Patanjali (The non-astro Naga sage of Meditation and Grammer)

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Dear All, Again by VV Raman at: http://www.siddha.com.my/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000053-7.htmlLove and regards,Sreenadh

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Patanjali

The Hindu world has contributed much of significance to humanity's cultural,spiritual, and intellectual heritage. Aside from the insightful recognitionof zero in computational analysis, the scientific study of human speech andsyntax, inspiring hymns and grand poetry, Hindus were perhaps the first toelaborate the grand view of human consciousness as a spark of a Cosmicsubstratum. This is a lofty and liberating vision in itself. What is more,it was not formulated simply as a speculative hypothesis or metaphoricalmusing, but as an empirically verifiable aspect of Man-Universerelationship. That empirical component of the spirituality-thesis is whatconstitutes yoga system of the Hindu world.The yoga system is the fruit of what is perhaps the most ancient explorationof inquiring humans into mind and consciousness. The epoch and place of itsdiscovery are lost, like much of our precious past, in the mist ofunrecorded events. But we have a work, attributed to an ancient rishi, whichconsists of succinct aphorisms on the underlying concepts of yoga. The nameof that rishi is Patanjali, and his work is called Yoga Sutra.

The term yoga already occurs in the Rig Veda, meaning such things as yoking,harnessing, achieving the unachieved, and connection. Already in Vedic timesausterities and celibacy, especially at certain stages in life, came to beregarded as virtues worth cultivating. The comparison of the senses tohorses that need to be controlled by the horseman to reach a destinationgained currency in ancient India. After the philosophical system of Samkhyawas formulated, the yoga system became its empirical wing.

In the Samkhya worldview, the way to overcome sorrow would be through theacquisition of knowledge of the Ultimate. It was believed, as in much of theancient world, that pain and suffering resulted from several factors ofwhich some are recognizable, and some are invisible. To the former categorybelong other people, animals, things, and even ourselves. And to the latterbelong evil spirits (asuras) and powerful beings (devas).

As to remedies, physical pain could be alleviated or eliminated by herbs andmedicaments. But to gain release from mental anguish, frustrations,suffering, and emotional turmoil, and above all, for ultimate peace andbliss, one needed discriminating knowledge.

Without going into the details of the theory of yoga, we may say this: Byfollowing certain exercises, generally under the guidance of a spiritualmaster, it is possible to attain significant control over the physical bodyand reach higher levels of consciousness. The physical exercises, aselaborated in texts and by practitioners of later eras, range from simplecross-legged squatting to contortions of limbs and control of the abdomen inincredible ways. The associated spiritual exercises vary from mentalrepetition of specific mantras to concentration and meditation of the mostsophisticated kinds.

Patanjali's work is a slender volume, consisting of some 194 tersestatements, distributed over three principal chapters and a fourth one thatseems to be appended to the three. It reads like a handbook forpractitioners rather than a philosophical treatise or prescriptive manual.The first chapter deals with deep meditation (sam?i). The second exploresthe technique of yoga (s?ana). The third deals with the powers one obtainsfrom yogic practice (vibh?) And the last appended chapter deals withspiritual liberation (kaivalya). It also contains some criticisms of theBuddhist school.

Like other major works of the tradition, the Yoga Sutras has received manycanonical commentaries, of which the one by the great Vyasa is the mostprestigious. This author again is semi-legendary in that the Brahmasutras,all the Puranas and Upapuranas, as well as the Mahabharata are attributed tohim.

Patanjali's Yogasutra is one of the most influential works in all of humanhistory, though it is seldom recognized as such. It has inspired countlessgurus all over India and beyond over many generations, and its fundamentaltheses have been expounded and elaborated by thousands of preachers andpractitioners. Some of the yoga that permeated the world through marketingefforts is genuine, and some of it is spurious, some simple and otherscomplex. But invariably, yoga has been found to be useful, powerful, andelevating to young students and adults, to royalty and rishis, tosports-people and housewives, and to many more. That it is efficacious is oflittle doubt, and its effectiveness is still a matter for scientificinvestigation.

It should be recalled that in Hindu cultural legacy there are at least twomajor Patanjalis, though some scholars have maintained the two to be one andthe same. The Patanjali of Yogasutra is believed to have lived in thesecond century C.E. The other Patanjali, probably much more ancient, isremembered for his great commentaries (Mahabhashya) on Panini's grammaticaltreatise. Legend has it that he fell (pata) as a serpent in the palm(a?i) of the great grammarian himself, and thus acquired his name. Ohthose ancient punsters!

V. V. RamanOctober 12, 2005

On Patanjali

Patanjali's raja yoga just suggested simple padmasana or sukhasana to commence meditation. One can do meditation even lying down. Thats what I do, or slouch on an armchair. The hatha yoga contortionists as well as mantra yoga you mentioned were of different margas and yoga methods, not raja yoga. And it is useful for physical and mental well being but not a condition for commencing meditation. It is this wrong notion that puts off people by assuming yoga and meditation is something hard to do. Meditation is the simplest thing to do, easier than sleeping even. Everyone meditates, but they just don't realise they aredoing it.

Yoga preceded samkhya and every other school but this is not well known or mentioned. The yoga school just found a convenient base in samkhya and latched on to it later.

I thought I'd share something extra below.

Looks like there were several more Patanjalis'.

Patanjali (1300 B.C.) Ancient Indian astronomer who studied space and identified the Northstar (Dhruva). (not sure about this one).

There is also a Patanjali who is also recognised as a truly great dancer. To this day dancers in India working in the classical traditions invoke him and pay him their respects. Patañjali, therefore, is effectively the patron saint of dance.

