Gem for Women - chapter III - The Path of Yoga
Defining yoga is important as the word when said conjures up different ideas for many.
Geeta writes, "The word Yoga has its root in the Sanskrit word "yuj" which means to merge, join or unite. It is the union of the soul with the eternal truth, a state of unalloyed bliss, arising from the conquest of dualities."
"Yoga frees one from life's sorrows and from the diseases and fluctuations of the mind."
This is attained through experience and not just book knowledge.
Geeta asks if Yoga is an art, science or philosophy?
I like how she writes that living is an art, and that yoga enhances the quality of one's life. From that she says therefore, yes, yoga is an art. Yoga lifts one up to face the difficulties that come into our life with equanimity.
Yoga is also said to be a science - Geeta writes Yoga consists of acquiring knowledge through observation and experiment and that it is a science that deals with the body and mind.
As a philosophy, Geeta says that yoga turns one away from the material world to the spiritual world in search of truth - to investigate the nature of Being.
Geeta gives Patanjali's definition of yoga, which is sutra 1.2 as 'yogascittarttinirodhah" - yoga is the control of the fluctuations of the mind, the intellect, and the ego.
Here Self-Realization comes when the fluctuations of the mind have been removed so one's mind is unruffled.
What though is citta that Patanjali talks about?
Geeta writes that the word 'citta" is used to define the mind, but it is more comprehensive then that. The term is composed of the mind(manas), intellect(buddhi) and ego(ahamkara) and the mind is the bridge that connects the physical body with the spiritual.
When we are drawn to the more physical, we get lost in the pursuit of pleasures.
When directed toward the spiritual, it is to reach the final goal - emancipation.
She talks of the perpetual tug-of-war between the two. The mind being pulled depending on the guna (sattva, rajas or tamas) that is dominate.
In the sattva state Geeta says the mind is illuminated to a state of calmness, composure and serenity.
The rajasic state makes a person more active, tense and wilful. The qualities of ambition and pride.
When tamasic the person is in a state of inertia and ignorance.
So the citta is composed of these three qualities.
In the next blog more on the gunas and the fluctuations of the mind.
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
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