Tag: Patanjali

How To Communicate, Words Patanjali Yoga 1.9
In our Daily Life we hear a lot of words and we listen to some.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.9

We react to them, by replying, feeling Happy, sad, angry or sad.

Some times, a quarrel ensures leading to a trading of blows, even murder and in some cases break up of Relationship.

Why?

Because communicate thoughts and feelings.

A thought is formed as a Concept, forms itself into a thought and we use the vehicle of language as a medium of communication.

(Language also has to be pass through the stages of Concept, thought and language)

As such a Word goes through many stages before being spoken.

There are always chances of it not conveying the feelings exactly.

The spoken word is from one person and the hearing and understanding is by the other.

The listener hears what he ”thinks’ the speaker conveys, that is what the ‘speaker thinks he conveys’

So the listener of the words has only the impressions of the Spoken Word.(Sabda).

What one understands from a communication is the impression one has of the Communication , and not of the Communication or the Feelings or intent behind it.

Therefore, when we react to words, we must remember we react to our ‘Impressions, not to any thing else.

Patanjali, in Yoga Sutra 1. 9, speaks of this.

‘Sapdagnanadupaadhi Vasthu soonyo Vikalpah’

Sabda-Sound, communication, Words

Gnana-Awareness

Upaadhi-Impressions, discomfiture,

Vasthu-the object,the person, the source

Soonyo-fruitless

Vikalpah-wrong impressions.

Understanding only the impressions words leads to incorrect Knowledge, discomfiture.

That is ‘we hear what we think the other person thinks what he likes us to hear’

Now one can understand how erroneous one’s impressions of others thoughts can be.

As words are the main reasons for misunderstandings, one should,

‘If you must speak, speak purposefully;Eschew all vain and profitless words.’

‘சொல்லுக சொல்லிற் பயனுடைய சொல்லற்க

சொல்லிற் பயனிலாச் சொல்’ Thirukkaral.

Related:

http://ramanisblog.in/2013/04/20/knowledge-systems-patanjali-yoga-sutra-1-8/

Related articles
- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra Introduction Sutra 1 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
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21 Apr 2013
Knowledge Systems Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.8
After explaining what the instruments or tools of Knowledge are, Patanjali sets on defining Correct and incorrect Knowledge.

Knowledge is simply Awareness, that there is something.

This is the beginning of Perception.

For perception, please read my Post ‘Perception’

Yoga Sutra

For awareness, three things are needed.

The one who perceives(Subject)

That which is Perceived(Object) and

A Relationship between these two(Subject and the Object)

A Table (Object) may be there and you ( Subject) are present..

If you see the Table in front of your eyes, the system you follow is Realism.

You are in a room and the Table in another room.

But you know that the table exists m because you know it used to be there.

This is Objective Idealism.

There might be stable in your friend’s House in some other place or take the instance of Mars.

In this case, you do not have the idea as such personally.

But it exists as an Idea in some one else’s Mind.

When we take things to Be, of which we have no IDEA,it is called Subjective Idealism or Solipsism., because it Exists as an Idea in some one else’s Mind.

‘Forget every thing, I am able to write on this, it has four legs and a Top’

This is Pragmatism.

Every information is through Language, that is from Words.

In a Language, words are logically connected(excepting for the Politicians).

So to know clearly one has to simply understand the logical connectivity and analyse the. language and words’the logical connectivity between them.

This is Called Logical Positivism.

All these systems evolved on being aware of.

By following all systems or any, still we are left with Incorrect Awareness(Knowledge).

Yoga Sutra 1.8

This Incorrect Knowledge prevents us from the Correct Knowledge.

There is an interesting thought on this.

What is Correct?

That which is True all times?

The funny thing is what or how we define Truth.

Secondly if existence at all times is the criteria for Correct Knowledge, no Knowledge is Correct for none of us will be around whether a particular thing will be there to after our Death.

In fact things do change.

What we have seen yesterday is no the same to-day.

Take an Individual.

I was 10, 25. 40 and 62 now.

Every second I grow.

I am different in all aspects this second from what I was seconds earlier.

The what is the Truth about Me?

An instance from Adi Sankara‘s Life.

Adi Sankara was engaged in an argument on Theory of Knowledge( Epistemology) with the Buddhists.

