The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali -- Book One: On Samadhi
(a rendering in the spirit of a mother caring for her sick child)
translation: JW
1. this is the explanation of yoga:
2. yoga is the practice of the cessation of the mind's proliferation* --
3. only then the witness constellates from within
true,
4. if not-- all conform as proliferations
5. the mind proliferates-- in five ways, from which follows all that is painful and non-painful
6. these forms of proliferation are called: apprehending, error-making, conceptualizing, deep sleep, and remembering
7. apprehending has three aspects: the perception of objects, the inferring objects, and the objects revealed
8. error is the misperceiving of an object, apprehending it to be-- what it is not
9. conceptualizing is the identification through words of objects not in hand
10. deep sleep is the proliferation of non-differentiating
11.remembering is the apprehending of previous experiences not available to a perception-at-hand
12. the cessation of the mind's proliferation is the result of detachment
13. this requires a sustained & bold effort in the practice of detachment
14. constantly performed in the right way for a long time, this practice becomes skillful-rooted
15. detachment is the mind's surrender of desire for objects it has perceived or heard-- also known as dispassion
16. detachment becomes supreme detachment in the transcendence of the gunas, and thus achieved, is
the knowing of purusha
17. detachment-practice becomes a knowing-practice; there are four objects of this knowing-practice, from gross to subtle: ego (knowing), concept (knowing), between concept & concept (knowing between), and bliss (knowing)
18. this knowing-practice is the cessation of proliferation or the mind's surrender--
although there are proliferations that remain dormant--
19. alas, it is the nature of the world, even in the most subtle realms, for that which is dormant to be reborn
20. in the face of rebirth-- there is always & everywhere, the need for the practices of faith, devotion, recollection, concentration, and understanding
21. where there is this practice, and never giving up, the mind's surrender is always near
22. how near? differences in intensity of practice determine this
23. take the example of those who surrender to Ishvara-- look to their wholehearted surrender:
24. Ishvara, god of gods, is the pure reflection of the purusha, who is untouched by any karma, untouched by any of its fruit, beyond any fault, and beyond anything dormant
25. Ishvara is the seed of the all-knowing; Ishvara is incomparable
26. timeless-- Ishvara is the teacher of all the ancient teachers
27. the sacred word that reflects Ishvara is the pranava, or
om
28. meditating on om rings the ancient purpose
29. like this-- an inward purpose is cultivated, and any disturbances to practice give way
30. and what are these disturbances? sickness, apathy, doubt, heedlessness, sloth, indulgence, false opinion, delusion, defeatism, and restlessness-- all arising from the mind's dormant proliferations
31.and how are these disturbances felt? sadness, depression, and anxiety-- all of which cause the breath to be heavy with difficult memories
32. and what is the antidote to this heaviness in the breath? bringing to the fore of one's mind, a gentle practice of singular calming principle, as follows:
33. calming the mind, by radiating to all, a heartfelt disposition of goodwill, compassion, joy, and equanimity, whether they are happy or sad, whether they are good or evil
34. calming of the mind, by mindfulness on breathing, attentive to the inhalation, attentive to the between, attentive to the exhalation
35. calming of the mind, by observing the arising (& passing away) of phenomena in the mind, relative to what is gentle, holding steady
36. calming of the mind, by withdrawing from sorrows, and lifting the heart into the luminous
37. calming of the mind, by withdrawing from the object of desire, and letting the mind abide in this
38. calming of the mind, by insight into the dream, by insight into the (deep) sleep, by insight into that which is beyond
39. calming of the mind, by gently settling into any object that one is attuned
40. supreme skill in this calming is seen in those who are able (in the here & now) to illumine the mind, gently settling into any object, whether it be a vast world or a tiny random thing
41. and, finally, when the mind's proliferations are calmed & stilled-- there emerging-- a jewel-like quality, where altogether, the apprehender, the apprehending, and the apprehended, are seen through… and the mind is saturated in
the luminous, letting the surrender--
this is the knowing as absorption-surrender practice
42. this absorption-surrender practice oscillates in a dual phase: first, an absorption intermingled with thought, where a subtle conceptual knowing has sway, expressed in ever more gentle words & ever more gentle meaning
43. and second, an absorption, clear of thought, cleared of mind’s proliferations, empty of all meaning, where sways only the luminous
44. these two phases of absorption-surrender practice can be described, respectively, as reflective-absorption, and reflective-free absorption; both phases oscillate through the gentle subtle--
45. this is the surrender practice of the subtle-beyond-subtle: the a-linga
46. only through this practice is the samadhi-seed sprouted
47. and mind is purified, revealing
Self,
(or the cessation in the calm beyond calm)
48. truth born of that— knowing
49. different from apprehension of the inference of objects, perception of objects, or revelation of objects, because this knowing-practice is cultivated in
a-linga
50. this is skillful practice, rooted in the knowing-- quenching the proliferations born and reborn
51. and when these dormant proliferations cease, then all the proliferations of the mind stops-
the cessation achieved:
the fully grown seedless samadhi
*papanca-- a corresponding pali Buddhist term