The ancient Sage Patañjali codified an eight-limbed or Ashtanga approach to discover our higher state of consciousness in his Yoga Sūtras. The
text dates between the fourth centuries of BCE and ADE, and has been
held, since that time, as an authority on yoga practice and philosophy.
In sutra 1:2 Patañjali stresses that yoga is “the cessation of
modifications of the mind” (Yogaś citta-vritti-nirodhaḥ). The Yoga Sutras provide Ashtanga Yoga as a means to detach from our thoughts—inherent in the Raja Yoga’s transcendental meditational practices—so that we may find liberation, or moksha , from the suffering that arises from identifying with our physical form.
Three states of mind
Bhoja noted in How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (Ishwerwood & Prabhavananda, 1981) that Patañjali defined yoga as “an effort to separate the Atman, the reality, from the non-Atman, the apparent.” In order to allow this “apparent” consciousness to reveal itself, Patañjali stressed that the thought waves in the mind must be controlled. He classifies the mind’s three states as:
The eiight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga:
At this stage an effortless flow will arise from acting without the temporal urges of the senses and merge into the object of our concentration. We are no longer burdened by heavy states of anxiety, fear, depression, procrastination, insecurity, anger, hate, or other deleterious behaviours. Beyond pratyahara, sense withdrawal, we enter into dharana, and this is when we truly are at the height of our game, enjoying every minute—regardless of whether we win or lose. The final limbs of dhyana and samādhi take us beyond the physical reality and enter into the meditative states of a zone that no longer has an identity rooted in the physical realm, otherwise known as bhu loka.
What we choose to make a part of our world is our decision, our right and, perhaps, our obligation. The mastery of self-actualization requires the knowledge gained from the consciousness arising from the attainment of our aspirations, and empowers us with a sense of support from an all pervading field of consciousness that is at our disposal— should we choose to recognize it.
We may realize that the fear that grips one aspect of our lives carries over to others as well, such as love, health, or relationships. This is why a holistic approach to living, such as Patañjali’s Ashtanga system, investigates all possible disturbances and their origins so that the body, mind, and spirit are operating together and striving for the same thing. If we find ourselves at odds over what we want from one day to the other, if we sabotage our goals, or, perhaps, if we procrastinate in fulfilling them, then we have conflicting emotions that could be uncovered in order to be replaced by more positive mind states in regards to the success of our intention.
Three states of mind
Bhoja noted in How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (Ishwerwood & Prabhavananda, 1981) that Patañjali defined yoga as “an effort to separate the Atman, the reality, from the non-Atman, the apparent.” In order to allow this “apparent” consciousness to reveal itself, Patañjali stressed that the thought waves in the mind must be controlled. He classifies the mind’s three states as:
- Manas: receives incoming sensory information;:
- Buddhi: the discriminating intelligence, interprets and classifies this information
- Ahamkara: the ego-sense that identifies with our interpretations and attributes these experiences to our persona.
The eiight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga:
- Yamas: social conduct
- Niyamas: inner observances
- Asana: physical postures
- Pranayama: manipulation of breath
- Pratyahara: control of the senses
- Dharana: concentration
- Dhyana: meditation
- Samadhi: absorption
At this stage an effortless flow will arise from acting without the temporal urges of the senses and merge into the object of our concentration. We are no longer burdened by heavy states of anxiety, fear, depression, procrastination, insecurity, anger, hate, or other deleterious behaviours. Beyond pratyahara, sense withdrawal, we enter into dharana, and this is when we truly are at the height of our game, enjoying every minute—regardless of whether we win or lose. The final limbs of dhyana and samādhi take us beyond the physical reality and enter into the meditative states of a zone that no longer has an identity rooted in the physical realm, otherwise known as bhu loka.
What we choose to make a part of our world is our decision, our right and, perhaps, our obligation. The mastery of self-actualization requires the knowledge gained from the consciousness arising from the attainment of our aspirations, and empowers us with a sense of support from an all pervading field of consciousness that is at our disposal— should we choose to recognize it.
We may realize that the fear that grips one aspect of our lives carries over to others as well, such as love, health, or relationships. This is why a holistic approach to living, such as Patañjali’s Ashtanga system, investigates all possible disturbances and their origins so that the body, mind, and spirit are operating together and striving for the same thing. If we find ourselves at odds over what we want from one day to the other, if we sabotage our goals, or, perhaps, if we procrastinate in fulfilling them, then we have conflicting emotions that could be uncovered in order to be replaced by more positive mind states in regards to the success of our intention.
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