WHAT ARE THE YOGA SUTRAS?
Written some 2000 years ago, the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is considered to be the preeminent text on yoga. In its four chapters, the sage Patanjali brilliantly organizes yoga's teaching into a clear philosophical and practical map. The yoga sutra is a comprehensive guide to the, "what, why, and how" of yoga.
By far the most well known of its teachings, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, are contained in the second chapter. The eight limbs define the means and methods of practice. They give us the "how to". The first chapter is where the overall picture of yoga is revealed. Patanjali pulls no punches as the text begins immediately with its core teaching.
ARE THE YOGA SUTRAS STILL USEFUL?
Yes. How we interpret this text matters. You can find hundreds of variations, translations, and commentaries for comparison and study. My perspective is slightly different from most in that I am a white, western, woman living in that world with all that it entails. I have had time and resources to study. I have been privileged to be able to dedicate my life to yoga and meditative inquiry. My intention in life has never wavered, even as I have lived and worked in this culture for 72 years, raised children, trained hundreds of yoga teachers, owned yoga studios, and engaged in all the mundane and challenging parts of life that most of you have also experienced.
How much of daily life is actually yoga? For me, and maybe for you, it has all been yoga. Who are we in this wild and crazy movement of life?
First, let’s can clarify what yoga is.
Yoga is a complex and multifaceted practice for refining consciousness. It is about clarifying our perceptions. It offers means for stepping into a fuller vision and experience of what it is to be alive. Whether or not we are practicing yoga depends on how we perceive and how we attend to what we are doing while we are doing it. Yoga is honing awareness; clarifying the mind. It's a practice for life.
We will be looking at aspects of the first two chapters. My approach is not to offer an exhaustive commentary on the sutras. (I most certainly wouldn't try.) My desire is to share my personal perspective gleaned through over 50 years of continuous inquiry and practice.
The first chapter of the yoga sutra defines yoga and clarifies its aims. Patanjali gives the philosophical context for everything that follows. He explains the overarching picture of universal consciousness, placing individual consciousness within and contained by this vast field of universal awareness. Patanjali offers insight into how much of our mental suffering is due to a lack of direct experience and knowledge of our fundamental universal wholeness.
The first chapter makes clear how we commonly perceive ourselves to be disassociated from the vast field of universal awareness of which we are made. We neglect to notice who we are at this most fundamental level of connectivity. We are introduced to how — due to a certain kind of ignorance and lacking of perceptual clarity — we inadvertently cause much of our own mental suffering.
Patanjali acknowledges this to be an inherently painful way to live. He proposes a remedy and the remedy involves practice. Basically, yoga is the process of clarifying this most fundamental of misunderstandings.
The second chapter is about practice. Where as chapter one reveals yoga’s purpose, chapter two lays out the means. How do we accomplish this clarification? What can we do, and how do we do it? When condensed into an outline Patanjali is presenting what is called, the eight limbs of yoga.
There are two more chapters that continue to deepen practice and awareness. We will be focusing on aspects of the first and second chapters.
In the piece we look at the beginning of the first chapter. This is where Patanjali puts things into perspective and forms the philosophical framework of yoga.
THE FIRST THREE SUTRAS
Let's begin with my notes on the first three sutras of the first chapter. I have chosen these introductory sutras because this is where Patanjali encapsulates the context and purpose of practice. He speaks to where we are and what needs to happen if we want to explore a larger picture.
If the first three sutras are intriguing enough, one will practice. If they are not, there will be little motivation to continue.
Sutra 1:1
atha yoganuśhāsanam
now begins instruction on the practice of yoga
Atha communicates the auspicious nature of the teachings that are about to begin. Most commonly translated as now, atha is also the expression of the self-luminous universal intelligence that resides within every human being. By using the term atha to initiate his treatise on yoga, Patanjali sets the stage for the comprehensive message that will follow.
Now is the present moment, the place of no future, no past, only this exact, unmoving presence and radiance. Now describes the unified state of mind. In the first sutra, Patanjali has created an inclusive container for all the teachings that are to come.
Now…finally, after an exhaustive search for sustained satisfaction that can never be achieved in the outer world — perhaps you may be open to undertaking the inquiry that will reveal the core of being to your conscious awareness.
The implication is that now one may actually be ready to practice yoga. One has tried everything else, and finally understands the futility of looking for satisfaction within the arena of the solely personal field of ones individual mind. Having seen and tried every machination of effort to gain contentment in a life perceived through the most superficial layers of consciousness, one is now ready to seriously embark on the study of yoga.
With the term anuśhāsanam, Patanjali is stating emphatically that yoga means practice. Patanjali lets us know right away that the yoga sutra is not simply a philosophical text. He states right at the start that yoga requires practice, and the strong implication is that practice will require commitment and fortitude.
Sutra 1:2
yogash chitta vritti nirodhah
yoga is the mastery of the fluctuations and roaming tendencies of the mind
In this sutra, Patanjali states the problem: vrittis. Vrittis are the fluctuations of activity that are constantly rising and falling in the mind. They are the ceaseless movements of individual consciousness. Vrittis are swirling thoughts and feelings, usually associated with personal desires and attachments that pull individual consciousness into vortexes of self-involvement, effectively obscuring the field of awareness in which they are functioning.
