Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Why Now is the Time for Yoga

by Reverend Jaganath Carrera

This past year has magnified the uncertainty of life. Things can change at any minute, and because of that precariousness, people experience stress and worry. Watching the world shut down and start back up was shocking and unexpected. For many people, it has at best created a sense of mistrust, and at worst, exasperated issues related to basic safety and wellbeing.

As yogis, we are in a position to lift that heaviness. We have access to a wide array of practices and techniques that are designed to help us overcome suffering and persevere to liberation. These secrets are taught through lineages of thought, from saints and sages throughout the ages; many of them are at our fingertips!

Gurudev Swami Satchidananda Himself has plenty of his talks online, and He trained many of his disciples who continue to share the practices and benefits of the many facets of Yoga. In the spirit of that, let’s focus on three words from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, which together explain Why Now is the Time for Yoga.

Nirodha: Stilling, restraint, cessation.

Every effort in the practice of Yoga is nirodha, which cultivates and cumulates as the ultimate goal of Self-realization. Nirodha is a turning towards the truth, a rooting down to rise up. The word is introduced in Yoga Sutra 1.2, as it refers to both the process and attainment of calming the mind. By nirodha, and in nirodha, “Yoga ends the misperception that the Seer/Self is the same as the mind’s usual tangle of whirling excursions of thought” (Inside Patanjali’s Words).

This is a teaching that has stood the test of time, and it is needed today. The opposite of nirodha is vyutthana, which is an externalization of consciousness. We have a lot of people living with their awareness outside, rather than looking inside to discover the great liberation of Self. We can see how this can become an issue, especially if we reflect on the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the impermanence of what exists outside of us, but it did not shake the truth of the Self that lies within.

Dukha: suffering, pain, sorrow, grief.

Even those with strong practices were disrupted or disturbed during the quarantine period. Businesses were closing down, families were keeping their distance, and essential workers were afraid for their lives. For a moment, the whole world was living in a shared dukha. This word appears in the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras, and there really is no English word that does it justice.

Dukha is like a “persistent, pervasive feeling of precariousness”(Inside Patanjali’s Words). It’s the existential angst that Carl Jung describes – a feeling that the other shoe is always going to drop. Most of us can more readily relate to that now because of the magnified uncertainty of the pandemic. However, it is part of the human condition to live with some degree of dukha. In fact, it’s often what leads us to Yoga: we are seeking to escape the whirling and twirling of our own minds. We do not want to live in constant fear, and we do not need to. Given the shared trauma of humanity, there truly is an increase in the need for these teachings and practices to bring peace and harmony.

Viveka: discriminative discernment.

Patanjali tells us that life is dukha, and anyone who really looks at it will see that. That is often what our minds get caught up in, and it perpetuates those whirling excursions of thought. However, for those who choose to see clearly, this sense of suffering can be transcended. Patanjali introduces the word viveka right after dukha, as a solution. Viveka is “discrimination between the Real and the unreal, Permanent and impermanent, and the Self and the non-Self– a state of ever-present discrimination between that which changes and that which does not.” (Inside Patanjali’s Words).

It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? It takes practice, patience and compassion. Viveka is a by-product of nirodha, both of which enlighten the heart and the mind. Viveka allows us to make decisions that are aligned with the Self, strengthening our ability to identify with the Self, rather than the whirling excursion that distracts us. In a world that is arguing over which way is up and which way is down, now more than ever – we need to seek and find the truth.

There is urgency in sharing this, because the suffering is so heavy. Many people do not know what to do. As yogis, we have the solution to dukha. We can be the light. Through nirodha, we lift the world as we align with the Self. With viveka, the light of truth shines through the yogis, guiding those who are lost. It is a much-needed remedy for the suffering of humankind, and that is Why Now is the Time for Yoga.

