes the distinctive relation between vitality and indweller comes omnipotence and omniscience. 

3.49 Even for the destruction of the seed of bondage by desirelessness there comes absolute independence. 

3.50 When invited by invisible beings one should be neither flattered nor satisfied, for there is yet a possibility of ignorance rising up. 

3.51 By self-control over single moments and their succession there is wisdom born of discrimination. 

3.52 From that there is recognition of two similars when that difference cannot be distinguished by class, characteristic or position. 

3.53 Intuition, which is the entire discriminative knowledge, relates to all objects at all times, and is without succession. 

3.54 Liberation is attained when there is equal purity between vitality and the indweller. 

End Part Three 

Part Four
on Realizations

4.1 Psychic powers arise by birth, drugs, incantations, purificatory acts or concentrated insight. 

4.2 Transformation into another state is by the directed flow of creative nature. 

4.3 Creative nature is not moved into action by any incidental cause, but by the removal of obstacles, as in the case of a farmer clearing his field of stones for irrigation. 

4.4 Created minds arise from egoism alone. 

4.5 There being difference of interest, one mind is the director of many minds. 

4.6 Of these, the mind born of concentrated insight is free from the impressions. 

4.7 The impressions of unitive cognition are neither good nor bad. In the case of the others, there are three kinds of impressions. 

4.8 From them proceed the development of the tendencies which bring about the fruition of actions. 

4.9 Because of the magnetic qualities of habitual mental patterns and memory, a relationship of cause and effect clings even though there may be a change of embodiment by class, space and time. 

4.10 The desire to live is eternal, and the thought-clusters prompting a sense of identity are beginningless. 

4.11 Being held together by cause and effect, substratum and object- the tendencies themselves disappear on the dissolution of these bases. 

4.12 The past and the future exist in the object itself as form and expression, there being difference in the conditions of the properties. 

4.13 Whether manifested or unmanifested they are of the nature of the attributes. 

4.14 Things assume reality because of the unity maintained within that modification. 

4.15 Even though the external object is the same, there is a difference of cognition in regard to the object because of the difference in mentality. 

4.16 And if an object known only to a single mind were not cognized by that mind, would it then exist? 

4.17 An object is known or not known by the mind, depending on whether or not the mind is colored by the object. 

4.18 The mutations of awareness are always known on account of the changelessness of its Lord, the indweller. 

4.19 Nor is the mind self-luminous, as it can be known. 

4.20 It is not possible for the mind to be both the perceived and the perceiver simultaneously. 

4.21 In the case of cognition of one mind by another, we would have to assume cognition of cognition, and there would be confusion of memories. 

4.22 Consciousness appears to the mind itself as intellect when in that form in which it does not pass from place to place. 

4.23 The mind is said to perceive when it reflects both the indweller (the knower) and the objects of perception (the known). 

4.24 Though variegated by innumerable tendencies, the mind acts not for itself but for another, for the mind is of compound substance. 

4.25 For one who sees the distinction, there is no further confusing of the mind with the self. 

4.26 Then the awareness begins to discriminate, and gravitates towards liberation. 

4.27 Distractions arise from habitual thought patterns when practice is intermittent. 

4.28 The removal of the habitual thought patterns is similar to that of the afflictions already described. 

4.29 To one who remains undistracted in even the highest intellection there comes the equalminded realization known as The Cloud of Virtue. This is a result of discriminative discernment. 

4.30 From this there follows freedom from cause and effect and afflictions. 

4.31 The infinity of knowledge available to such a mind freed of all obscuration and property makes the universe of sensory perception seem small. 

4.32 Then the sequence of change in the three attributes comes to an end, for they have fulfilled their function. 

4.33 The sequence of mutation occurs in every second, yet is comprehensible only at the end of a series. 

4.34 When the attributes cease mutative association with awareness, they resolve into dormancy in Nature, and the indweller shines forth as pure consciousness. This is absolute freedom.