Asana (and pranayama) as preparation for the third stage of a yoga life. ALSO Avidya. Solace in the kalama sutra. Antharanga_Sadhana (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi).

T. Krishnamacharya

Asana (and pranayama) as preparation for the third stage of a yoga life

Yesterday I posted a page to fb from TKV Desikachar's (Krishnamacharya's eldest son) excellent book Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and practice. In this page from the book, Desikachar looked at two lesser know meanings of the word Yoga.

Yoga as 'reaching a point we have not reached before'

and

yoga as 'focused action'.

These may be a comfort next time somebody suggests our two hour focused asana practice isn't yoga. Krishnamacharya wrote of Yoga for the three stages of life (see appendix), in the first and second stage of life a lot of asana and pranayama is expected, in fact Krishnamacharya goes further and suggests we shouldn't perhaps be thinking of Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) until we reach sixty and the third stage of life.

In this second stage of life then, in our asana and pranayama practice, we can perhaps focus on the two meanings of yoga below and begin to prepare ourselves for the third stage of life to come and the practice that stage offers us?

The second stage of life may be considered preparation for the third stage, when the focus shifts to intense meditation and the study of and reflection upon Yoga Philosophy.

Srivatsa Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life Amazon

But what kind of preparation can we embark on during this second stage of a Yoga life.

T. Krishnamacharya

Krishnamacharya responded to a question that pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) along with antaranga sadhana (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) should be begun after we are sixty

see question number 32 from this post, Questions to Krishnamacharya from his students

32. Is it possible to learn pratyahara and antaranga sadhana from a teacher?

"Practices like pratyahara can be learnt from a teacher. However, this should be after the age of sixty. Until then pranayama is adequate to give healthy long life. there is no doubt about this". Krishnamacharya.

So it's our sixtieth birthday, we fish out our Patanjali and think, right, Pratyahara (sense withdrawal), Antaranga sadhana (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi)- see Ramaswami's article at the end of this post), lets begin.

But how prepared are we?

Better perhaps than many who criticise our focus on asana may think.

The two meanings of yoga that Desikachar considers could perhaps, through our asana (think one to two hours of asana with attention fixed on the breath, or internal or external drishti), develop several facilities that may be useful for the third stage.

Yoga as 'reaching a point we have not reached before' may develop...

discipline, 

commitment, 

will power, 

belief that almost anything may be possible

Yoga as 'focused action' may develop...

attention, 

focus, 

concentration, 

attention.

All of the above will no doubt be enhanced by including a pranayama practice following our practice of asana.

Pranayama is a practice, it's something we work at, the more we practice the more steady our breathing becomes, our kumbhaka's (breath retention), the number of rounds we can comfortably employ while remaining focused.

But surely we also need to think about developing skill in adapting our asana practice, skilful practice.

We need to take into consideration that this is a long term project, the asana and pranayama may be improving our health and fitness but we need to know when and how to adapt our asana practice as our body begins to age. Srivatsa Ramaswami's studied with Krishnamacharya from when he was a fifteen year old until he was nearing fifty, his asana practice with his teacher changed over that period.

Ramaswami continues to teach and practice asana and pranayama into his 70s.

Krishnamacharya himself was practicing hundreds of asana into his 80s and 90s., he even managed to practice in his hospital bed to recover from a serious hip injury

T. Krishnamacharya at 84
See this earlier picture heavy post What does practice look like after 70 years?

Over time we may drop Advanced series and most if not all the advanced asana and take a more subtle (proficient?) approach to the asana we do continue to practice, less dynamic perhaps, less floaty but more energy efficient. Our stays may be longer, our breathing slower, our drishti turned inward, finding ever new ways to refine our practice., even should we retain he frame work of the Ashtanga series we are most familiar with.

So now you're sixty, what about this pratyahara I'm supposed to start practicing?

Pratyahara is sense withdrawal, in the classic presentation we may sit in Shanmukha mudra with our fingers gently (symbolically) closing our ears, eyes, nose and lips and turn from external to internal sound, presence.

I used shanmukha mudra for the original cover of my practice book.

....and then we leave our mat, go outside and are assaulted by sights and sounds, tastes and smells, the sensual temptations of life. Krishnamacharya seems to think it gets easier once we reach sixty, I'm not convinced, this too then is a practice to work at, to prepare for.

Yama/Niyama

The guidance of the yama and niyamas might be considered training in pratyahara, in discernment, in reducing the complexities of life that we so often become entangled in, they can help to simplify our life, create some peace.

"Yoga should not be practised in a country where there is no faith in yogab- hyasa, or in a dangerous forest where you cannot look after your person, or in overcrowded cities, or in houses where there is no peace". Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda

The yamas and niyamas can help with avidya, (wrong knowledge), they can lead to developing ongoing, ever vigilant discernment.

