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Sutra 1.2 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
translated and with commentary by Vasyl Vernyhora
1.2. Yoga is the curbing (nirodha) of fluctuations (vṛtti) on the “mirror of the mind” (citta).
This is the most important sutra of the Yoga Sutras, in which Patanjali expounds the essence of yoga. This short sutra expresses the essence of the method of practicing the samadhi/shamatha psychotechnique, which is what is meant by the term "meditation" in the West—an Eastern method of transcending (elevating or ascending to a new dimension) consciousness to the level of superconsciousness. A yogi's careful adherence to the requirements of samadhi practice allows him to naturally and significantly strengthen the flow of kundalini, which in turn causes the development of the supramental structures of superconsciousness.
This sutra, 1.2, is the only one of the Yoga Sutras that can be absolutely certain to have been in Patanjali's original text. Firstly, it is truly a sutra, that is, an aphorism, since it is short, unlike some of the later, longer sutras. Secondly, it is located near the very beginning of the Yoga Sutras. Thirdly, it expresses the essence of yoga practice.
The essence of this sutra is that "union [with the superconscious]" (yoga) is achieved by curbing (nirodha) the waverings (vritti, i.e., the distractions of the mind-manas) on the "mirror of the mind" (chitta). Eliminating the agitations of the chitta implies achieving a "mirroring" of the surface/substance/state of the mind. This "mirroring", in turn, implies the absence of the mind's drowning, that is, the absence of a weakening of the collectedness (the consciousness's ability to capture the light/energy of the superconscious) of the mind.
It should be noted that, contrary to the common simplified idea, chitta is not the same as mind-manas. Chitta is a dynamically changing state of mind, not the mind itself.
The word "vritti" given in this sutra 1.2 next to the word "chitta" implies that chitta is not the mind itself, but the mirror surface of the mind in the state of samadhi, on which, upon leaving the state of samadhi, vritti-fluctuations appear—ripples and waves.
Chitta is the current state of the mind (manas), its "mirror", which in a non-meditator can resemble crumpled tinfoil under the influence of a series of thoughts and other mental distractions. Such a disturbed mind is unable to capture the light/energy of the superconscious, as it—in the form of disparate disturbances (vrittis)—is dispersed in all directions by sections of the crumpled "mirror", directed in different directions. Moreover, all sorts of disordered thoughts neutralize each other's energies.
But for a meditator, the state of his mind can be "smoothed" and "polished" (when the chitta becomes "coherent") in the state of samadhi through the practice of "chitta-vritti-nirodha" to a mirror shine and "collected" into the form of a reflector (or "lens") by maintaining the collectedness (often called "concentration") of the mind, that is, the absence of its "sinking". The difference between the meanings of the words "manas" and "chitta" can be demonstrated by the difference in the meanings of the words "vikshepa" and "vikshipta": vikshepa is the power of distracting the mind, while vikshipta is the state of the mind that is thus distracted.
Unintentional thoughts are primarily an expression of hidden tendencies, conditioned by past volitions and desires. The state of the untrained mind can be compared to a ship in a storm at sea. Although the captain strives to maintain the chosen course, the waves and wind toss the ship from side to side, constantly knocking it off course. Similarly, when a beginning meditator attempts to maintain a state of mental silence and collected mind, unintentional thoughts intrude into their weakened mind again and again, thereby disturbing them from the state of samadhi/shamatha meditation.
Methods for nirodhi (mind control) are offered in sutras 1.12–39, which will be discussed later. Here, it can be briefly noted that in Buddhism, nirodhi (mind control) is achieved through maintaining one-pointedness (ekagrata) and a pair of guardian efforts—smṛti (Sanskrit for smṛti) and samprajñāta (Pali for saṃprajanya). Smṛti is the "remembering" of the need to avoid mental distractions, primarily in regard to emerging thoughts, as well as shifts in mental focus and the weakening of mental concentration. Samprajnata is "vigilant awareness" for promptly recognizing emerging thoughts (and other distractions) and/or the mind's drowning in the event of a failure of the watchful effort of smriti. The watchful effort of samprajnata is necessary for a speedy return to the state of samadhi/shamatha.
Here it can be noted that the performance of this watchful effort of samprajnata corresponds to the purpose of yogic pratyahara – the withdrawal of the mind's attention from distractions and external stimuli in order to return it to the practice of one-pointed collectedness – samadhi. However, if this watchful effort also fails, the meditator falls out of the state of samadhi/shamatha for an indefinite period, thereby losing the opportunity to strengthen the flow of energy (one of its names is kundalini), so necessary for the development of superconsciousness.
Interestingly, the neuroheadset, which determines the quality of samadhi/shamatha based on the degree of dominance of the brain's electrical alpha rhythm over beta rhythm, allows for the monitoring of both mental distractions and, most importantly, mental drift (which meditators, especially beginners, are not always able to detect themselves). It also provides an alert sound in the app, acting as a watchdog for samprajnata, alerting the meditator to the need to use willpower to return to the state of samadhi/shamatha. The use of the neuroheadset in meditation practice is discussed in detail in Chapter 4 of my book on meditation.
Here you can also briefly look at the first and two subsequent sutras.
1.1. So now (atha) the instruction (anuśāsana) about yoga (yoga).
Sutra 1.1 is similar in style to the first sutra of the Brahma Sutras (Vedanta Sutras). Apparently, the author of the later Brahma Sutras copied this sutra from the Yoga Sutras to lend greater authority to his text, which was primarily intended to be used by Brahmins as a kind of manual for confirming the correctness of Vedic philosophy in debates with representatives of other schools of Hinduism and other Indian religions.
