Some Notes on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: an important gem; an investigative approach to study

 

Why I read the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (an investigative approach to study)

 

The reason I read the Yoga Sutras is not to learn a system to follow.

 

The reason I read the Yoga Sutras is to learn what has been said about the human.

 

I am interested in liberation, salvation, ascension and Truth.

 

I am not interested in believing any theory, dogma or anything. I am interested in testing it out with the purpose of recognizing or arriving at Truth. Truth will not need to be proven verbally, but will be undeniably known to be true, like when it is realized that one is creating suffering for oneself due to some unattainable desire and by seeing the fact that it is of an imaginary nature, the problem disappears.

 

 

An Important Gem

 

A point that screams for attention is the distinction between thought and Purusha. In english, words are insufficient, so the sanskrit terms must be explained (explained in the Sutras; not here : ) ) I will briefly describe Purusha, because I am not an expert. It is that consciousness before the content of consciousness—that is, the higher Self before the self-image or thought-identification. The common man (I use the term "common" loosely), perhaps has thought about the difference between thought and such a consciousness, but even so, the thought is not the clarity. The clarity comes from direct understanding, non-verbal understanding, contact with the actuality. After all, a mere concept or theory of the distinction between thought and Purusha, would be just that—a concept, which is thought. It is said in the Yoga Sutras that this "intellective discriminination" between what exactly is thought and what exactly is the Purusha, or higher Self, is a necessary step in the process of liberation or union with cosmic divinity (if you will). In other words, when this distinction has been realized, there is a great shift in perception. This will be known to be True, without need for further proof. The change is the proof.

 

As this is the first of such a blog entry, I am not certain what will follow, but my thinking is that I may continue to post more points from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali which I find are of particular importance to be shared with those who are not yet familiar or who feel they may benefit from this condensed presentation of such points.

~MS 

Wood Forms Shop

Return to Equilibrium No.5

A New Painting: "A Cat: a question of perception" - with a rationale highlighting the conceptual direction

 

A Cat: a question of perception - 2024

The conceptual and thematic directions for the acrylic painting work on flat surfaces are becoming more and more clear as exemplified with this 2024 piece "A Cat: a question of perception". The recent work highlights psychology and perception, with a formal style consisting of flat, highly-abstracted representations, taken almost to the point of pure geometry. Symbolism of course is playing an important role providing the inspiration, meaning and raison d'ètre underlying the compositions. The contemplation of this piece begins with the first thought that may arise, which is that this animal may appear more dog-like than cat-like. This is a good start as it questions form, appearances and familiarity. It may already be apparent at this point that the title is referring not only to the theme of the painting but also the viewer's very perception and experience of the painting. How much do we know about cats? As much as we know, we will never have the experience of being a cat. Knowledge is always interpreted through the human faculty. The painting goes on to display a flurry of coloured shapes overlapping and intermingling with the cat face, hinting of naturally occurring spots on animal hide, as well as suggesting an imaginative and vague world prior to everyday existence. The mixing of the ethereal shapes with the cat face in fact threatens the existence of the cat image, again calling up questions of appearance vs. reality. After all, the real cat is never a fixed image (as in a realistic painting of a cat) but an incessantly moving form (as are all objects and creatures in this world). And if the whole quality of the painting does not already pull the viewer into the realm of contemplating perception and reality, the circular eye of the cat—blatantly disregarding any true perceptive data of an eye—will certainly remind the viewer that this work is addressing with force our abstracted ideas of objects in our world. 

Acrylic on Wood Panel 

18" x 24"

The Motion of Life No.1 - Sculpture and 3 line poem

 

The Motion of Life No.1

 

 

 

 

The swelling creek

Reaching beyond its limits;

Life force of water

MS

Notes on poem:

Since a creek's limits are only perceived and based on past motion (shape of eroded ground), the idea of "reaching beyond its limits" is purely fictional and contrived. Thus is the nature of life (always new and fresh resulting in surprises to the mind stuck in time and past memories; this mind being the limit). Water is required for organic life.

 

 

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Spring: A Poem

 

SPRING

Sleeping intelligence,

Awakened once more

By the piercing cry

Of the eagle.

The fiery blossoms,

The rushing ravines,

And the quaking trees--

All stirred into motion

By the cosmic breath,

That enduring wave

Of life and death.

MS

 

Involution No.3

The Return to Equilibrium - Wood Form and Poem

 

The Return to Equilibrium

 

The friendly rock

And earth so dear

Does daily speak

In whispers wise

The massive turn

With which I breathe

Induces awe

And tender bows

Yet gaze I do

Within the "rushing",

Scribbling tracks

Upon the ground

The restful quiet

Returns again

As m' eyes once more

Behold the Fire*

MS 2025

 

*Fire refers to the sun

 

 

The Return to Equilibrium No.1 - 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Warm Light - A Poem

 

Warm light

Finding Balance

Is not so hard,

But soft, quite soft

Nature's silence,

That Guide so pure,

Doth instruct

The mind so dark

In actions prior 

Thought complex,

But in thy Light,

Thy holy Light

Do all confusions

Float away

Like fireflies

Dim'n into the Night.

MS

2024

Being No.4 - Wood Form - with concept notes

Being No.4 - 2024

Meet the 4th piece from the "Being" series of forms. As the round mass provides the majority of the weight, the extended form is allowed to gently curve into its contact with the ground by way of its tip. And there is an interplay between this structural component and the more formal component which includes the piece's visual dynamics, directions of force, stresses and resolutions.

In my sculptural work, I find that these visual forces or vectors function to build an "interior geometry", an internal relationship of parts within the encompassing whole.

In Being No.4, the round mass metaphorically—yet loosely, vaguely, ambiguously—could represent the human or the soul, whilst the opening presents a window upon "infinite nothingness". Is this ocean of nothingness the spaceless and timeless field of pure potential? Personally, contemplating this vast field beyond the psyche, beyond the sense of being tied to body and senses, opens the mind to a quality of peace and serenity. Does "Being" then end with our sense of existence in this world, or does it extend beyond ourselves—emanating through us from an everlasting field of pure Love and Clarity.