2.5 (antiya ashuchi duhkha anatmasu nitya shuchi sukha atman khyatih avidya)

Ignorance (avidya) is of four types: 1) regarding that which is transient as eternal, 2) mistaking the impure for pure, 3) thinking that which brings misery to bring happiness, and 4) taking that which is not-self to be self.  Patanjali Yoga Sutras

The tapas of our asana and pranayama practice along with our ongoing study of and reflection upon the yama and niyamas may reduce some of our attachments to thingness, worldly things and may give us a fighting chance when, at sixty, we sit on our mat and get serious with our antaranga sadhana (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi).

Meditation limbs (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi)

And what of 'Sitting'.

It's said that our ashtanga asana practice is in itself a meditation practice, this is said of pranayama also but in both these cases something (a lot) is 'going on', the body is moving in and through space, when in asana the stay is relatively short, in pranayama we are switching perhaps from one nostril to the other, engaging bandhas, employing kumbhaka...., we're busy.

When we Sit (meditatively) we just sit, this is another discipline altogether and one to cultivate. We bring the concentration, attention, focus we have developed in our asana and pranayama practices and practice these while merely sitting. We learn to sit for ten minutes, then twenty, thirty, forty, get up, walk for ten minutes and sit again and then do it once more at midday, at dusk, before bed, clearly a discipline to begin working towards, a work in progress.

And while we sit we work on shifting and maintaining our attention for ever extended periods, and ever more refined or abstract focuses of attention, the breath, a light, a sound, later perhaps an idea, a perception, on letting go one after another of these. These later examples are the focus of our third stage of life practice but perhaps we might begin now to learn to sit, to focus on the breath, make a beginning, prepare.

The first and second stages of yoga life are long, The first stage stretches from Childhood to mid-life, 30 perhaps, the second from mid-life until around 60. We might be tempted to put off this preparation and just enjoy our asana and pranayama but these... preparations can be rewarding in themselves, reducing avidya (wrong knowledge), stating some peace of mind.

Why do all this

Whether we look to move on to the third stage of Yoga life, wish to seek liberation, moksha, nirvana, Samadhi, unification with the divine..... or not, Yoga of course can be it's own reward, see the Buddha's Four assurances/Solaces in the Kalama sutra (see appendix below).

"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.

'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.

'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.

'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him". Kalama Sutra

T. Krishnamacharya

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APPENDIX

Some extra material from old posts on some of the topics above.

1. My fb post yesterday, two alternative or complementary meanings of Yoga

2. A post from a couple of years back on Yoga for the Three Stages of Life.

3. THE KALAMA SUTRA

4. AVIDYA (wrong Knowledge)

5. On_Antharanga_Sadhana  (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi)

1. My fb post yesterday, two alternative or complementary meanings of Yoga

Yuj, the root of yoga supposedly has a hundred or so interpretations, there's the two most common, the yoke/ union meaning found in the Gita, the samadhi/converging the movements of the mind reading we find in Patanjali's Yoga sutras and these two below provided by Krishnamacharya's son TKV Desikachar in his excellent Religiousness in Yoga ( once again, don't let the title put you off, get a hold of a copy). Below then, Yoga as 'reaching a point we have not reached before' and yoga as 'focussed action'.

These may be a comfort next time somebody suggests your two hour focused asana practice isn't yoga. Krishnamacharya wrote of yoga for the three stages of life, in the first and second stage a lot of asana and pranayama is expected, in fact Krishnamacharya goes further and suggests we shouldn't perhaps be thinking of Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) until we reach sixty.

In this second stage of life then, in our asana and pranayama practice, we can perhaps focus on the two meanings of yoga below and begin to prepare ourselves for the third stage of life to come and the practice that stage offers us.

Amazon.com

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2. A post from a couple of years back on Yoga for the Three Stages of Life.

below from http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/10/ashtanga-vinyasa-and-age-yoga-for-three.html

Beatrice Addressing Dante (by William Blake) - Beatrice ( Dante's beloved) as guide in Dante's Paradiso.

In his excellent first book Ramaswami presents the three different stages of life when different approaches to yoga may be considered appropriate.

Srivatsa Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life Amazon

Amazon

Notice that in youth a focus on asana is considered appropriate. Worth bearing in mind perhaps whenever your tempted to claim that practicing asana is NOT yoga. And, if you become criticised for not exploring pranayama or meditation or dipping into yoga philosophy but rather just focusing on your asana practice then you are in fact following the program, so just smile politely.

