Unpacking Patañjali: Sutras 1.33 for Beginners

To unpack the full scope of meaning behind any of the 196 Sutras (197 depending on translations) written almost 2,000 years ago is laughable. We always hear, “yoga is experiential” for a reason. Every serious practitioner knows whatever commentary we attempt on any aspect of yoga is in direct proportion to our personal experience. What I write here are my interpretations as I understand them at this point in my journey.

If you are an IYNAUS Member, I highly recommend Yoga Sutra sessions "Learning the Yoga Sutras with Clarity and Rigour" at RIMYI, Pune. It is conducted by Srineet Sridharan with insights from Prashant Iyengar (BKS Iyengar’s son) for students of the Institute. Srineet Sridharan is BKS Iyengar’s grandson. His lessons, coupled with insights from Prashant make for an extraordinary course.

BKS Iyengar in Light On Life explains that our thoughts and consciousness are part of every aspect of our life. When we understand their inner workings and apply right perception, the clarity and wisdom that results open us to mental and psychological freedom. In the yoga world, there are five sheaths of the body known as Kosas. Most of the “monkey mind” happens in the manomaya kosa or mental body, and the discriminating wisdom can be found in the vijnanamay kosa, the intellectual body.

BKS Iyengar lessons, as I understand them, bring awareness to the inner workings of our mind by exploring the 8-limbed path of yoga as guided by the Sutras of Patañjali through each kosa of the body. I believe he felt we can not understand or harmonize our mind stuff without synthesis and integration of the kosas in our body. Sutras 1.30-1.32 outline the nine obstacles and other distractions that cause turbulence within us. Sutras 1.33 - 1.39 offer six different possible solutions. The first of these solutions is cultivating compassion, joy, and friendliness and is translated by BKS Iyengar as follows:

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ।।1.33।। maitrīkaruṇāmuditopekṣāṇāṃ sukhaduḥkhapuṇyāpuṇyaviṣayāṇāṃ bhāvanātaścittaprasādanam Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favourably disposed, serene and benevolent.

Mr. Iyengar likens our thoughts and consciousness, citta viksepa and citta prasadana to two aspects of a river: the current and the calm. The ideas behind Sutra 1.33 cultivate calm within us as well as within our social networks. The Sutra paired with the golden keys (the external and internal ethical disciplines) described in the first and second limb of the 8-limbed path, Yama and Niyama create serenity in the manmaya kosa or mental body.

My experience with this Sutra coupled with and Niyama is that I realized from a basic level, I could apply it to others much better than I could apply it to myself. Therefore, it felt like a false application that came from a desire to please rather than a place of wholeness and integration. I wasn’t indifferent. I practiced with attachment. Prashant in his insights to Srineet Sridharan’s course on the Sutra mentions the Sukha or sweetness for being compassionate to others and how that interferes with our honest practice of it. We can also help others to our detriment. If we are ill or not truly capable then it is not a healthy or right action.

I knew I didn’t experience a sthiti, steady mind with its practice. I had conditions. I had a desire to be loved or accepted. My mentor, Kquvien DeWeese mentioned that I may over function. I knew it felt exhausting. I did too much and helped dishonestly, which made my practice impure. I recall putting away props for students in the Yoga Therapy classes at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune and a Senior instructor saying, “They should return their own props.” I remember Stillwater owner, Kathleen Pringle telling me the same thing in her Yoga Therapy classes in Atlanta. Students need to participate in their healing. What I considered being compassionate in this case, wasn’t.

At the institute that year, I had the honor of taking classes with Geeta Iyengar, who put a strong emphasis on commitment to our personal practice. If we are always being told what to do and how to do it, how can we hear the lessons of our soul? The deeper our practice becomes, the better we can share from a place of true understanding. Yes, our teachers are invaluable, but taking time to embody those lessons is vital to the path.

The Iyengar Method of teaching Yoga has a way of shedding light to the core of your being. I studied another method consistently for 10 years, and have been a dedicated practitioner of Iyengar for almost a decade. It takes time to slough off old habits and embody its teachings. Growing up with a parent with narcissistic tendencies, and the “jump, how high” mentality of the dance world for 23 years, my whole point of being centered around pleasing others to avoid the pain of disapproval and criticism.

I had to take time away from the voices of others so I could experience the voice within me. I got in the car and drove cross country by myself. Practicing in the woods, by rivers, in housesits, and on the sides of mountains. I began to listen. On the outside I could make the shapes of poses and appear to the novice to be aligned, but I wasn’t aligned with my inner teacher. I began with very basic asana and pranayama practice. I examined my habits, the parts of my body that I could perceive, and those areas that were dark to me.

Where did I lack compassion, joy, and friendliness? Where did I habitually think and move through a pose? What did I ignore and avoid? How did the pain/pleasure and vice/virtue dualities interfere with my repose and sthiti or steadiness? Was I already overdoing? Over thinking? How well could I adhere to the ‘twin pillers’ of abhyasa and vairagya (practice and detachment) and allow a desireless but present state to foster compassion, joy, and friendliness within me and out of me towards my external network with more authenticity?

