Sādhana Pāda 

The Spirit World

Now begins the sutras for a distinctly spiritual/deified form of Yoga for this where we instill psychic Beings, or spirits, to accelerate the journey.

Caution

Mastering Samādhi Pāda ensures that the psychic Beings we invoke will have a conducive home for their presence.

Thus this practice is to be approached with :

• even more reverence and full intention, 

• mindful of the energies of spirits we embody, not just objects in the Mind, 

• cleansing the environment, etc.

Of course, you still need to understand the entire thesis first.

The Storytelling

Traditional cultures have instilled these psychic Beings naturally, marinating its society in a particular cultural soup.

As we absorb the psychic Beings deeper & deeper into our Mindscape, we notice that they are enacting roles which are a mirror to the story of our own Life.

How these characters react to situations in the script, is reflected in our own behavior patterns, which could be enhanced or weakened if we but had the will to do so.

Epiphany

When the realization strikes, that, just like we have these psychic Beings running around in our story, we too could be living a life as just a character in someone else's story, or some grand narrative, this gives us serious pause to consider the implications of the spiritual model.

This realization results in us becoming the director and scriptwriter in the theater of our Mind, and thus the storyteller in charge of our life story.

Similar to how great directors and scriptwriters try to bring the "best" expression from their characters, so too these psychic Beings experience a feeling of empowerment, that they now express themselves to fruition, and eventual liberation of Moksha.

Thus we ourselves, as providers for the Mindspace for these psychic Beings, get Jeevan Moksha - liberation in this life - from the fetters that hold us back from the most fulfilling life possible.

Why it's Safe

The counter-argument to this Psychic Being model is that we are opening ourselves up to being taken over by "spirits", and something could go wrong.

Agreed, but we are not that stupid - remember as Sapiens we are supposed to be clever! 

All characters in these stories have a definite end-date, and they do "die", or exit the stage. 

It helps too that we always remember Moksha as an internal attitude to renounce any bondage to & between whatever Beings we have absorbed into our Mindscape. They are not our slaves like genies trapped in a bottle - but they do have a role to play to completion.

When they are past their due-date, which is usually a confluence of events - not mechanical calendar time, they simply drop away, and we remember them with fondness for having helped us on our journey, and vice-versa too we believe.

Furthermore we never get possessed by them, as though they were completely independent Beings, for unless we systematically provide them life energy they just revert to being interesting storied concepts in the Mind, thus these can be dropped or added at will.

Yoga stories are replete with tales of Psychic Beings, so they also form a part of the civilizational Mindscape, and if psychogenetics in fact impacts genetics, their effects also get passed down through generations.

Although there is a framework, this is based on intelligent processes that work with empirical inputs from life, and not a fixed axiomatic ideology of any kind.

This is a conscious ideology.

This is in stark contrast to the simplistic/axiomatic rules that are at the core of Western models that mirrored God-given Laws from “up above”, leading to blind faith religion and superstitions, leading to dogmatical world-views.

It's still Incomplete

Obviously, we are only in the second chapter, so the cautionary note here is that most practitioners seeking some obvious power are satisfied with this and stop here. 

"Bad" Yogi's, who are powerful but incomplete, abound in literature. For example, Rāvana etc.

A Spiritual Practice

2.0: Tapa: svādhyāya Ishwarapranidhānā-ni kriyā yoga:

तपः स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधाननि क्रियायोगः

Burn in the fire of austerity (Tapa), self-study (svādhyāya), and let Ishwara be the recipient of our offering (pranidhāna).

To burn in the fire of “austerity” (tapa) - meaning we have to actively give up something, say something particular, and eventually all, "unnecessary" foods, or things - essentially habits. Austerity need not extend to self-mortification like the Buddha himself eventually figured out. Some intelligence required as to what and how much to give up, and how to gradually increase this burn.

As we attempt to drop our habits obviously the experience should be observed - this is Self-study (Sva+adhyāya), with the perspective that it is the relationship (bandha/bondage) that attaches to various forms, which is actually loosened, and eventually burned like so much kindling into the fire of Self-knowledge. Some commentators say that svādhyāya means to study "scriptures" - in our case specifically just read the whole site from start to finish. Far more relevant to study the Self though! We are the book, its author, and it starts from reading.

