“The Deeper Dimensions of Yoga” is now into Week 3 at Mill Road Community Space. A brief recap: In Week 1, we explored the divide between Prakriti and Purusha. Prakriti is the physical/material world of our senses, fleeting, temporary, ever changing; Purusha is the realm of consciousness, eternal, constant, ever blissful and at peace. We first focused on Prakriti, watching her movements in our own body and mind. (Remember, body and mind are part of Prakriti, the physical world.) In Week 2, we focused on Purusha. We practiced taking the seat of Witness: witnessing our own body and mind, and being aware that we were in that witnessing mode.
This week, we asked, “Why does this all matter? What difference does it make to have this understanding of Prakriti and Purusha?” Patanjali, author/compiler of the Yoga Sutras, offers us this explanation:
As human beings, we generally believe that the physical world (Prakriti) constitutes Reality and Truth. This one false belief (“avidya” or “ignorance”) is the root of all our suffering. If we can uproot this false belief, we can transcend all our suffering.
Believing that the physical world is Real feeds a second false belief: believing that the physical body and mind constitutes the Self. Patanjali calls this “asmita” or “egoism.” We look in the mirror and believe that we are looking at ME. We have thoughts and emotions, and we believe they are MINE or reflective of ME. Fear, love, thoughts passing through the mind – they all feel so personal, don’t they? This sense of “I am” can result in great suffering. We feel judgment of self or others, expectation, competition, separation, loss – all because of this sense of “I am.” I am I, and you are you, and we are distinct beings. We can come together, we can be separated, we can compete… whereas, in Reality, we are One. When asked how we are to treat others, yoga master Ramana Maharshi replied, “There is no other.” Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh uses this imagery: the waves in the ocean may look different, but they are all water – they have the same essence and are part of the same ocean.
The third and forth causes of suffering are “attraction” and “aversion.” Let’s take a simple example: my taste buds enjoy chocolate and dislike hot peppers. This is not problematic in and of itself, unless we get drawn into the beliefs that “I like/I want” and “I don’t like/I don’t want.” We can spend a great deal of energy chasing after things we want, or running away from things we don’t want. And if/when we aren’t successful in obtaining or avoiding those things, we suffer. But, taking the seat of Observer, of Purusha, we find that Purusha does not like or dislike anything. Purusha is simply aware of the body’s likes and dislikes. Purusha is always complete, always whole. The body may crave chocolate, or may burn with pain upon eating hot peppers, but Purusha can observe these feelings with acceptance, curiosity, compassion, and patience. If we identify ourselves with the body, we feel that craving or pain intensely; but if we identify ourselves with Purusha, we have the ability to detach from these feelings and to watch them pass – because they will pass, as this is the nature of Prakriti.
The fifth and final cause of suffering is clinging to life, or fear of death. This is a very deep-rooted fear, “even in the minds of the wise” (sutra 2.9). Believing the Self to be the physical body, we resist its decline. At the same time, we cling to life – to all the people, places and things that have given us pleasure, and that have given us a sense of self. In other words, we cling to Prakriti, believing that when the body ends, life ends, and everything is lost. The ancient yoga masters taught us differently. They taught that the true Self, Purusha, never dies. The death of the body is really no different than a change of clothes; Purusha lets go of one body, and depending one’s stage of development, either takes on another body (through rebirth) or continues on in other non-physical realms.
This is a lot to digest… I will stop here. I’ll take a moment now to express gratitude to teacher of yoga teachers Sylvie Gouin, who has been guiding me in my study of the Yoga Sutras. Also many thanks to the yogis who come to my classes and who help me to develop more clarity as I present my current understandings to them! Namaste! And until next week!
I close with a beautiful mantra, which is in essence a prayer that we may find the Purusha within:
Om asatoma sat gamaya / Tamasoma jyotir gamaya / Mrityorma amritam gayama
Om. Lead us from illusion to truth, / From darkness/ignorance to light/true understanding, / From fear of death to the knowledge of our immortality.
Thank you, Zofia.