June 2020 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Ashtanga

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

June 2020 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Ashtanga

Warm Greetings from Chennai. The heat wave is still on. And there has been enormous suffering worldwide because of the epidemic. Not a single human is being spared. There has been enormous unprecedented disruption in the lives of all. I am still at home and a few days back people over 60 were mandated to stay at home. My program at LMU has been cancelled and I have agreed to do a 20 hour text study of Yogayagnyavalkya from July 20, 2020. Here is the link

https://cal.lmu.edu/event/lmux200725?fbclid=IwAR3f29HWgi_H0ELb159ievutBrQibZmtkXuF0cGsXkhRdcKgvX3XQiZiT10#.XtOfnIgvPre

I think there is a lot of uncertainty about movements required for classroom programs. I gather that apart from teachers even participants may be reluctant to travel. Looks as though I may have to postpone the classroom programs for next year or cancel and do instead some shorter on line programs. Let me see how the registration and the program on line goes at LMU. I hope to be able to obtain some good network and computer once the lockdown is lifted to do on line programs and join many of my own yoga friends who are all over the world "on line". 

Ashtanga

 

Ashtanga is a term well known to modern yogis. The term was used even in ancient times by yogis. Yoga sutras of Patanjali details all the angas or aspects of this sub system in the panoramic view of yoga. Many puranas have a section on yoga especially ashtanga yoga. Several yoga Upanishads, smritis and several standalone yoga texts contain valuable reference to ashtanga yoga. My guru once said that interested yoga students should go to several villages and Agraharams and meet yoga families. Some of them still have manuscripts on yoga written by an evolved yogi in their families. Reference to yoga can be found in the literature of all the Indian languages, like Tamil Telugu Sanskrit and others. He himself had done some research on these lines like finding the yoga kurantam . So yoga has a very long tradition, was part of the life of many people of yesteryears. 

Ashtanga yoga is a very systematic method for anyone who has the time, inclination to achieve the goal of raja yoga which may be translated as yoga of enlightenment--enlightenment of one's own self. It is an evolved system after completely analyzing the goal, the limitations of the yogi with shraddha or earnestness but lacking the discipline and the tools to reach the goal. The first requirement is shraddha or faith, earnestness. In any activity, to succeed whether in music or medicine and especially yoga requires shraddha. Patanjali points out this in the Ch I .One must have faith in the yoga system here,  that ashtanga yoga would help me reach the goal by earnest observance of the system and the goal is kaivalya and apunaravritti or no rebirth. 

Ashtanga yoga is the means of attaining the samadhi capability with which one is able to reach cittavritti nirodha and kaivalya. The first step is yama which  means control and it defines the relationship of the yogi with the outside world, creatures and objects. Firstly it is ahimsa or an attitude of non-harming any creature at any time under any circumstance. Please note this applies for the serious yogi and not for non-yogis  If I am serious about yoga I should pay attention to it. This is natural for some people but others should cultivate it until it becomes a habit part of one's nature. Ahimsa frees the mind of rajasic vrittis and the yogi is better off without those harming tendencies. Ahimsa is of word deed and even thought. It helps the yogi reduce a great deal of non-yogic vrittis due to himsa. In yoga the approach is to reduce unhelpful vrittis from the yogic point of view, and ahimsa even as it is a wholesome trait, is most useful for the yogi in pursuit of kaivalya

 Another important activity we have with other creatures especially human beings is communication. It should be based on truth. Again it is a great vrata or vow for the yogi. It is a good dharma but a must for yogi. Apart from the ethics , it actually helps the yogi to reduce unnecessary and counterproductive cittavrittis. Since the yogi does not desire anything from the outside world there is also no need to utter lies.

Another important yama for the yogi is brahmacharya. Usually the term brahmacharya is complete celibacy propounded by sages like Patanjali, Sankara and others. But according to Krishnamacharya, Yagnyavalkya and many other family-oriented yogis, it is respecting and not transgressing the institution of marriage. It is common knowledge wayward behavior leads to a lot of complications and so the yogi, whether married or single would observe Brahmacharya appropriately.