Of course, any such practice will result in outcomes, initially difficult and eventually beneficial, so cultivate the feeling that it is all belonging to Ishwara, the psychic Being invoked with the power of Om as already discussed in the Samādhi pāda. This practice instills the most pliant, yet firm, coating in the psyche, that all other psychic Beings have an appropriate terrain in which to be instilled - such as, we will see later, that which fulfills any deep wish - the Ishta Devatā.

This is Kriyā Yoga.

Psyching ourselves in with, or getting fully inspired by, psychic intelligences is a Kriyā, and is truly a spiritual practice where we are working with spirits, hence Kriyā is considered a sacred practice.

 The Kriyā gets heightened, for example, when we time planetary configurations along with rituals the invoke a particular Devā, the largest such scope being the Avatār effect.

2.1: Samādhi bhāvanārtha: klesha tanu-karan-artha-(sh)-ca

समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेश तनूकरणार्थश्च

Samādhi state of deep feeling (bhāvanā) is one purpose (artha), ca (and) any blockage (klesha) reduction (tanu-karana) is also the purpose (artha) of the afore-initiated Kriyā-yoga.

On the path of Kriyā Yoga since we are instilling spirits within the psyche we will feel the samādhi experience deeply since the nervous system has become highly sensitized by their neuropsychological processes churning in the psyche.

We are having a deeper experience than in Samādhi Pāda.

Consequently any klesha's (blockages) will be felt deeply in the psychic terrain, as the instilled spirit reinforces the obvious samādhi techniques to reduce these blockages e.g. "listening"to signals from the physical body, or in dream states - and accept the lesson being revealed!

So in Samādhi Pāda it was about Nirodha-fying, stilling/containing, the Vritti's of Citta/Mind, whereas here it will be about removing its Klesha's.

This "spirited" approach implies that psychological evolution is not completely formulaic, albeit there are recommended steps, for this model cultivates a psychic intelligence to awaken the necessary energies tuned to the particular practitioner.

On Reducing Blockages

2.2: Avidyā asmitā rāga dvesha abhinivesha: kleshā: 

अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशः क्लेशाः

Ignorance (avidyā) self-centeredness (asmitā) cravings (rāga) revulsions (dvesha) anxiety (abhinivesha) are the five blockages (kleshā:)

As we start practicing samādhi techniques to reduce blockages then we can start seeing clearly how they map into further detail.

Abhinivesha at the root of the whole mess, which causes anxiety, is obviously at the level of the nervous system, our Indriya's of the Yoga Mind, an affliction widespread in today's Asura dominated sensory overloaded world. 

Rāga & Dvesha are at the next higher level, in the Manas of the Yoga Mind, where we have experienced and recorded in the Chitta, the actual occurence of our cravings and revulsions, as reactive memory.

Asmita is the underlying mechanism that drives the projected identity of Ahamkār (ego), for everything moves according to the notion of self we have constructed.

Avidyā is the ignorance of not being taught or unable to recognize all of the above.

These five are what cause klishta-vritti's, or movements of Thought that cause blockages (klesha's) in the Mindspace or psychic terrain.

The blockages result in unclear vision of reality - recall 1.1 - there is a Drashtu, the seer, underneath all this. 

The point here is to remove blockages that prevent development of the Lens of Yoga.

2.4: Avidyā kshetram uttareshām prasupta tanu vichhinna udārānām

अविद्या क्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्ततनुविच्छिन्नोदाराणां 

 Ignorance (avidyā) is the part of the psychic terrain (kshetram) for the other kleshā's following (uttareshām) and they could be in one of four states of activation : 

• dormant (prasupta), 

• weakly active (tanu), 

• disconnected from being active, but temporarily (vichhina), 

• fully active (udāra)

Thus, understand the strength of each of these kleshā's, so we can deal with them appropriately, e.g. if it is :

• full-blown active such as addictive behaviors this would require major intervention, 

• disconnected such as when there is no packet of cigarettes lying around it's forgotten but just one whiff in the company of friends brings it back.

• weakened then the thought comes back but we can deal with it

• dormant then be careful to not rekindle, and eventually burn this seed to never fructify.

2.5: Anitya ashuchi dukha: anātma-su nitya shuchi sukha: ātma khyāti: avidyā

अनित्याशुचिदुःखानात्मसु नित्यशुचिसुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या  

Needs to be read in Sanskrit list-of-correspondences model.

