March 28, 2024
Avidya or ignorance of our spiritual nature is a non-entity from the philosophical (or the Absolute) point-of-view, though it is yet capable of very real and frightening results while it lasts. It is similar in a way, to a nightmare. It is not only like the darkness of the night which veils the reality, but like the illusory dream which conjures up false entities which enjoy momentary existence.
The world outside, which we experience, is one such dream: if it appears to be a solid reality, it is because the nightmare is still in progress. If we dream that we are being attacked by a tiger, what we need is not knowledge of holy scriptures, but merely to wake up from slumber. Yoga gives us a method which will enable us to wake up from this slumber of ignorance. That branch of yoga has been called Raja Yoga.
Three words define this yoga: "citta vritti nirodhah" (Patanjali's Yoga Sutra). They are not easy to understand because they are subjective facts and not objective effects. In fact the crux of yoga is to understand and to know the Self, whereas all other knowledge in the world is of the world. Let us try to glimpse (not grasp) the meaning of the words, but please remember that 'meaning' is not a paraphrasing, substituting one set of words for another.
Citta is Mind with a capital M. What it is will forever elude our grasp; for it is that with which we grasp. Our eyes cannot perceive or glimpse themselves. Yet, we do not 'see' what we see. It is an intuitive vision, inner vision. In the same way, we may intuit the existence of the Mind. Mind is that whose changes are referred to as thoughts and emotions, and on which thoughts, words and deeds, experiences and expressions leave an indelible impression that continually modifies its appearance, while leaving its essential nature unchanged.
Vritti is that change itself. It is usual to translate it into 'a wave, a ripple' i.e. if citta is an ocean, vritti is a wave. What is the wave, if not the ocean itself, though the ocean is not just wave? Nirodhah has also been translated into 'suppression', but it is very much more than mere suppression - it is control. But control does include expression as well as suppression, motion as well as standstill, and all the variations and components of such motion (except perhaps commotion).
Yoga is and should be practiced with open eyes, active limbs and alert mind too. This is like driving the car, not madly and inefficiently but with excellent control and an unclouded sense of direction.