and true stature. It is not the fault of nature if human beings abuse it or fall prey to its temptations. Nature is always ready to oblige, or to remain ineffectual, according to our deeds. When we have overcome our intellectual and emotional defects, nature’s gifts readily serve us for realization of the soul. Having fulfilled their functions, they withdraw.
This true Self-Realization is the peak of development of intelligence. It must be sustained, with uninterrupted awareness, in thought, word and deed: then the purpose of nature’s contact with and withdrawal from the seer are fully understood. All sorrows and hatred are washed away, and everlasting unalloyed peace come to the seeker. Nature continues to taunt throughout life, with afflictions and uncertainties, those who have no discriminative power and awareness.
Seven states of wisdom
After explaining the functions of nature and of the seer, Patañjali speaks of the seven states of understanding or wisdom (prajña) that emerge from the release of nature’s contact with the seer. First let us identify the seven corresponding states of ignorance, or avidya:
1 smallness, feebleness, insignificance, inferiority, meanness
2 unsteadiness, fickleness, mutability
3 living with pains, afflictions, misery, agony
4 living with the association of pain
5 mistaking the perishable body for the Self
6 creating conditions for undergoing sorrow
7 believing that union with the soul (yoga) is impossible, and acting as though that were so
The seven states of wisdom are:
1 knowing that which has to be known
2 discarding that which is to be discarded
3 attaining that which has to be attained
4 doing that which has to be done
5 winning the goal that is to be won
6 freeing the intelligence from the pull of the three gunas of nature
7 achieving emancipation of the soul so that it shines in its own light
These seven states of wisdom are interpreted as right desire, right reflection, disappearance of memory and mind, experiencing pure sattva or the truth (reality), indifference to praise and blame, reabsorption of phenomenal creation, and living in the vision of the soul. They may be further simplified as:
1 understanding the body within and without
2 understanding energy and its uses
3 understanding mind
4 consistency of will
5 awareness of experience
6 awareness of pure quintessence, sentiment and beauty
7 understanding that the individual soul, jivatman, is a particle of the Universal Spirit, Paramatman
The Yoga Vasista correlates this sutra (II.27) with the seven stages of individual development:
1 study and cultivation of the company of wise men
2 capacity to solve problems
3 development of non-attachment
4 dissolution of inherent faults
5 working towards the bliss in which a half-sleeping and half-wakeful state is experienced
6 experience of a deep sleep state
7 attaining a state in which purity, tranquillity and compassion flow out towards others.
The seven frontiers of awareness also correlate with the five sheaths or kosas of the body. Consciousness is the sixth, and the inner self, the seventh.
Patañjali describes the seven states of awareness as:
1 emerging consciousness (vyutthana citta)
2 refraining consciousness (nirodha citta)
3 tranquil consciousness (santa citta)
4 one-pointed consciousness (ekagra citta)
5 sprouted consciousness (nirmana citta)
6 rent consciousness (chidra citta)
7 pure consciousness (divya citta)
(See III.9, 10, 11; IV.27 and 29.)
It is also possible to consider the ethical, physical, physiological, neurological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual domains as the seven states of awareness. When one rests on the vision of the soul, divinity is felt in this empirical state.
The Yogic disciplines
The yogic disciplines are yama (restraint) and niyama (practice or observance). These disciplines channel the energies of the organs of action and the senses of perception in the right direction. Asana (posture) results in balance, stillness of mind, and power to penetrate the intelligence. Through Asana we learn to know the body well and to distinguish between motion and action: motion excites the mind while action absorbs it. Pranayama (control of energy through restraint of breath) and pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) help the sadhaka to explore his hidden facets, and enable him to penetrate the core of his being. dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (total absorption) are the fulfilment of yogic discipline, the essence or natural constituents of yoga. They develop when the other five disciplines have been mastered. Actually, all eight intermingle and interweave to form the whole seamless body of yoga.
Yama
There are five yamas: ahimsa (non-violence or non-injury), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (continence) and aparigraha (freedom from avarice or non-covetousness).
Intending no harm in word, thought or deed; being sincere, honest and faithful; being careful not to misappropriate another’s wealth; being chaste and not coveting the possessions of others or accepting gifts, are the practices of yama. It is essential they be observed and followed. They are to be practised individually and collectively irrespective of lineage, place, time, condition or career. The yamas are mighty universal vows, says Patañjali.
Effects of Yama
If the sadhaka adheres to the principles of ahimsa, all beings around him abandon their hostile behaviour. By observance of satya, spoken words fructify into action. All kinds of treasures are bestowed on him who observes asteya. For a brahmacari (a chaste or celibate person), vigour, vitality, energy and spiritual knowledge flow like a river. One who observes aparigraha will come to know of his past and future lives.
Niyama
The five niyamas are to be followed not merely as individual, but also as spiritual, disciplines. They are: sauca (cleanliness or purity), santosa (contentment), tapas (religious fervour), svadhyaya (study of the sacred scriptures and of one’s own self) and Isvara pranidhana (surrender of the self to God).
sauca is of two types, external and internal. One’s daily bath is external; Asana and pranayama cleanse one internally. They help to cleanse one’s thoughts, words and actions, and make the body fit for its Lord to dwell in. Santosa brings about a state of cheerfulness and benevolence. Tapas is a burning effort involving purification, self-discipline and austere practice. It is religiousness or devoutness in the practice of yoga. Tapas purges and purifies the body, senses and mind. Svadhyaya enlightens the practitioner with the knowledge of his inner immortal being. Isvara pranidhana brings the inner being to his creator, the Supreme God.
Actually,