Yoga Oasis

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Sadhana Pada
Kriya yoga-the path of action
All of suffering is due to the five afflictions of the mind called by Patanjali the 5 Kleshas:

1. Ignorance-avidya
2. Egoism-asmita
3. Attachment-raga
4. Aversion-dvesa
5. Fear of death-abhinivesa

Avidya-mistaking the transient for the permanent, The impure for the pure, and mistaking the pleasures of the world for the bliss of merging with the pure spirit, forgetting the true yoga

Asmita-Identification with the self, the body and the Problems that come with it. Creating ownership and fear of its loss, Identifying with pain and adopting it as the true self.

Raga-Encouraging and gratifying pleasures. We are Attached to what we love because we fear its loss. When we live for the senses we will never be satisfied because the spirit wants union with the divine

Dvesa-When our desires are not fulfilled we get frustrated and sad which turns to alienation and hate.

Abhinivesa-fear of death. When we fear death we stop living life because we live in fear of everything that could cause death. We may live with misery of the concepts of aging and disease.

Kriya yoga is the yogic path of action. This path has three tiers. Tapas, svadhyaya and ishvara pranidhana.

Tapas- The burning desire that creates intense and consistent effort applied to the daily practice of yoga.

Svadhyaya-The study of scriptures to gather knowledge and to practice the knowledge of moral and spiritual values. The study of ones owns self, from the outer to the inner, from the gross to the subtle.

Ishvara Pranidhana-Faith in God. Having the ability to know the infinite thus creating humility. Acknowledging God in all things beyond the duality of good & bad, right & wrong.

When the three aspects of Kriya Yoga are followed with zeal and earnestness, life’s sufferings are overcome and samadhi, true freedom, is experienced.

The practice of asana brings intelligence to the cellular body through stretching and to the physiological body by maintaining the pose.

Once awakened, intelligence can reveal its dynamic aspect, its ability to discriminate. Then we strive for equal extensions to achieve a balanced, stable pose, measuring upper arm stretch to lower, right against the left, the inner against the outer, and so on. This precise, thorough process of measuring and discriminating is the apprenticeship or the culturing of intelligence. This is pursued in the internal layers of self by the practice of pranayama, pratyahara and the further stages of yoga.

We can thus see that discrimination is a weighing process belonging to the world of duality. When the wrong is discarded what is left must be correct. Spiritual intelligence dawns only when discrimination ends. Wisdom does not function in duality, it perceives only oneness. It does not discard the wrong, it sees only the right. Patanjali calls this exalted intelligence.

Vivekaja Jnanam Sutras

Spiritual wisdom does not decide.
It knows.
It is beyond time.

However, through the progressive refinement of intelligence the essential discovery is necessary to learn to not repeat the patterns of the mind again. This discriminating intellect should be used to diffuse the negative impact of memory, which has the ability to link us in psychological time to the world of sensory pleasure and pain.
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Mind Over Matter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdEl8OlQlLc