“yama niyama asana pranayama pratyahara dharana dhyana Samadhi”
Patanjali Yoga sutra
Patanjali in his yoga sutras speaks about Samyama which is the beautiful expression of consciousness merged with everything. He says that there are three parts to it. Dharana or concentration on the object. This is uncluttered concentration by the mind on the object. The next stage is called Dhyana or meditation or contemplation. This is understanding the mind of the object. To get inside the object and try to behave as the object. It is uninterrupted flow of the mind to the object. Remember in this state the object are still seen as arising in consciousness. This is what we usually call meditation. We see numerous objects like thoughts , emotions sensations and so on. We are aware of all and we try to witness them all. The last stage is called Samadhi. This is the purest stage, where the awareness or subject merges completely with the object. No distinction is felt. All appears as one. Subject , object and experience triputi merges and becomes one. This is the highest state of consciousness.
A zen teacher once told his student ." If you want to paint a bamboo , become a bamboo". Only by merging in that object completely can you express it. This is why artists are often mystic people too. They can merge with their own creations.
Patanjali tells us how the mere instrument of experience called budhi and manas become the self by adhyasa or superposition. Thus the ego is nothing but the superposition of mind over the real self. This is what he calls as asmita . This results in various problems in life as experiences all become egoistic. They are interpreted , misjudged and cause suffering. He says that there are numerous implications of this adhyasa. Ignorance or avidya about our true nature, sensual pleasure seeking, suffering based on believing in thoughts and so on. Raga and dvesha are all a result of this egoistic process.
He says that the only way to get freedom from all these is atma jyana . Vivekam or discriminatory power needs to be cultivated. This helps us in understanding the distinction between what is permanent and what is not permanent. He also advises to start our sadana to prevent future sorrows.
heyam dukham anagatam-2.16
Let us suppose you are sitting in a pitch black room. You cannot see anything. Nor can you see anything outside since it is locked completely. Now i call your name and ask you " Are you there?". What would you say?. You wont say " It is too dark here and hence i cannot see anything . So i dont know whether i am here or not". Nor would you say touch yourself or smell yourself to answer my question. What makes you affirm that you exist?. Obviously not any sensory perception is used here. Nor did you have to think. You wont say " Let me think whether i am here or not". So it is not the mind that says you are in that room. Somehow you have a feeling of existence independent of all sensory perception and mindful thinking .
The knowledge of existence is different from any other knowledge. You are always knowledgeable about something. It can be called "Knowledge of". It is always about something else other than "I". Knowledge of existence is on the other hand knowledge of itself. Whoever is seeking it is the knowledge. It is the self evident satyam. It is only after this knowledge comes does any other knowledge can arise. It is in fact to this entity that the knowledge is arising. So when you become knowledgeable about something like some entity such as a star , your own thoughts or emotions etc ask yourself the question. Who is knowing this?. It is the only subject or consciousness which is independent of body and mind that is making this knowledge possible. In fact vedanta tells us that there is only this pure consciousness. Everything else is an illusion in the sense that it is a juggling show in which consciousness itself modifies to produce this world. So that is how everything works, There is pure consciousness, It now becomes molded into different shapes and forms which come and go and arises as appearances in consciousness itself!!!!. So there is nothing apart from consciousness the appearances and the background are all consciousness.
In his attempt to de-root the vasanas which are hindrances, Patanjali speaks about Pratipaksha Bhavanam. Essentially it is replacing negativity with positive laden emotional assertions. In buddhism there is a beautiful meditation called Metta meditation or Loving-Kindness meditation. This just involves some positive assertions while you sit in relaxed meditations . You say things to yourselves like
"May I be happy, may I be free of illness and injury.".
"May I appreciate what I have experienced. May I be kind to myself, may I let go of my regrets" .
