June 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami–Ekagrata, One pointedness

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

June 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami–Ekagrata, One pointedness

As mentioned earlier my book Samkhya karika published by Inner Traditions was released on May 6 2025 in USA, It will be released in UK and Europe in June (It can be preordered) and in August in India (can be preordered priced at Rs 571 in Amazon). Some of my friends bought the book and a few have started reading it. 

If you like it please consider posting a brief review on Amazon. My Guru gave a lot of emphasis on textual studies–as much as his teaching of asanas with breath oriented vinyasas–. He would consider Samkhya karika as a foundation text for yoga as well as Ayurveda, vedanta and other Eastern philosophies

I am scheduled to teach a 100 hour Teacher Training program from June 12th for 20 days at 5 hrs per day. Forenoon sessions of 3 hrs  each will be for asanas vinyasas pranayama dharana internal organs and other related topics.Evening will be for text studies We have two texts , my Guru’s Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni and Yoga Yagnyavalkya  it can be attended in person in Chennai India in the forenoon or on line.  The evening sessions are on line Here is the link to register

It is organized by Atmayogashala in Chennai, India

https://atmayogashala.practicenow.us/students/subscriptions?service=workshop&plan_id=7474

I am planning to go to the USA in early fall. I am scheduled to teach a 100 hour Teacher Training program in Vinyasakrama yoga and two texts Samkhya karika  and Yoga sutras. It starts on Sep 22 in Salt Lake City organized by Centered City Yoga. Here is the link for more details

https://www.yogasoul.org/yoga-teacher-training/srivatsa-ramaswami

Ekagrata–One Pointedness

God, the Atman, the Brahman --topics discussed in texts like the upanishads, Gita, Yoga Samkhya, puranas, itihasas and many others require one pointedness or ekagrata for understanding and realization. Several of us who study these texts have an intellectual appreciation but these texts do not stop with giving information. They urge one and all to proceed towards realization of any of  these phenomena. All these are subtle but profound, They are beyond the grasp of the senses or even the ordinary mind. One way of getting the mind to get the capacity to stay with the higher principles is to develop it and that is said to be achieved by yoga and by yoga alone. If you go through the Gita the Lord, whether it is atman or  God or Brahman talks about the state of Yoga. Atma samyama yoga, Abhyasa yoga are all firmly and repeatedly stressed by the Lord in the Gita. So while studying the texts like the Gita, chant the slokas, lecture elaborately or write books, the texts urge the aspirants to develop ekagrata or one pointedness and that is achieved by systematic practice of Yoga

How does Yoga achieve this? By a systematic approach, It is called ashtanga yoga. And each anga or part helps to achieve the habit of single pointedness or ekagra and of course finally even that is said to be transcended.

Ordinarily the mind or citta is uncontrollable, having mental activity called citta vrittis. From morning until one goes to bed there are innumerable cittavrittis of very narrow span. The first goal is to weed out unnecessary cittavrittis and decrease the surfing on objects of vrittis and extend the span of attention on the favorable vrittis.

Apart from asana pranayama and pratyahara the yogis resort to three yamas or controls to achieve one pointedness in which the mind stays with the object for the required duration of time

 Patanjali in his yoga sutras used three terms derived from the sanskrit root yam to control

                 

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They are yama, niyama and samyama

यम नियम संयम​​

Yama is an important anga of ashtanga yoga. It would mean a leash on the ten indriyas and the relationship with the outside world. What they are is common knowledge. Ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. How do these actually help in ekagrata or one pointedness? They first help to reduce a set of  non yogic vrittis to be eliminated from bothering the yogi, be it Raja yogi, Bhakti yogi or brahmajnana yogi. 

Firstly it  is ahimsa or non harming by word deed or thought. How does it help? The yogi would not entertain non yogic activities like harming other creatures due to greed, anger or other negative emotions. The outside world can cause a number of occasions to provoke anyone to act violently. Family feuds, road rage, bossing and insubordination at work can all cause one to act violently or overwhelmed by the external world creatures. The mind or citta will be full of vrittis that are absolutely unhelpful to achieve ekagra. So ahimsa is not a mere moral instruction but a definite means to reduce cittavrittis. Patanjali calls all unhelpful vrittis or mental activities as klishta vrittis and yamas help to eschew some of the klishta vrittis

