Patanjali's Yoga- Types

• In the state of avidya life is terrible as pain and sorrow are frequent when desires are satisfied attachment (raga)becomes stronger ,then follows the desire to live forever (abhinivesa )in the process the ego is fed and gets inflated due to ignorance ,actions done in such an ignorant state sre impure .they bind us and we suffer the effects ,patangali recommends the practice of meditation to attain liberation and ward off these afflictions
• The seat of logic is the front brain that of reasoning the back brain that of pain and pleasure is in the base of brain and the seat of the “I” is in the upper portion of the brain .this shows us that patanjali was also a fine medical professional in his thinking ,not learning to differentiate between the seer and the seen man has sorrow in order to understand this let us see what happens in our mind when identifying a simple object say a tree
• The moment we see the tree memory springs front and tells us “this is a tree” and we turn away in order words our reactions is a conditioned response .no doubt it is important to label to identify but in the process we never actually “see” the tree .we are too rapid in our reactions .there is no steady serenity in our observations .we fail to take delight in the tree in all its glory and dismiss it as a mundane object .the English poet blake confirms patanjalis teaching in his comment “the fool sees not the same tree the wise man sees
• In order to ward off all this meditation is essential the seed of future liberation or suffering is in our present actions today science claims this as preventive medicine but yoga has for centuries been a preventive science and art both for the body and the mind .asanas and pranayama protect the body us from the law of cause and effect –karma
• Patanjali says that nature the three gunas the senses and organs of perception and action exist either for enjoyment or emancipation the realisation that the seer is the seen removes all false perception and prevents pain the unbroken flow of right discriminating awareness will bring forth seven states of knowledge
• Let us first examine the seven states of ignorance :
  i) meanness feebleness ,smallness.
  ii) fickleness.
  iii) living with misery.
  iv) living with association of pain.
  v) excessive body consciousness.
  vi) self –created conditions for misery and
  vii) no belief in realisation .
• The seven states of wisdom are
  i)right knowledge ;
  ii) seeing the false as false
  iii) right attainment
  iv ) right action
  v) reaching the right goal
  vi) becoming a gunatita and
  vii) achieving liberation
• Another manner of perceiving these is
  i) thorough knowledge of the body
  ii)knowledge of the body thorough understanding of energy
  iii) understanding the mind
  iv ) steady will
  v) right awareness
  vi) awareness of good aesthetic values and
  vii) realisation that we are part of the divine through dedicated practice one gains an uninterrupted flow of awareness and impurities are destroyed .the yamas and niyamas together with asana and pranayama ,interdependent on one another ,help the sadhaka in what is called sadhana ,here patanjali says “vitarkabhadane pratipaka bhavanam “.
• Patanjali states that the physical postures ought to be comfortable and easy .this means perfect mastery .this does not mean one can merely sit in some easy posture but that all asanas must be mastered. Only when the asanas are done without effort does poise descend .there is peace in the cells of the body .there is perfect peace and poise in the sadhaka that cannot be disturbed
• Then says patanjali and only then should practice of pranayama be attempted .prana is an auto-energising force .prana and citta are in constant association with each other. As prana is auto- energising ,it generates more power through the practice of pranayama.
• Pranayama is a very effective aid in the beginning towards realisation of the self when the breath is restrained ,the mind and the organs of perception withdraw, this takes the sadhaka towards the seer. This is pratyahara.as the mind is silent intelligence can act .the process then becomes automatic and the sadhaka no longer has to struggle against the pull of memory.

