Workings of the mind taken from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

The Yoga 196 Sutras of Patanjali are (aphorisms) on Yoga. It was the most translated ancient Indian text in the medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages and two non-Indian languages: Old Javanese and Arabic. The text fell into obscurity for nearly 700 years from the 12th to 19th century, and made a comeback in late 19th century due to the efforts of Swami Vivekananda and others. It gained prominence again as a comeback classic in the 20th century

Sutras denote Threads, threads because only the absolute minimum of information is stated, to hold the ideas together. The reason for this is because people used to memorize these aphorisms

To obtain yoga, or mystical union as expressed in Christianity, one has to control the vrittis or fluctuations, the waves that ordinarily occur in the mind.

According to Patanjali the mind (chitta) is made up of manas (sense mind), buddhi (intellect) and ahamkara (ego).

Manas is the recording faculty which receives impressions gathered by the senses.

Buddhi is the discriminative faculty which classifies these impressions and responds to them.

Ahamkara is the ego which claims those impressions for its own and stores them up as individual knowledge, I know.

To most of us, the mind seems to be intelligent and conscious. Yoga philosophy teaches that it is not so. It has only a borrowed intelligence.

The Atman, Purusha, Soul or Self, is intelligence itself. It is pure consciousness. The mind merely reflects that consciousness and so appears to be conscious.

Knowledge or perception is a thought wave (vritti) in the mind. The mind is not the seer; it is only an instrument of knowledge, an object of perception.

Every perception arouses an ego sense, which says:” I know this.”

The ego sense is caused by the identification of the Self with the mind and the senses.

The Self when remaining outside of thought waves, is ever pure, enlightened and free, the only true unchanging Joy.

Man can never know his real Self as long as he is identified with thought waves and the ego sense. In order to become enlightened, he must bring his thought waves under control.

Yoga teaches ‘The End of Sorrow”.

For an analogy of a disturbed mind let’s take the Image of a Lake.

If the surface of a lake is very wavy, the water becomes muddy and we can’t see the bottom. The lake represents the mind and the bottom of the lake the Self.

Yoga states, that when the lake of the mind becomes clear and still, man knows himself as he really is, always was and always will be.

When Patanjali speaks of control of thought waves, he does not refer to a momentary control of making the mind blank, it is much more difficult then that. It means that we have to UNLEARN our identification with the ego sense, which means a renewal of the mind itself, a renewal of how we look at the world around us.

The concept of God in Yoga:

God is by definition is omnipresent. God according to Yoga is the only Reality as it is none changing. If the Reality exists, it must be everywhere present; it must be in every sentient being and in every inanimate object.

The God within is known in Sanskrit as Atman, or Purusha. It is also known as the Self.

Patanjali speaks always of the Purusha, Self (pure consciousness) as that which dwells within the body.

According to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the One is present in all creatures.

Patanjali following Sankhya philosophy believed that each individual creature and object has its separate, but identical Self or Soul.

Is the mind intelligent?

The first impression is that the mind is intelligent and conscious. Yoga teaches that it is not. It has only a borrowed intelligence. The Self (pure consciousness) is intelligence itself. The mind merely reflects that consciousness and so appears to be conscious.

Abiding in our own nature

When the lake of the mind becomes clear and still, we become to know our true nature or who we are, always were and will be. We know that we are the Self.

When we are not in a state of Yoga (Union), we remain identified with the thought waves.

There are various thought waves.

A painful wave may not at first appear as painful, but this thought can bring with it ignorance, addiction, jealousy and bondage.

A not painful thought may be compassion; a thought that evokes an unselfish emotion, which loosens the bonds of egotism. We may suffer deeply when others suffer, but our compassion will teach us understanding and understanding will lead us to freedom.

The distinction between two kinds of thoughts is very important when it comes to Yoga practice.

To overcome painful thought waves, we need to think thoughts which are not painful.

Thoughts of anger, desire and delusion need to be overcome by thoughts of love, generosity and truth. When this has been done, we can proceed with stilling the mind.

Waves of the mind are controlled by means of practice and non attachment. They can be made to flow in two different directions – either toward the objective world, the will to desire, or toward true Self knowledge, the will to liberation. Therefore both practice and non attachment are necessary.

If we try to practice spiritual discipline without attempting to control the thought waves of desire, our mind will become very agitated.

If we rigidly attempt to control our thoughts without raising waves of love, compassion and devotion, we may do great damage to our psyche. Rigid mind control is very dangerous.

The Tao: ‘Heaven arms with compassion those whom it would not see destroyed’.

Is perception reality?

Correct perception leads to correct knowledge.

Our perception is correct as long as it does not contain any element of delusion. A common form of delusion is jumping to conclusions.

What we infer from direct perception is also correct, provided our perception is correct.

Scriptures are based on superconscious knowledge (beyond the ordinary) obtained by spiritual teachers while in a state of perfect yoga (union).  

Non Attachment and the exercise of discrimination

We gradually gain control over the painful or impure thought waves by asking ourselves:” Why do I really desire that”. What permanent advantage is there to be gained? In what way would it help to gain greater knowledge and freedom? Is my desire a mere restlessness of my mind?

But our non attachment is put to the test when the mind is suddenly swept by a huge wave of anger, lust or greed. In this instance, it is only a determined effort of will that can remember what our reason already knows, that this wave is only a transient and superficial energy and that it will pass.

To some of us non attachment may come slowly, but even in its early stages, we are rewarded by a new sense of freedom and peace.

When through knowledge of the Self, we cease to desire any manifestation of nature; this is the highest kind of non attachment.

To love the Self in us is to love it in everyone, and to love the Self everywhere is to go beyond nature to the Reality within nature. Such a love is difficult to understand by many people, yet it is simply an infinite deepening and expansion of the limited love we all experience.

We all can experience this great love when we purify our minds and hearts and thus make them fit for that infinitely greater love which always awaits us. This love is not restless or transient like our human love. It is eternal.