Om Gurave Namah
My respected Guruji kindly answered my question (he answers any type of question absolutely clearly & definitely) regarding my recent interest in Patanjali Yoga Sutras (PYS) to vijnanamsa (i.e. 9th from Karakamsa) being influenced by Rahu & Mars. Rsi Patanjali is indicated by Rahu & Mars. In Gochara, while Rahu is having Graha & Rasi Drishti on my vijnanamsa (Vrichika), Mars doesnt - though Mars is lord of Vrischika. However in my natal chart - 9th from Karakamsa i.e. Scorpio, whose lord is Mars is conjoined Rahu & Jupiter.
However that may be - I have been interested in PYS for a long time now. I have been reading Swami Venkatesananda's translation and commentary off an on. If there is one text which has answers to the problems afflicting one's mind, and the tricky challenge of achieving balance & peace - it is the PSY. And Swamiji charts a unique course in translating this oft interpreted text. Some of his interpretations may be quite apart from the traditional ones. But the Swamiji is obviously a realized soul - the credibility of which is all the more enforced by his sincere modesty. For e.g. when he translates 1.17 he says that other commentators while translating this sutra have described it as 4 types of samadhi and he says that he himself doesn't know if there are 4 types of samadhis and he then goes on to translate it in the light of his own experience.
While translating 1.12 he explains the concept of Abhyasa thus -
"Traditionally, abhyasa means repeated practice which does not become repetitive and dull. This practice can either augment the inner light or put it out. The same agent can have two opposite effects; just as if you blow a spark too hard, it goes out; but if the breath is rightly applied, it makes the spark glow. So, abhyasa can either lead to more and more vigilance and alertness - or dullness and sleep. If the mind is dull, there is no zeal in it, and such a mind should not have taken up yoga."
....
"One must ensure that at every step there is some light, otherwise there is something wrong with your practice. If you are proceeding towards enlightenment, every step you take must result immediately in some form of minor enlightenment; and from there on it must gradually spread to your whole being. Doubt must lessen in intensity, grief must disappear, confusion must clear, and occasionally you must get a glimpse of the truth. Only then are you proceeding in the right direction. If, as you go on practising this yoga you become more and more moody, more and more morose and dull, stupid, confused, grief-stricken, with a long face, then there is something wrong with that practice."
Now only one who has actually practiced this for himself, experienced this for himself can explain with such confidence. The concept seemingly through such antithetical translation may seem difficult to grasp, but actually it's quite the opposite - the concept is illuminated without any doubt - though it also makes one face to face with the challenge to apply it in practice. But then, that's abhyasa!
So if you are doing abhyasa correctly, you should be experiencing vigilance, not dullness. If you are meditating and are feeling sleepy, not quite upto it - then forcing oneself is counter-productive. What should one do at such a moment. Suppose you wake up one day early morning resolving to meditate for 30 min, but then you feel quite sleepy, then forcing yourself will make you find it difficult to do it in future, because the mind will associate it with boredom. But say, when you are feeling sleepy, distracted, you just observe the distraction, you observe that feeling of laziness, not forcing or exerting yourself in any way, but with some mild curiosity. No feeling. Right meditation requires no feeling at all. And then you surrender yourself - surrendering is cathartic, as you are giving up all effort, all pretense of ego - that you are maker of something etc. You quietly accept "your" (i.e. individual ego's) insignificance in the universe.
So every step of abhyasa must be alive. Secondly be patient, dont try to build Rome in one day, don't even try to build a wall - just see if you can place a brick and probably one brick near to it - and then just watch that effort - revel in the fact that you are making so much out of so little effort! People walk fast, but there should be a contest of how slow, mindfully you can walk - can you be aware of every passing microsecond of movement. And please don't apply effort for that - that beats the purpose!
I am not a Swami, not a realized soul - many many janmas away from that am I. I am writing this for myself - as I dont have a great memory - so if I forget the inspiration such great thoughts by such great souls have given me - I have something to refer back to - something which can gently put me back on my way.
May the Rsis bless us all.
