If we return to the previous sutras for context, Patanjali has instructed the spiritual aspirant in various different paths to samādhi. All methods and practices share the common aim of stilling the mind in the pursuit of self-awareness and absorption with the divine.

​These sutras could be the root philosophy from which "The Secret" was born -- Patanjali is suggesting here that the devoted practitioner will eventually reach this state of unity and bliss with unwavering dedication and single-pointed focus, and when they do, everything will be knowable to them, or within their reach. 

Without getting too scientific, in his commentary, Sri Swami Satchidananda discusses neuroplasticity and the yogic belief that the mind can give power to those thoughts it focuses on, essentially building pathways either toward imprisonment or liberation.  

I've always struggled a bit with understanding samadhi, which I don't think is unusual, but here's why: there have been two particular instances in my own life that I have understood as samadhi, and they've felt like an incredible gift from the divine to remind me of my nature and purpose here, but they have (obviously) been temporary and fleeting; sutra 1.46 helps explain why this might be.

In sutras 1.42 - 1.46, Patanjali returns to the different types of samadhi and paths of reaching them. With savitarka ("with deliberation") samadhi, the understanding of the object of meditation is concrete and thorough, with the ability to separate the whole into its most minute parts. He continues with nirvitarka samadhi, which is "without deliberation", when only the pure knowledge of the object remains and everything else fades away. Sri Swami Satchidananda claims this practice gives you the knowledge of the Knower also.

The past few weeks have been full, and I've totally slipped with the blog. I guess I could've set aside a particular chunk of writing time every day and kept up with it better, but I didn't anticipate the asana portion of this challenge being so difficult for me; the postures and transitions are often quite advanced, so they require a lot of warm-up and usually several attempts. I'm modifying, I'm resting, I'm listening to my body and trying to be a good yogi. And now, I'm drinking my super mushroom coffee (medicinal, not magical) and taking the day to catch up on this blog. It's all as it should be, and I'm not even mad at myself for falling behind; I'm feeling really at peace with everything lately, just as it is. (That's probably temporary, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.) I'm trying to soften, listen, connect, and move through it all with grace.

As we near the end of this challenge (next week), I'm finding that most of the asanas are either unfamiliar to me or out of my wheelhouse, but that is also an important lesson in moving from a place of love instead of ego. 

I'll keep these next few posts relatively short and sweet as we move through the end of Book One of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Samādhi Pāda (Portion on Contemplation). That being said, I'm really enjoying Sri Swami Satchidananda's commentary (all translations are his as well) and I'd definitely recommend a more thorough read through it if you're interested in exploring the sutras yourself. 

In these sutras, Patanjali is offering a number of methods of meditation and contemplation with the intention of finding and maintaining single-pointed focus. I love that Patanjali does not seem concerned with the particular path a yogi takes, as the end goal is the same, and what's important is that we stay focused on the methods that best resonate with us in our pursuit of self-awareness and transcendence of the mind. ​

In sutra 1.32, he emphasizes the importance of single-pointed focus, and this one resonated with me the most. In my life, I've noticed that a lack of focus generates more chaos and unease, and I think this is one of the main things that both led me to the 26&2 yoga practice, and also kept me loyal to that method and practice alone for so many years. Now that I'm teaching these group classes again and have resumed my own practice at Harvest Yoga Studio, this understanding has become even more clear; when it comes to asana, having a set sequence (like 26&2 or Ashtanga) to practice on a regular basis is an incredible tool for stilling the mind and getting closer to the true self. As the asanas become more familiar and comfortable, we have the opportunity to focus more on our breath and internal environment, which (*potentially*) offers a more meditative experience as we practice. 

I'm so happy I joined this challenge. Usually, it's all about the photos in these instagram yoga challenges, but this one is totally different. In fact, my recent photos have not been great at all, but I'm not bothered by that; I've already gotten so much out of studying the sutras every day, before I can contribute anything to the (very saturated) world of #igyoga , and we're only 10 days into this challenge. 