Patanjali Yoga sutra
Patanjali in his yoga sutras speaks about Samyama which is the beautiful expression of consciousness merged with everything. He says that there are three parts to it. Dharana or concentration on the object. This is uncluttered concentration by the mind on the object. The next stage is called Dhyana or meditation or contemplation. This is understanding the mind of the object. To get inside the object and try to behave as the object. It is uninterrupted flow of the mind to the object. Remember in this state the object are still seen as arising in consciousness. This is what we usually call meditation. We see numerous objects like thoughts , emotions sensations and so on. We are aware of all and we try to witness them all. The last stage is called Samadhi. This is the purest stage, where the awareness or subject merges completely with the object. No distinction is felt. All appears as one. Subject , object and experience triputi merges and becomes one. This is the highest state of consciousness.
A zen teacher once told his student ." If you want to paint a bamboo , become a bamboo". Only by merging in that object completely can you express it. This is why artists are often mystic people too. They can merge with their own creations.
Patanjali tells us how the mere instrument of experience called budhi and manas become the self by adhyasa or superposition. Thus the ego is nothing but the superposition of mind over the real self. This is what he calls as asmita . This results in various problems in life as experiences all become egoistic. They are interpreted , misjudged and cause suffering. He says that there are numerous implications of this adhyasa. Ignorance or avidya about our true nature, sensual pleasure seeking, suffering based on believing in thoughts and so on. Raga and dvesha are all a result of this egoistic process.
He says that the only way to get freedom from all these is atma jyana . Vivekam or discriminatory power needs to be cultivated. This helps us in understanding the distinction between what is permanent and what is not permanent. He also advises to start our sadana to prevent future sorrows.
heyam dukham anagatam-2.16
Let us suppose you are sitting in a pitch black room. You cannot see anything. Nor can you see anything outside since it is locked completely. Now i call your name and ask you " Are you there?". What would you say?. You wont say " It is too dark here and hence i cannot see anything . So i dont know whether i am here or not". Nor would you say touch yourself or smell yourself to answer my question. What makes you affirm that you exist?. Obviously not any sensory perception is used here. Nor did you have to think. You wont say " Let me think whether i am here or not". So it is not the mind that says you are in that room. Somehow you have a feeling of existence independent of all sensory perception and mindful thinking .
The knowledge of existence is different from any other knowledge. You are always knowledgeable about something. It can be called "Knowledge of". It is always about something else other than "I". Knowledge of existence is on the other hand knowledge of itself. Whoever is seeking it is the knowledge. It is the self evident satyam. It is only after this knowledge comes does any other knowledge can arise. It is in fact to this entity that the knowledge is arising. So when you become knowledgeable about something like some entity such as a star , your own thoughts or emotions etc ask yourself the question. Who is knowing this?. It is the only subject or consciousness which is independent of body and mind that is making this knowledge possible. In fact vedanta tells us that there is only this pure consciousness. Everything else is an illusion in the sense that it is a juggling show in which consciousness itself modifies to produce this world. So that is how everything works, There is pure consciousness, It now becomes molded into different shapes and forms which come and go and arises as appearances in consciousness itself!!!!. So there is nothing apart from consciousness the appearances and the background are all consciousness.
In his attempt to de-root the vasanas which are hindrances, Patanjali speaks about Pratipaksha Bhavanam. Essentially it is replacing negativity with positive laden emotional assertions. In buddhism there is a beautiful meditation called Metta meditation or Loving-Kindness meditation. This just involves some positive assertions while you sit in relaxed meditations . You say things to yourselves like
"May I be happy, may I be free of illness and injury.".
"May I appreciate what I have experienced. May I be kind to myself, may I let go of my regrets" .
"May all of them i know and i dont know be peaceful and happy."
This when repeated for a long time creates lot of positivism within us. We can even repeat it when we have time in between our activities.
This when repeated for a long time creates lot of positivism within us. We can even repeat it when we have time in between our activities.
So essentially our spirituality consists of two essential parts. One is understanding the hindrances to the achievement of samadhi and to work towards removing them. Second part is to realize the supreme state by transcending ordinary experiences.
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