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Introduction to Life Transforming Sutras


I express my sense of gratitude to Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is bringing out Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in such a simplified and contemporary manner. He is our rockstar who introduced us Bhakti yoga (Yoga of Love) , Dhayan yoga (Yoga of Meditation/Samadhi), Karma yoga (Yoga of Action), Gayan Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge).


As a mortal soul, it is a bit of an embarrassment for me with my limited intelligence to write on the immortal work of Patanjali or Gurudev on the subject of yoga but whenever I read, listen or watch Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Gurudev something new open ups and every time dust over consciousness gets removed. I would like to suggest everyone to go through it atleast once in a lifetime.


Yoga and Master - What is Yoga?


From last few years I am in dilemma that yoga is all about different kinds of postures but my ignorance got removed when I met Gurudev, his presence himself is yoga where alot of healing happens. In simple words it's Union with Present Moment. He is a prefect master of cosmic energy; he knew the pranic energy centers in the body; his intelligence(buddhi) is as clean and clear as crystal and his words express him as pure prefect being. Patajali's sutras make use of his versatility of language and mind. He clothes the righteous and virtuous aspects of religious matters with a secular fabric and in so doing is able to skillfully present the wisdom of both the material and spiritual world, blending them as a universal culture.


Gurudev fills each sutras with his experiential intelligence, stretching it like a thread( sutra), and weaving it into a garland of pearls of wisdom to flavor and savoir by those who love and live in yoga, as wise-men in their lives. Each sutra conveys the practice as well as the philosophy behind the practice philosophy for aspirants and seekers to follow in life.



What is sadhana?


Sadhana is a methodical, sequential means to accomplish the sadhaka's aims in life. The sadhaka's aims are right duty (Dharma), a rightful purpose and means (Artha), right inclinations (Kama) and ultimate release or emancipation (Moksa).


If dharma is the atonement of duty, artha is the means to purification of action. our inclinations (Kama) are made good through study of scared texts and growth of wisdom (svadhyaya and jnana) and emancipation (Moksha) is reached through devotion (Bhakti) and mediation (Dhyana).

it is dharma that uplifts man who has fallen physically, mentally, morally, intellectually and spiritually or who is about to fall. Therefore, dharma is that which upholds, sustain and supports man.


These aims are all stages on the road to prefect knowledge(Vedanta). The term Vedanta comes from Veda, meaning knowledge, and anta meaning the end of knowledge. The end of knowledge is emancipation and liberation from all imperfections. Hence the journey, or vedanta, is an act of pursuit of the vision of wisdom to transform one's conduct and action to experience the ultimate reality.


What is shadripu?


The six enemies of the mind Shadripu or Shada Ripu.

(kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya)


Due to lack of knowledge or misunderstanding, fear, love of the self, attachment and aversion with respect to the material world, one's actions and conduct become disturbed. This disturbance shows as lust (kama), wrath (krodha), greed (lobha), infatuation (moha), intoxication (mada) and malice (matsarya). All of these emotional turbulence affect the psyche by veiling the intelligence.



The yoga sadhana of Patanjali comes to us as a penance(Tapa) in order to minimize or eradicate these disrupted and destructive emotive thoughts and actions that accrue from them. The sadhana is a rhythmic, three tired practice, covering the eight aspects or petals of yoga in a capsule, the yoga of action, where all actions are surrended to the divinity. These three tiers represent the body (kaya), the mind (manasa) and the speech(vak).


Yoga is an art, a science and a philosophy. it touches the life of man at every level, physical, mental, and spiritual. it is a practical method for making one's life purposeful, useful and noble.

The Yoga Sutras are concise and compact. They are compiled in a way as to cover all the various facets of life, exploring each in depth. Gurudev shows the initiated as well as the uninitiated, the intelligent and the unintelligent, ways of adopting the principle of yoga and adapting its technique, of plumbing each Sutra, so that one may grasp it with integrity, purity and divinity.