I knew that taking on this project of daily blogging about the sutras would be a fairly time-consuming endeavour, but I'm so glad that I decided to create this series (which allows me a little more room for reflection than Instagram does); I'm using this as a sort of online journal, and the practice requires a lot of thoughtful contemplation, careful planning, and the commitment to something that's meaningful to me. In the past, I've started more projects than I've finished, but I'm fully committed to continuing this blog project of exploring Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, at least throughout this challenge, for the remainder of the month. (*For posts on Days 1-8 of this challenge, click the 'Exploring the Sutras' category in the right sidebar.*)

Day 9 of the Purple Valley Yoga Challenge studies Sutras 1.30 & 1.31, with Virabhadrasana 1 as the accompanying asana. This particular Warrior was captured (by broken tripod precariously balanced in the grass) during Mister Bowie pup's morning walk. The sky was a bit temperamental, which made for a beautifully moody background. (And edited for enhanced  moodiness!)

Sutra 1.30... it's is essentially a description of my twenties, or the majority of the past 10 years since that profound experience in Goa. During my conversation with Shilpa Joshi in Rishikesh (see the blog for Sutras 1.17 - 1.20 if you're not sure what I'm talking about) I was looking for some sign that I was actually on the right path and not totally deluded in my relationship with yoga. I've been practicing for 10 years, and although I'm not attached to the final destination, for a long time I questioned my purpose and doubted my path, wondering if I was just a charlatan expounding ancient Indian wisdom without any real connection to the yoga nor any business in sharing it with others.

Since that day on the beach in Goa, I have put in thousands of hours of asana practice and meditation, traveling all over the world in pursuit of this yogic knowledge and understanding. And yet, I still have not had any form of samādhi experience in over a decade. Shilpa softly assured me that I'm following my path exactly as it's been laid out for me, and essentially to simply continue on with pure love in my heart.

Sutra 1.30 also provides one of my favourite bits of commentary from Sri Swami Satchidananda in regards to losing footing. He says, "Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest; everyday they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom. It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won't get disheartened. ... Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can't function on the same level always -- it has its heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it. Remember: Yoga practice is like an obstacle race; many obstructions are purposely put on the way for us to pass through. They are there to make us understand and express our own capacities."

There you have it, friends. This is your story, and it was never meant to be a steady upward trajectory. The beauty and power of the practice lies in overcoming the obstacles. 

These distractions that Patanjali notes in Sutra 1.30 seem to be pretty universal aspects of the human experience - I certainly know them all quite well (some better than others). I think the important practice is to deepen our awareness of these obstacles so that we may eventually move beyond them in this lifetime, toward total surrender to the cosmic will.

In Sri Swami Satchidananda's commentary of Sutra 1.31, he mainly refers to physical strength and the ability to sit for meditation, and advises us to keep our bodies healthy and fit with "right diet, exercise, and proper rest." This is all good advice, but not always within our immediate control...

What I find really interesting is that the effects of the obstacles Patanjali lists are also symptoms of trauma. These qualities or symptoms can arise in varying degrees of intensity, and therefore the challenge of overcoming them to find peace of mind can be incredibly difficult, depending on the extent of trauma one has experienced and the ways in which they relate to it. Although these symptoms are often painful and avoided as much as possible, I think they're also inevitable parts of being human; we are united in love, but also in pain.  

The Purple Valley Yoga challenge (on Instagram) has us exploring Sutras 1.23 - 1.25 for Day 8, which deal with the nature of God, or Īśvara. The following Day skips Sutras 1.26 -1.29, but I will briefly cover them in this post.

​You can find commentary on the previous sutras in the Exploring the Sutras category (in the right sidebar). 

Sutra 1.23: Īśvarapranidhānādvā ~
"Or [samādhi is attained] by devotion with total dedication to Īśvara."

Sutra 1.24: Kleśa karma vipākāśayairaparamrstah Purusaviśesa Īśvara ~
"Īśvara is the supreme Purusa (self/soul) unaffected by any afflictions, actions, fruits of actions or by any inner impressions of desires."

Sutra 1.25: Tatra niratiśayam sarvajñabījam ~
"In Īśvara is the complete manifestation of the seed of omniscience."

Sutra 1.26: Sa pūrvesaām api guruh kālenānavacchedāt ~
"Unconditioned by time, Īsvara is the teacher of even the most ancient teacher."

Sutra 1.27: Tasya vācakah pranavah ~
"The word expressive of Īsvara is the mystic sound OM [OM is God's name as well as form.]"

Sutra 1.28: Tajjapas tadartha bhāvanam ~
"To repeat it with reflection upon its meaning is an aid."

