Stopping the mind, a stage of yoga

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When the mind is restrained, Patanjali promises, the seer will shine in his/her own splendor. But what is that thing that requires to be stopped...what is its nature. Patanjali goes on to express that it is the "mind waves" which are five-fold. And of these,even right knowledge is a movement of the mind.,

Right knowledge.
Wrong knowledge.
Delusion.
Sleep.
Memory.

It is exciting because, the mind slips in and out of these modifications,creating the illusion of the I and it becomes attached to these modifications, and stops being its true self.

And this stopping of the mind, could be a life-long work in progress.

Here, his other words that explain first what must be done, and why. And then, going on to break up the thing that needs to be stopped. And if it were not stopped, what happens to the mind.. it loops back into itself and becomes a limited ego, where it is invited to become the cosmos.

CHAPTER I, VERSE FOUR

Vritti Swarupayam Itaratra


Chapter 1, VERSE SIX
Pramana Viparyaya Vikalpa Nidra Smrtyaya

 

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Patanjali revisted: the exhilaration of yoga

 

Patanjali is surely the most ancient and precise of ancient psychotherapist, neuroscientist and psychologist rolled into one. He is, and I say that without intending any hyperbole, far ahead of those in these field today.

 

Whenever I read his terse verses and with whatever interpretation, I always experience goosebumps.

I want to spend the next year trying to reconstruct his verses into my practice as an everyday, every moment experience.

 

Here, in just two verses, right the beginning of his treatise, he throws the gauntlet at you (Chapter 1: verse 2/3)

 

Yogsch citta vritti nirodah

Tada drastuh svarupe avastanam

 

 

So much meaning in so few words: Yoga means stopping the mind's oscillations.

Then (then) the witness shines in his own splendor.

 

The first part appears easy enough. By the time you swoop into trying to understand the following part, already the mind's oscillations set in..

 

And what is now, at this phase of my yoga practice is so exhilarating, is the clarity towards the desire to reach that stillness .. mumukshutva..no fake silence, the real thing!

 

 

 

 

 

Will power: it is not about winning

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Here is a beautiful definition by Ramana Maharishi on will power. We have been taught it wrong by our care-taker generation that was ahead of us --  our parents, our teachers, our leaders have made it out that will power is about succeeding always. Ramana says it is actually about trying, come what may. And also, it adds up to equipoise whatever the result.
 How elegant that definition is.. how sophisticated. The way we have been taught about will power -- it is aggressive, competitive and conflicting and leaves us dissatisfied at having tried, if we did not succeed. Our definition of will power is designed to makes us restive and unhappy!

Here is Ramana's definition:
"Your idea of will power is success insured. Will power should be understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable  of meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous with certain success. Why should one's attempts be always attended with success? Success develops arrogance and the man's spiritual progress is thus arrested. Failure on the other hand is beneficial, in as much as it opens the man's eyes to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself. Self surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness. Therefore one should try to gain the equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is will-power. Again success and failure are results of prarabhdha and not of will-power, "
 

Monkey mind: even the intellect is suspect!

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The big thing that surfaced, after years of meditation, is the idea that one's own awareness can actually be spiritually disturbing. That the awareness becomes a trigger for extroverting the mind, and thus, it actually ruins it from its steadiness of fixed intention on THAT. It was such a shock when this surfaced, like scum on top of already turgid water. Because awareness itself was born of intense meditation..So, you suddenly appreciate what Ramana suggests -- it is work, and constant work, of meditation till your mind becomes crystal clear, from the trying...

Here is how awareness/which I  believe is triggered by the intellect (referred in yoga as buddhi) can interfere and disturb you from remembering That, if not watched out for. From the words of Swami Niranjananda in his latest book which I've just acquired: Mind, mind management and Raja yoga



Buddhi is of two types : firm and negotiable. The firm buddhi denotes firmness of nature, idea, thought and knowledge. You are not oscillating, vacillating and fluctuating in your thoughts, ideas and perceptions.  That firmness and clarity is the decided inteligence nischatyatmika buddhi, the stable buddhi. The fluctuating nature vyavasayatmika buddhi.

Most of the time, it is the negotiable buddhi that is active in you.

When buddhi is not used properly, it becomes clouded. Buddhi is also the source of all passions and desires. When vasanas become strong, then the colour of buddhi changes completely. It is similar to ink being mixed with water. If black ink is mixed into a glass of clear water the entire coulor of water will change.

What does one want?

Nowadays it tires me when people discuss spiritual life as if they are out shopping and are discussing the best bargain. The other day I heard there was some lady in a hillstation who claimed to be reincarnated Satyavati and she could read your aura and help you attain some divine life purpose. Whatever. I think a lot of crap unfortunately is floating about in the name of spiritualism, and attracts shoppers who are looking for a find that they will never wear.

Spiritualism is a private thing and it becomes simpler and simpler, if you understand it is so. It is as if you revert to the skin on your body, instead of seeking clothes to cover up something you are ashamed of. So, yes, spiritualism is really back to the basics.

Here,a quote from a very practical Sufi book I picked up The book of Sufi healing, by Shaykh Hakim Moinuddin Chisthti

Once I saw the Most High God in a dream,
He asked me, " Bayazid, what do you want?"
I replied."I want what You want."
The Most High God was pleased and said,
"I am yours and you are Mine."

The I-question

Ramana says ask yourself Who am I?
It is a fabulous question because if you remain at it, you can come to a state of void. For instance, let us take the case of someone who wants to go on stage and give a speech but is fearful and anxious. If he asks himself, `who am I?' how will he answer this?
This way?
Am I the one who is afraid I will make a fool of myself? Or am I the one who wants to break this loop of fear? Am I the one who is conscious of both these sides to myself? O am I the one who is unaware of these two sides to myself? Am I the one who is doing something to break this pattern (attend speech-giving workshops), or am I the one who has been evading this responsibility. Am I the one who evaluates this `cowardice'?Am I the one who pities this person who is unable to break this loop because of his past conditions(poverty, lack of opportunity, critical parents, elders)? Am I the one who pretends I don't care, but still somewhere deep down, not even aware, that I am constantly evaluating and criticising my inability to give the speech? Am I the one who is unaware of these different layerings even to this simple act of giving speech? Who am I?

If I become conscious of these various swirling `I's' within, then I realise that the illusion of a single `I' suddenly shatters. Then, the illusion of yourself as a solid entity disappers. This means you have been succesful at holding on to this vichara jnana (self-inquiry) steadily. When this steady awareness surfaces, you become aware of something else. That something else is where we must head!

Ramana puts it very neatly: He says when you watch an animated movie, you don't realise that it is actually a stringing together of different individual images. But when you become aware of the individual images, then u realise there is no movie but just individual pictures. And after this awareness, you must evolve to another state of awareness where, if you keep staring at these fast moving images, you suddenly become aware of the space behind these images. Just like that, if you watch the constant movement of the `I', the ego, or jiva, constantly engaged in recreating itself, you become keenly aware of the incandescent Self behind.