on Yoga: Sutra 43 of Patanjalis Yoga Sutras Smirti parishuddhau svarupa shunyeva-artha matra nirbhasa nirvitarka In nirvitarka samapatti, the difference between memory and intellectual illumination is disclosed; memory is cleansed and consciousness shines without reflection. - B.K.S.Iyengar. Stay in that one pure thought, and never forget it; that single most important thing: Things are empty of being what they are by themselves. This is the clear light, beyond all conceptual thought. - Geshe Michael Roach At the next stage, called coalescence beyond thought, objects cease to be colored by memory; now formless, only their essential nature shines forth. - Chip Hartranft Nirvitarka Samadhi is that in which the mind shines as the object alone on the disappearance of memory and when the mind is, as it were, devoid of its own nature. - Swami Sivananda So from the last Sutra we did not get to the Why. Why did one student perceive the teacher of Yoga as being great. Why did the other student perceive the teacher of Yoga as being okay. Why did the last student, who walked away from the class with a soar neck, says that the teacher was the worst teacher ever. Why do you think? (remember: same class, same time, same asana sequence, same teacher) And I will let you ponder this... Sutra 43... We give meaning to objects - based on our past. We give labels to objects - based on our past. We associate it and give details about the object based on our memory - and memory, MOST of the time, is made up from our past... Dissolve the memory... and you will see the object for what it really is. One of my teachers of yoga created a song and sang it to us... labels....labels... everything has labels.... ... (a memory from my past...) No categorizing, no giving meaning.. no labels.. If you systematically stripped away everything that your mind brings up from memory regarding the object in your view... what will be left?? The object will stand before your awareness just as it is. Recalling the term Emptiness. This is, again, what coalescence is referring to - that no-thing exists how we think it exists. Objects are void of any self-existing nature. We are continuously projecting our interpretation of our reality FROM us. Because it is empty, it must exist in form Because it has form, it must be empty. If I look though green colored glasses.. my world will have a green tinge to it.. If I look though red colored glasses.. my world will have a red tinge to it. If I look through yellow colored glasses.. my world, my reality, will have a yellow tinge to it. The colored glasses are based from you past... So how then, when I am seeing through red colored glasses, will you ever convince me that the piece of paper is white? So how then, when our friend who sees through green colored glasses, will you ever convince him that the piece of paper is white? Different points of view ... Why do we have different points of view? Because our pasts have all been different. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is correct? Who is incorrect? Is the one who sees a red page wrong? or is the one trying to convince you that it is white wrong? When you start to recognize this - the awareness of - that we throw labels from us - as projections - onto others..and take the time to drop labels, one by one, until All meaning, all names, all form, all meaning, all relation etc. are dissolved.. you attain Nirvitarka Samadhi. When memory is completely cleansed and purified, mind too is purified. Both cease to function as distinct entities; a no-mind state is experienced, and consciousness alone manifests itself, shinning unblemished without reflection of external objects. This is called nirvitarka samapatti. Master Iyengar. Memory: the recollection of past thoughts and experiences. Memory: the store house of past impressions. Its knowledge is REFLECTED knowledge. in Sanskrit: Samskaras For the average person memory is a Past mind. For the enlightened man, memory is a PRESENT mind. As memory is purified, intelligence becomes illuminative and moves closer to the seer, losing its identity. This is nirvitarka samapatii. Master Iyengar. How does one attain this state? Through Yogic disciplines - the 8 Limbs of yoga. Through processes of purification - the 8 Limbs of yoga. Through internal transformation - the 8 Limbs of yoga. So get to your yoga mat today and continue your journey... Why does one need to know about this? To dissolve bad habits; bad habits are repeated actions based on wrong perception. And to replace them with the opposite!! Good habits!! Habits that will create greater awakening of consciousness. Virtues actions will create virtues memories. You do not know why.. but sometimes you just cant stop yourself from meditating.. it is like you are being forced to sit and meditate - a good habit. More to come in the next few Sutras.. ... Leave you with another quote form Master Iyengar because.. he is ... a master .... right ?!!? In this way, a virtuous character is built up. When awareness is linked to intelligence, honesty comes into being; when brain and body move in harmony, there is integrity. In all this long process of tapas, memory supports the building-up process. When memory functions perfectly, it becomes one with intelligence. At this point, memory, which had originally dug for us so many pits, has transformed itself into our true guru. Oooommm to your inner guru that has always existed, is present within you right now, and will always exist... Know thyself! nikolas wandering tree
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 20:16:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015