Is the Ashtanga closing prayer a Patanjali?
Patanjali, "the prayer that fell from heaven."
Patanjali’s YOGA SUTRAS are a work well done.
First, I read the Yoga Sutras, as commented
by Iyengar (the 2002 edition)[1],
once through. Then, a Question and Answer (Q&A) lecture on the Yoga Sutras with
Guruji turned out to be a nice opportunity to revisit this fundamental text. It
stirred again the pot of Patanjali’s wisdom within, which resurfaced with
renewed wonder.
I am happy to share the following reflections in the
pursuit of further study even after revisiting the Yoga Sutras. I am eternally
curious about the dynamic between purusha (The Seer, the Soul)* and prakrti
(Nature)*.
*as
translated from Sanskrit in Iyengar, 2002.
Who exactly was Patanjali? To what extent does it
matter who he or she was? Does it matter who they were? Who it was? What it is?
To what extent does the person matter? Who is the
teacher, the person or the lesson? Is the lesson more important or
the person? To what extent is the lesson, too, a teacher?
What is the point of transcending what is, whatever
duality, non-duality or multiplicity, if not to let it be?
And what if the seer does not feel seen? To what
extent is Purusha perceived by Prakrti? To what extent does Purusha want to be
seen? Does it want to be felt, experienced, thought and lived?
“As the physical frame is the body of
consciousness, so consciousness is the body of the seer.” (Iyengar, Part 4
-roman IV Sutra 23, p.272)
Does the body look back at you? Does the body look
back at the seer?
Iyengar goes on to say:
“Consciousness is the bridge between nature and
soul, and its conjunction is either illumined by the seer or tainted by the
seen. The wise yogi frees consciousness from the qualities of nature; […] keeps
it [consciousness] clean so that it is reflected without distortion both by the
seer and the seen.
When the waves of the sea
subside, they lose their identities and become the sea. Similarly, when the
waves of the seer – the senses of perception, mind, intelligence and
consciousness – subside, they lose their identities and merge in the ocean of
the seer, for the seer to blaze forth independently. This is the sight of the
soul.” (ibidem)
If it is true that x exists in relation with y, x
‹—› y,
purusa ‹—› prakrti
soul ‹—› nature
essence ‹—› form
concept ‹—› form
seer ‹—› seen
Then it follows that one has no more relevance than the other, nor more
importance, nor a status in an of itself independent of the other. Both are
equal. Both are truly one and the same. Though apart. And both are a part of an
existential relationship, which is in existence as well. They both exist and so
does it, the relationship and they, who are parts within it.
Is consciousness that relationship? Or is the relationship a middle way
between relating parts, in a triangular conception of existence?
If contraries exist in relation to each other,
good ‹—› bad
right ‹—› wrong
right ‹—› left
dark ‹—› light
heavy ‹—› light
craving ‹—› aversion
Then what is the middle way through such a relational (dual) dynamic?
What is it like to conceive of existence in terms of 5 (like the 5
points of contact between Earth and Venus in the latter’s cycles around the Sun,
like five corners of a star)?
Or in terms of 7?
For example, seven sheaths of body (Iyengar, p. 141):
1.
physical body
2.
physiological body
3.
psychological body
4.
intellectual body
5.
the body of joy
6.
the body of consciousness
7.
the body of the Self
And seven states of consciousness:
1.
emerging consciousness[2] (rising
thoughts, outgoing mind)
2.
restraining consciousness (restraint, check, control,
cessation of mind)
3.
cultured consciousness (forming, creating, fabricating
mind)
4.
tranquil consciousness (tranquility of mind) [vegetative
or parasympathetic nervous system?]
5.
focused consciousness (one-pointed attention of mind
on the indivisible self)
6.
flawed consciousness (a pore, a fissure, a rent, a
flaw of mind)
7. matured consciousness (highly cultivated, quite ripe mind)
In relationship with atman or spirit (individual, seer, soul)?
Then we
have 8.
Thus, we can also speak of the eight limbs of yoga.
(to be continued)
