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02 - Book One, Sutras 1-29 - The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali · Wisdom of the Ages Library

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Book one Sutras one to twenty nine Sutra one A. Here follows instruction in
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union. Union here, as always in the scriptures of India, means union
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of the individual soul with the over soul, of the personal consciousness with the
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divine consciousness, whereby the mortal becomes immortal and enters the eternal. Therefore,
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salvation is first freedom from sin and the sorrow which comes from sin, and
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then a divine and eternal well being, wherein the soul partakes of the being,
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the wisdom and glory of God Sutratu Union. Spiritual consciousness is gained through
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control of the ver satile psychic nature. The goal is the full consciousness of
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the spiritual man, illumined by the divine light. Nothing except the objurate resistance
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of the psychic nature keeps us back from the goal. The psychical powers are
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spiritual powers run wild, perverted, drawn from their proper channel. Therefore,
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our first task is to regain control of this perverted nature, to chasten,
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purify, and restore the misplaced powers Sutri three. Then the seer comes to
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consciousness in his proper nature. Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being.
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Ambition is the inversion of spiritual power. Passion is the distortion of love.
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The mortal is the limitation of the immortal. When these false images give place
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to true then the spirit man stands forth luminous as the sun when the clouds
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disperse. Sutraphour Heretofore, the seer has been enmeshed in the activities of the
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psychic nature. The power and life, which are the heritage of the spiritual
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man, have been caught and enmeshed in psychical activities. Instead of pure being
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in the divine, there has been fretful combative egotism its hand against every man.
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Instead of the light of pure vision, there have been restless senses and
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imaginings. Instead of spiritual joy, the undivided joy of pure being, there
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has been self indulgence of body and mind. These are all real forces,
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but distorted from their true nature and goal. They must be extricated, like
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gems from the matrix, like the pith from the reed, steadily, without
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destructive violence. Spiritual powers are to be drawn forth from the psychic meshes Sutra
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five. The psychic activities are five. They are either subject or not subject
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to the five hindrances see Book two Sutra three. The psychic nature is built
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up through the image making power, the power which lies behind and dwells in
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mind pictures. These pictures do not remain quiescent in the mind. They are
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kinetic, restless, stimulating to new acts. Thus the mind image of an
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indulgence suggests and invites to a new indulgence. The picture of past joy is
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framed in regrets or hopes, and there is the ceaseless play of the desire
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to know, to penetrate to the essence of things. To classify, this,
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too, busies itself ceaselessly with the mind images, so that we may
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classify the activities of the psychic names. Thus Sutra six. These activities are
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sound intellection, unsound intellection, predication, sleep memory. We have here a
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list of mental and emotional powers, of powers that picture and observe, and
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of powers that picture and feel. But the power to know and feel is
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spiritual and immortal. What is needed is not to destroy it, but to
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raise it from the psychical to the spiritual realm. Sutra seven. The elements
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of sound intellection are direct observation, inductive reason, and trustworthy testimony. Each
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of these is a spiritual power. Thinly veiled. Direct observation is the outermost
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form of the soul's pure vision. Inductive reason rests on the great principles of
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continuity and correspondence, and these on the supreme truth that all life is of
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the one. Trustworthy testimony the sharing of one soul in the wisdom of another
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rests on the ultimate oneness of all souls. Sutra eight. Unsound Intellection is
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false understanding not resting on a perception of the true nature of things, when
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the object is not truly perceived, When the observation is inaccurate and faulty.
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Thought or reasoning based on that mistaken perception is of necessity false and unsounds.
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Sutrinine predication is carried on through words or thoughts, not resting on an object
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perceived. The purpose of this sutra is to distinguish between the mental process of
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predication and observation, induction or testimony. Predication is the attribution of a quality
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or action to a subject by adding to it a predicate. In the sentence,
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the man is wise, the man is, the subject is wise,
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is the predicate. This may be simply an interplay of thoughts without the presence
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of the object thought of or the things thought of may be imaginary or unreal,
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while observation, induction, and testimony always go back to an object.
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Suit ten. Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states, all
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material things being absence. In waking life, we have two currents of perception,
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an outer current of physical things seen and heard and perceived, an inner
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current of mind images and thoughts. The outer current ceases in sleep, the
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inner current continues, and, watching the mind images float before the field of
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consciousness, we dream. Even when there are no dreams, there is still
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a certain consciousness in sleep, so that on waking one says I have slept
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well or I have slept badly. Sutra eleven. Memory is holding to mind
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images of things perceived without modifying them. Here, as before, the mental
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power is explained in terms of mind images, which are the material of which
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the psychic world is built. Therefore, the stages teach that the world of
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our perception, which is indeed a world of mind images, is but the
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wraith or shadow of the real and everlasting world. In this sense, memory
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is but the psychical inversion of the spiritual, ever present vision. That which
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is ever before the spiritual eye of the seer needs not to be remembered.
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Sutra twelve. The control of these psychic activities comes through the right use of
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the will, and through ceasing from self indulgence. If these psychical powers and
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energies, even such evil things as passion and hate and fear, are but
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spiritual powers, fallen and perverted, how are we to bring about their release
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and restoration? Two means are presented to us, the awakening of the spiritual
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will and the purification of mind and thought Sutra thirteen. The right use of
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the will is the steady effort to stand in spiritual being. We have thought
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of ourselves, perhaps as creatures moving upon this earth, rather helpless at the
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mercy of storm and hungers and our enemies, we are to think of ourselves
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as immortals, dwelling in the light, encompassed and sustained by spiritual powers.
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This steady effort to hold this thought will awaken dormant and unrealized powers, which
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will unveil to us the nearness of the eternal Sutra fourteen. This becomes a
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firm resting place when followed long persistently with earnestness. We must seek spiritual life
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in conformity with the laws of spiritual life with earnestness, humility, gentle charity,
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which is an acknowledgment of the one's soul within us. All only through
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obedience to that shared life, through perpetual remembrance of our oneness with all divine
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being. Are nothingness Apart from divine being? Can we enter our inheritance?
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Sutra fifteen. Ceasing from self indulgence is conscious mastery over the thirst for sensuous
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pleasure here or hereafter. Rightly understood, the desire for sensation is the desire
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of being, the distortion of the soul's eternal life. The lust of sensual
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stimulus and excitation rests on the longing to feel one's life keenly, to gain
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the sense of being really alive. The sense of true life comes only with
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the coming of the soul, and the soul comes only in silence, after
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self indulgence has been courageously and loyally stilled through reverence before the coming soul Sutra
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sixteen. The consummation of this is freedom from thirst for any mode of psychagal
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activity through the establishment of the spiritual man. In order to gain a true
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understanding of this, teaching, study must be supplemented by devoted practice faith by
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works. The reading of the words will not avail. There must be a
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real effort to stand as the soul, a real ceasing from self indulgence,
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with the awakening of the spiritual will and purification will come at once the growth
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of the spiritual man and our awakening consciousness as the spiritual man. And this
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attained in even a small degree, will help us, notably in our contest
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to Him that hath shall be given. Sutra seventeen. Meditation with an object
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follows these stages. First exterior examining, then interior judicial action, then joy,
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then realization of individual being. In the practice of meditation, a beginning
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may be made by fixing the attention upon some external object, such as a
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sacred image or picture, or a part of a book of devotion. In
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the second stage, one passes from the outer object to an inner pondering upon
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its lessons. The third stage is the inspiration the heightening of the spiritual will
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which results from this pondering. The fourth stage is the realization of one's spiritual
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being as enkindled by this meditation Sutra eighteen. After the exercise of the will
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has stilled the psychic activities meditation rests only on the fruit of former meditations.
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In virtue of continued practice and effort, the need of an external object on
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which to rest the meditation is outgrown, an interior state of spiritual consciousness is
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reached, which is called the cloud of things knowable see Book four Sutra twenty
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nine Sutra nineteen. Subjective consciousness, arising from a natural cause, is possessed
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by those who have laid aside their bodies and been absorbed into subjective nature.