There are two other yamas that relate to material possessions. One is asteya. Steya is to steal, taking something from the outside world that does not morally, lawfully, legally belong to one. Asteya is to refrain from stealing. The yogi with such great shraddha in Kaivalya will not be thinking of stealing anything. However, Patanjali and ashtangayogis have chosen to include it in the yamas

The next of the 5 yamas is aparigraha. Parigraha is to accumulate from all directions. Parigraha is a virtue for a businessman but not for the ashtanga yogi. A yogi takes whatever is absolutely necessary and does not accumulate wealth (asanchayavan). There is another term called pratigraha which is to get compensated for right work done for others as say fees for teaching. So non accumulation is another yama. It helps the yogi to be free from distracting cittavrittis like safeguarding accumulated wealth.  Sankara says there is pain in earning wealth, then protecting it, then one gets unhappy when it is used up gradually or if it is lost due to theft (or depreciates due to market factors). These are avoidable distracting vrittis for the ashtanga yogi that he/she would eschew.

Having controlled the vrittis from the external world the ashtanga yogi would have unburdened the mind of unnecessary non yogic vrittis or mental activities. Then attention will have to be paid to those distraction due to one's own body, the physical, prakritic or empirical Self which according to yogis is not the real Self. Niyama or ni+yama are certain regular control over oneself. The first of the niyamas is soucha or cleanliness. Soucha used to be practised in the olden days religiously. One has to wash the body daily once or more than once. Sri Krishnamacharya would expect his students to come to his class whether for text studies, chanting or asana practice after a bath. For some time I used to go to his class at 5 A M after an early morning shower/bath. My Guru used to be ready to teach having had his bath and completing other morning ablutions. Yogi should keep the body clean. The body through the nine openings (nava dvara) and the skin secretes waste products continually. A yogi cannot do the higher angas of the ashtanga without a clean body. In fact, Patanjali says the yogi develops a certain dislike for one's own body due to its tendency to become dirty and requiring cleansing (svanga jugupsa) A yogi according to Patanjali would practise social distancing  (he seldom goes out though) as well.(paraihi asamsargaH). When I was young, I had a grandaunt living with us. She would get up early in the morning bathe and do a lot of household works and also cook our food. She liked all the grandchildren; she would take her only daily meal at about 1 PM after everyone has eaten. But before that if anyone happens to touch her even accidentally, she will have a shower/bath and change her clothes without ever showing any annoyance. She also would be very strict with women in the house. She would quarantine them during the monthly periods.

Soucha is very necessary for the yogi. That will keep away a number of ailments and make the yogi comfortable with the prakritic body. Soucha prevents many diseases. Diseases are a distraction and the yogi would have to do additional non yogic work to cure any ailments arising out of lack of cleanliness. As I have mentioned several times earlier, my Guru never cancelled a class because he was unwell. Then Patanjali says the yogi should keep the mind free of vrittis or thoughts that are non-yogic or sense oriented. The yogi has to have a clean mind bereft of unwholesome thoughts. Patanjali says a clean mind takes one all the way up to realizing the true nature of the Self and hence Kaivalya.

Santosha is contentment. Usually a yogi with shraddha will be at peace with her/his yoga. Santosha removes all the cravings and non-yogic desires. It produces unparalleled comfort feeling (sukha). Then the yogi should also be a tapasvin or tapasvini. Tapas is a very comprehensive term indicating an absence of indulgence.  According to my Guru tapas in practical terms will be moderation in food or anything the yogi takes from the outside world. It should be satwic. Then it is swadhyaya or appropriate yogic studies. Study of Vedas, yogic texts are necessary. Any profession requires textual study be it medicine, law , economics or whatever. It applies equally or more so to Yoga. Yoga is not 100 % asana practice. It should be buttressed by solid scriptural or textual knowledge. Surrender to the super power is iswarapranidhana which will help reduce anxieties about reaching the goal. Anxiety is an unhelpful cittavritti for the yogi.

Then the Asanas, the third of the eight angas. Asanas done with Vinyasas help to improve circulation (rakta sanchara) and prana sanchara. Along with the various mudras the yogi is able to exercise every part of the body, all the vital organs, the brain, the nervous system-- the whole system. This ensures that the yogi is able to maintain good health. The body also remains supple, all the joints loose and relaxed. Patanjali says the benefit of asanas is to reduce the effects of rajas which is intolerance, lack of temper. Yoga upanishads say that asanas reduce rajas and some say asanas eradicate diseases. The yogi is able to enjoy health. A sick yogi is no yogi. Sickness draws the mind away from any worthwhile concentration. The yogi may have to spend more time for finding cure for his or her ailments rather than the atman. Asanas therefore reduce the distractions from one's own body. Substantial reduction of the bodily distracting vrittis is achieved,. 