Reverend Jaganath Carrera has shared the joy and wisdom of the Yoga Sutras with thousands of students since 1975. A direct disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda, he is the founder and spiritual head of the Yoga Life Society and author of the highly regarded Inside the Yoga Yoga Sutras: A comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study and Practice of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Awaken: Inside Yoga Meditation. He has taught all facets of Yoga since 1975 at universities, prisons, Yoga centers, and interfaith programs. In 1980, under the guidance of Sri Swami Satchidananda, he established the Integral Yoga Ministry and in 2006, the Yoga Life Ministry-ministries that are rooted in the full spectrum of the theories and practices of the major branches of Yoga, and in living a life of selfless service to all.

About Inside Patanjali’s Words

From the author of Inside the Yoga Sutras, comes a new and unique study guide for all who are interested in a deeper dive into the Yoga Sutras. Reverend Jaganath Carrera breaks down each of Patanjali’s words so the reader can further grasp the richness and depth of meaning in each of the Sanskrit words. As each word is unpacked, new levels of understanding behind each sutra are revealed.

Available through IYI Distribution: https://new.iydistribution.com/inside-patanjali-s-words.html

Sevika Ford2021-07-15T13:03:02-07:00July 15th, 2021|Tags: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|

Sustaining a Spiritual Vision

by Swami Ramananda

One of the primary challenges of the spiritual path is sustaining the intention to awaken, even as we encounter considerable obstacles. Compelled by suffering and/or inspired by saintly beings, we may commit ourselves to experiencing the profound peace we understand to be our true nature. We may take up specific practices to free ourselves from the cultural conditioning that filters our perception, limits our vision, and imprisons us in the illusion of separation.

For most of us, this effort requires patience, persistence, and some means to renew this commitment. The obstacles are many: the countless stressors of daily life, the subconscious beliefs and habitual thinking that compel us to defend the ego-identity we’ve formed, the physical or psychological pain that can sidetrack our energy, and the constant messages of our consumer culture offering us a quick fix of pleasure—a poor substitute for the natural contentment we aspire to experience.

So how do we sustain that vision we may have formed in moments of clear insight and inspiration? The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali refer to this challenge specifically in Book 1, sutra 30. This sutra names nine different obstacles that, if unchecked, can end up completely diverting us from the path we chose. Book 1, sutra 32 clarifies the importance of establishing and sticking with one specific method by which we begin to master the mind and thoughts.

No doubt, developing a meditation practice into a strong habit is one of the primary ways we can remain inspired. And if a regular practice penetrates deeply into our consciousness through consistency and enthusiasm, it will give rise to moments of healing silence and a taste of the unchanging peace within. It may be that nothing will renew our intention to awaken more than feeling for ourselves the profound benefits that it can yield.

Another form of great support is a community of like-minded spiritual seekers. Our practice may seem to plateau for long periods of time with no real progress. Sharing such challenges with others can uplift our spirits, inspire us to have more compassion for ourselves and each other, and keep our efforts in perspective.

I have also found a great benefit from creating a personal prayer or affirmation that I repeat at the end of each meditation session and before each meal. I created this prayer as a way of affirming to myself in my own words what I deeply believe to be true, based on my own experiences and the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda. It varies somewhat each time but goes essentially like this:

“Let me remember that all I really need to be happy is to feel this Presence I can sense now, so that I can be free from clinging or longing for anything outside, free to serve as an instrument of the Divine, free to be mindful, humble and grateful, and free to enjoy everything I do.”

While I may not feel it deeply every time I repeat it, this prayer reminds me of how I can live with peace in my heart, serve in ways that are fulfilling, and have faith that I am learning and growing despite the mental ups and downs I may experience.

It can be very helpful to remember that it is challenging to sustain an enthusiastic pursuit of such an exalted goal as mastering the mind as we navigate the sometimes stormy waters of life. So it behooves us to remember that not one moment of effort is lost—all the spiritual study we do, every meditation session, each repetition of a mantra or affirmation, every instance of devotion or genuine service is an essential step on the path.