Yoga is a friend to those who embrace it sincerely and totally. It lifts its practitioners from the clutches of pain and sorrow, and enable them to live fully, taking a delight in life. The practice of yoga helps the lazy body to become active and vibrant. It transform the mind, making it harmonious. Yoga helps to keep one's body and mind in tune with the essence, the soul, so that all three are blended into one.



As honey is sweet from any part of the honeycomb, so is yoga. It enables every part of the human system to become attuned to its essence, the conscious seer within. Yoga alone enables the practitioner to perceive and experience the world within and around himself, to touch the divine joy of all creation, and then to share that nectar of divine wealth and happiness with fellow beings.



First of all, I should express my gratitude to my esteemed friend, Rohit Jain & Deepa Biswas who are my Happiness teachers and further connected me to Bawa & Dinesh (Google it), Rishi Vidya Dhar ji (Google it) & Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.


I will recommend all the practitioner of yoga to do 4 Advance Mediation Program and go for sanyama which is based on Patanjali Yoga Sutras. In some another article I will express by views and story about sanyama. In short, It is such a beautiful course after experiencing sanyama, there is no word which can express it. one should go thought it once in his/her life.


You can go through the knowledge sheets on Patanjali Yoga Sutras by clicking here or you can watch or listen Patanjali yoga sutra on official Art of Living App.

 

Who is Patanjali ?


It's not about Baba Ram dev ji's brand "Patanjali". Patanjali was the great spiritual scientist (MahaRishi Patanjali). MahaRishi Patanjali may have lived some time between 500 to 200 B.C.In the Yoga Sutras he described the ways of overcoming the afflictions of the body and the fluctuation of the mind: the obstacles to spiritual development. Patanjali's words are direct, original and traditional held to be of divine provenance. After more than twenty centuries they remain fresh, fascinating and all-absorbing, and will remain so for centuries to come.

Patanjali's 196 aphorisms or sutra cover all aspects of live, beginning with prescribed code of conduct and ending with man's vision of his true Self. Each words of the sutras is concise and precise. As individual drops of rain contribute towards the formation of a lake, so each word contained in the sutras conveys a wealth of thought and experiences, and is indispensable to the whole. Patanjali wrote on three subjects, grammar, medicine and yoga.The Yoga Sutras, his culminating work, is his distillation of human knowledge.


Yoga Sutras are divided into four chapters or pada, covering the overall structure of life. This knowledge leads to the experience of prefect freedom, beyond common understanding. This knowledge, gained through subjective experiences gives us boldness joy, harmony and peace.


The four chapters or pada of the books are :


  1. Samadhi Pada (contemplation)

  2. Sadhana Pada (practice)

  3. Vibhuti Pada (properties and powers)

  4. Kaivalya Pada (emancipation and freedom)


Samadhi Pada, defines yoga and the movement of the consciousness (modulation of mind), citta vrtti. Samadhi is seeing the soul face to face, an absolute, indivisible state of existence. Samadhi is the tracing of the source of consciousness - the seer - and then diffusing its essence, impartially and evenly, throughout every particle of the intelligence, mind, senses, and body.


Sadhana Pada, Patanjali comes down to the level of the spiritually unevolved to help them, too, to aspire to absolute freedom. Here he coins the word kriya yoga. kriya means action, and kriya yoga emphasize the dynamic effort to be made by native. it is composed of eight yogic disciplines, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara and dharana, dhyana and samadhi.


Vibuti Pada, Here Patanjali speaks of the divine effects of yoga sadhana. The sadhaka is cautioned to ignore their temptation of the divine effects of yoga sadhana and purse the spiritual path.


Kaivalya Pada, Patanjali reveals kaivalya (Moksha, Nirvana) from samadhi.


I end this article with a quotation from the visnu purana by Sri Vyasa in his commentary on the Yoga Sutras: "Yoga is the teacher of Yoga; Yoga is to be understood through Yoga. So live in Yoga to realize Yoga; comprehend Yoga through Yoga; he who is free from distraction enjoys Yoga through Yoga."


Now let's mediate with Gurudev





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