Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (Aphorisms) are a cumulative compilation and reformation of various branches of yogic philosophy. There are many similarities between Patanjali Aphorisms and Upanishads, such as in Katha, Svetasvatara, Taittriya and Maitrayani Upanishads. Sutras in the Sanskrit language means thread. A sutra, so to speak, is a thread that holds an exposition, which is the bare minimum requirement. Patanjali’s Sutras, like many other sutras, were intended to be expanded and explained.
Aim of Yoga According to Patanjali
According to Patanjali, the mind or chitta is composed of three elements: Manas (recording faculty, impressions are recorded from senses), buddhi (intelligence, which discriminates these recordings done by manas) and ahamkara (the ego consciousness which claims these impressions for its own and stores them up as individual knowledge.)
In simple language, let me explain how these three elements work together. For example, the recording faculty or manas reports a car is approaching. Buddhi declares it is a speeding car, and the driver is either rough, drunk or novice. Ahamkara says it will kill me if I come in front of it. It is ‘I’ who is frightened, and it is ‘I’ who is about to run away. Later on, when you avoid the car, the ‘I’ says, “Now I know the speeding car dynamics and how it is dangerous. There may be others who do not know this, but it is my knowledge that will help me avoid this type of potential catastrophe.
Patanjali yoga philosophy does not consider the mind as a sentient entity that can take its judgment. The mind only borrows intelligence from the spirit, which is pure consciousness. The mind merely reflects that consciousness and so appears to be conscious. Whenever I say, “I know this”, the perception arises from ahamkara (ego-consciousness) when the ego-sense is identified with the mind.
When any thought wave occurs in the external world, the ego-sense is identified with the wave. If the wave is pleasant, for example, in the case of the car when you avoided the accident and felt you had the knowledge of how to avoid future catastrophe, then the ego-consciousness feels “I am happy”. If the whole thought wave is not pleasant, the ego-consciousness feels “I am unhappy”.
According to Patanjali, Yoga aims to understand the Atman or Soul, which is forever outside of these thought waves. A man can never understand the soul or reach the highest goal of yoga if he continues to identify with the mind. So, the whole process of yoga directs the thought waves under control so that this false identification may cease.
Yoga and Its Practices
The initial stages of yoga practices are known collectively as Kriya Yoga. It has three important components: austerity, study, and dedication. In the modern world, austerity sounds forbidding—like hardship, discipline, or even mortification.
Austerity:
Austerity has a negative connotation in the modern world. When we hear spiritual austerity, it can quickly degenerate into some self-torture. The Sanskrit word used by Patanjali in his aphorisms is austerity, or ‘Tapas, ' which means that which generates heat or energy. Tapas, in a sense, conserve energy and direct toward the goal of yoga.
Study
In the context of an aphorism, study means studying scriptures and other spiritual books. The study also denotes the regular practice of japa, the repetition of the name of a personal god.
Dedication
Dedication is the main component of Karma yoga, where the practitioner leads a pious life and performs all his or her duties through God-dedicated action. The dedication is also performed with non-attachment. If the result of work comes as desired, or the work has disappointing results, or is harshly criticised or disregarded altogether, the practitioner must not attach to it.
Problem of Consciousness
“To identify consciousness with that which merely reflects consciousness-this egoism.” – Patanjali
Western philosophy proclaims two schools of thought about consciousness – the materialistic and the idealist.
The materialists believe consciousness is the product of certain conditions in the brain, and when these conditions are lost, consciousness consequently wanes. Many Western philosophers said that consciousness was not the product of a single substance but a cumulative action of multiple conditions.
The idealist philosophy thinks consciousness is the product of the mind, and the mind is the product of the brain. Thus, when the mind ceases to exist, meaning the brain is dead, consciousness also ceases.
Interestingly, many scientists in the Western world are inclined to reject both viewpoints as they believe consciousness exists regardless of mind or set of conditions. Erwin Schrodinger, in his book ‘What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell’ wrote that consciousness is never experienced in the plural. He suggested that the pluralisation of consciousness or minds was a suggestive hypothesis.
Psychology, as a natural science, however, does not have a final analysis regarding consciousness; its foundation is very shaky. Scientific study says every motion produces nothing but motion. As we all know, the universe and life forms are created by vibration. Sub-atomic molecules vibrate to form atoms; atoms vibrate to form molecules; molecules to form elements; elements to form matter; and so on.
Some peculiar vibrations create us all, and it is a fact that motion is created by motion and nothing more. If this fact were true, then how can we say that the molecular motion of brain cells produces consciousness or intelligence, which is not the same as motion but is a knower of motion? Therefore, we must admit that the source of consciousness cannot be found in matter but in an independent identity.
Yogic Understanding of Consciousness
The science of yoga consists of systematising and classifying truths relating to self-conscious entities, such as the soul or individual spirit. According to Patanjali, what we call the physical body is the home of the soul. The body is manufactured by the soul, which is the source of pure intelligence and self-consciousness. It is not mind or thoughts but superior to a physical entity, organic, mental or intellectual faculty.
According to Yoga, the mind is segregated into subjective and objective entities. The subjective mind is the medium through which the objective mind, which is directly connected to the brain, receives intelligence from the soul through the gateway of sense organs. The subjective mind gives meaning to the sense data from the external world.
The subjective mind never sleeps. What we call genius or the production of genius is the outpouring of impressions of the subjective mind. Talent, on the other hand, is the result of the objective mind. It depends on external stimuli, motivation, circumstances, and many other factors. The human mind is a limited entity, and it is subjected to the laws of the physical world. There are many attributes that are limited in nature, such as imagination, reason, comparison, induction, or deduction.
According to Patanjali Yogasutra, the word soul means ‘pure intelligence’. It simply means there is no thinking, no reasoning and no feeling whatsoever. These attributes are the components of minds, both subjective and objective. We cannot perfect reasons, feelings, comparisons or imagination.
The nature of the soul is pure knowledge, and in the case of perfect knowledge, there is no comparison. The soul does not reason; the mind does. The soul does not inquire, but it is self-evident and self-assurance.
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