Through repeated practice, we will begin to experience moments free of habitual thought patterns, and see ourselves and our relationship to the world in a fresh way. We will begin to feel our connection to each other and all of nature. Over time, our accumulated practice will gradually restructure even the subconscious mind so that we are no longer compelled by old beliefs and fears, and approach life with a sense of deep belonging, inner contentment, and wonder.

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Sevika Ford2021-07-01T11:18:50-07:00July 1st, 2021|Tags: meditation, Sangha, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|

Yoga and Buddhist Philosophy: The Brahmaviharas and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.33

by Katharine Bierce

Are you curious about yoga philosophy and connections to Buddhist meditation off the mat? Want to train your mind and not just your body? Keep reading!

The Yoga Sutras are an old Sanskrit text, compiled around between 500 BCE and 400 CE by Patanjali, in India who brought together knowledge about yoga from much older traditions. If you read the sutras, there’s a lot of seemingly obscure information about the yogic path of awakening, but for this article I want to focus on some very practical instructions on how to reduce your stress and live a happier life. In Sanskrit at least, they are short enough to be tweetable – things like “yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind” is a common one you might hear in a yoga class.

What’s so wonderful about yoga is that it’s not just physical: it is a complete philosophy that also encompasses the mental, emotional, and spiritual development towards being a more fully realized human being.

In the Samadhi Pada (which is one of the four sections of the Yoga Sutras), sutra number 33 is one of my favorites:

Maitri Karuna Muditopeksanam Sukha Duhka Punyapunya Visayanam Bhavantas Citta Prasadanam.

One of my favorite translations comes from T.K.V. Desikachar, who studied with the grandfather of modern yoga, Krishnamacharya. Desikachar explains thus in his book The Heart of Yoga:

“In daily life we see people who are happier than we are, people who are less happy. Some may be doing praiseworthy things and others causing problems. Whatever may be our usual attitude toward such people and their actions, if we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, compassionate towards those who are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our mind will be very tranquil.”

In this way, the qualities of mind we want to cultivate are really WAYS OF SEEING, not a temporary state of mind (like a noun), but a verb – a practice to cultivate. The idea of practice as cultivating a way of seeing is also discussed in Rob Burbea’s excellent book Seeing That Frees. The idea is: we are always looking at the world through some sort of lens, like a person who wears glasses. Some days we have rose-colored glasses and everything seems great, and other days things may be more difficult; we can’t see as clearly because of our habits of mind. What this sutra is pointing to is that we can choose to put on a different set of glasses – by setting the intention to respond with loving-kindness, compassion, joy or equanimity depending on what happens, rather than our usual habitual reactions.

The Brahmaviharas or Four Immeasurables are in the Yoga Sutras

The 4 key words to note in Patanjali’s sutra 1.33 are as follows in the chart below. Sanskrit is the language in a lot of old yoga texts, like the Yoga Sutras. Pali is the language the Buddha spoke. In the Buddha’s Words is a great book that has an edited summary of the Buddha’s teachings in the Theravada tradition. Anyway, the same four qualities mentioned in Yoga Sutra 1.33 by Patanjali are also important qualities of mind that Brahmavihara meditation cultivates. The Brahmaviharas are the “divine abodes,” specifically, the divine abodes of the heart. You can’t think your way to enlightenment: you have to also cultivate “heart” qualities like kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity to be a fully realized human being. The word for “awakened heart-mind” is bodhicitta, by the way: ultimately, Buddhism does not distinguish between cultivating the heart and mind, because they are really one and the same – there is one word for them: citta. Lastly, the four heart qualities are also known as the Four Immeasurables: things you can’t have too much of, no matter how full your closet is.

Sanskrit	Pali	English
Maitri	Metta	Loving-kindness or goodwill (the wish to be happy)
Karuna	Karuna	Compassion (wishing to be free of suffering/stress)
Mudita	Mudita	Appreciative joy (happiness at the success of others)
Upeksha	Upekkha	Equanimity (meeting life with an “even keel”)

A poem I wrote about the Brahmaviharas is here.