Adi Sankara’s Advaita and Sunya Vada of Buddhists are poles apart.

The Buddhists said,

‘Look at this candle, it has been burning for quite some time now.

It has consumed Energy, its throwing around light has reduced it the quality(intensity) of Luminescence .

It is dripping wax , affecting its Mass.

So the Candle which we see this second is not the same as the one we saw a seconds ago.

Therefore, Change alone is Real’

Sankara replied,

I agree with you entirely.

Yet , with all the changes you say, how is it you say it is a Candle ?

If it has been changing every second, as you rightly said., how come w still call it a Candle?

The reason is that we KNOW, despite all the apparent changes,there is substratum running which is Permanent, through which we know a Thing exists”

Now Patanjali speaks of Incorrect Knowledge thus.

‘Viaparyayo mithya Gnanam atad rupa pratishtam’

Wrong knowledge does not correspond the to the Real thing.

I will post more information on this in the next Sutra as well.

Note; As we enter slowly into Patanjali, the thoughts may be, just may be a bit abstract.

I am trying to be as clear as possible.

Please write to me if there is any query.

And of course if there are any mistakes.

* let no one be intimidated by these high sounding words like ‘Epistemology’ and ‘isms”

They are just sounds that’s all by the Scholars to scare you.

The thought behind them is very simple, your grand mother can explain them simpler.

Related articles
- How To Be ‘Aware’ Yoga Sutra 1.7 Patanjali (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Denying Senses Is Not Yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Manage Pleasures Patanjali Yoga Sutra 5 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
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20 Apr 2013
How To Be ‘Aware’ Yoga Sutra 1.7 Patanjali
‘Prathyakshanu maanagamaa Pramaanaani’ Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.7

Yoga Sutra 1.7 Patanjali

Attitude towards Life is determined by one’s source of Knowledge.

Here, as I have been using hitherto, I use’ Knowledge’ in its prime meaning, ‘being aware of’

This Awareness need not necessarily be Correct or Incorrect for it depends on the Facts being made aware of.

Nor does it bear the stamp of being Right or Wrong for it becomes judgmental.

These attributes come later.

This ‘awareness’, where and how do we get ?

Events in the world happen.

There is no ground per se for themselves to be the Cause or the Result of another.

This action of ours is but a tool of our Mind to categorize them to facilitate easy recall.

One Effect may have many Causes.

One Cause may have many Effects.

There is yet another Dimension to this concept.

A Cause may contain the Result.

A seed contains the Tree.

Equally true is the fact that the Effect contains the Cause.

A Tree contains the Seeds.

This process of inferring has its limitations.

Inference is Anuamaana.

Prathyaksha-Direct Experience.

Simple day-to-day experience tells us you see or hear some thing, that’s it.

Then you become aware of .things, Events.

There is a pitfall in this too.

Senses need not always convey the facts.

If one were to suffer from Jaundice, he would see things as Yellow.

For a Born Blind, the World does not exist visually.

If you keep your hands in cold water for some time and then dip it warm water, you do not feel the warmth as fast as you would with normal hands.

The same, if you keep hands i warm water and then dip in cold Water.

Again, you do not see things which are not in the direct line of your Perception, for instance, things in another room do not exist for you, you do not see them.

So this Pratyaksha is inadequate.

Then you rely on the others Testimony.

This is Called Pramaana.

This is listening to . believing in others Testimony.

There are certain things one has to accept as facts from the others.

For example who your mother is.

Some one has to tell me who my Mother is.

But my Rationalist friends would tell me that it is not necessary.

A DNA Test would do.

Even here A Test is Necessary.

Instead of believing some one, here you believe a Test Report!

Patanjali , being aware of the limitations of the instruments of Knowledge, suggest these three instruments of Knowledge.

Direct Experience-Pratyaksha

Inference-Anumaana

Pramaana-Testimony

Related articles
- Identify The Tools of The Mind Patanjali Yoga Sutra 6 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Denying Senses Is Not Yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
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19 Apr 2013
Manage Pleasures Patanjali Yoga Sutra 5
‘Vruddhiyah panchatahyaha Klishta Aklishtaa’

We are after the objects of the senses initially;later we can not leave them and it needs a special effort to get rid of this.

It becomes a habit.

This applies to even a trivial thing(depends on one’s view) like Browsing the Internet or even the use of Fans, Mixers,ACs.

