TADĀ DRAṢṬUḤ SVA-RŪPE ‘VASTHĀNAM

Continuing from Sutra 1.2 (if you didn’t catch that in the last newsletter, you can check it out here) Patanjali tells us what happens when we practice Yoga. Once the mind is calm, then the Seer can revel in his own true Nature. In other words, when we calm the mind, we can finally witness our own true self -our infinite consciousness.

If we think of the mind as a body of water, and if we toss in a rock -it causes ripples which are “Vrttis”, or the “fluctuations” referred to in Sutra 1.2. The practice of yoga teaches us to calm these fluctuations, and the surface of the water (or our minds) becomes clear. Then, we can see through the crystal clear water into the depths of our soul, and at last realize the essence of our true nature.

With practice, we realize that our True Self exists beyond these mental fluctuations/distractions (ripples on the pond, the mind). We learn that we are not defined by the churning and swirling chaos of the world, and that these are only distractions. With dedicated Yoga practice, we stay in touch with the source of our existence as life twirls around us -noticeable, but not affecting our internal experience.