How has your practice been lately?
What does practice mean to you? Do you struggle to have a daily routine, or are you able to enthusiastically approach your regular time with yourself? Perhaps you haven’t been practicing these days. And what is practice anyway?
What does it mean to practice and why do we do it, or at least feel like we “should” be doing it?
These are some questions related to Patanjali’s sutras 1:12- 1:16 on practice and decolorizing the mind.
According to Patanjali, the primary goal of abhyasa, ardent practice, is to steady
and focus the mind by reducing the churning of the mind, or the vrittis, and dispel
ignorance.
Jaganath Carrera puts it simply; “Effort towards steadiness is practice.”
The idea presented with this ardent effort is to routinely approach it with enthusiasm to explore the deeper layers of the self to identify the obstacles that
occupy the vrittis.
Carrera clarifies this point, “Daily life is the stage upon which vrittis perform their dance. Therefore our lives – every act – should reflect a clear and steady mind.”
However, getting to the point that we are even clear enough to start our practice and maintain it can be tricky. There are so many distractions. All the external stimulation that pull us away from our inner awareness are never ending. And then, if we can get ourselves to settle down enough to begin a practice, we usually find that the internal chitter chatter or vrittis is compelling the
mind to follow into a myriad of habitual patterns or samskaric rabbit holes.
But if we can find an inkling of quiet, this can help lead us further into quiet and further
into connecting with the deeper layers of ourselves, which is the point of abhyasa,
or effort towards steadiness in practice.
But how do I get there?
Pandit Rajmani Tigunait encourages us to seek the relationship of the breath with
the mind to find this quiet state to build upon. “When the mind is calm and clear,
the breath flows smoothly. Conversely, when the breath flows smoothly, the mind
calms and clears……By using yogic tools and means, we remind the mind and the
breath of their loving and mutually supportive bond.”
With this bond Rajmani
explains that, “as time passes, this peaceful flow (between the breath and the mind)
creates peaceful habits.” In this way we are able to be steady in our practice which
allows us to bring that steadiness and peaceful flow of mind into all the
experiences of our lives.
Patanjali emphasizes that to maintain this steadiness towards a calm and peaceful
mind, we must put effort into a practice that is “done for a long period of time,
with no interruption, and with reverence. Our practice becomes firm only when we
do it, and only a firm practice can guarantee that we will conquer the mind’s
roaming tendencies. It demands that we offer ourselves in service of our practice.
This includes creating an inspiring environment, cleansing the body, relaxing the nervous system, calming the mind, sitting in a comfortable posture, and renewing our intention to practice abhyasa (2).”
Some days we may not feel as inspired to be with ourselves in intentional practice,
but mindful repetition, even to notice and move through our resistance to practice,
is encouraged to attain the benefits of progress over time. Becoming habitual about
practice produces eventual results of clarity and steadiness which further
encourages us to continue to practice.
The process is not a straight line and demands unwavering devotion. Through the skill of pratyahara, softening the
senses and svadhyaya, self-reflection, we can learn to adapt the practice each day
to what we need and what works for our time and space.
Yoga offers the many
tools of asana, pranayama, mudra, mantra, meditation and ritual for us to help
ourselves come into balance.
Cultivating trust, perseverance, moderation and faith
are all part of the process. Just like with anything we dedicate ourselves to the
more we put into it, the more we get out of it.
Patanjali’s sutra 1:21 reminds us of this in TKV Desikachar’s translation “the more intense the faith and effort, the
closer the goal.”
Kriya yoga provides the formula for approaching this practice. Through the
continual process of applying effort (tapas), continually reevaluating the effects of
the practice (svadhyaya), and connecting with a greater purpose than oneself
(isvara pranidhana), the practitioner can gain viveka, discriminative discernment,
along with a steady focused mind.
Rajmani Tingunait encapsulates this process in a
simple and beautiful way, “With ardent effort, it is possible to discover a moment
when the mind is moving peacefully inward. Identifying that moment and
extending its scope is the essence of abhyasa (ardent practice).”
This is the juiciness of the process that keeps curiosity and enthusiasm for self-transformation alive in our practice.
But focusing on practice alone has its pitfalls. We can become attached to the
outcome of our practice or become too identified with our practice as defining our
spiritual worth, or have an inflated ego that we are spiritually higher than others, or any other distorted perception of the truth. That is where vairagya comes in.
