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 

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