Yoga Sutras · Book 2

Sadhana Pada: Concentration: Its Practice

2.1Kriya Yoga, the yoga of practice, has three parts: self-discipline, study and offering the results of your work to God. The teacher says this is the first step, because deep meditation is hard to reach.
2.2Kriya Yoga is practiced to prepare for deep meditation and to weaken the troubles in us that cause pain. The teacher says it trains a mind that acts like a spoiled child.
2.3The five troubles that cause pain are ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion and clinging to life. The teacher says ignorance is the root of the other four.
2.4Ignorance is the soil where the other troubles grow. These troubles can be asleep, weak, held down for a while or fully active.
2.5Ignorance means mistaking things the wrong way around. We see what doesn't last as lasting, the impure as pure, the painful as happy, and what isn't our true Self as the Self. The teacher says the main example is thinking "I am just this body."
2.6Ego means confusing the one who sees, our true Self, with the tools it uses to see, like the mind and senses. The teacher explains that when we say "I am angry," we are mixing up our Self with a passing mood.
2.7Attachment is the mind holding on to what gave it pleasure. Wherever we find pleasure, we become attached.
2.8Aversion is the mind holding on to what gave it pain. We push away and run from whatever hurt us.
2.9Clinging to life comes naturally to every being. It is strong even in wise and learned people.
2.10Samskaras are deep, hidden impressions left in the mind by past actions and thoughts. The finest of them cannot be removed by meditation alone. They fade only when the mind itself dissolves back into its source, the sense of "I" (called Asmita, or ego).
2.11The stronger, more visible waves of the mind, like anger and hatred, can be calmed by meditation. If you keep meditating for days, months and years until it becomes a habit, these feelings come under control.
2.12Every action and thought leaves a stored trace in the mind, and all these traces together are the "receptacle of works." This store grows out of the mind's troubles, and its results are felt either in this life or in a future life. Even happy experiences count as troubles, because pleasure from the senses eventually leads to pain.
2.13As long as these roots of past actions remain, they produce results. They decide what kind of being we are born as, how long we live, and what pleasure and pain we experience. Like a seed that grows into a tree that makes more seeds, past actions shape the present, and present actions shape the future.
2.14These results come as pleasure when they grow from good actions, and as pain when they grow from bad actions.
2.15A wise person sees that everything in the world brings pain in the end. Pain can come as a result, or as the fear of losing a happiness we have. It can come as new craving left behind by past pleasure, or from the constant clash of our changing moods. Pleasure and pain always follow each other, yet people chase happiness as if it will last.
2.16Suffering that has not come yet can be prevented. We cannot change the past, and we must live through what is happening now. But we can stop future pain before it starts, so that is where our effort should go.
2.17The suffering we should avoid is caused by the joining of the seer and the seen. The seer is our true Self, called Purusha. The seen is everything in nature, from the mind down to the body and the world. The pure Self only seems to feel pleasure and pain because it is mixed up with the mind.
2.18Nature, the world we experience, is made of physical elements and the senses and mind. It is made of three qualities: light and calm (Sattva), activity (Rajas), and dullness (Tamas). Nature exists so the Self can have experiences and, in the end, become free.
2.19The three qualities of nature appear in four stages. They range from fully formed things, to subtler ones, to barely hinted forms, and finally to an unformed state with no signs at all, where everything rests in balance.
2.20The true Self is pure awareness. It is pure, but it sees through the mind, so it seems colored by the mind's moods. A clear crystal near a red flower looks red, and in the same way the Self only seems happy or sad.
2.21All of nature exists for the sake of the Self. Nature has no light of its own, just as the moon only reflects the sun. Its only purpose is to help the Self become free.
2.22When a person reaches freedom, nature stops having any hold on them, as if it has vanished. But nature does not disappear, because it keeps working for all the other beings who are not yet free.
2.23The Self and nature show their powers only when they are joined together. This joining is what lets each be known. Our pain and pleasure come from identifying ourselves with the body.
2.24This joining of the Self with nature is caused by ignorance, meaning not knowing who we really are. Because of it we think we are this body, and so we open ourselves to misery.
2.25When ignorance is gone, the Self is no longer tied to nature, and that ends suffering. This is the Self's true freedom and independence. The teacher adds that every soul is divine, and the goal of every religion is to bring out that divinity and be free.