Satya is truth– here it would mean a discipline to speak the truth. It may be difficult to follow this yama for most people but for a yogi it is essential. Why? Because speaking untruth has its own negative consequences and corrupts the mind forcing the mind to tell more untruths adding to the burden of avoidable cittavrittis. It becomes very difficult to significantly reduce what a yogi aspires for. This yama, satya is essential for a yogi as it would unburden the mind of distracting and avoidable cittavrittis. It is a good moral but it is also essential going forward to achieve ekagrata before attaining nirodha, sayujya or brahmanirvana

The next yama is asteya or non-stealing. Stealing could be a habit. Once I succeed in stealing and do not get caught a couple of times I am emboldened until I get caught. If I do not get caught I will suffer in the next janma in the next life or a future life. There is a saying in Tamil, my mother tongue. It says “pala naal thirudan oru nal ahappadunaan” It means a long standing thief will get caught one day. But steya leads to fear and anxiety cita vrittis. For a yogi in search of ekagrata this is an unseemly distraction. Asteya or non stealing is good moral but also helps the yogi with the cittavritti reduction project.

And then we have Brahmacarya, a very difficult yama for many. More information can be obtained from yoga  texts. Following brahmacharya which is interpreted as honouring the institution of marriage is an essential ingredient of yogi’s yoga journey. 

Aparigraha is the non-accumulation of wealth and possessions. If it is more than minimum, it leads to enormous mental distraction for the yogi even as it is a matter of great joy for a non yogi. Sankara says that earning, protecting wealth is a strain. It produces duhkha when depleted or lost. The sanskrit word used is a-parigraha or non-accumulation. This is different from the term prati-graha or getting fair compensation for honest work done

So the yogi follows the yamas conscientiously not merely as a set of moral codes but those which significantly reduce unhelpful or klishta vrittis as Patanjali would brand them. Yamas pertain to the relationship of the yogi with the outside world. Ahimsa with other creatures, satya on communication with other beings, asteya regarding others’ possessions, brhamacharya which is the right relationship with the opposite sex, aparigraha with the shiny outside objects are the yamas. 

Niyama or ni+yama would again be control with a prefix “ni” meaning here nitaram or always. It would refer to non yogic distractions arising out of one’s own person. There are five niyamas mentioned in yoga texts.They are souca santosha tapas svadhyaya iswarapranidhana

Each is good advice but it is more than that. There are certain distracting personal habits that prevent the yogi from attaining ekagrata and then nirodha . Souca is cleanliness –of both body and mind. Cleanliness is a must for yogabhyasi. Unclean body and unclean habits lead to diseases and bad feelings with oneself. A yogi has to be disease free. In the olden days the yogis were somewhat isolated, recluse. Even if they get sick they may not have recourse to any medical help like you and I have. Souca and asanas help the yogi maintain optimum health. Cleanliness of the mind is to keep uncontrolled desires and hatred off the mind. This will reduce harbouring unnecessary unhelpful vrittis from occupying the precious mental space or citta akasa. 

Santosha is contentment. Each one has a different status in life depending on let us say one’s past karmas. Actually the needs of human beings are very limited. So here the advice is to be content with the position one is in rather than doing unnecessary things further clouding the mind. Lack of contentment leads to anger, jealousy all  that are making oneself miserable at the moment and also producing vrittis that are definitely unhelpful. Is it that one should not aspire to succeed in life, make more money, more possessions, more power that will make one great and feel great? No, this niyama is specifically for the yogi who wants citta ekagrata or one pointedness. As we have seen before, a Bhakti yogi who wants the vision of the Lord, the rajayogi who wants to realize the true nature of the Self, the pure unvarying consciousness or the vedanti who  wants to achieve brahmanirvana  all require one  pointed mind or citta ekagrata. It is for such yogis these niyamas are prescribed. To reiterate, the yama niyamas are not mere dogmatic injunctions of some religious heads but the well thought out well worked out instructions to achieve citta ekagra needed to achieve the goal of a yogi.

Then next is tapas. My Guru following the commentary of Vacaspati Misra to the sutras would want the yogi to do tapas or have control over what one speaks or what one eats. It is mita bhashana or moderation in  speech and miyasana or intake of food. Mitasana or mitaahara. Proper diet will help maintain good health and prevent painful disease vrittis not conducive to ekagrata. Then mitabhashana, speak what is absolutely necessary, nothing more nothing less.Talking unnecessarily over phone when there is nothing to do, speaking without an agenda, leads to wasteful chats and unnecessary strain on the mind with unhelpful thoughts/vrittis. A yogi would eschew unnecessary talk or eat merely for taste buds stimulus. 