Ignorance (avidyā) occurs in (su) the situations when the following correspondences are mis-understood (khyāti) for each other

• Not eternal (anitya) for the eternal (nitya)

• Not pure (ashuchi) for the pure (shuchi)

• Sorrow (dukha) for joy (sukha)

• Not the true self (anātma) for the true self (ātma)

Doesn't give us much of an answer at this stage. When we see the rest four, then we understand.

2.6: Drk-darshana shaktyo: ekātmatā eva asmitā

द्रुग्दर्षनशक्त्योरेकात्मतैवास्मिता 

The seer (drk) and the seen (darshana) when these two energies (shaktyo:) are as though seemingly one (ekātmatā) that is verily (eva) the self-centeredness (asmitā)

When the Buddhi of intelligence becomes  over-smart, thinks of itself as the actual seer (Purusha), this is the subtlest form of ego. It's like the filament of a light bulb thinking it's the ultimate, forgetting that it's the unseen electricity, or shakti, that empowers it.

Super-intelligent people have developed fine skills of observation and reasoning, which is fine to a point, but for conscious evolution they should not assume that this is the ultimate - for behind it lies a subtler essence.

As a reminder : having Ishwara instilled is a laudable aid to unmesh the seer from the seen, to realize how we are enmeshed in our experiences.

2.7 Sukha: anushayi rāga:

सुखानुशयी रागः

Being in a good (su) mind space (kha) follows (anushayi) craving (rāga:)

Is it possible that the sukha can be made permanent - that would be the state of ānanda or bliss.

In this case sukha is considered a klesha, hence a blockage to transcend. 

So here sukha, as such, is a temporary phenomenon - it is anitya (impermanent), not nitya (permanent) - refer Avidyā.

Like the high that comes from any kind of addictive substance.

2.8 Dukha: anushayi dvesha:

दुःखानुशयी द्वेषः 

Being in a bad (du) mind space (kha) follows (anushayi) revulsion (dvesha:)

Dukha we obviously do not want it to be permanent - that would be total depression, the dark night of the soul. This too shall pass. It is also anitya (impermanent), not nitya (permanent). 

Like the downer after we are no longer high on any addictive substance.

Recalling Samādhi Pāda 1.43, once we cleanse out our memory (Smriti) then the chitta no longer is subject to reactive memories and only has the lessons learned, of the patterns of our behaviour. Rāga and Dvesha are always opposites of each other e.g. 

• we love sweet vs detest bitterness, or 

• exercise vs massage, etc., 

so it helps us to identify one with the help of the other.

All transformation is provoked usually in Dukha, because when we are in Sukha we do not wish for change until it becomes Dukha.

2.9 Sva-rasa-vāhi vidusha: api tathā rudha: abhinivesha:

स्वरसवाही विदुषोऽपि तथारूढोऽभिनिवेशः

The Self (sva) essence (rasa) flowing (vāhi) learned person (vidusha:) also (api) in this manner (tathā) are firmly established (rudha:) having anxiety (abhinivesha).

Even the learned ones who have studied the texts are deeply attached to the continuance of a certain way of life and anything that shakes it up causes anxiety.

In an always-on digitalized world the sensory inputs that hammer us is incessant and we are unable to detach from this FOMO world - this addiction is the ultimate klesha.

On Making Subtle

2.10 Te prati-prasava heyā: sukshmā:

ते प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः सूक्ष्माः

They, these klesha's, (te) when into (prati) their source (prasava) are resolved (heya:) into subtle (sukshma:) state.

In evolution of prakriti, the klesha's go from avidyā to abhinivesha, then rāga/dvesha, and then abhinivesha.

Psychological evolution of the individual reverses that in the process of involution towards the source of klesha's. 

Here, abhinivesha resolves into rāga and dvesha, which then resolves into asmitā, which finally is abandoned into avidyā.

Thus the klesha's become subtle afflictions - how is described next.

2.11 Dhyāna heyā: tat vrittaya:

ध्यानहेयास्तद्वृत्तयः

Meditation (dhyāna) on that (tat) movement of Thought (the vritti's) - those which stem from the klesha's - resolves (heya:) 

Meditation needs a bit of explanation, since it is the subject of the whole Sutras!

Here it means to observe & contemplate on the movements of Thought while keeping the previous sutra's of the klesha's in mind :

• how they have evolved into their present condition and 

• to what extent they are reactive in the chitta.

Now the Klesha's are subtle, they can be eliminated as follows.