Sutra 1.29: Tatah pratyak cetanādhigamo 'pyantarāyābha-vaś ca ~
"From this practice all the obstacles disappear and simultaneously dawns knowledge of the inner Self." 

I like the way Sri Swami Satchidananda translates Sutra 1.27 in particular, adding "OM is God's name as well as form". OM is the manifestation of God, and the seed from which all other sounds manifest. Whether or not you chant OM, Sri Swami Satchidanada says, "the basic sound is always vibrating in you." This is why we use it as mantra, a sort of invocation and celebration of the divinity within everything.

In Sutra 1.28, Patanjali introduces us to Japa Yoga, or the repetition of mantra to reach communion with the divine. Sri Swami Satchidananda adds that mantra can be translated as "that which keeps the mind steady and produces the proper effect".

​Something that sits really well with me in the Yoga Sutras is the openness to different approaches. Though he is precise and methodical, Patanjali is also accepting and inclusive in his instruction and advice. The Sutras recognize that there are different paths to the same Truth... I love that. 

For Day 6 of the Purple Valley Yoga Challenge, we further explore the concept of non-attachment in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (15 and 16 of Chapter 1, portion on contemplation), along with asana Prasarita Padottansana C.

Sutra 1.15: Drstānusvravika visaya vitrsnasya vasikāra samjna vairāgyam ~ "The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving from objects seen or heard about is non-attachment." (*translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda)

I was listening to an online talk about non-attachment with Sadhguru recently, and I loved his explanation of the connectedness that can be found through this practice, rather than dullness or apathy, which people often assume will be the result: "Being transparent does not mean you are colourless - to be transparent means you are capable of any colour, but nothing sticks to you. If one is transparent, have they given up something? Or are they willing to include everything?" In his commentary on this sutra, Sri Swami Satchidanada says that serving others from a selfless place helps us to cultivate and maintain our own peace. In this way, he says we're giving into the desire to elevate our consciousness, though he also calls our personal peace "the most important sacred property". 

Sutra 1.16: Tat param Purusa khyāter gunavaitrsnyam ~
"When there is non-thirst for even the gunas (constituents of Nature) due to the realization of the Purusa (True Self), that is supreme non-attachment."

I found this translation a bit confusing, but Sri Swami Satchidananda's commentary was insightful and helpful in decoding this sutra (as always). He explains that while samskaras remain, and while we are working on stilling the mind, one might get a sense of peace and bliss, but not yet the greatest joy of resting in the True Self. He adds that we continue to meditate and practice yoga if we have experienced this pure bliss, even if only for a moment, because we simply don't know of anything that could be more fulfilling. 

Sutra 1.17: Vitarka vicārānandāsmitānugamāt samprajñātah ~
"Samprajñāta samādhi is accompanied by reasoning, reflecting, rejoicing and pure I-am-ness."

Sutra 1.18: Vira8ma pratyayābhyāsa pūrvah samskāraseso'nyah ~
"By the firmly convinced practice of the complete cessations of the mental modifications, the impressions only remain. This is the other samādhi [asamprajñāta samādhi]."

Sutra 1.19: Bhavapratyayo videha prakrtilayānām ~
"Those who merely leave their physical bodies and attainthe state of celestial deities, or those who get merged in Nature, have rebirth."

Sutra 1.20: Sraddhāvīryasmrtisamādhiprajñāpūrvaka itaresām ~
"For the others, this asamprajñāta samādhi could come through faith, vigour, memory, contemplation and/or by discernment."

In Sutra 1.17, Patanjali explains the two different types of samadhi (distinguished ~ samprajñāta, and undistinguished - asamprajñāta), and further divides the samprajñāta samādhi into four forms ~ essentially: reasoning, reflecting, rejoicing and pure I-am-ness. Sri Swami Satchidananda explains this as a sort of gradation of contemplation offered by Patanjali, starting with the gross and moving into the more subtle, once the mind has become firmly rooted (and fully immersed) in the concrete. In this commentary, the part that stuck with me most was, "Samprajñāta samādhi is a process of going inward -- not evolution, but involution... It could be called the creation and destruction, but actually, there is nothing created in you, nor is anything destroyed. As the Bhagavad Gita explains, the unmanifest appears as manifest and then returns to the unmanifest."

