Duḥkham, the steppingstone to Jñāna.
In the previous blogpost, we discussed the significance of abhyāsa to promote Citta-śuddhi(purification of mind-intellect-ego) within us. Which progressively helps one establish themselves in yamas and niyamas (the first two limbs of Aṣṭāṅga Yog). One may face many obstacles, which act as deterrent to the process of Citta-śuddhi. These obstacles(or antarāyāḥ) as sage Patañjali lists in Yogasūtras could be physical or mental in nature (detailed in sutra 1.30 and 1.31).
“vyādhi styāna saṁśaya pramāda-ālasya-avirati bhrāntidarśana-alabdha-bhūmikatva-anavasthitatvāni citta-vikṣepāḥ te antarāyāḥ”
(vyādhi — disease, styāna — rigidity, dullness, saṁśaya — doubt, pramāda — negligence, ālasya — sloth, avirati — over-indulgence, bhrāntidarśana — imaginary ideation, alabdha — inability to obtain, bhūmikatva — ground, milestone, anavasthitatvāni — instability, citta-vikṣepāḥ — distractions of mind-intellect-ego, te — these are, antarāyāḥ — obstacles)
“duḥkha-daurmanasya-aṅgamejayatva-śvāsapraśvāsāḥ vikṣepa sahabhuvaḥ”
(duḥkha — pain, suffering, daurmanasya — mental agitation, imbalance, aṅgamejayatva — tremor of limbs, śvāsa praśvāsāḥ — irregular breathing, vikṣepa — distractions, sahabhuvaḥ — simultaneous experience)
Meaning disease, rigidity, dullness, doubt, negligence, sloth, over-indulgence, imaginary ideation, inability to attain a milestone, instability, are symptoms of a distracted Citta (mind-intellect-ego). Accompanying the vikṣepas occurrence of pain, mental agitation, tremor in limbs, and irregular breathing is also often experienced. Sage Patañjali suggests ek-tattva-abhyāsa (practice of one principal) in order to mitigate the state of suffering. He further lists few principals in sutra 1.33-1.39, which may be adopted by the practitioner to curb Citta-vikṣepas. To summarise in simple words the sutras mentioned above recommend the following:
- replacing bad/negative attitudes with good/positive ones,
- practice of breath regulation to extend exhalation and meditation on retention of breath,
- stilling the mind by it’s absorption in higher senses(example Laya Yog) or observing the act of sensing itself,
- meditation on luminous states of mind experienced within,
- meditation on spiritual/realised personalities,
- meditation on dreams or dreamless sleep,
- meditation on anything of *your choice.
*Choosing anything of your liking as an object of meditation(dheya) can be little confusing. But this advise has been given keeping in mind that not everyone will find methods of meditation listed above in accordance with their temperament. At the same time hopping from one method to another should not become a habit, because this will worsen the condition one started to cure in the first place. The method adopted should help the practitioner still his Citta and not distract it further. Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s suggestion for choosing dheya is to follow the example of the great yogis who meditated on personal deities(iṣṭa-devatās). He also lays strong emphasis on having proper discipline(āsanas, prāṇāyāma)for the body before taking the practice of meditation.
When a practitioner adopts any one of these principals outlined above wholeheartedly, it helps reverse the tendency of mind to run after multitude of objects in the outer world, and attenuate the suffering in general. The practitioner slowly develops the capacity to do observe Dhāraṇā (one-pointed focus) and gradually enter into the subjects of Dhyāna (sustain the focus for some duration in meditation) and Samādhi (complete absorption with object of meditation). The last three limbs of Aṣṭāṅga Yog, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Samādhi are collectively called Samyama are crucial in attaining Nirodha (derived from the word Niruddham meaning restrained, controlled, inhibited) from vṛttis. But what is a vṛtti?. Sage Patañjali in Samādhi Pāda chapter of Yogasūtras hints about the essential nature and function of vṛttis in sutra 1.2 -1.6.
- “yoga chitta vritti nirodah” || ( yoga — connection with/concentration, chitta — mind-intellect-ego, vritti — modifications/functions, nirodah — restriant, control, inhibit)
- “tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe’vasthānam” || (tadā — then, draṣṭuḥ — seer, svarūpe’ — itself, vasthānam — abides)
- “vr̥tti sārūpyam-itaratra” || (sā — similar, rūpyam — form, itaratra — otherwise)
- “vr̥ttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭākliṣṭāḥ” || (vr̥ttayaḥ — vrittis, pañcatayyaḥ — five fold, kliṣṭa — painful, akliṣṭāḥ — non-painful)
- “pramāṇa viparyaya vikalpa nidrā smr̥tayaḥ” || (pramāṇa — direct cognition, viparyaya — drawing inference, vikalpa — imagination or wrong perception, nidrā — sleep, smr̥tayaḥ — memory).
