Home » Yoga Sutras » Page 2

Opposing Vitarka: The Importance of Mastering Thoughts

Vitarka, why we should master it

This is a selection from The Yoga Sutras for Awakening, a commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. We hope to publish this book in the coming year.

Yoga Sutras 2:33. When the mind is disturbed by improper thoughts [vitarka] constant pondering [bhavanam] over the opposites [pratipaksha] (is the remedy).

Not only is the common interpretation of this incorrect, so is this translation. Vitarka simply means thought in the sense of all kinds of intellectual occupation. There is no connotation of either positive or negative thought, but rather intrusive or distracting thoughts–which effect is negative, but good thoughts are harmful if they arise at the wrong time.

Pratipaksha means that which opposes–not that which is opposite in character. And bhavanam means filling the mind with something. Therefore it should be rendered:

“When there is disturbance or oppression by thought, the mind should be filled with (or fixed on) that which opposes it.”

Correcting a misunderstanding

It is a complete misunderstanding to think this verse means that we should bring to mind things of a kind that are seemingly opposite to the character of the thoughts that are cluttering our minds. I say “seemingly” because the dualities–dwandwas, the “pairs of opposites” such as pleasure and pain, hot and cold, light and darkness, gain and loss, victory and defeat, love and hatred–are not two, but one, like the two sides of a coin. So thinking of one to counteract the other–such as thinking of generosity to combat selfishness–is worthless, for each are inherent in the other.

Continue reading

9 Obstacles to Yoga Meditation You Need to Overcome

The following is an excerpt from Abbot George’s soon-to-be-published Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga Sutra I:30. Disease [vyadhi], languor [styana], doubt [samshaya], carelessness [pramada], laziness [alasya], worldly-mindedness [avirati], delusion [bhranti-darshana], non-achievement of a stage [alabdhabhumikatva], instability [anavashtitatvani], these (nine) cause the distraction … Continue reading

The 5 “Do”s of Yoga: An In-Depth Guide

A Commentary on Sutra 32 of Book Two of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Yoga Sutras 2: 32. Purity [shaucha], contentment [santosha], austerity [tapas], self-study [swadhyaya] and self-surrender [ishwarapranidhana] constitute observances [niyama]. Shaucha: purity, cleanliness Shaucha means purity and cleanliness within the context of attaining … Continue reading

Yama: Your First Important Steps to Success in Yoga

yamaThis important subject is a Commentary on Sutras 29 and 30 of Book Two of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Yoga Sutras 2: 29. Self-restraints [yama], fixed observances [niyama], posture [asana], regulation of breath [pranayama], abstraction [pratyahara], concentration [dharana], contemplation [dhyana], trance [samadhi] are the eight parts (of the self-discipline of Yoga).

These eight “limbs” (angas) of yoga will now be considered in detail. I will be presenting sections from The Foundations of Yoga regarding them.

Yoga Sutras 2: 30. Vows of self-restraint [yama] comprise abstention from violence [ahimsa], falsehood [satya], theft [asteya], incontinence [brahmacharya] and acquisitiveness [aparigraha].

Non-injury: The first precept of Yama

Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness

In his commentary on the Yoga Sutras, Vyasa begins his exposition of ahimsa: “Ahimsa means in no way and at no time to do injury to any living being.” “In no capacity and in no fashion to give injury to any being,” says Shankara. This would include injury by word or thought as well as the obvious injury perpetrated by deed, for Shankara comments: “Ahimsa is to be practiced in every capacity–body, speech, and mind.”

Even a simple understanding of the law of karma enables us to realize the terrible consequences of murder for the murderer. As Vyasa explains: “The killer deprives the victim of spirit, hurts him with a blow of a weapon, and then tears him away from life. Because he has deprived another of spirit, the supports of his own life, animate or inanimate, become weakened. Because he has caused pain, he experiences pain himself…. Because he has torn another from life, he goes to live in a life in which every moment he wishes to die, because the retribution as pain has to work itself right out, while he is panting for death.”

Continue reading