What this yoga malarky is really all about (?)
"This state of direct perception is variously described as aparoksha or seeing without other's eyes (or directly) or yougika pratyaksha or seeing directly through yogic means".
Loved this fb update from Ramaswami so much that I wanted to share it right away with anyone who isn't in one of Ramaswami's fb Vinyasa Krama groups or a friend of his on fb.
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| http://www.winterstone.com/images/lpwinters/contemplation.jpg |
When I study subjects like Yoga sutras, Upanishads or other adhyatmika darshanas preferably under a teacher, word by word and thoroughly, the knowledge I get is Agama pragnya or textual or may also be termed as paroksha or indirect knowledge.. para means other aksha would be eye, or seeing through some one else's eyes. Then I sit down, contemplate deeply, try to find satisfactory answers to the doubts that arise in my mind and also doubts raised by other thought processes . After deep contemplation I am convinced that what the particular viewpoint is indeed the Truth. That state of my mind is known as anumana or inference. When once I am convinced that I have understood the subject correctly and the philosophy itself is absolutely convincing, I proceed to the next stage of direct experience. By following the procedures of deep meditation I develop an unwavering concentration ( samadhi) and with that acquired capability I contemplate on the Truth about myself and am able to see it in my mind's eye, exactly as I read in the text and contemplated . I have nothing else to do. This state of direct perception is variously described as aparoksha or seeing without other's eyes (or directly) or yougika pratyaksha or seeing directly through yogic means. We experience external objects directly with the senses and that is called pratyaksha or direct perception. Seeing directly in the mind's eye the true nature of one's own self is called Yougika-pratyaksha or yogic direct perception.
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Guess I'm at Agama pragnya on this, need to sit down and do the work towards anumana...
2 comments:
See, this is the whole ball game right here. I can study my Heidegger and his devastation of Cartesian dualism in his phenomenal 'Concept of the History of Time' say, but as soon as I put the book down and take off my philosophers Easter bonnet there I am back in a world which I can't seem to help but experience as dual, the self, subjectivity, comes flooding back. So how to get from an intellectual understanding to profound knowledge.
"By following the procedures of deep meditation I develop an unwavering concentration ( samadhi) and with that acquired capability I contemplate on the Truth about myself and am able to see it in my mind's eye, exactly as I read in the text and contemplated . I have nothing else to do."
which reminds me of Ramaswami's alternative explanation of the meaning of the word Yoga in Yoga for the three stages of life
"... yoga can also be derived from the root yuja and mean samadhi or samadhana, "to put in place perfectly".... Thus yoga by this definition, would mean putting all mental energies in place, or harnessing mental energies without any dissipation. This definition is different from the earlier derivation of the word yoga from the root yujir, meaning "unity" (yujir yoga).
Based on this interpretation the yoga of Patanjali is a system of practices that lead to the total harnessing of mental energy without any dissipation whatsoever (nirodha "completely contained") One can note that it is not unity with a higher principle that is aimed for in this form of yoga, but rather the removal of all the distractions of the mind.... One system talks of unity the other of freedom"
Yoga for the Three stages of Life.
Chapter III, What is yoga. p34-35
Srivatsa Ramaswami
Me too. Need to do the work on contemplation. Reading, even practicing, comes together in the silence. I loved the update by Ramaswami too. Good idea to make it a post on its own.
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