Instructions for Stress Management Off the Yoga Mat

If you watch any “reality” TV show, you’ll probably see people practicing the opposites or “far enemies” of these four heart qualities: hatred, cruelty, jealousy and clinging. While these opposite qualities can make for some amusing entertainment, they’re not a good recipe for a stress-free life.

So how does one cultivate these qualities in modern life? You can use the people around you to help wake you up. As one lojong or mind training slogan of the Mahayana Buddhist teachings from Atisha says, “Be grateful to everyone.” After all, it’s the people who piss us off the most, who can show us where we are stuck on the spiritual path!

With the Brahmaviharas in mind, you can use situations that might annoy you as reminders to practice emotional intelligence as follows:

“Neutral” people: Practice loving-kindness, or wishing them well
People who are unhappy: Practice compassion, or wishing them free from suffering
People who are successful: Practice appreciation or joy for their good fortune
When you can’t do anything about a situation: Practice equanimity

Or, to paraphrase the yoga sutra 1.33, cultivate loving-kindness towards the happy, compassion for people who are suffering, appreciative joy for those who are doing well and equanimity towards those who oppose our values.

The Heart Practice Instructions

Each of the Brahmaviharas mentioned in Yoga Sutra 1.33 has some phrases that you can use to cultivate these qualities, or ways of seeing. Just like a software program runs and takes input and creates output, you can replace unhealthy habits of mind like fear, anger, and jealousy by “running these programs” with a meditation practice. Another metaphor is: the mind is like a puppy that wants to run around and chew on the furniture. So, to train the puppy/mind, you give it something else to chew on, like a bone. The phrases to cultivate kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are like one of those Greenie bones that you can give a dog to clean its teeth while it chews!

Because different people resonate with different ways of practicing, here are a few different options for phrases for the Brahmaviharas. I have recorded a few guided meditations if you prefer listening to these as well.

Loving-kindness Meditation

One of the strongest antidotes to fear and anxiety is a way of seeing the world that is based on loving-kindness. The “Loving-All Method” describes this in more detail, but you can use these phrases anytime, especially if you’re the kind of person who thinks you’re not “good enough” – these are especially for you!

May I/you/we be safe.

May I/you/we be happy.

May I/you/we be healthy.

May I/you/we live with ease.

May I/you/we be filled with loving-kindness.

May I/you/we be well.

May I/you/we be peaceful and at ease.

May I/you/we be happy.

Compassion Meditation

The Dalai Lama says: If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

May I/you/we be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May I/you/we be free from fear and danger.

May I/you/we be free from pain and sorrow.

May I/you/we find peace and healing.

Or:

May I/you/we find stillness in the midst of change.

May we find peace in the midst of struggle.

May we find softness in the midst of resistance.

May we rest in compassion.

Appreciative Joy Meditation

Appreciative or Sympathetic Joy is happiness at the happiness of another. It doesn’t cost you anything to rejoice in the good fortune of others, and is an antidote to jealousy. Is someone in your life doing well right now? How might your dog or cat feel when they see you? Did a colleague recently get a promotion? Try this practice to bring more joy into your life.

May your happiness increase.

May your good fortune continue.

Equanimity Meditation

Equanimity is the state of heart-mind that can meet reality with a sense of balance, poise, ease, etc. Even if you want something (or someone) to change, sometimes there are things beyond your control. Change is a constant, and it isn’t always what we like. Whatever it is, whether something is unpleasant or pleasant, or even neutral, it is bound to change because change is a constant. So we can’t hang on to pleasure or try to push away pain thinking that that reactivity will make us permanently happy. Equanimity practice is based on the recognition that the life someone has is a result of the effects of their choices: When you exercise regularly, you experience the benefits. Likewise, when you eat unhealthy foods, use unkind words, break promises, for example, you experience worse physical or mental health as a result.