1.3. Then (tadā; i.e., when the disturbances-vṛtti are curbed) there occurs abiding (avasthānam) in the one's own (essential) nature (sva-rūpe) [of the] observer (draṣṭuḥ).
Sutra 1.3 can be interpreted on two different levels of understanding. Taken literally, it signifies an introverted-recursive process of monitoring the increasingly subtle disturbances of the citta with the goal of taming and cessating them, allowing the meditator to achieve increasingly deeper and purer states of meditation. In this way, the emptiness of the mind (manas) is gradually realized, which, like a white movie screen or the space in front of a holographic projector, is capable of projecting a series of images that captivate the mind.
At the same time, the phrase "when the vrittis are tamed" can mean the elimination of even the slightest disturbances on the mirror of the mind, which then corresponds to the meditator's attainment of the fourth jhana (in Pali; "dhyana" in Sanskrit) or arupa-ayatana. This attainment is accompanied by the development of supramental structures of superconsciousness, through which clairvoyant comprehension of one's own nature—the higher Self, which in Hinduism is called Atman—becomes possible. All of this will be examined in detail in a further review of the Yoga Sutras.
A sometimes encountered misinterpretation of the word draṣṭuḥ, which literally means "seer", "one who sees/looks", leads to the creation of some new semantic entities such as some separate "observer" and "another part of consciousness", supposedly existing separately from the "main" part of the meditator's mind.
The fallacy of this interpretation is that the focus of awareness of the mind-manas cannot truly be dualistic, much less multitasking, if each task requires the mind's full attention. This misinterpretation leads to a methodological error in the practice of samadhi/shamatha, preventing one from entering a genuine state of meditation, which requires a one-pointed concentration of consciousness (ekagrata), in its entirety.
There is no separate "observer" in either sutra 1.3 or the samadhi/shamatha psychotechnics. Sutras 1.3-4 speak of one who practices the taming of agitations on the mirror of the mind, through an introverted-recursive process (turning inward and leading to increasingly subtle stages of taming the increasingly subtle agitations of the mind) being able, albeit gradually, to perceive with one's "inner gaze", that is, to recognize one's own (inherent, immanent) nature—that is, initially, the nature of one's mind, which is essentially empty.
In the case of the presence of disturbances of the mind, that is, distractions by any other (besides the actual nature of the mind) objects and topics, consciousness is colored by these objects, and sutra 1.4 speaks precisely about this.
1.4. In other cases (itaratra) [there is] identity (sārūpya) [of the seer] with the impressions-vṛtti (vṛtti) [on the mirror of the mind].
The agitations-vritti in this sutra 1.4 should be interpreted as images or imprints from memory on the chitta-"mirror of the mind".
One of the main mistakes many beginning meditators make is assuming the existence of some separate, formal effort, by which they can supposedly immediately enter and remain in a state of samadhi/shamatha. Not to mention that some beginners even believe that they can enter the state of shamatha immediately, simply by desiring it.
This erroneous approach also gives rise to theories about a "separate observer" who supposedly not only monitors the state of meditation but even "observes" a nature of the mind (that level of consciousness accessible to non-saints) separate from the observer. However, such observation itself would also be part of the nature of the mind, while the "observed" part would only be part of that nature.
The truth is that if a beginning meditator tries, as he usually does in all his other activities, to specifically track or observe something, acting in the usual paradigm (system of ideas) of his weakened and fragmented (as Samdhong Rinpoche said in "Buddhist Meditation") mind, then from the very beginning this will not be a state of samadhi/shamatha, and in such a case, for example, a neuroheadset will not show a high level of meditation.
The practice of the samadhi/shamatha psychotechnique requires a very subtle, almost natural effort, which can be divided into the following two aspects. The first is maintaining the mind on one thing, which in Sanskrit means "ekagrata". For example, if the object of meditation is the nature of the mind, that is, monitoring and stopping the slightest perceptible disturbances/distractions on the chitta—the mirror of the mind—then the beginning meditator's task is primarily to stop recurring thoughts through the watchful effort of pratyahara/samprajnata. The second aspect is avoiding the mental immersion, which can be seen as a different kind of distraction from the process of meditation practice—the loss of focus and clarity of mind. Rescuing the mind from slipping into immersion occurs through the same pratyahara/samprajnata.
There is no "split" of the mind in particular or consciousness in general. Moreover, any such attempt to "split" the mind into an "observer" and an "observed", with the evaluative judgments of the mind-manas that inevitably becomes activated (with a characteristic increase in the amplitude of the brain's beta rhythm), immediately leads to an exit from the state of shamatha, as any user of a neuroheadset knows. The state of samadhi/shamatha is unitary (non-dual; "ekagrata"—unidirectional) by nature.
Once again: during meditation itself, any attempt at mental comprehension or evaluation of the state of samadhi/shamatha immediately takes one out of that state. Shamatha is the primordial, natural, and genuine state of mind, before it has slipped into any evaluative activity involving the affixing of semantic and emotional labels. And only in the state of samadhi/shamatha, when all the requirements of this psychotechnique are met, does the activation of the energy that leads to the actual development/building of the supramental structures of the superconscious occur, which is the goal of the teachings of Patanjali and Buddha.
If there is an observer in the state of samadhi/shamatha, then we are talking here about the original state of mind, which is not quite appropriately called the (eternal) witness or observer, and not about some separate—second—focus of attention and identification of a part of one’s weakened and fragmented mind as some separate observer.
At the end of the book, an explanation will be given of the origin of the four noble truths of Buddhism from the text of sutra 1.2 of the Yoga Sutras.
The full version of the book "The True Practical Essence of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" with a translation of all 196 sutras of the Yoga Sutras with commentaries on all important and/or complex sutras: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6GT6M8B.
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