Mid-life we may want to reign the asana practice in somewhat, throw in some pranayama, an overall practice that preserves our health and well being. We know this of course, advanced asana practice five days a week (Primary on Fridays) is likely to take it's toll on our bodies, little injuries can come up with more regularity, makes sense to reign it in a little. Of course fifty is the new forty, when does 'mid-life' begin. Also, what constitutes Advanced asana? If you've been practising asana for some time your body may well haveopened up and developed a degree of flexibility such that what many may consider an advanced posture is merely, for you, a natural progression of a more basic asana. And as we all no doubt out realise sooner or later, all asana are advanced asana, it just depends on what we bring to the posture and it's vinyasa, whether we bring out it's innateadvancenessness. Manju mentioned ( one of his world-shattering throw away lines) that all asana are mudras ( or may be considered so if approached that way).

But here's the thing, youth can apply to age but perhaps also to our stage upon our yoga path ( Jois uses the Yoga as Path metaphor, so I'm not being unnecessarily cheesy here ), when we first begin to explore Yoga then we may be considered to be youthful in regards to the practice, young in the practice as it were and so a strong asana focus may well still be appropriate. The practice of asana can form discipline, focus, attention, preliminaries perhaps for the other stages of the 'yogic life'.

That first stage can go on a long time too, from childhood to mid-life, you get to focus on asana and just asana ( actually including breathing practices) for thirty odd years perhaps before your 'required' to worry about anything else. Of course you can still dip into some good books, the shastras, explore some pranayama and some meditative practices, nothing wrong with that, in fact it may well inform your asana practice somewhat, deepen it, but your not necessarily obliged to go there (but then why wouldn't you). Focusing on your asana only, on 'just asana' is considered appropriate, it is yoga.

For me personally at fifty with many years of hard travel and labour behind me ( those odd, physically demanding, jobs  picked up while travelling and later working my way through Uni, building walls, roads, houses etc.) my body carries a lot of old nagging injuries, makes sense to reign my practice in a little. I'm more than happy with my Ashtanga Primary and 2nd series with the odd Advanced posture thrown in for seasoning (Manju's approach). Besides, less feels more.

And I relish pranayama and what a joy to look ahead to decades (with luck) of study, reflection and contemplation, the more mediative practices to accompany my beloved asana practice....

And yet, perhaps those stages ebb and flow, I was feeling I was in a mid-life stage of practice and yet, just recently, there's been a freshness to my asana practice as if that mid-life stage is feeding back into the more youthful stage, revitalising it.... perhaps the stages don't follow each other but are layered one on top of the other, nutrients filtering down, revitalising, giving new growth....

Notes: 

Of course 'Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya' was actually written by Krishnamacharya who clearly retained a profound love of asana pretty much to the day he died (aged 100), but then he also had a great love of study and pranayama from an early age. And do we really need anyjustification for our asana practice.

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3. THE KALAMA SUTRA

The Kalama sutra, my favourite Buddhist sutra obviously, for the spirit of self enquiry but also for the four assurances which perhaps makes one think of Pascal's wager. 

The Four Assurances 

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and now.

'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.

'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.

'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.

'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.

The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found."

I'm not sure the voices work here so you might want to just look at the pretty pictures and read it here http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html

The Kalama sutra reminds me to of yoga sutra 1.7

(pratyaksha anumana agamah pramanani)

"Of these five, there are three ways of gaining correct knowledge (pramana): 1) perception, 2) inference, and 3) testimony or verbal communication from others who have knowledge".

The suggestion seems to be that both 2. Inference and 3. testimony still have to stand the test of 1. Our own perception (experience).

If the voices get two much you can turn the sound off, enjoy the illustrations and read the sutra itself.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html

4. AVIDYA (wrong Knowledge)

An argument for a constant, consistent, unflinching practice (asana, pranayama, ongoing reflection on yama/niyama,dhyana)..

Re reading TKV Desikachar's Religiousness in Yoga (don't let the title put you off) on the long ride to and from work, quite wonderful. This on Avidya (wrong knowledge) from p35
http://www.amazon.com/Religiousness-Yoga-Lectures-Theory-Practice/dp/0819109673

and from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-20109.htm#2.5)

2.5 Ignorance (avidya) is of four types: 1) regarding that which is transient as eternal, 2) mistaking the impure for pure, 3) thinking that which brings misery to bring happiness, and 4) taking that which is not-self to be self.
(antiya ashuchi duhkha anatmasu nitya shuchi sukha atman khyatih avidya)
antiya = non-eternal, impermanent, ephemeral
ashuchi = impure
duhkha = misery, painful, sorrowful, suffering
anatmasu = non-self, non-atman
nitya = eternal, everlasting
shuchi = pure
sukha = happiness, pleasurable, pleasant
atman = Self, soul
khyatih = taking to be, supposing to be, seeing as if
avidya = spiritual forgetting, ignorance, veiling, nescience

5. On_Antharanga_Sadhana

http://www.yogastudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Ramaswami_22_On_Antharanga_Sadhana.pdf