Sadhana pada:

• Sadhana means practice the passage is meant for both the beginner in the spiritual path and the evolved,patanjali outlines methods towards achieving the spiritual goal the importantance od abhyasa and vairagya are dealt with .the very first sutra in this chapter tells us “tapasvadhyaya ishwarapranidhanani kriyayogah”. (having tapas and being enaged in self –study the sadhaka surrenders to the lord”surrender is the most difficult of virtues .true surrender takes all as the grace of god
• This capter deals with the methods for refining the body mind and senses kriyayoga or the yoga of action has three levels tyhese are the last three levels of niyama :tapas ,swadhayaya and ishwarapranidhana .i have already discussed what each of these means .these three acts help overcome all obstacles to reach Samadhi
• In the state of avidya life is terrible as pain and sorrow are frequent when desires are satisfied attachment (raga)becomes stronger ,then follows the desire to live forever (abhinivesa )in the process the ego is fed and gets inflated due to ignorance ,actions done in such an ignorant state sre impure .they bind us and we suffer the effects ,patangali recommends the practice of meditation to attain liberation and ward off these afflictions
• The seat of logic is the front brain that of reasoning the back brain that of pain and pleasure is in the base of brain and the seat of the “I” is in the upper portion of the brain .this shows us that patanjali was also a fine medical professional in his thinking ,not learning to differentiate between the seer and the seen man has sorrow in order to understand this let us see what happens in our mind when identifying a simple object say a tree
• The moment we see the tree memory springs front and tells us “this is a tree” and we turn away in order words our reactions is a conditioned response .no doubt it is important to label to identify but in the process we never actually “see” the tree .we are too rapid in our reactions .there is no steady serenity in our observations .we fail to take delight in the tree in all its glory and dismiss it as a mundane object .the English poet blake confirms patanjalis teaching in his comment “the fool sees not the same tree the wise man sees.
• In order to ward off all this meditation is essential the seed of future liberation or suffering is in our present actions today science claims this as preventive medicine but yoga has for centuries been a preventive science and art both for the body and the mind .asanas and pranayama protect the body us from the law of cause and effect –karma
• Patanjali says that nature the three gunas the senses and organs of perception and action exist either for enjoyment or emancipation the realisation that the seer is the seen removes all false perception and prevents pain the unbroken flow of right discriminating awareness will bring forth seven states of knowledge
• Let us first examine the seven states of ignorance :
  i) meanness feebleness ,smallness.
  ii) fickleness.
  iii) living with misery.
  iv) living with association of pain.
  v) excessive body consciousness.
  vi) self –created conditions for misery and
  vii) no belief in realisation .
• The seven states of wisdom are
  i)right knowledge ;
  ii) seeing the false as false
  iii) right attainment
  iv ) right action
  v) reaching the right goal
  vi) becoming a gunatita and
  vii) achieving liberation
• Another manner of perceiving these is
  i) thorough knowledge of the body
  ii)knowledge of the body thorough understanding of energy
  iii) understanding the mind
  iv ) steady will
  v) right awareness
  vi) awareness of good aesthetic values and
  vii) realisation that we are part of the divine through dedicated practice one gains an uninterrupted flow of awareness and impurities are destroyed .the yamas and niyamas together with asana and pranayama ,interdependent on one another ,help the sadhaka in what is called sadhana ,here patanjali says “vitarkabhadane pratipaka bhavanam “.
• Patanjali states that the physical postures ought to be comfortable and easy .this means perfect mastery .this does not mean one can merely sit in some easy posture but that all asanas must be mastered. Only when the asanas are done without effort does poise descend .there is peace in the cells of the body .there is perfect peace and poise in the sadhaka that cannot be disturbed
• Then says patanjali and only then should practice of pranayama be attempted .prana is an auto-energising force .prana and citta are in constant association with each other. As prana is auto- energising ,it generates more power through the practice of pranayama.
• Pranayama is a very effective aid in the beginning towards realisation of the self when the breath is restrained ,the mind and the organs of perception withdraw, this takes the sadhaka towards the seer. This is pratyahara.as the mind is silent intelligence can act .the process then becomes automatic and the sadhaka no longer has to struggle against the pull of memory.