Carrera defines it this way: “Vairagya literally means ‘without color.’ It is the ability to keep distortions of selfish motives and intents out of every relationship, action, and process of learning.”
This brings us back to the study of our samskaras,
or habitual conditioning.
What impressions are ‘coloring’ our experiences?
The deeper the groove that we have made from habit, the stronger that influence is on our experiences, and the more tainted view we have of our circumstances.
Vairagya
is the process of decolorizing the mind so that we can see more clearly without the
tint of our conditioning that veils the truth.
Without vairagya, our ardent practice can get distorted by the strong external and internal influences that pull us away from a steady, peaceful, and discerning mind.
Tingunait further explains the power of cultivating awareness and discernment in our practice; “The truth pertaining to our inner self reflects in the mind in its purity and fullness. This clear and complete
understanding of reality is the highest state of vairagya.”
Vairagya is seen as both the contemplative state that leads to clarity and the clarity that results from this contemplative process. Through awareness gained from self-
reflection (svadhyaya) we can keep our practice from becoming mechanical, or
self-inflating or having attachment to the fruits of our practice.
Nischala Joy Devi
has a beautiful analogy to describe the relationship between abhyasa and vairagya.
“Think of abhyasa and vairagya as “two wings of the same bird. They are
companions in play as they flap in unison enabling the bird to fly: when they are
seemingly still the bird glides. This complimentary movement allows the bird to
fly with grace and ease. In order to soar, the bird needs both wings to flap to the
same rhythm. When in balance, both wings are strengthened. Whatever challenges
are encountered, with abhyasa and vairagya, we embody the skill and assurance to
ride the currents.”
As we become more and more attuned to maintaining balance in our practice, and we no longer even ask ourselves if we should practice but it has become a way of life, then we are likely to be steady enough to overcome even the natural forces of nature, the gunas.
Rajas (overactivity), tamas (underactivity), and sattvas (balance), are always in play. If we are unstable and susceptible to external and internal pulls then we identify with the gunas and ride the roller coaster of this constant change.
Nischala Joy Devi describes the inevitable “tainting” of our perception from
habitual grooves as “the clear light within becoming prismatic, showering a
rainbow of colors on the mind and emotions.”
However with abhyasa and
vairagya in balance, Devi’s translation of Patanjali’s sutra 1:16 describes the
ultimate vairagya as the ability to “transcend the constant movement that inhibits
us from reuniting with our essential nature. With continuous yoga practice, the
body, mind and emotions are able to narrow the edges of tamas (inertia) and rajas
(hyperactivity). With this limiting (of the influence of tamas and rajas), sattva
(balance) is revealed and the deeper practices begin to divulge their transformational effect.”
So I ask again, how has your practice been lately?
What do you need right now to
maintain balance?
Are you practicing svadhyaya (self-reflection) in your practice?
Or has practice become a mechanical?
Do you have attachments or conditions that come with your practice? (If I just do this harder, stronger I will get better.)
How do you carry your practice into your daily life?
How do you feel when you don’t practice? Do you keep a steady flow of consistency in practice, over an extended
period of time with open curiosity?
What of the tools of yoga help balance you the most at this time?
How do you stay motivated?
Is there an essence of divine that you connect to in your practice, in your daily life?
Where and when do you
practice? What was this last week of practice like for you?
Even if you have not
been actively practicing now, then how does that effect you and how is it different
from times when you have been in steady practice routines?
How would you like
to change this?
These questions are for you in your quiet self-reflection.
Perhaps you may want to write down some answers in a journal. Practice can take on many forms according to your needs. It does not have to look like 108 sun salutations every day or an hour in deep meditation. But it does involve effort towards steadiness of
mind so that you can be in tune with your conditionings that don’t serve you and be
able to work in your practice towards positive transformation.
This beautiful gift
that Yoga offers us can bring us more clarity in our ability to discern what is good
for us and what we do not need. It offers a way to stay in tune with these needs so
that we can live our lives fully, knowing our truth with contentment deep within so
that we can live with kindness and compassion for ourselves and all beings.
Resources
1. Carrera, Jaganath Reverend; Inside the Yoga Sutras
2. Tigunait, Pandit Rajmani; The Secret of the Yoga Sutras
3. Devi, Nischala Joy: The Secret Power of Yoga
4. Desikachar, TKV; The Heart of Yoga
