The Hugging Saint

Yoga Sutras 2.18

2.18:Prakasa kriya sthiti silam bhuta indriya atmakam bhoga apavarga artham drisyam, The seen is of the nature of the gunas: illumination, activity, and inertia. It consists of the elements and sense organs, whose purpose is to povide both experiences and liberation to the Purusha.

Previously in sutra 2.17 we are told that our avoidable pain is caused by the projection of the Seer onto the Seen. Now Patanjali explains the nature of the Seen and what its purpose is. Why this whole divine comedy of God playing hide and seek with himself? First of all the Seen is prakriti and of the nature of the three gunas, sattva (illumination), rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). The scope of the Seen includes everything from consciousness of the mind and the sense organs to the physical elements-the objective world. But more importantly the purpose of Prakriti is for the experiences and the liberation of the Self. This brings up some classical philosophical questions that are difficult to answer but here Patanjali gives us a positive view of this divine comedy. Is the state of the Self after contact with Prakriti, identifying with Prakriti, suffering and then from these experiences achieving liberation different from the original state of the Self? Taimini in his commentary says, "The mighty adepts of Yoga who emerge as Jivanmuktas (liberated souls) from the evolutionary cycle do not merge into God and become indistingishable from Him by losing their identity for ever. They become free from the domination of the Gunas and illusion of Prakriti and yet retain all the knowledge and powers which they have acquired though evolution." So Patanjali tells us that this wonderful and misterious universe has purpose-the perfection and liberation of individual.

Yoga Sutras, 2.16 and 2.17

2.16:Heyam duhkham anagatam, Pain that has not yet come is avoidable.

As Patanjali says in the previous sutra, for the spiritual aspirant, finding fulfillment in the external leads to pain. Here we have the hope that pain that has not yet come (because indeed it will if we don't wake up spiritually) is avoidable. This is very similar indeed to Buddha's third noble truth. (3. The cessation of pain is attainable.)

2.17:Drashtri drisyayoh samyogah heya hetuh, The cause of the avoidable pain is the union of the Seer (Purusha) with the Seen (Prakriti).

This can be a bit confusing because isn't what we're seeking union (yoga)? Samyoga-literally true union-is explaining a misidentification of the divine spark (purusha) with creation (prakriti). Remember back to the very beginning of the yoga sutras in sutra 1.2 Patanjali tells us yoga is the quieting of the mind and in 1.3 he continues, then the Seer abides in its own nature, because 1.4: At other times the Seer appears to assume the forms of the vrittis (thoughts, fluctuations of the mind).
In my discussion of this last sutra I told the metaphor of the movie theater. If when watching a movie we lose our awareness that we are separate from the movie then we identify with the drama of the actors and suffer when they suffer and rejoice when they rejoice. When we remember our autonomy from the screen we are released from the suffering of the movie. Likewise with an unquieted mind we lose awareness of the Seer as separate from the Seen, which leads to suffering. This sutra is telling us in another way that avidya (spiritual ignorance) is the main cause of suffering (see sutra 2.4). In the next few sutras Patanjali explains why this whole drama takes place-being born as a human and having loss of memory of our true nature.

Yoga Sutras 2.15

2.15:Parinama tapa samskara duhkhair guna vritti virodha cha duhkham eva sarvam vivekinah, To one of discrimination, everything is painful indeed, due to its consequences: the anxiety and fear over losing what is gained; the resulting impressions left in the mind to create renewed cravings; and the conflict among the activities of the gunas, which control the mind.

At first view this sutra may seem to paint a depressing picture of life as we know it. Carrera in his commentary points out the similarity of this sutra to the first two of Buddha's Four Noble Truths (1. Life is suffering 2. Suffering is caused by attachment 3. The cessation of suffering is attainable 4. Following the eight-fold path is the way to eliminate suffering). The next sutra is similar to the third noble truth and sutras 2.26 and 2.28 are similar to the fourth noble truth.

Let's take a look at the three ways in which life is suffering:

"Anxiety and fear over losing what is gained"-this is another way of looking at the fact that external things don't give lasting happiness. When we gain something of value to us, Patanjali points out that this leads to anxiety and fear over losing this valuable item or thing. Whether we will lose it is not the question only how and when. This leads back to the idea of nonattachment (vairagya) which was discussed in l.15 and 1.16. When our happiness is attached to an item or thing then it is very tenuous. Nonattachment is the outcome of self mastery (sutra 1.15). If our peace of mind is cultivated in a yogic practice or other spiritual practice then losing something will not be our undoing. This idea that things cause pain is misunderstood and can justify a life of poverty, or a lack of emphasis on "progress" as has been India's history. On the other hand if we are working on filling ourselves up on the inside, i.e. a spiritual practice,then a comfortable house and good food etc. could be helpful in our quest to become Self Realized. If there are unhealthy relationships with our things, i.e. too much emphasis on the external, then they are probably more of a hindrance to inner happiness.

