In the 25th anniversary edition of Yoga Rahasya (Vol. 25, no.4, 2018) Lynn Holt wrote an essay titled:
Lifting the sternum - Samadhi and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
This blog will be the first part of the essay, with the remaining following over the next few blogs. I have also attached an audio recording of the first part of the essay.
The lotus flower is symbolic of meditation. It symbolizes purity and it is connected with most of the Hindu deities and their seats in the chakras. The lotus is the symbol of divine perfection. Botanically this flower is unique in that is has a remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers to within a narrow range just as humans and other warm blooded animals do. In fact lotus flowers blooming in the Adelaide Botanic Gardes were found to have maintained a temperature of 30-35 degrees Celsius, even when the air temperature dropped to 10 degrees Celsius. The researchers suspect the flowers may be doing this to attract cold blooded insect pollinators.
An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years and has the rare ability to revive into activity after stasis. In other words, this flower has a meditative process. For humans the stages of meditation are like that of a lotus bud hiding its inner beauty while awaiting transformation into a beautiful lotus flower. As the bud of the lotus opens to reveal its resplendent beauty so also the sadhaka’s inner light is transformed ad is transfigured by meditation.
True meditation is much deeper than just sitting quietly or listening to soft gentle music Geetaji reminds us. Mediation is sattvic that is luminous and aware. It is a journey inwards. To go within, we have to witness what we’re are doing and this process will take its own time. Our sadhana cannot be placed in the limit of chronological time as to be in yoga is a matter of involvement. Most of us don’t achieve this in our practice and then as a result we cannot recognize meditation for what it is. Mostly we don’t realize the journey we aer taking or the destination that we reach. Within this transformation process the yogi becomes an enlightened soul.
Samadhi is the final destination of the sadhaka’s quest and is reached at the highest point of meditation. Samadhi is the state where the concept of “I” disappears and the ego dissolves. It is in this state that the body and senses are at rest as if asleep and the faculties of the mind and intelligence are alert as if awake. The sadhaka is now beyond consciousness. Samadhi can be explained by the head but can only be experienced by the heart.
Meditation or dhyana in the true sense of yogic meditation is electrifying and not a type of state that is sedative in any way. It is a deep inward experience and , in this way, meditation cannot be taught it can only be experienced. Dharana, dhyana and ssamadhi are all experiential states and are not to be confused with relaxation. Relaxation can be taught and is very valuable as a preparation for meditation and is not to be confused with the real thing Guruji has advised.
The reason why it is difficult for us to get into mediation is because our brain is connected to the external world when we think of our house, our children, our vacation or other worldly matters that may be troubling us. In addition our thoughts make the brain to become puffed. It makes the head heavy and the brain will throb. If there is a fear complex inside of us the head will want to come forward. We all need to study these behaviours as they are very important for a yoga student.
Geetaji in her recent class at RIMYI carefully explained how Guruji embedded the journey of samadhi and the stages of meditation in his regular teaching to his students. Although he didn’t often emphasize the connection of the yoga sutra-s and asana, Geetaji made a direct connection to why Guruji taught us to always lift up our sternum and keep the spine erect and head straight during this class and subsequent classes that month. In asana she emphasized how our brain is and how that brain should be is extremely important.
This article is based on these recent classes with Geetaji in Pune.
End of part one of the essay by Lynn Holt. We will continue.
In peace,
Pam
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.