May I accept myself as I am.

May I accept my life as it is.

May my heart-mind be at ease with the inner and outer changes of life.

Or:

All beings are owners of their actions, heirs to their actions. Their happiness or unhappiness depends upon their actions and not on my wishes for them.

You can do these practices as a complete meditation practice, while seated – or while waiting for an elevator, in line at a store, etc. Consider bringing in a few of these phrases the next time you notice yourself getting lost in worrying.

Note that each of these is a different flavor of the same underlying thing: unconditional love.

Stress Isn’t New, and Kindness Works

With the 24/7 news cycle, it is easy to get stuck in fear. However, the facts of change/impermanence and suffering have not changed since the time of the Buddha or Patanjali thousands of years ago. As neuroscience tells us, neurons that fire together, wire together. Repetition is the power behind building muscles at the gym as well as strengthening the heart-mind to respond to stressful situations with wisdom, rather than habitual reactivity that adds to the suffering in the world. This is not about making some external result happen; rather, by cultivating an open and caring heart-mind, we are better able to have an appropriate response to whatever arises in our lives.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Katharine first learned about meditation at an event with free food during college in Chicago in 2009. After attending classes with Shambhala, she started an almost-daily practice in 2012 while working in consulting in New York City. Her influences include Nikki Mirghafori, Pema Chödrön, Vipassana in the style of S.N. Goenka, Tucker Peck, Culadasa, Jeremy Graves, The Mind Illuminated, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, somatic meditation with Neil McKinlay and Norman Elizondo, and the insight meditation teachers at Spirit Rock. In March 2020, she completed a month-long meditation retreat, which is her seventh retreat of a week or more. Katharine works full time in technology marketing at a Fortune 100 company in San Francisco and also teaches yoga on evenings and weekends with Business Casual Yoga.

Sevika Ford2021-06-16T11:30:49-07:00June 16th, 2021|Tags: Buddhism, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|

A Spiritual Perspective on Vaccine Safety and Science

by Katharine Bierce

The Buddha said he taught about suffering and the end of suffering. If there’s one thing (OK, or three things) we’ve all learned from the coronavirus pandemic, it is the truth of suffering, interconnectedness, and impermanence.

I am a yoga teacher, a Reiki practitioner, and an enthusiast of qigong, acupuncture, and “alternative” healing methods. And, I get my yearly flu shot, and am getting the COVID-19 vaccine and I encourage everyone to do so. Here’s why.

When you have a chance to reduce suffering, do it

As Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra I.33 says:

Maitri Karuna Muditopeksanam Sukha Duhka Punyapunya Visayanam Bhavantas Citta Prasadanam.

This mentions the four divine abodes of the heart, the Brahma Viharas, or compassion, loving-kindness, appreciative joy, and equanimity.

One of my favorite translations of this sutra comes from T.K.V. Desikachar, who studied with the grandfather of modern yoga, Krishnamacharya. Desikachar explains thus in his book The Heart of Yoga:

In this post, I want to focus on compassion. Cultivating compassion towards those who are suffering is thus an ancient yogic idea. But, compassion isn’t just a feeling – it’s a motivation for action to alleviate suffering. That distinguishes compassion from empathy, which is just feeling the feelings of others.

As you free yourself from suffering, you have more opportunities to help others

One of the best motivations to practice meditation, yoga, or any spiritual discipline is to be of service to others. Why? Because even if you have a million dollar condo in a nice neighborhood, if there are still homeless people around who are suffering, you share that suffering. As humans, we are social animals, and it is a natural response to want to help others who are suffering. If we close our minds and hearts to the suffering of others, we are shutting down what it means to be fully human. Spiritual practice gives us the technology to free our hearts and minds so we can get out of our own way, and more effectively be helpful in tough situations.

