Sutra 1.20
Aranya
"Others (who follow the path of the prescribed effort) adopt the means of reverential faith, energy, repeated recollection, concentration and real knowledge (and thus attain Asamprajnata-samadhi)."
Yogis (as opposed to Videhas and Prakritilayas, talked about in the previous sutra) adopt the means prescribed in this sutra to achieve ‘asamprajnata samadhi’.
Shraddha is tranquility of the mind or certitude in the desire for the object of pursuit. Knowledge obtained from the scriptures or from a teacher merely satisfies curiosity. It becomes shraddha when combined with tranquility. It leads a desire to find out more and more about the object of reverence and thus love for the object is generated.
Enthusiasm leading to sustained effort is virya or energy (usually a combination of energy, fortitude and stamina). When the mind is tired and drifts off, the power that can bring it back to the practice is called virya. Shraddha leads to virya.
Memory or repeated recollection – this practice may be termed "smriti-sadhana" – recalling the feeling experienced at the time of contemplation and feeling that it will be in memory. This leads to a habitual state of one-pointedness of mind.
One may start by remembering the co-relation between the name indicative of God and God himself. Thus while repeating OM, constantly keeping in mind the eternal God, the memory of this co-relation gets fixed in mind. Similarly while practicing contemplation on the tattvas (the 23 elements of Prakriti – gross elements, subtle elements, organs of action and organs of perception, mind, ego, intellect), their specific features should be kept in memory. This helps remember the distinction between Purusha and Prakriti.
In this practice, we always watch the thoughts arising in the mind. and keeping the mind undisturbed in a volitionless state. It might be questioned as to how watching multiple thoughts can bring about one-pointedness. What needs to be kept in mind is that even though the thoughts are many, the instrument of perception, the intellect is one-pointed in only watching the rising thoughts. During this practice the yogi does not cease to have knowledge of outside objects, only it is unattached observation.
By fixing the mind repeatedly on an object, memory gets fixed which leads to concentration. Concentration brings about supreme knowledge which leads to Kaivalya.
Discussion
One of the five ‘vrittis’ mentioned earlier on is ‘smriti’ (sutra 1.11). It would have been nice for the author to draw attention of the reader to the difference between the two kinds of ‘smriti’ being talked about. In the present sutra this word represents a key qualification of the sadhaka for achieving the state of samadhi whereas in sutra 1.11 it was described as a vritti, to be subdued in the mind.
The word ‘shraddha’ is usually translated as ‘faith’. However, we need to remember that this is not blind faith but a firm belief in something which is an outcome of understanding and contemplation. Kishor gave this nice example – Duke continues to have a football team since people have ‘shraddha’ that one day they will win. We talked about the mindfulness practiced during the "vipasana" meditation. Also the ‘trappist’ tradition of a Christian monastery was discussed.
For some time the discussion drifted to talking about the concept of devotion or ‘bhakti’ and how surrender to a deity or a Lord can help get rid of ego. Devotion or surrender is a process and not a sudden jump. Premature surrender can sometimes lead to disastrous results. Below I am reproducing the thoughts expressed by Prema (in a subsequent email) on some of these topics:
"I hope what I write makes some sense. I think all I was trying to say this afternoon was that we ought to act and react to things from our ‘present/current’ state of self awareness i.e. being aware of our true nature. This is as opposed to reactions that stem from unfounded beliefs, external values, societal norms, religious affiliation, etc. This self awareness is different for each of us depending on where we are in our level of development. We may generalize that "if your house burns, you will feel devastated, sad, angry etc. — but what if someone decides to be accepting of the situation? (Your house burned down and you’re not upset???) — all too often we assume that only the first 3 are valid reactions. The same for the example that we discussed today and I hope I didn’t offend with my words and thoughts. If we are really true to ourselves, I believe we can have true respect for all living things and honesty in our interactions with all around us. With this respect, we can then accept a range of reactions to any specific incident and we cannot make generalizations.
I was trying to also say that our path to self awareness is a process that we have to work at and the Yoga Sutras are providing us with the tools for this effort. We can’t put our belief in something if we are not at a place where that belief is well founded in reference to our stage of development. Each of us has a vague notion of our true nature but it is a challenge to be fully aware of all the complexities of our thinking, and societal, cultural and familial imprinting (and much more). It takes time and self analysis. Putting faith in any entity/thing/person is therefore a difficult concept for me as it jumps to a point that we have not naturally reached or prepared for.
What I personally gained from today’s discussion which is very meaningful to me is this …I have since my early upbringing in the "Hindu faith" resisted the external imposition that I should belief in "God". While I have matured in my years with respect and wonderment for the universe, I still have not reached the bhakti stage (whether for God or anything bigger than me as opposed to just being a part of something) — today I realized that I do not need to worry about it or have self doubt if I am to be true to my current state of self awareness….for now, I will simply accept that I am not ready for devotion and it will come if it will or should when I’m ready."
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