We were living with out these quite some time back.

I was without electricity some 50 years back, with out mobile phones, Internet,PC till a few years.

To day I browse and write for about 10 hours a Day and I can not be without a Fan even a few minutes.

If the Internet connection is off , I become restless.

Let’s extend this further.

We have been happy without these and were not inconvenienced with out them.

We were children, went to school played around ,went to college.

We were quite Happy when we compare them with the grown up Life of Adults.

Without wife children, were we,;yet we were Happy.

Now, those things are gone and the things which gave Happiness to us at a point of Time do not exist now,

And the things like Wife, Positions, and other things that gave us pleasure at a point of time to us, no longer give us the same pleasure.

In fact, they give us Pain.

They have not changed,we have rather our Perspectives.

Happiness ,Sadness do not lie in things or people.

Bhagavad Gita Quote.

They lie within us.

Though we want to change this, we can not.

Why?

It is because these thoughts are a part us that we can not get rid of.

Yet there are certain things we are happy through out,like being Alone.

Alone means being within oneself.

Every one knows what it is.

Again there are certain things that give us pleasure at all times, like watching Ocean,Sky,Infants, Seeing a smile on others,or helping some one who is in dire need and seeing his tears of gratitude.

And of course the instinctive feeling we are more than this flesh and bones.

Why?

Patanjali explains.

The Modifications of Chiththa are the cause.

They are of Two kinds,

Klishta,that which make us delve deep into them and be lost in them, like the objects of the senses.

Aklishta, that those which help us retrieve ourselves from them.

Desire to enjoy is like poring Ghee to Fire, the more one enjoys , more he needs them, there is no end.

But to come out of them there are two practices, as Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.

They are Abhyaasa,Practice and Vairaagya, clear deter determination.

Once we develop these two we can be rid of these tendencies to be happy or Unhappy.

I will deal with them when we discuss them later at a more appropriate place.

Related articles
- Yoga Is “Cessation Of Thought Waves” Sutra 2 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
- Denying Senses Is Not Yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
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17 Apr 2013
Denying Senses Is Not Yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3
‘Thadha Dhrashtuhu Swarupe Avasthaanam – Sutra 1. 3 (Samadhi Pada)

Man reverts to His Real Self or Nature when the Modifications of his Chiththa are controlled/managed.
- tada – then, at that time; at the time of concentration and meditation
- drashtuh – the seer’s, of the soul, witness, Atman, Self; from the root drsh, which means to see (It is significant to note that Patanjali is not trying to define who is the seer, or the nature of that seer. This is left to be answered or resolved in direct experience.)
- svarupe – in its own nature, own form or essence; (sva = own; rupa = form)
- avasthanam – stability, settling, remaining, being in a state, resting, standing, lying, abiding; the root stha means to stand
The Real Nature of man is being happy , Bliss.

One feels pain or sad because of the min’s modifications as a result of his interaction with objects, persons.

This can be illustrated thus.

Brain Waves During Meditation.

There are three things needed to be aware of anything.

The One who sees or perceives( I am using the term perceive in the normal usage and not with Philosophical connotations), The Subject;

The Object of Perception or The Object and

And a

Relationship between the two.

The subject may exist , the object may not as a point of perception.

As I am writing this I am not aware of what is happening in the next room, yet things are there and there might be happenings.

Yet I am not aware; this does not mean they do not exist.

The same when the Object is present and the Subject is absent.

Next is The Subject and The Object, both may be present but they may not be in relation, just as me in India and The US being where it is , the relation or connection does not exist now.

Therefore to be aware the Subject and Object must exist and there should be a relationship.

‘What the eyes don’t see the Heart doesn’t grieve about’

When we perceive, we get affected by it because of our natural dispositions our nature(attitudes/aptitudes)

And we respond, either being happy or unhappy or in some cases being indifferent.

If we, on the other hand were to be indifferent in all cases the objects, events or persons do not affect us in any way.

Whether we note or not the objects, persons or talks about us will be there.

We become happy or unhappy only when we respond mentally to them, which comes out in our words or deeds.

This is what Patanjali speaks of here.

He elaborates on this in the Next Sutra.

Related articles
- Yoga Is “Cessation Of Thought Waves” Sutra 2 (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
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15 Apr 2013