Patanjali Yoga Sutra
Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.
Chapter 1, Sutra 4
At Other Times
The Seer Appears To Assume The Form Of The Modification Of The Mind
Vrtti-Sarupyam-Itaratra
Vrtti :
(with) modifications (of the mind)
Sarupyam :
identification ; assimilation
Itaratra :
elsewhere, in other states
Very difficult question to answer : Who are you? Nobody can answer that. You can know your name, your form, shape, family, home, connections and such things. Essentially who are you? – Are you the house, the family? We make mistakes. Until the end we never understand. We are in this world functioning as a unit and carry on. On the departure day we are just kicked out. We are not able to stop that. So this very very important question remains unresolved.
The solution in yoga is right in the 2nd Sutra - stop this mind. The mind runs around and pretends to know everything. In reality, it doesn’t know anything. It is deeply involved everywhere. The ‘I’ has to come . With the ‘I’, the ‘me’, the ‘mine’ and so many things. That is the way we are constructed. It is extremely difficult to get out of that. We have been made like that, brought up like that, we have come to believe that. The attempt in yoga is to knock off this ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’. We have just picked this up unnecessarily and we have stuck to it. Throwing it out is the easiest thing but we can’t. If I can’t use the word, ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’, then what is left? We enjoy a certain status, position, power because of this ‘I’. So we have been put into a very good tangle from which we can never come out.
So this concept of total stoppage of Citta; but we can’t understand it. If it is done, then there is a chance that pure consciousness is available. This pure consciousness has been lost. We don’t know what it is. We don’t know the real ‘I’. The entity of consciousness we don’t understand, though we know we are conscious, we can’t get established in that. We can’t just be consciousness. We don’t know how to do that. If ever we get into that condition, we are frightened. It does come sometimes in life, but we are not able to accept a state where the mind is blank, no connections – just by itself - watching. That’s a strange condition. We want immediately to get attached in all. So this is the proposition, to get rid of all this and be to yourself, true to yourself – just consciousness.
In America there was a group of people living in a certain place where they didn’t use the word ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’ – just ‘we’. Everything belongs to everyone and they would deal like that. That came in the way of the village they lived in, especially when dealing with the banks. The government was after them to stop this racket. So that community has been practically wiped off. We can’t tolerate this kind of nonsense. We want to push in the ‘I’.
Vrtti is either with consciousness or in this world. When we use the word, ‘world’ then all our sense organs – eyes, ears, nose, etc. which are connecting us with the world are involved. When the eyes see, thoughts start, you hear something, thoughts start. This is the whole problem with Vritti. Citta Vritti Nirodah has to be done, otherwise we are caught in the world. The wise people always feel that in the world also you should see only that consciousness. So God is everywhere, you think of God, you see God, you feel God.
If you live in the world accordingly, things will be under control and you can manage them, otherwise you get lost in the external world. The external world is also showing everything, but keeping that link with pure consciousness – try and see that the same link continues with the external world. This is the wise peoples’ formula. Whatever we see, be selective – don’t see anything and everything – be with nature, be with all such good things which remind you of that higher consciousness.
Hear good things – not gossip all the time. Somehow we have to be very very selective when it comes to living with the world. We have to live in the world. We have to do our duties. In all our activities, the thoughts, Vrittis have to be checked. If the Vrttis are getting negative then it would be wrong, if they are positive then we are closer to Isvar, God, Consciousness, True Self. We have to learn to live life properly otherwise we are lost. We make mistakes, solve the mistakes , again make mistakes, again solve – life just goes on like that. Then a stage comes where solving also is not possible – then there is just suffering.
So become clear as to how to live . Stop the mind. If you want to use the mind, use it properly.
If you live in the world accordingly, things will be under control and you can manage them, otherwise you get lost in the external world. The external world is also showing everything, but keeping that link with pure consciousness – try and see that the same link continues with the external world. This is the wise peoples’ formula. Whatever we see, be selective – don’t see anything and everything – be with nature, be with all such good things which remind you of that higher consciousness.
Hear good things – not gossip all the time. Somehow we have to be very very selective when it comes to living with the world. We have to live in the world. We have to do our duties. In all our activities, the thoughts, Vrittis have to be checked. If the Vrttis are getting negative then it would be wrong, if they are positive then we are closer to Isvar, God, Consciousness, True Self. We have to learn to live life properly otherwise we are lost. We make mistakes, solve the mistakes , again make mistakes, again solve – life just goes on like that. Then a stage comes where solving also is not possible – then there is just suffering.
So become clear as to how to live . Stop the mind. If you want to use the mind, use it properly.
About Parisamvad
On every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, The Yoga Institute, Santacruz holds Parisamvad sessions - Free interactive sessions that are open to all. These session begin at 7:20 am and end around 7:45 am.
The Friday Parisamvad is dedicated to explanation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by our esteemed Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji.
