I am glad that tomorrow is International Yoga Day and I am also grad that this most ancient and scientific approach towards living a holistic life is gaining the momentum. I thought of throwing some lights on the Patanjali yoga. It aims to delve one into the path of uniting the self with the supreme one.
Patanjali’s narratives in Yoga Sutras are fantastically arranged and brilliantly captured tools for us to attain consciousness through the unison of mind, body and soul. Consciousness is the state in which on does not get agitated facing the misery, free from material attachment, affection, fear and anger. Such person is also called as a “Sage of Steady Wisdom”
Sutra literally means a thread — or like a formula. To simplify, though you may possess beautiful flowers and desire to wear a garland, but you cannot make a garland without a thread. Also you cannot wear a thread alone and claim of wearing a garland. Our body is like flower and our mind is like thread. We need to unite it together to make our soul become like a beautiful garland.
The thread is instilled in us and we are given complete freedom to make our own garland. You can put flowers, or beads, or pearls, or diamonds. The goal of human life is to creating the bonding between thread and flowers to attain conscious.
The Yoga Sutras is not tied to any concept. It is open to the pursuers to read it, understand it and adopt it the way one finds it suitable. Only certain governing principles have been provided. The principles of Yoga Sutra have no meaning to the reader unless one practices it and experiences the benefits.
The first aphorism “Atha Yoganushasanam” means Yoga of Discipline. The right kind of discipline, schooling is required for us to develop unwavering mind control.
“Yoges chitta vritti nirodhah.” One needs to control totally the mind from thoughts, feelings, and emotions. These emotions creates the disturbances and these disturbances destabilises us every moment. Both body and mind are prone to these disturbances. Yoga Sutra provides the method of physical exercises for conditioning the body for unison and control techniques like Pranayama and Meditation for mind.
This is the broader understanding that I have gained reading, learning, and practicing it for over 3 decades. Let me know what you feel.