"the resulting impressions left in the mind to create renewed cravings"-impressions or samskaras in sanskrit are memories left behind of experiences. This is a patterning of the mind to what has been done before. Acting out of spiritual ignorance one tries to fill the void in any number of ways and each time this is done there is a samskara left behind making it more likely to repeat this pattern in the future. The same applies to avoidance of pain (see sutras 2.7 and 2.8-the third and fourth klesas). Once again neither Patanjali nor Buddha are saying that it has to end like this.

"the conflict among the activities of the gunas, which control the mind." Here I believe Patanjali is mainly talking about change. The gunas, sattva (the quality of purity and balance), rajas (the quality of activity and restlessness) and tamas (the quality of inertia and dullness) are the yin and yang of yoga. They are terms for describing the changing and opposite values of prakriti (nature, creation). One can't be completely separated from the others and at any given time there is a preponderance of one of the three. The mind is still considered part of the manifest and changing universe and therefore is subject to constant change. Therefore we are advised to quiet the mind and let the unchanging nature of the Purusha or inner Self shine through.

Yoga Sutras 2.13 and 2.14

2.13:Sati mule tad vipakah jati ayuh bhogah, With the existence of the root, there will also be fruits: the births of different species of life, their life spans, and experiences.

"With the existence of the root" refers to the connection between karma and the klesas (afflictions of which spiritual ignorance or avidya is primary). As long as an individual soul operates from a level of spiritual ignorance then it is subject to the laws of karma which determine the birth, life span and experiences. As I explained in the previous sutra (see 2.12) there are three types of karma. Sanchit is the storehouse of all past actions including present and past lives, pralabdha is the karma that is put into play from sanchit in the current incarnation. These are out of the control of the individual's free will and are what is referred to in sutra 2.13. Kriyaman or the karma that is being accrued at the present moment is that which can be influenced by free will though as determinists will argue this is influenced strongly by our station in life and past conditioning. This is one of the realizations of a meditating yogi/yogini, we are not totally free to act the way we really want since our actions are so influenced by the klesas. This is why Patanjali recommends the yogic life style which culminates in kaivalya or liberation.

2.14: Te hlada paritapa palah punya apunya hetutvat, The karmas bear fruits of pleasure and pain caused by merit and demerit.

This is the law of cause and effect that most people associate with karma. As we sow so shall we reap. If we ad to this the concept of reincarnation then we have a broader base on which to draw. Most people don't remember past lives. Edgar Cayce said the reason we don't have easy access to past life experiences is similar to the diver with the old system of oxygen support-a suit with a hose that is feeding air to the diver-this diver doesn't have awareness of what goes on above since it would only impede his performance down below. We need all the focus we can muster to function as well as we can in our current circumstances. He also says that we have enough trouble dealing with the guilt from the present life let alone the guilt we would have if we recalled all the actions of many previous lives. This sutra helps explain the reason for such diverse conditions that we are born into. Though the ultimate goal isn't just to have pleasurable circumstances to live in but to learn from our mistakes and ultimately merge with God.

There are several reasons we are told not to judge others (Matthew 7.1). First since we are judging from our current state of consciousness which is like looking through colored lenses-the color of which is based on our experiences and realizations-in other words we are judging ourselves when judging others. Another is that since we are only living out a small portion of our karma in this present life (pralabdha karma) we can't judge one's past demerit or merit based on one's current circumstances. For example a person such as a street person who seemingly has difficult life circumstances might be an evolved soul that has chosen to work out his/her last bit of karma before enlightenment, while an influential person such as a surgeon with comfortable circumstances might be a relatively unenlightened being that has chosen a small amount of karma to work out in his/her current incarnation.

Finally this law of cause and effect is similar to Newtonian physics which explains most circumstances. Just like Einsteinian physics accounts for matter as it approaches the speed of light, immersion of the individual into samadhi (higher states of awareness) accounts for a yogi/yogini removing the root of further suffering by removing spiritual ignorance and circumventing this normal cause and effect continuum.

Yoga Sutras 2.12

2.12:Klesa mulah karmasayah drishta adrishta janma vedaniyah, The womb of karmas has its roots in these obstacles and the karmas bring experiences in the seen or in the unseen births.