Meaning: Yog is inhibition of modifications of Citta(mind, intellect and ego). The Citta continues to take form of vṛttis when there is no awareness of pure consciousness / true Self. Vṛttis are five fold and are either painful or non-painful in nature. As per the function of vṛttis in Citta, they result in direct experience, inference, imagination/fancy, sleep and memory.
But the question is: all the vṛttis mentioned above seems like essential for human survival why would sage Patanjali ask us to restrain, control or inhibit them? The clue lies in second sutra mentioned above, when the Citta has no real awareness of true Self, it continues to identify with objects within or outside. The consciousness is much like a curious case of the Möbius strip. The surface of a Möbius strip only points in one direction, but creates the illusion of seeming to have two surfaces, each pointing in opposite directions. Under the influence of vṛttis, it’s difficult to perceive the knowledge of true Self.
So how do Citta-vṛttis are result in Citta-vikṣepas bring suffering to us? Each vṛtti brings forth waves of thought (ripples) in the pool of our consciousness which eventually results in some action (or reactions). Each action(karma) leaves some impressions on psyche and sinks into subconscious. Over a period of time we then tend to crave for previous experiences (depending upon the good/bad conditioning) and we form certain habits. On the other hand each individual may have some proclivities from birth( inherited traits) called vāsanas. These latent vāsanas too try to find their expressions through thoughts and invariably result in some actions. Hence every individual is a warehouse of saṁskāras and vāsanas, which compel certain actions out of that individual under different circumstances.
Karma(action) → Anubhava(Experience) →saṁskāras(impressions) → Vāsanas(habits) → iicha(desire) →tṛsṇa(cravings)→ karma(action).
Problems arrive when vṛttis, almost always manifest inadvertently and appear to be beyond our control (auto pilot mode). In the form of subconscious thoughts, compulsive habits, or dreams, ripples continue to move our psyche. Under such circumstances one isn’t at ease, which is the basic definition of disease and suffering follows.
In Sri T krishnamachayara’s words: “Duḥkham is a feeling of restriction, when a person is ready to do anything to get rid of it. It expresses itself in many forms. Our own karma(actions) leads to duḥkham. Duḥkham is also the first step to higher clarity. Much of the wisdom (jñāna) behind the great religions is meant to remove duḥkham”.
“Duḥkha-trayā-abhighātāt- jijñāsā tat-abhighātake hetau dṛṣṭe sā-apārthā cet na-ekānta-atyantataḥ abhāvāt”
(Duḥkha — suffering, trayā — three kinds of , abhighātāt — infliction of injury, jijñāsā — desire to know, tat — that, abhighātake — counteract, remove, hetau — causes, dṛṣṭa — perceived, apārthā — useless, cit — awareness, na — not, ekānta — solely, atyantataḥ — permanency, abhāvāt — non-appearance)
The above verse from Sāṃkhya Kārikā states when one is afflicted by three kinds of suffering collectively called dukhatrayā (adhidaivika, adhibhuatika, adhyātamika), then arises a desire to know the means of terminating them. Many resort to ordinary remedies like medicines to seek comfort and relief. However these remedies are superfluous because they are neither permanent nor complete, only upon this realisation the spiritual dimension unfolds within us.
- Adhidaivika(divine/celestial): caused by natural forces (like floods, earth quakes, Tsunami etc) or fate.
- Adhibhuatika(external): brought forth by other living entities (bhutās) through our interactions.
- Adhyātamika(internal): experienced on account of ignorance and lack of spiritual knowledge of the true Self(jñāna).
When we experience vikṣepas and consequent duḥkham from time to time, it’s time to turn attention inwards and re-focus our Citta. We may find ourselves to often ignore or subside the signs of vikṣepas with medications in modern day society. However Yogasūtras firmly state that the suffering is always psycho-somatic in nature. Hence integrating the distracted Citta is the way forward to gather the energies from stray, compulsive thoughts within and conserve/utilise them for creative pursuits. Simply put “Yog results in divorce from sorrow” as per Swami Chinmayananda. Liberation from vṛttis is the supreme promise of Yog. A verse from Śrīmadbhagavadgītā ( chapter 6, verse 23) aptly summarises our discussion here:
“taṃ vidyād duḥkhasaṃyogaviyogaṃ yogasaṃjñitam sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo’nirviṇṇacetasā” || (tam — that, vidyāt — you should know, duḥkha-sanyoga-viyogam — state of severance from connection with misery, yoga-saṅjñitam — is known as yog, saḥ — that, niśhchayena — resolutely, yoktavyaḥ — should be practiced, yogaḥ — yog; anirviṇṇa-chetasā — with an undeviating mind)
Meaning, severance from the state connected with misery is known as Yog. This Yog should be resolutely practiced with determination free from pessimism. But why is it so difficult to break bad habits or establish good ones and how can it be done?
In the next part of this blogpost, we will try and explore answers to the above questions.
“Sri Kṛṣṇārpanamastu”.