My respected Guruji kindly answered my question (he answers any type of question absolutely clearly & definitely) regarding my recent interest in Patanjali Yoga Sutras (PYS) to vijnanamsa (i.e. 9th from Karakamsa) being influenced by Rahu & Mars. Rsi Patanjali is indicated by Rahu & Mars. In Gochara, while Rahu is having Graha & Rasi Drishti on my vijnanamsa (Vrichika), Mars doesnt - though Mars is lord of Vrischika. However in my natal chart - 9th from Karakamsa i.e. Scorpio, whose lord is Mars is conjoined Rahu & Jupiter.
However that may be - I have been interested in PYS for a long time now. I have been reading Swami Venkatesananda's translation and commentary off an on. If there is one text which has answers to the problems afflicting one's mind, and the tricky challenge of achieving balance & peace - it is the PSY. And Swamiji charts a unique course in translating this oft interpreted text. Some of his interpretations may be quite apart from the traditional ones. But the Swamiji is obviously a realized soul - the credibility of which is all the more enforced by his sincere modesty. For e.g. when he translates 1.17 he says that other commentators while translating this sutra have described it as 4 types of samadhi and he says that he himself doesn't know if there are 4 types of samadhis and he then goes on to translate it in the light of his own experience.
While translating 1.12 he explains the concept of Abhyasa thus -
"Traditionally, abhyasa means repeated practice which does not become repetitive and dull. This practice can either augment the inner light or put it out. The same agent can have two opposite effects; just as if you blow a spark too hard, it goes out; but if the breath is rightly applied, it makes the spark glow. So, abhyasa can either lead to more and more vigilance and alertness - or dullness and sleep. If the mind is dull, there is no zeal in it, and such a mind should not have taken up yoga."
....
"One must ensure that at every step there is some light, otherwise there is something wrong with your practice. If you are proceeding towards enlightenment, every step you take must result immediately in some form of minor enlightenment; and from there on it must gradually spread to your whole being. Doubt must lessen in intensity, grief must disappear, confusion must clear, and occasionally you must get a glimpse of the truth. Only then are you proceeding in the right direction. If, as you go on practising this yoga you become more and more moody, more and more morose and dull, stupid, confused, grief-stricken, with a long face, then there is something wrong with that practice."
Now only one who has actually practiced this for himself, experienced this for himself can explain with such confidence. The concept seemingly through such antithetical translation may seem difficult to grasp, but actually it's quite the opposite - the concept is illuminated without any doubt - though it also makes one face to face with the challenge to apply it in practice. But then, that's abhyasa!
So if you are doing abhyasa correctly, you should be experiencing vigilance, not dullness. If you are meditating and are feeling sleepy, not quite upto it - then forcing oneself is counter-productive. What should one do at such a moment. Suppose you wake up one day early morning resolving to meditate for 30 min, but then you feel quite sleepy, then forcing yourself will make you find it difficult to do it in future, because the mind will associate it with boredom. But say, when you are feeling sleepy, distracted, you just observe the distraction, you observe that feeling of laziness, not forcing or exerting yourself in any way, but with some mild curiosity. No feeling. Right meditation requires no feeling at all. And then you surrender yourself - surrendering is cathartic, as you are giving up all effort, all pretense of ego - that you are maker of something etc. You quietly accept "your" (i.e. individual ego's) insignificance in the universe.
So every step of abhyasa must be alive. Secondly be patient, dont try to build Rome in one day, don't even try to build a wall - just see if you can place a brick and probably one brick near to it - and then just watch that effort - revel in the fact that you are making so much out of so little effort! People walk fast, but there should be a contest of how slow, mindfully you can walk - can you be aware of every passing microsecond of movement. And please don't apply effort for that - that beats the purpose!
I am not a Swami, not a realized soul - many many janmas away from that am I. I am writing this for myself - as I dont have a great memory - so if I forget the inspiration such great thoughts by such great souls have given me - I have something to refer back to - something which can gently put me back on my way.
May the Rsis bless us all.
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