The effect of being caught in the pull of the vrittis is that the individual is drawn into the mistaken belief that the vrittis (thoughts) themselves define an ultimate reality. The individual ego-mind, the personal concept of self adopts the erroneous belief that it is the ultimate observer, when in reality it is simply another construct of thought and self-definition. When left unchecked, vrittis have the power to keep us locked into the smallness of self-consciousness and obscure the larger framework of universal awareness.
Patanjali lets us know that the vrittis are the problem. They need to be resolved and recognized for what they are: thoughts, not core. Patanjali informs us that the lack of resolution of the vrittis is obscuring our direct perception of their own source—universal awareness. We are told that we need to gain mastery over our mind's incessant movement in order to see our thought processes and uncover the nature of individuality if we are to accomplish the goals of yoga.
Unchecked movement in the mind is often the result of an egoic construct of self-identity asserting its importance. Like a wild two year old, ego-mind really does want to be in charge. Often…okay usually, the egoic sense of self usurps the role of the ultimate seer and thinks that it is the who that is perceiving all of life. It believes itself to be the center and the arbiter of all things. This mistaken identity needs to be cleared up in order to be able to see life as it actually is.
Sutra 1:3
tada drashtuh svarupe vasthanam
then the Seer becomes established in its essential nature
The third sutra tells us what happens when we gain resolution and calm the vrittis in the mind. Seer is the term Patanjali uses to denote the unmanifest layer of existence, life's source. It is what we might call the field of creative intelligence. It is the potentiality of all that comes into form and yet, it has no form, no structure, no object of perception.
The Seer is pure capacity, potentiality, and ability to see, to perceive, and to create. Alone, it perceives only itself — empty and radiant. When engaged in life it perceives itself and all the manifest forms of life that it contains. This field of nearly infinite creativity and intelligence is witnessing itself, as well as everything that it contains. That is why we refer to it as the ultimate seer. Each of us is a part of it. It is the universal power of perceiving, and it is the root of our individual power of perceiving.
Patanjali tells us in no uncertain terms that the Seer is the primary observer, and that the egoic thinking mind is sorely deluded with its own self-importance. When vrittis are allowed to run rampant — an unbridled mind — the radiance of universal awareness barely shines through the confusion and clutter. The field of individual consciousness is clouded with thoughts and feelings and the person is thoroughly distracted from noticing the deeper aspects of existence. When the vrittis are clarified — not necessarily obliterated, but seen for what they are — they no longer cloud our individual consciousness.
HOW DOES THIS HELP ME IN REAL LIFE?
Correct understanding and embodied knowledge of who we are in relationship to the whole, paves the way for ending the mental suffering caused by excessive self-involvement. It is a matter of putting things in their rightful place; living from the perspective and direct recognition of who we are personally and in relationship to the larger whole.
Patanjali is offering a most basic understanding of how the human mind becomes ensnared in delusion and how we may proceed to clear up the confusion. The invitation is to learn how we might enable ourselves to witness directly—and live with—the fundamental knowledge of the fullness of who we actually are on all levels of our being — personal and universal. Patanjali is letting us know that, as we practice, we will become increasingly able to choose to perceive life from the vantage point of the bounty of vastness, rather than from the limited and small personal.
I CAN’T LIVE FROM THERE!
What about getting the kids to school, going to work, doing the shopping, the cleaning, getting some sleep…let alone enjoying myself from time to time? I don’t have time for this.
This is not a practice of “not doing”. It is not about not having a challenging life. It is about finding the calm underneath the storm. It is about self-realization, the realization that we are larger than we think. It is about cultivating resilience based on knowledge. It is about knowing who you are — on all levels — at all times. It is about carrying this knowledge with you in all of your activities, in everything you do.
It's important to note that Patanjali is not identifying individuality and living ones life as the problem. He is emphatically stating that — as individuals — if we don't want to suffer endlessly we need to resolve this fundamental confusion. He is saying that without a resolution — without direct knowledge of this truth — we will always suffer. It is about clearing up the misperception, not about retreat from life. The challenge is to live life in fullness. In other words, to learn to see the whole picture in everything you do. You can do this!
READ PART 2 — WHAT TO DO — AND HOW TO DO IT
Explore Patanjali’s solution to our troubles. The second chapter is all about how to do it. The Eight Limbs of Yoga — Action and Inquiry
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And, thank you for being here! It means the world to me. ❤️
This is nectar for me in this moment, Patty. The deep medicine of something so core to my presence here; this lifetime. Thank you. You know, Alan Goode, my teacher and guide for 20 years, always taught by integrating the sutras into asana. Into lived life. His trainings were an immersion and marination in their vibration and language. I look forward to reading your next post 🙏. Namaste
Love reading your perspectives and teachings on this! Can you remind me which part of anusasanam translates to practice? I hadn’t heard or remembered the word practice mentioned in translations before and I never remember seeing the emphasis on the practice piece but I like your take 😊 Life is all a constant practice.