As is stated in Mahabharata the originator of the science of the Yoga is Hiranyagarbha. The tradition of Agamas says that the author of this science ofYoga is Adinatha or Shiva or Shankara. Almost all these Agamas are written in the form of conversation between Parvati and Shankara. Patanjali is following the tradition of Upanishads. We get references of Astanga Yoga in a number ofUpanishads such as Chandogya Upanishad, Sandilya Upanishad etc. Yajnavalkya explains this Yoga Philosophy to Gargi and other disciples exactly on the same lines as Patanjali does. Yajnavalkya further states that this philosophy of Astanga Yoga was being learnt by him from his masters. This is an indication of the fact that the philosophy of Astanga Yoga is very ancient and was already inpractice before Patanjali. This indicates that yoga was passed on in an oral tradition until Patanjali codified it. Tirumular mentions many margas and yogas including raja-yoga which Patanjali elaborated in 194 sutras.

While Patanjali's raja yoga is known worldwide, not so the agama/tantra philosophies and yogas which is more difficult to understand and practise.

In Indian iconography Patanjali is often depicted as half human and half serpent, the man's torso extruding from a base of serpent coils. His hands are usually shown in namaste, indicating a meditative state and suggesting that he is greeting and blessing us in our yoga practice. Two additional hands hold a conch that calls the student to practice, and a disc that represents the wheel of time and the law of cause and effect.

Some quotes from the Yoga-Sutras that I like:

3:1 One-pointedness is steadfastness of the mind.

3:2 Unbroken continuation of that mental ability is meditation.

3:3 That same meditation when there is only consciousness of the object of meditation and not of the mind is realization.

3:4 The three appearing together are self-control.

3:31 By self-control on the light in the head one envisions perfected beings.

Pathma

..

You may recall what I said: "The yoga system is the fruit of what is perhaps the most ancient exploration of inquiring humans into mind andconsciousness. The epoch and place of its discovery are lost, like much of our precious past, in the mist of unrecorded events."

V. V. Raman

On Patanjali and Meditation

Let me explain with some background. Patanjali taught meditation. Yoga means meditation and meditation is yoga. There is no other yoga. Yoga Sutras means 'Meditation Sutras'. Meditation is right there in page one of the rig veda. All our rishis were meditators. Thats how they received the vedas; they saw the words and heard it too during their meditations. Meditation is therefore the first and oldest form of worship or practice, and the oldest school or philosophy. No doubt about that.

There are many methods of meditation; Tirumular listed most of it. Patanjali's method was called 'Raja-Yoga', which some call as 'ashtanga-yoga'. Thats because he enumerated in a road map the 8 steps to samadhi. Hatha yoga is the physical preparation for meditation, as well as for physical well being and emotional and mental stability. A few simple asanas will do. I only do the headstand once or twice a week (for my back ache too) and thats enough. There is no need for any asanas before starting meditation each time other than a simple stretching. Some schools have taken hatha yoga to the extremes in contortionism, but this is not necessary for meditation, though its great for physical well being. Patanjali just suggests a simple half lotus or just crosslegged (sukasana) and sitting erect to start meditation.

The general notion is that meditation requires strenuous asana postures for long periods of time. This puts off people from meditating, as well as the fears that chanting mantras wrongly may cause some physical or mental problems. Let us dispel all that. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Everytime you close your eyes, you are meditating. Everyone is a meditator, but they just dont realise it. Everyone is seeing something when they close their eyes, but they just dont know what they are seeing. You can meditate while lying in bed before sleeping off. Thats what I do; just lie in bed, close my eyes, and WATCH the big black screen inside, look at the inside of the cranium, explore by squinting the eyes for some moments, looking at the tip of the nose, at the top of the head or 'look afar'. Then I go to sleep after the inner movie! I do the same thing on waking up. Thats the best time for inner sights. I would lie in bed or sit for hours watching the inner sights before getting out of bed. At other times while surfing or scanning the forums, I just slouch on the chair, close my eyes and look inside for ten, fifteen minutes.

But most other time, I just sit on my bed, one leg crossed and the other stretched out, hands on my knees, like the Dakshinamurthi pose, and meditate for a while. This works best for me. Every meditator will find the position most suitable for him, and will stay with that.

The point is, in meditating one should be comfortable. And its okay to change positions or stretch while sitting in meditation, or scratch. Its even okay to stand and meditate. Many old people do that after some time of sitting, then sit back again. Other old or big sized people sit erect on a chair and meditate. Its even okay to lean or lie on an armchair and meditate, except only that that meditation would be a short one. But its not okay to open the eyes, that cuts the flow.

After some months of practise, the posture changes, the stretching and the scratching automatically becomes fewer, and the periods of meditation becomes longer, the limbs go numb and its not uncomfortable. At this stage, you have reached a postion of a basic asana, motionless and erect - just what Patanjali suggested. At this stage, the breath has automatically slowed without any effort and pranayama as been achieved. At this stage there is no need to chant any mantras, but just watch and observe the inner light.

People have portrayed meditation as something very difficult when actually its simpler than sleeping! Summa iru! Just stay still! Dont move! Dont chant! Just observe the inside of your head with eyes closed. Look at the forehead, the third eye area from the inside out. Place you thumb at the tip of your nose and the index finger at the top of the forehead at the hairline. Now close your eyes and look there! Ten minutes would do.

Inorder to demystify meditation, I would go further in saying that meditation is watching TV on the inner big screen on the inside of the cranium and forehead. And listening to the inner radio in the inside of our head. Yup, you'll hear the sounds too.

All our rishis were meditators. Their followers, the Hindus, should all also be meditators, without exception.

Regards.

Pathma===============================