Vibhuti pada :

• In this section patanjali speaks of the properties of yoga and the art of integration through concentration ,meditation and absorption ,the manifestation of supernatural powers is discussed .all this can be rationally understood if we concede the fact the human brain can achieve anything ,sri aurobindo always maintained that nothing was impossible in the realm of spiritually patanjali cautions us that the siddhis or powers are not the aim of yoga though they come to the sadhaka in the course of his quest.
• Starts off starting that fixing the consciousness on one point is called concentration we learn this in the practice of asanas and pranayama .if this attention is continuous it becomes meditation ,in asana and pranayama practice as one progresses the attitude of the mind is one of a meditative state .in the advanced stages if there is a slight drop in this uninterrupted state of awareness problems occur .
• Dharana dhyana Samadhi together constitute what is called integration or samyama .in this mastery says patanjali comes the awareness of insight.these threeaspects of yoga are internal practices .patanjali says that transformationof consciousness occurs by awareness of the self which is so subtle that it is aware of the functioning of the layers of the psyche from moment to moment.
• By sustained refinement of this self –study the light of Samadhi drawns the yogi gradually attains supernatural powers he can understand any language ,has knowledge of previous lives and understands the minds of others ,by control over the subtle body the yogi can at will suspend the light rays emanating from his body and make himself invisible .he can arrest sound smell,taste touch and form the yogi develops the strength of an elephant .concealed things far and near are revealed to him he will also have thorough knowledge of the stars and the solar system .
• However these powers should not interest the yogi for their own sake but only as means towards realising the infinite they cannot anyway be performed with any negative or base intent as such superhuman abilities can be achieved only by a mind which has been purified to this fine level.
• The yogi has now reached the ultimate state of pure existence when the purity of the soul and his intelligence are the same ,all afflictions are washed away he is a perfected being in the state of kaivalya with this we go over to the last.

Kaivalya pada:

• Patanjali draws the attention of the yogi to the soul, he begins with a discussion of the rebirth of adepts who have fallen from the grace of yoga these people are born according to their previous sadhana accomplishment may be due to birth herbs incantations ,self –discipline or samadhi .
• Patanjali explains three kinds of actions in our life .he cautions that pure and untainted actions should be upheld and sadhana be maintained .then the yogi merges with the supreme. consciousness is one but thought waves may be in all directions ,out of all these ,only those proceeding from a meditative mind are free from reactions and karma.
• According to patanjali the yogi’s actions are neither white nor black ,but the average action is always a mixture –white ,black or grey .these three types of action leave impressions sometimes from life to life ,patanjali says that these impressions have existed eternally just as the desire to live is eternal .the three states of time –past ,present and future – are all interwoven and mingle with the three qualities of nature (sattva ,rajas and tamas),according to these qualities ,our actions are formed and tie us to the present past of future ,patanjali speaks of consciousness is conditioned then the object it perceives is also tained in other words perception must be choiceless.
• If the yogi maintains this supreme attentiveness he attains what patanjali calls dharmameghah Samadhi.this word means showering of dharma ,delightful cloud of virtue .the three qualities of nature now rest and time cease for the yogi .this does not mean chronological time but psychological time in terms of tomorrow .the yogi lives in the present his mind is not on the tomorrow.
• The stage of liberation comes when the yogi has fulfilled the four aims of life and transcended the three gunas ,the four aims of life are dharma (science of duty ),artha (meaning of life ) ,kama (enjoyment of life ) and moksa (freedom from worldly pleasures),this ends the exposition of the fourth chapter ,kaivalya pada.
• In a little under two hundred lucid and compact verses patanjali has given us precise guidelines to living as i repeatedly stress in this book yoga is not just a set of esoteric exercise to keep physically fit ,it is a complete system of life with our bodily afflictions and mental fluctuations under control by the practice of concrete rules of conduct.
• These are universal rules applicable to every human being irrespective of creed and colour ,for whether you are American or Chinese or African or Indian ,whether you are a muslim, Buddhist ,Christian hindu or jew ‘you have the same physical and mental organs as everyone else.
• It may be argued that all human beings cannot fully follow patanjalis advice and evolve into perfect yogis thi is naturally ,an impossible expectation ,but his guidelines can be structured to suit our lifestyles in our niyama,asana and pranayama keeping ourselves healthy in body and mind.
• We would then be able to give the best of ourselves with Concentration best of ourselves with concentration and commitment in as a sports person a medical professional ,a business executive ,a teacher a wife and mother an artist the world would surely be the better for it.