How to Overcome Difficulties? Catalysts of Change

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

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Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us - and those around us - more effectively.  Look for the learning.

​- Louisa May Alcott

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This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series.  
​Want to start at the beginning?
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Yoga Sutra 2.26
विवेकख्यातिरविप्लवा हानोपायः
vivekakhyātiraviplavā hānopāyaḥ
The method of removing ignorance is by unceasing discerning awareness.

Viveka kakhyatir, the first phrase of Sutra 2.26, is an important concept in Vedic studies.  Sometimes simply called viveka, it is discernment of the difference between “the real [and] the unreal.” (Satchidananda, 294)  It is wisdom.

By unremitting viveka, one gains clarity. This leads to a state of pristine perception.

 By unremitting viveka, one gains clarity. This leads to a state of pristine perception.

All translations of the word aviplava ​- which is the next word in this Sutra - I am using indicate that in order to reach this state of perception wherein the real is distinguishable from the unreal, viveka must be “unceasing,” (Stiles, 86) “unfailing,” (Shoshoni, 23) “undisturbed, unbroken, unfluctuating” (Iyengar, 136) and “uninterrupted,” (Satchidananda, 118).

In short, the method to completely remove our ignorance of what is real and what is unreal is by obtaining a state of mastery over our mind.  We will not reach that state of understanding by only intermittent discerning awareness.

Yoga Sutra 2.27 describes the territory of this perfect knowledge as sevenfold. However, just what the seven stages of this process are appears to be a matter of some (sattvic) contention among commentators.

The most common explanation I’ve found is that our wisdom extends from the most physical levels (or the gross aspects) to the most subtle ones.  As described by Iyengar, we develop “knowledge of the body (sarira jnana), knowledge of energy (prana jnana), control of the mind (mano jnana), stability in intelligence (vijnana jnana), absorption of the various flavors (i.e. emotions) that life offers (rasatmaka jnana), knowledge of the self (atma jnana).” (139)  These seven types of knowledge broadly align with the eight-limbed path of yoga that Patanjali describes just a couple of Sutras later.

Swami Satchidananda offers an interpretation I have also seen in other commentaries.  He tells us that in this final stage of total wisdom, “one experiences the end of 1) desire to know anything more; 2) desire to stay away from anything; 3) desire to gain anything new; 4) desire to do anything; 5) sorrow; 6) fear; 7) delusion.” (154)

Either way, it’s easy to piece together that by developing a robust knowledge of ourselves - and I mean all the way through to knowledge of the real self - we lose all attachments, aversions and delusions (the kleshas) that bind us to suffering.  Achieving this kind of wisdom requires patience and dedication in the face of difficulty.  The only way we learn to lessen our dependence on our attachments (including attachment to aversions) is by using pain as a catalyst for our spiritual growth.

In other words, by yogic practices, the sadhaka (aspirant) conquers his body, controls his energy, restrains the movements of the mind and develops sound judgment, from which he acts rightly and becomes luminous.  From this luminosity he develops total awareness of the very core of his being.
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BKS Iyengar, 139

Finally, Patanjali fills us in on what exactly will help us to diminish and eventually remove the mental impurities that keep us from experiencing viveka.
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Sutra 2.28 tells us that by devotedly practicing the components of yoga, “the impurities dwindle away and wisdom’s radiant light shines forth” (Stiles, 23) which leads to viveka.

Sutra 2.29 explains the components of Patanjali’s method of Raja (Royal) or Ashtanga (8-Limbed) Yoga.  The eight limbs of Raja Yoga are:

1. Yama - the five types of self-control we apply in order to live more harmoniously with the outside world.
2. Niyama - the five observances we keep in order to live more harmoniously within ourselves.
3. Asana - the poses we practice in order to feel more comfortable in our body.
4. Pranayama - the practices used to regulate the various energies within our body.
5. Pratyahara - withdrawing the attention inward, away from the senses and toward the true Self.
6. Dharana - learning how to concentrate upon a single object.
7. Dhyana - meditation, which is the state the mind enters when Dharana has been mastered.
8. Samadhi - the state of absorption and integration with the Self experienced in the final stages of yoga.

​The rest of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali expounds the steps of Raja Yoga outlined above.  Next month, I’d like to take a look at one very special Yoga Sutra that has transformed my life (and the lives of many others).  

We’ll go a little out of order in June and then we’ll start to delve into the constituent parts of Ashta (eight) Angani (limbs) Yoga, starting with the five Yamas in July.

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Have you ever thought about what is really real?  If the real is unchanging and therefore permanent, can you think of anything other than the Universal Spirit that is real?  If everything else is changeable and therefore impermanent, how can it be “real?”