Patanjali discusses the concept of karma for the first time and in typical fashion uses a bare minimum of words to describe this concept in this and the following two sutras. This sutra brings up storage of karma, the root of karma (the klesas), and the outcome of karma in the present or future births (reincarnation).

Karma is the law of cause and effect. From the bible, Galatians 6.7:"Do not be deceived. God cannot be ignored. A man reaps what he sows." The record or karmasayah (literally bed of karmas) is kept in the causal body. This is not that unlike the brain that records any and every thought, sensory input or deed. A very important concept is that the klesas are the root of these karmas. So just as ignorance of one's true nature is the root of suffering, it is also the root of the process of action-cause and effect. These in turn determine our experiences in the seen (present) and unseen (future) lives. To summarize the yogic idea of karma and reincarnation: the individual soul (jiva) is covered by five sheaths (koshas) or three bodies. They are annamaya kosha (food sheath) which is the physical body, pranamaya kosha (energy sheath), manomaya kosha (lower mental sheath)and the vijnanamaya kosha (intellectual sheath) which together form the astral body and the anandamaya kosha (bliss sheath) which forms the causal body. All actions, thoughts and desires are recorded on the causal body. When someone dies they shed the physical body but retain the astral and causal bodies. Depending on the merit of their past life and other karmas prior they will eventually take another incarnation to evolve towards unity with God. There are three types of karma according to yogic thought, and these are frequently described with the metaphor of an archer. Sanchit karma is the stored karma from all past lifetimes which is the equivalent of the quiver of arrows that an archer has on his/her back. Pralabdha karma is fate or destiny, that portion of the sanchit karma that constitutes a person's present lifetime that can't be changed such as the natal country, family, and gender. This is the equivalent of the arrow already in flight (from the archer). Finally there is kriyaman karma which is the karma being accrued at the present moment. With free will one can choose any type of action. This is represented in the archer metaphor by the arrow in the drawn bow that is about to be shot. The way out of this cycle of birth and death is either by living out naturally all one's desires and karmas until one learns that only righteous deeds, thoughts and desires are conducive to lasting happiness (which can take possibly millions of births) or by doing some practice whereby one dispels the ignorance and renders one's karma powerless. This is the yogic path to liberation. As we have studied prior the path can be devotional (Bhakti Yoga), through good actions (Karma Yoga), knowledge (Jnana Yoga), or through the eight fold path of Patanjali (Raja Yoga).

Yoga Sutras 2.10 &2.11

2.10:Te pratiprasava heyah sukshman, In their subtle form, these obstacles can be destroyed by resolving them back into their original cause.

In sutra 2.4 we learned that the klesas (afflictions or obstacles) that have been the topic of discussion since the beginning of the second chapter, exist either in active or subtle forms. In sutra 2.10 Patanjali gives the technique for destroying the subtle form of the klesas. The five klesas as we have already discussed are sequential. Avidya (ignorance of our true nature) is the foundation and primary cause of the other klesas. Therefore "resolving them back to their original cause" refers to eradicating the primary klesa, avidya. Kaivalya (liberation or self-realization) is the goal of yoga and therefore the path of yoga is the means. When the yogi/yogini begins the practice of yoga there is the process of deactivation of the klesas. The klesas become less and less active until they reach the subtle form. Even in the subtle form they can be triggered back to the active state. This accounts for the many cases of fallen yogis-where they relapse into actions based on ignorance. The final removal of ignorance involves stabilizing the consciousness in the higher states of samadhi (see sutras 4.27-4.32). The metaphor of a seed being able to germinate is frequently used to describe this process of removing the klesas. A seed that is roasted looks like a raw seed but can't germinate anymore. Once the consciousness is stabilized in samadhi then the klesas will no longer return to the active state.

2.11:Dhyana heyas tad vrittayah, In the active state, they can be destroyed by meditation.

The prior sutra is for the already meditating yogi. This sutra is for the yogi that is embarking on the path to liberation. The inward directing of awareness is meditation. Giving the mind something to focus on and returning to that focus once it is lost. This is the technique for moving away from a life of suffering.

Patanjali seems to repeat this theme throughout the entire book. The first chapter was about achieving samadhi, which is attained through meditation. The second chapter starts with the definition of kriya yoga and that this yoga minimizes the klesas and helps attain samadhi. After defining the klesas in detail he returns to the concept of liberation. Next he introduces the concept of karma. Stayed tuned for this exciting discussion!