Science is methodical, like training the mind in meditation

The scientific method is one of the best ways we have to create new knowledge in a systematic way. A scientific experiment using the scientific method starts with a question. That question provokes some initial research into the area, and then the scientist formulates a hypothesis: something that can be falsified or supported by data. The scientist designs an experiment to gather data, then analyzes the data, reports the findings or conclusions (often in a published article that is reviewed by other scientists who try to find problems with it). The process continues iteratively – the end results of one experiment can be the beginning of an idea for another experiment.

In meditation, such as shamatha-vipassana practice, we systematically bring the mind back to an object (shamatha) to calm the mind, and then use the calmer, more collected, stabilized, unified mind as a way to look into the nature of our experience more closely (vipassana). The book The Mind Illuminated is one example of a meditation manual that outlines how to train the mind first by stabilizing it and then using that collected, unified mind to examine reality in a new way, like building and then using a microscope to look at small organisms.

What is a randomized controlled trial?

The vaccines against COVID-19 were tested in randomized, controlled trials, with tens of thousands of people, and shown to be effective in fighting this deadly disease. A randomized, controlled trial means that the experimenter randomly assigns people to get the vaccine or a placebo (a different flu vaccine or a different shot, or “control”) to compare if the real vaccine is effective, rather than someone just thinking they got the vaccine (the placebo). More people in the control group became sick with COVID-19. This number was large enough to show mathematically that the difference wasn’t a coincidence. The vaccine had prevented illness. There were also three trial phases to test safety, efficacy, and then a large-scale trial, followed by post-approval surveillance to see if any issues cropped up. If you want to nerd out on the details, here’s the New England Journal of Medicine published article on the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.

Doing science is hard work; it’s not about the money

In high school, I had the opportunity to work in a chemical engineering lab as an intern. I was at Tufts University for a summer, helping with research on gold and cerium oxide nanoparticles in the water-gas shift reaction. I won’t nerd out on the details here, but the basic area is related to the same kinds of things – catalysts – that turn toxic exhaust from your car’s tailpipe into less toxic stuff. Doing science was painstakingly slow, and could happen at odd hours. Some things had to happen at very precise times, and other things took a long time. The PhD student I worked with would frequently spend weekends in the lab. It can be hard to have a social life when one’s schedule is dictated by how long chemical reactions take and when the samples are ready for testing.

I also know at least one person who did science in a not-very-well-paying field. In their journey to become a PhD and then a full time scientist with a job, at one point they were on food stamps – they were paid that little. Scientists care about seva, or service, too, to help others. If you think science isn’t a spiritual practice, consider the sacrifices that scientists make to create breakthroughs that save lives. The main points here are: Scientists don’t do science for the money (compared to, say, investment banking), and a great deal of thought and effort goes into science – such as making vaccines.

When you find something that alleviates suffering, do it

Back to the Buddha. As you may know from the story of his life, he tried pretty much every technique that was available in ancient India to try to find awakening. He tried ascetic practices, fasting, abandoning his family to focus on his practice, all kinds of stuff, but none of it worked. When he found awakening, initially he was hesitant to teach because he thought no one would understand him. Thankfully, he ultimately taught the methods that worked for alleviating suffering for forty years after his awakening. Today, modern science is also demonstrating the benefits of meditation practice: remember that the Dalai Lama is a fan of science, and there are numerous studies putting monks or long-term meditators in MRI machines and seeing how their brains are different than non-meditators in many helpful ways.

The Buddha found liberation from suffering, and science can enable freedom from suffering, too. COVID-19 is a deadly virus that has killed nearly three million people globally as of this writing. Anything that can help reduce deaths and keep people out of the hospital is something to celebrate, even if it’s imperfect or has some side effects for a few hours or days.

Here’s a fun cartoon that explains how the COVID-19 vaccine works, simply, with some humor (click to enlarge):

cartoon by Emily Watters M.D. (shared here with permission)

For all these reasons, please: when you or your loved ones have the chance to get vaccinated against now-preventable diseases like polio, mumps, rubella, and now COVID-19, don’t wait – vaccinate!

GET THE VACCINE