Then the next anga is pranayama. Again, pranayama along with asanas complete the health requirements. Pranayama tones the nervous system and reduces the mental cobwebs. Patanjali mentions that pranayama reduces  avarana or the systemic tamas. The yogi does not go to blissful sleep while meditation or doing the higher angas of yoga. Sleep is necessary but not good while meditating. or attending my classes 

Then pratyahara is training the senses to disconnect with their objects. The senses rather being enslaved by the external objects of excitement slowly stay with the mind and remain quiet. Sensory distracting vittis are slowly reduced by pratyahara.

Now the Yogi is ready for antaranga sadhana. Patanjali methodically divides the internal practice into three stages of dharana dhyana and samadhi. Here the mind/citta is trained to remain with one vritti or thought alone to the exclusion of all other vrittis, except the awareness of the body. In the first stage of antaranga sadhana the yogi picks an object for contemplation usually a satvic object and focuses the attention on it. This process may be for a short, fixed amount of time. The mind may stay with the object for a short while and then stray away. The yogi recognizing the waywardness of the mind because of old samskaras, brings the mind back to the object willfully. It stays for a while and again gives the slip. The yogi recognizing that the mind is not with the object, brings the mind back to the selected object of meditation. It goes on until the meditation time is over.

Then the yogi reviews the dharana practice and with modification of asanas and pranayama and also stricter observance of yama niyamas slowly improves the quality of dharana practice. In course of time, the frequency of distractions due to irrelevant vrittis come down and  the frequency of distractions also comes down. And one day the yogi's mind stays with the object for the entire duration of the dharana time. That stage is called dhyana the first stage of yoga. In dhyana the citta stays with the same object for the entire duration of time one-- objective vritti. But as the mind concentrates on one object it also is aware of the prakritic body of the meditator. In other words, the yogi is aware of only one object but with the feel that "I am meditating." This awareness of the body as the self is called asmita. The suffix 'taa' means ..ness. asmi means (I) exist. So asmita is "I exist feeling". According to Patanjali the real self is not the body but pure awareness. So, considering the body as the self is wrong, a  klesa called asmita. We may say that in the dhyana stage even though it is one pointed mind or ekagra the feeling that the meditator is the prakritic self still lingers even as the meditator has studied and recognized that the body is not the self at the anumana level.

Then the last anga is called samadhi. In the stage of samadhi, the yogi's concentration is so intense that the awareness of his body and the feeling of "I in the body" becomes dormant and that stage when only the object of contemplation alone shines, is known as Samadhi. In Samadhi the asmita or " I am the medittor" becomes dormant but does not go away

Later on, the yogi having mastered the skill of meditation going into samadhi on one object, is able to use the same skill on the nature of purusha itself. And once the citta is able to directly experience the nature of the self as pure consciousness the yogi gets direct perception of the self and there is absolutely no more doubt in the mind of the yogi about the nature of the self. The yogi is sure that the real self is drashta or pure consciousness as you and I are sure that the prakritic emperical body is the self. This final stage, when reached, the citta having directly known the nature of the self quietens and this is called the state beyond the eight angas. And all the wrong knowledge vanishes including asmita. The yogi never again thinks the body to be the self

So ashtanga yoga is a step by step approach to reduce the myriad cittavrittis that ordinary people entertain and suffer in their minds. yama reduces the cittavrittis produced due to the unregulated interaction with the outside world. The niyamas reduce unhelpful c\vrittis due to bad personal habits. Asanas reduce the systemic distracting bodily vrittis. Then the system goes to reduce tamasic vrittis of the body and mind with pranayama. Then pratyahara helps to put a leash on the wayward senses and their vrittis. Dharana helps to focus on one vritti and dhyana helps to stay with one vritti to the exclusion of all other vrittis. Samadhi transcends the asmita vritti and stays completely engrossed with the object of contemplation. And finally, with the samadhi on the purusha or parkriti purusha viveka, the clear knowledge ---directly- perceived, arises.  

The last remaining vritti that the body is the self also is transcended and the yogi reaches a stage called kaivalya and the citta remains absolutely peaceful in nirodha

Ashtanga yoga is a very well thought out and developed system of yoga.