With Sutra 1.18, Patanjali moves onto the other type of samādhi, asamprajñāta, the next stage, which Sri Swami Satchidananda describes as the state where even the ego feeling is absent and the seeds of past impressions are rendered harmless; only the consciousness remains, and nothing else. Here, he says, "the individual is completely liberated and there is no more coming into the world and getting tossed." {*jīvanmukta*} 

I find Sutra 1.19 quite complex and esoteric, both in translation and commentary from Sri Swami Satchidananda, so I'm going to hold off on adding much of my own commentary in this post. I can only say that I get the 'merging with nature' part, but I don't really understand the bit about leaving the physical body to attain the state of celestial deities... but sign me up, please! - that does sound super cool. 
​
Sutra 1.20 discusses some methods of yogic practice that should be used to reach asamprajñāta samādhi, including faith, vigour, memory, contemplation, and discernment. Sri Swami Satchidananda makes very little additional commentary here, aside from distinguishing that by 'discernment', Patanjali means the ability to discriminate between the real (Self) and the unreal (Prakrti). He also explains that faith could also be called courage, and vigour, memory, and discernment are the strength to continue on this path with the knowledge of lessons learned along the way.

To revert back to my original post in this series for a second -- I mentioned that I had always doubted my experiences with what I understood as samādhi and was hesitant to discuss it because I could never find adequate words to describe these experiences. This set of sutras helped to demystify it for me, and I think that is in large part because Patanjali has broken it down into its smaller pieces and has also illuminated different practices in getting there. Studying this portion of sutras also brought back a sweet memory from my 2017 trip to India...

Cam and I went to a talk at the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh last year with Shilpa Joshi and Parmanand Aggarwal called 'Concept of Ashtanga Yoga & Practices of the Meditative Asanas'. The first notes I took were, "The goal of yoga is liberation - surrender completely to cosmic love." Then, I wrote, "*samadhi isn't final goal, as your soul needs to be merged with the cosmic consciousness while you remain on earth." (In my note-taking, '*' means either 'this is important' or 'I need more info'; in this case, I think it was both.) It continues, "SUTRAS - the discipline of yoga is the here-and-now ~ we must unite and harmonize mind-body so we can get into the higher levels and more subtle aspect of consciousness."

I had an opportunity to speak to Shilpa Joshi after the talk, and I nervously described what I thought might be my own samādhi experiences - the first at four years old, sitting on my front lawn, the next at 22, wading in the Indian Ocean after my first-ever yoga class - and I asked her if it was even possible to experience any form of samādhi as a child, without having the rational understanding through contemplation and experience. I understood the pure bliss and cosmic connectedness ~ the rejoicing and pure I-am-ness ~ and even the merging with nature and moving beyond ego bit, but without much reasoning or reflecting to speak of. There was no established, methodical practice - just the sense of all-encompassing love and connectedness. She told me it was possible, if the child had a more solid connection to past-life memory. She was so warm and kind and had the most powerful dark eyes, and I can't really explain why, but hearing this from her felt like total reassurance.

The @purplevalleyyoga challenge asked us simply to "comment on the subject of knowledge". In the context of these sutras, and with my own understanding and experiences with them, I believe that knowledge can come through different practices and on different paths, and is found along the way to universal Truth. I think it can also be a subtler knowing that's just beyond words; a deep seed planted in our consciousness, that with practice (and love) will eventually bloom. ​

Sutra 1.21: Tivarsamvegānāmāsannah ~
"To the keen and intent practitioner, this [samādhi] comes vey quickly."

Sutra 1.22: Mrdu madhyadhimātratvāt tato'pi visesah ~
"The time necessary for success further depends on whether the practice is mild, medium, or intense."

This comes as no surprise: the greater our focus and dedication to the practice, the quicker our progress will be. Patanjali doesn't seem to insisnt on any one path, though, and this reminds of me the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois quote: "Do your practice and all is coming."

Sutra 1.12: Abhyāsa vairāgyabhyaām tannitodhah ~
"These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment."

Sutra 1.13: Tatra sthitau yatno'bhyāsah ~
"Of these two, effort toward steadiness of mind is practice."

Sutra 1.14: Sa tu dirgha kāla nairantarya satkārāsevito drdhabhūmih ~
"Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness."