The Essence of Yoga

In the West, Yoga has come to primarily refer to a type of physical exercises, performed at your local "yoga center" or gym, to keep fit.  This has long been a pet peeve of mine, as Yoga is such a deep term encompassing so much more.  The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root, Yuj, meaning to connect or reunite, not unlike the word Religion, which some say means to Re-Lig - or reconnect.  There's certainly nothing wrong with "yoga" exercises, which should really be called Asanas, or Hatha, but the vast majority of yoga practitioners, at least in the West, are probably not overly concerned with re-connecting to their Self, or at least it would seem that way. 

Coming from India, there are what are called the six Darshanas or philosophies on how to attain Moksha or freedom.  These include Sankhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta), and Yoga. The primary sourcebook for yoga is a book entitled the Yoga Sutras, written by Patanjali Muni in the early part of the first millenium CE, and consists of four chapters and 196 verses.  For our purposes here, we're just going to look at the first four verses!  

अथ योगानुशासनम्॥१॥

Atha yogānuśāsanam ||1||

1. Now (atha), the quintessential teachings (anusasanam) on Yoga.

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः॥२॥

Yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ ||2||

2. Yoga is the elimination (nirodha) of modifications (vritti) in Consciousness (citta)

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम्॥३॥

Tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam ||3||

3. Then (tada) the establishment (avasthanam) of the Seer (drastuh) in their original nature (svarupa)

वृत्तिसारूप्यमितरत्र॥४॥

Vṛttisārūpyamitaratra ||4||

4. Otherwise (itaratra), conformity (sarupyam) to the modifications (vritti)

 

These 4 verses are the essence of yoga. Actually, it could be summed up with in 2 and 3:  Yoga is the elimination of modifications in the field of consciousness, which results in the establishment of the Seer (that's you) in your original state of Consicousness. Then #4 lets you know the results of not doing that - you 'conform' to the modifications. In other words, you BECOME what you think.   The remaining 192 verses describes the methods for doing just that, utilizing the eight limbs (ashta-anga) of yama (ethics), niyama (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (moving inward), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (trance).  It goes into great detail on utilizing these limbs - except for asana, where it primarily says one should find a steady comfortable position, in order to focus better.  

So what does this all mean?  It tells us that Yoga, or the reconnecting with who we truly are (svarupa), is achieved by controlling, limiting, or eradicating all of the stuff that arises in our space of consciousness.  This would be all the thoughts and beliefs and concepts and feelings, etc, that distract you and that you IDENTIFY with.  Our entire lives are dictated by the ideas we are holding onto about ourselves.  "I am this and that and the next thing."   It's essentially the same instruction given in the Ashtavakra Gita 1.4  "If you separate yourself from your body/mind, and stay resting in the shelter of/as Awareness. Even NOW, you are happy, peaceful and FREE from Bondage!"  

The essence of the Yoga Sutras is really not different from the essence of all spiritual teachings and religions - You are the Self, the uncontaminated pure Beingness, prior to all of the vrittis or modifications or "twirlings" (another translation of vrittis) that arise in Consciousness.  

Think of the sky - Pure, vast and infinite.  Clouds of all shapes and sizes enter into the sky, but they are not the sky - they are simply obscurations that pass by. Same with all those thoughts and beliefs and habits - they are simply clouds passing by. No need to identify with them and be attached to them.  In fact, they're just kind of like clouds in that they take different shapes! 'Look, that one looks like a monkey. That one looks like a cowboy. That one looks like......ME!'  😂❤️🙏

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