Svadhyaya is another important niyama. It is one activity, one helpful activity that would produce aklishta vrittis or cittavrittis that lead to better understanding of the goal and hence develop favourable vrittis leading to that goal. A yogi would study various works like the yoga sutra samkhya karika, upanishad the gita and others so the yogi is very clear about the goal which is the nature of Atman. Or for a bhakti yogi the study of devotional works like the Bhagavata Purana, the itihasas, the bhakti chapters of the gita and others. With the goal clear in the mind the yogi will weed out unhelpful vrittis and attain ekagrata on the vision of the Lord. Again the upanishads, Gita and Brahmasutra show a clear pathway to brahmanhood.

Iswarapranidhana is what the yogi will depend on to unburden worldly concerts that may remain as roadblocks beyond the capacity of the aspiring yogi. Patanjali says an attitude of surrender to the Lord will unburden the yogi’s citta of unhelpful chitta vrittis.Patanjali says that it will lead to samadhi or the highest state of one pointedness but also remove all the obstacles.

The third yama is samyama which refers to complete control over the mind or citta. Here sam will mean total like the English term “sum” meaning full or complete. Samyama is also known as antaranga sadhana by yogis.

The yogasutra is arguably the only text that logically explains the process of attaining citta ekagrata after weeding out unhelpful or klishta cittavrittis. Unless the mind is prepared by yama niyamas and also by asana pranayama and pratyahara the citta will not be able to achieve ekagrata. It is sad to see people attempting to meditate without any yogic preparation whatsoever. Spending the whole day on worldly activities without following any yama niyamas or asana and pranayama if  one sits down to meditate, the mind furiously refuses to settle down and follows a rapidly moving train of thoughts. It is said that meditation will help to relax the mind. Maybe a little bit. Rather it should be said that only a relaxed satvic mind well prepared by weeding out unhelpful vrittis can meditate and not the other way about.

Samyama is made of three logical steps. In the first stage the yogi would take one uplifting object or thought and keep the mind on it moment after moment during meditation time. Even though the mind is now bereft of the bundle of unhelpful vrittis it still has not developed the habit or samskara to stay with one object and may tend to surf. Now the meditator, because he/she has a predetermined object to meditate on, can easily bring the mind back to the same object and thus cut the surfing habit. Over a period of time the citta will stay with the object for a longer and longer duration with lesser and lesser number of deviations. With the development of the new practice new samskara will develop and the yogi may find that the mind stays with the object  for the entire duration of meditation. The yogi achieves ekagrata or one pointedness. The Raja yogi will focus on the nature of the purusha which is pure consciousness . The Bhakti yogi would see the contour of the deity he/she is meditating on. And the jnana yogi would see the identity oneness of the atman iswara and brahman. 

Patanjali calls this stage as dhyana. But absolute ekagrata happens when the yogi forgets even himself/herself as the meditator and only the object shines in its full glory in the mind of the yogi. This the yogi calls as samadhi and all the three stages , dharana dhyana and samadhi put in tandem is called samyama or complete control of the mind or citta

So yama would be control of the senses vis a vis the outside world. With that under control the yogabhyasi brings one’s own behavior under control and with both under control it becomes easy for the yogabhyasi to control the mind by the meditative process called samyama. Samyama is such control over the mind that the citta will focus only on a chosen higher principle or tatva, here the Atman, the  Lord or Brahman . Actually the sixth chapter in the Gita popularly known as Dhyana yoga or yoga of meditation is traditionally called Atma-samyama-yoga or samyama on the atman. And finally the Yogi completely satisfied with the realization of the Self brings about complete stoppage of citta activities or vrittis

Yoga is defined as citta vritti nirodha by Patanjali . Cittavritti nirodha or complete cessation of the incessant thought progresses or vrittis are not brought about in one go. Firstly the yogabhasi reduces considerable non yogi futile vrittis of the external world by yama. By niyama the yogabhyasi reduces more vrittis about one’s own person by observing the niyamas. Then by samyama practice made up of dharana dhyana and samadhi the yogabhyasi reduces the cittvrittis to just one or citta-ekagrata, the object of contemplation which according to Lord Krishna it is the Atman. For the Bhakti yogi it would be God, and for the jnani it would be the Brahman

So cittavritti nirodha is a process called yogabhyasa. Hosts of unnecessary cittavrittis are eliminated by yama and niyama. Then the individual refined by asana pranayama pratyahara practice becomes fit for samyama. In samyama finally the yogi attains cittavritti nirodha leading to kaivalya/freedom or independence from the vritti producing prakriti or sayujya or moksha 

Or realize that all refer to the same state of fulfilment.