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Those who have died entered the paradise between births are in a condition resembling meditation
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without an external object. But in the fullness of time, the seeds of
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desire in them will spring up, and they will be born again into this
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world suit or twenty. For the others. There is spiritual consciousness led up
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to by faith valor right mindfulness, one pointedness perception. It is well to
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keep in mind to these steps on the path to illumination faith valor right mindfulness,
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one pointedness perception. Not one can be dispensed with. All must be
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one first faith, and then from faith valor from valor right mindfulness, from
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right mindfulness, a one pointed aspiration towards the soul from this perception and finally
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full vision as the soul suit For twenty one. Spiritual consciousness is nearest to
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those of keen intense will. The image used is the swift impetus of the
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torrent. The kingdom must be taken by force. Firm will comes only through
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effort. Effort is inspired by faith. The great secret is this. It
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is not enough to have intuitions. We must act on them, We must
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live them Suitre twenty two. The will may be weak, or of middle
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strength, or intense. Therefore there is a spiritual consciousness higher than this.
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For those of weak will, there is this counsel to be faithful in obedience,
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to live the life, and thus to strengthen the will to more perfect
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obedience. The will is not ours but God's, and we come into it
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only through obedience. As we enter into the spirit of God, we are
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permitted to share the power of God. Higher than the three stages of the
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way is the goal, the end of the way Suitra twenty three. Or
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spiritual consciousness may be gained by ardent service of the Master. If we think
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of our lives as tasks laid upon us by the Master of life. If
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we look on all duties as parts of that Master's work entrusted to us in
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forming our life work, then if we obey promptly, loyally, sincerely,
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we shall enter by degrees into the Master's life and share the Master's power.
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Thus we shall be initiated into the spiritual will. Suit Rare twenty four.
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The Master is the spiritual man, who is free from hindrances, bondage to
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works, and the fruition and seed of works. The soul of the Master,
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the Lord is of the same nature as the soul in us. But
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we still bear the burden of many evils. We are in bondage through our
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former works. We are under the dominance of sorrow. The soul of the
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Master is free from sin and servitude and sorrow Suitra twenty five. In the
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Master is the perfect seed of omniscience. The soul of the Master is in
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essence one with the over soul, and therefore partaker of the over souls.
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All wisdom and all power. All spiritual attainment rests on this and is possible
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because the soul and the over soul are one. Suitra twenty six. He
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is the teacher of all who have gone before, since he is not limited
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by time. From the beginning, the over Soul has been the teacher of
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all souls, which, by their entrance into the over Soul, by realizing
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their oneness with the over Soul, have inherited the kingdom of the Light.
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For the over Soul is before time, and time father of all else is
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one of his children. Suitra twenty seven. His word is om Om,
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the symbol of the three and one, the three worlds in the soul,
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the three times, past, present, future, in eternity, the three
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divine powers, creation, preservation, transformation in the one being, the three
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essences, immortality, omniscience, joy, in the one's spirit. This is
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the word, the symbol of the Master and Lord, the perfected spiritual man
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Suitra twenty eight. Let there be soundless repetition of om and meditation thereon.
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This has many meanings in ascending degrees. There is first the potency of the
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word itself as of all words. Then there is the manifold significance of the
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symbol as suggested above. Lastly, there is the spiritual realization of the high
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essences thus symbolized. Thus we rise step by step to the eternal Sutra twenty
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nine. Thence come the awakening of interior consciousness and the removal of barriers.
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Here again, faith must be supplemented by works. The life must be led
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as well as studied, before the full meaning can be understood. The awakening
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of spiritual consciousness can only be understood in measure as it is entered. It
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can only be entered where the conditions are present, purity of heart and strong
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aspiration, and the resolute conquest of each sin. This, however, may
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easily be understood that the recognition of the three worlds as resting in the soul
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leads us to realize ourselves and all life as of the Soul. That as
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we dwell not in past, present, or future, but in the eternal,
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we become more at one with the Eternal. That as we view all
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organization, preservation, mutation as the work of the Divine One, we shall
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come more into harmony with the One, and thus remove the barrier in our
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path towards the light. In a second part of the first book, the
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problem of the emergence of the spiritual man is further dealtswith. We are led
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to the consideration of the barriers to his emergence, of the overcoming of the
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barriers, and of certain steps and stages in the ascent from the ordinary consciousness
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of practical life to the finer, deeper, radiant consciousness of the spiritual man.
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End of Book one, Sutras one to twenty nine