patangali yog sutra

The roots of misery

What is the purpose of Kriya yoga? The next Sutra says Samadhibhavanarthaha Kleshathanookaranarthascha, the purpose of which is to reduce suffering or misery in life and to bring about harmony or equanimity. The root causes of misery are ignorance, craving, hatred, and the fear of unknown

The next sutra is Avidyasmitaragadweshabhiniveshaha kleshaha, which says that ignorance is the root cause of suffering. What is ignorance? It is when you view something that is not permanent as permanent, something that is not joy as joy and that which is not self as self. Thinking you have certain thoughts and emotions when you do not is ignorance.

You feel the body is not changing, but the body is changing all the time. In 24 hours, your blood changes. In five days, the lining of your stomach changes. Doctors say the skin changes in a month. Every year, the cells in your body undergo some sort of transformation. Your body is like a river, always flowing, always changing. With every passing year, your body is new. Your mind is new. As you are awakened to this truth, you can identify your old fears or yourself.

Ignorance is holding on to the past and an image of who you are. People think that it is a good thing to know who you are and have an image of your self. I tell you, if you have an idea of who you are, you are finished, you are stuck! You should not know who you are. You are changing every moment and you must keep the possibility of change open. A fixed idea about who you are destroys you totally. It stops your growth and limits your possibilities.

Who are you really?

We are discussing tapas. But what do tapas do? They purify and strengthen our system. But tapas can also make a person egoistic because they think it is something great that they are doing. That is why immediately after tapas, Patanjali Maharishi asks us to indulge in swadhya or self-study.

There is a story about two neighbours who did a lot of meditation. God came to one of them and asked, “What is that you want?” The first neighbour asked God if he was going to give something to his neighbour too. God said, “Of course! You both started tapas on the same day. You started one hour earlier. I came to you first. What is that you want?” So, the first neighbour said, “Can’t you somehow avoid going to the other man?” God said “No. It will become unjust. So, I have to go and see him.” The first neighbour said, “Okay, whatever you give to the other person, give me twice as much.” God went to the other man and asked him, “What is it that you want?” The second neighbour said, “Wait a minute. Are you coming from my neighbour’s house?” God said “Yes.” So the second neighbour asked him, “What did you give him?” God was silent. The second neighbour said, “Now come on, tell me what did he ask?” God hesitated for a minute and said, “Well, he asked to be given twice as much as whatever you ask.” The second neighbour said, “Okay, so, that is what he wanted? Then blind me in one eye and cut off my ear. I will teach him a lesson. He is always competing with me. Now let him suffer twice as much as I do!” This sort of tapas without self-study leads to ego.

Look into the motive behind your actions. Often you get things you do not really want only because other people have it or because what others might say or think about it. Many a time, you are not clear about what you want because you have not looked into yourself. You are swayed away by fleeting desires. Your desire is not even your desire.

Self-study means observing yourself. You have purified the body, but are you the body? You have lightened your mind, but are you the mind? Are you the thoughts? Are you your emotions? Who are you? This is self-study.

The first step is to see the Lord as separate from you. Instead of offering candles, incense, and flowers to God, offer every part of your body, offer every moment of your life, every breath, every thought, good or bad.

It is your drawbacks which pull you down and make you feel bad about yourself. If you start feeling bad about yourself you become unconnected to the divine. There is nothing to make you connected to the divine. It is up to you to feel close to the divine.

You start feeling that you are the only one and you are the closest to the divine. Then you will see that it will start happening, you will start blossoming. The seed you sow is what will grow. If you sow the seed of “I am hopeless, I am no good. I am hopeless, I am no good”, then that ‘’no good’’ seed will begin to grow!

Often, useless weeds grow without any cultivation. You do not have to make any effort. They just grow, but a useful plant needs some attention. All the unnecessary doubts or thoughts which are there need not be sown. They just come up by themselves. By swadhya or self-study, you can weed them out and keep only those which are essential.

Tapaha swadhya shwara pranidhana kriya yogaha is kriya yoga or yoga of action. Even while doing an activity, see that you are not doing it. Be a silent witness. There is a depth in you, a silent corner in you, a silence in you and that is the truth. The whole space is silent. In that silence, there is activity.