2.26Ignorance is removed by constantly practicing discrimination, which means always telling apart what is real from what is not. It means knowing that the true Self is not the body or mind and never changes.
2.27The knowledge of the person who practices this comes in seven stages, one after another. The first sign is that the mind stops feeling restless and dissatisfied, because it knows that the truth is found within.
2.28By practicing the different parts of yoga, the impurities of the mind are removed. Then knowledge shines brighter and brighter until clear discrimination is reached. First we must gain control of body and mind.
2.29Yoga has eight parts, or limbs. They are: Yama (moral restraints), Niyama (personal disciplines), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (drawing the senses inward), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (complete absorption).
2.30The first part of yoga is the Yamas, five rules for how we treat others. They are: do not harm or kill, tell the truth, do not steal, control sexual desire, and do not take gifts. The teacher explains that taking gifts can make you feel you owe the giver, so you lose your freedom.
2.31These five rules are great vows meant for everyone. They apply no matter the time, the place, the reason, or a person's social rank or caste.
2.32The Niyamas are five personal habits: keeping the body and mind clean, being content, self-discipline, study, and devotion to God. The teacher says inner purity matters most, but outer cleanliness is needed too.
2.33When a harmful thought comes up, deliberately think the opposite thought. The teacher gives an example: an angry mother sees her baby, feels love, and the anger fades.
2.34Harmful acts like violence and lying hold us back, whether we do them, make others do them, or just approve of them. They can come from greed, anger, or ignorance, be small or large, and they always lead to more suffering and confusion. Remembering this is how you think the opposite thought.
2.35When a person fully commits to never harming anyone, others around them stop feeling hostile. The teacher says even fierce animals become peaceful near such a person.
2.36When a person becomes completely truthful, their words come true. The teacher says such a person can bless or heal others just by speaking.
2.37When a person fully gives up stealing, wealth comes to them on its own. The teacher says the less you chase things, the more they come to you.
2.38Controlling sexual desire gives a person great energy. The teacher says this self-control builds strong willpower and spiritual strength.
2.39When a person completely stops accepting gifts and owning more than they need, they remember their past lives. The teacher says such a person stays free and independent, and this memory makes them determined to be free from rebirth.
2.40When a person becomes truly clean inside and out, they stop being attached to their own body and stop craving physical closeness with others. The teacher says they value the spirit in people more than good looks.
2.41Purity also brings a clear and balanced mind, cheerfulness, focus, control of the senses, and readiness to know one's true Self. The teacher says becoming cheerful is the first sign of real spiritual progress, while gloom holds you back.
2.42Being content with what you have brings the greatest happiness.
2.43Self-discipline, such as hard practices of self-control, burns away impurity and makes the body and senses stronger. The teacher says this can even sharpen sight and hearing.
2.44By repeating a sacred chant, called a mantra, a person comes to experience the divine being they are praying to. The teacher says the higher the goal, the harder the practice.
2.45By giving everything over to God, called Ishvara, a person reaches samadhi, the deepest state of meditation.
2.46A yoga posture, or asana, should be steady and comfortable. The teacher says you need a steady seat before breathing and meditation practice, and a good posture lets you forget the body and rest.
2.47Posture becomes steady and comfortable when you relax the urge to fidget and think about something endless. The teacher suggests thinking of the endless sky.
2.48Once you master your posture, opposites like heat and cold, or pleasure and pain, no longer disturb you.
2.49After posture comes pranayama, which is controlling the breath in and out. The teacher explains that prana is the life energy in the body, and breath control is the easiest way to begin controlling it.
2.50Breath control (Pranayama) has three movements: breathing in, breathing out, and holding the breath still. Each can be shaped by where in the body you focus, how long it lasts, and how many counts you use.
2.51There is a fourth kind of breath control. Here the breath settles and stops on its own after long practice, while the mind reflects on something outside or inside the body.
2.52Through breath control, the covering over the mind's natural light grows thinner. The mind (Chitta, the mind-stuff) already holds knowledge, but restlessness and dullness hide it.
2.53After this, the mind becomes ready for Dharana, which means concentration.
2.54Pratyahara means pulling the senses inward. The senses stop chasing outside things and settle into the mind, so the mind stays calm.
2.55From this inward turning comes complete mastery over the senses. Then a person can control their feelings and actions, and can feel truly glad to be alive.