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7

Yoga Sutra

The concept that the human body is designed for both physical and metaphysical experiences goes way back in history some 2,500 years. Perhaps the first text to clearly identify the body as a spiritual device as well as a physical one is Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. He wrote that within the human body are pathways and energy zones that may be stimulated in such a manner as to bring about nonphysical activity and higher consciousness. Of course, today many of us are familiar with these pathways and zones: chakras, padmes, sushumna, and ida and pingala (see further elaboration in “Chakras and the Kundalini,” chapter 16). Patanjali organized his Yoga Sutras into 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

Though his original text was written in Sanskrit, making it difficult to translate into modern English, and his writing style is thousands of years old, Patanjali’s views are understandable by most modern seekers. I will be using a translation by Swami Venkatesananda, which I’ve modified according to my own studies and experiences.

Patanjali begins by stating the most fundamental principle of yoga—by yoga he means the unity that happens when an entity realizes its oneness with the Whole. Here are his own words:

Yoga [unity] happens when there is stilling [in the sense of continual and vigilant watchfulness] of the movement of thought. In the light of stillness … self is not confused with nor confined to any of these. Then [when yoga thus happens], the seer or the homogeneous intelligence which is ignorantly regarded as the separate experiences of sensations and emotions, and the separate performer of actions, is not split up into one or the other of the states or modifications of the mind, and exists by itself and as itself.

Thus, according to Patanjali, union occurs when an individual perceives that he or she is not simply individual, but universal, one with the Whole, the All; and this is realized when in the deepest stillness, when the form-shaping, identity-focused mind is quiet, clear, and yet alert.

Patanjali goes on to explain the subtleties of union:

The kindling of the inner psychic fire that at once burns away all the impurities and limitations of the mind-stuff, the study both of scriptural texts and one’s own reaction to situations from moment to moment, and the meaningful, dynamic and devotional surrender to the indwelling omnipresence—these three simultaneously constitute active yoga [union], or practice of the indivisible unity.

When it is clearly understood that the instant realization of cosmic oneness, which is yoga [union], is not the product of any effort, how can one “practice” such unity? Surely, active yoga is taught not because such practice results in the realization of oneness. However, it can aid in the direction of one’s attention towards enlightenment, and away from the elements that cause mental turmoil, which, as a result of such turning away, are weakened.

The mind is restless because of the many unresolved problems. The elements that disturb mental equilibrium and thus generate psychic distress … are subtle, and not to be confused with their gross expansion as likes and dislikes, habits (good and bad), vanity and such personality traits. However, these subtle sources of psychic distress can be dispelled by resolving each in its own cause [or by confronting each of them with its own true opposite].

Now with the fundamentals established and the warnings about how subtle the distracting influences are, Patanjali begins to identify locations within the human body and their metaphysical influence upon the process toward unity. Accompanying this article is an illustration of Patanjali’s chakras as lotuses (padmes), with the ultimate illumination around the top of the head. I’ll explain his “threefold inner discipline” following these quotes:

By the practice of the threefold inner discipline at the psychic center at the navel (the Manipura chakra) the knowledge of the physiology of the body is gained.

By the practice of the threefold discipline on the light that appears in the crown of the head during meditation, one has the vision of sages who have attained perfection.

By the practice of the threefold discipline on the spiritual heart [or the psychic heart center Anahata] there arises knowledge concerning the mind-stuff or the undivided intelligence.

When there is loosening of the bondage of the consciousness to the body, as also an understanding of the proper channel of the consciousness’s entry into and its withdrawal from the body, the mind acquires the ability to enter another body.

When the vital force which maintains equilibrium and which fills the entire body with light, life and power, is directly perceived and understood, there is effulgence and radiance of one’s personality.

Beyond all these is the state of consciousness which is not the product of thought: and that is the cosmic intelligence which is independent of the body [or bodies: physical, astral, and causal]. By the practice of the threefold discipline upon that, the veil that covers that light of cosmic intelligence is removed. By the practice of the threefold discipline on the gross [tangible, with form] and the subtle [intangible, formless], and their conjunction, and the direct perception of their apparently substantial nature, there arises the perfect understanding of the elements that constitute that existence. What constitutes perfection of the body? Beauty, grace, strength, and diamond-like strength.

What is his threefold inner discipline? Patanjali explains it this way:

When the attention of the mind-stuff is directed in a single stream to a chosen field, without being dissipated and thus distracted that is concentration.

When the cognition is entirely concentrated in that field thus becoming its own field of observation—that is, when the observer is observed—it is meditation.

When the field of observation and the observing intelligence merge as if their own form is abolished and the total intelligence shines as the sole substance or reality, there is pure choiceless awareness without the divided identity of the observer and the observed—that is illumination.

When these three happen together there is perfect inner discipline. This can happen during what is commonly known as the practice of meditation, and during any other form of physical or mental activity.

When such inner discipline is mastered, there arises the vision that is wisdom