(First published 21/3/2010)

As some of you might recall, during last week’s classes I mentioned one of the verses from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – one of the major source texts of yoga, and many say, the principle text for yoga. TKV Desikachar puts it simply: “Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is the heart of yoga.”

Written about 2,500 years ago by Patanjali these pithy aphorisms are designed to prompt thought and reflection about our own experience, our understanding of ourselves and the world beyond ourselves.

Last week I quoted the second line from the Yoga Sutras, which is its original Sanskrit is yogah cittavrtti nirodhah.

The nature of the Sanskrit language and the way it can be translated, combined with the form of these sutras, means that there are various translations that on the surface appear to be different but in fact point to the same meaning.

Translations include:
Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness
Yoga is the cessation of fluctuations of the mind

The use of the word cessation can be changed to control. And this certainly makes the process described more attainable. As learning to control and restrain the activities of consciousness (or mind) is the precursor to cessation.

Yoga is a study of the behaviour of consciousness; it shows us ways of understanding how the mind functions, and in the process gives us the tools to quieten the movements of the mind – leading to towards an “undisturbed state of silence which dwells in the very seat of consciousness,” says BKS Iyengar.

Silence is the key to understanding yoga. A busy, chaotic and distracted mind will not be able to focus and reach this point of yoga described. Silence is a place of spaciousness that allows the yogi to develop and deepen his or her understanding of yoga. In daily life we can find ourselves, “needing space to collect my thoughts”, or “a moment or two to think this through” and so forth, all of which point to an inherent wisdom that knows that space and silence are the portals to greater understanding and clarity.

Desikachar takes the more theoretical translation written above and offers an applied, more interpretative, translation, which states:

Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without any distractions.

This is where the practice of yoga is so important. By training the mind to be quiet and focus one is able to achieve this, which is not so difficult occasionally – a brief moment of clarity – but it requires practice and training if yoga is to be sustained for long periods, and controlled at will.

That is why yoga asanas (physical exercises), pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation, plus the other aspects of yoga, are used to attain the goal.

Although once this goal is reached, for most of us, it soon slips away, and that is why yoga is a constant, or continuous, practice. It brings us to a point of yoga (balance or union), which stays for a while (a few moments or perhaps much longer) and then it disperses as we return to the noise, chaos and distraction of daily living.

So we keep going back to the practice, because once we have experienced the lightness of being that comes with the clarity of a quiet mind, the bliss that we feel and contentment that comes from yoga, it’s understandable that we want to keep going back to that place.

Yoga is a tonic for living in a modern world.