When I started making training videos for students, I got some answers to my questions in the form of more lessons I didn’t anticipate. I had to watch and accept myself, along with my teaching, while continuing to refine with detachment, growing intelligence, and wisdom. I began to understand Sutra 1.33 and its companion limbs in a way I never expected. I took the time to pause in whatever pain, discomfort, lack of joy, compassion, and friendliness I encountered to wait for truth to come.

On the mat and off, it is an ongoing process. The deeper I go into my obstacles, the more they teach me how to overcome them. I am witnessing healing. A balance of truth is developing. I’m noticing a significant shift and purification in my behavior towards myself and others. I’ve got a long way to go, but grateful I have a path and teachers further along willing to share their understanding of it.

The Atlanta Premier of "Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student's Journey "

Considered the Michelangelo of yoga, BKS Iyengar’s own body became the block of stone from which he created his work of art. What Michelangelo called divine perfection, could be considered the same as what BKS Iyengar called cosmic consciousness. Having the presence of mind, the determination, and courage to trust its guidance leads to the transformation of stone into art.

Anyone who is born with an affliction, endured stiffness, disease or injury, or experienced aging knows the feeling of stone within the body.

BKS Iyengar felt it early in life. On December 14, 1918, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar came into this world and tumbled into a storm of viruses from the influenza pandemic to malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition. At 15 his uncle, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya took him into his care to train him in the art, science, and philosophy of yoga. The training didn’t come consistently until BKS proved himself a worthy student. Many would consider Krishnamacharya’s tactics unsuitable for a child of Iyengar’s age. However, Mr. Iyengar says though he only trained consistently with his guru for two years, that period turned his life around.

In this writer’s mind, in those two years, Krishnamacharya’s mastery lit the internal flame within BKS Iyengar that illuminated his connection to cosmic consciousness. From that day forward, he strengthened that connection by witnessing its presence in every sinew of his being and thoroughly examining the relationship of his mind to every sheath of his body through abhyāsa, practice and vairāgya. detachment.

What BKS Iyengar created when he chiseled, carved, and hammered with the divine guidance of cosmic consciousness is the true art, science and philosophy behind Iyengar Yoga. His journey as depicted in the documentary by Jake Clennell and executive producer and senior Iyengar teacher Lindsey Clennell celebrates the expansion and extension that came from his body of work. Stillwater Yoga owner, Kathleen Pringle hosted the Atlanta Premier. The documentary offers a glimpse into infinite space BKS Iyengar dared to embark from the periphery to the core of not only his own being, but that of millions around the world. It shows how he surrendered to the task with grace and gratitude, knowing his efforts would be endless and daunting because of his indelible belief in the transformation that is available to us all. The masterpiece he created continues to evolve through his devoted students and teachers. The documentary gives us a peek into how they continue to benefit, share, and honor his work. I encourage you to attend the premier of Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student's Journey in your city, who knows it might ignite the artist in you.

Integrity & Iyengar Yoga: A place to begin.

Leaky energy leads to lack of integrity, which I believe comes from ignorance of our highest self.

We are human, but consider the idea that we have a divine spirit in the confinement of this human form that can teach us how to navigate the earth plane with more integrity. Integrity is hard to uphold regardless of spiritual path, age, gender, race or status.

Some people adhere to strict religious dogma or other rigid authority to keep them in line. But relying on someone else to tell us how to behave has its pitfalls eventually. We want to build an internal sense of integrity.

I believe Iyengar Yoga can help us with that, here’s why: The Iyengar Method teaches you to rely on your inner teacher. Imagine for a moment learning to hear a voice that is the highest part of yourself to show you how to move in the world? The Iyengar Method is a systematic and synchronistic way to connect to that divine part of yourself.

The Method follows an 8-limbed path that does have guidelines. It encourages you to study the 196 (or 197) Sutra’s written by the Sage Patañjali to ponder over and over along the way —until you have a visceral understanding of why this over-5000-year-old-proven path has the ability to expedite your evolution. Ultimately, it eliminates the need for rules because you get to a place where you see they are a part of you instead of something outside of you.

The Iyengar Method also requires that you begin your practice by taking classes with a Certified Iyengar Instructor. The Iyengar Method of teaching yoga takes you from the ‘periphery to the core’ and then ‘the core to periphery’ and back again, bringing awareness to every fiber of your being: your arms and legs, your muscles and bones, your bodily systems, your trillions of cells, your breath, and your life-force energy. 

From awareness, you move to alignment. From alignment, you move to clarity. From clarity, you move to wisdom. All along the way you refine and evolve until you get to the essence of your divinity. That’s the part of you that innately knows how to behave in the universe.

Once you get a glimpse of your highest most authentic self, you sense freedom there like you’ve never known before -freedom from your base desires and more. Eventually, you connect right action with that sense of freedom, which seals the leaks in your energy, and keeps you centered in integrity, so your evolution can accelerate forward and upward.

Namaste.

By Rhonda Geraci, Iyengar practitioner, Certified Iyengar Instructor & freelance writer

Yoga is an art, science, and philosophy, the Iyengar Method helps you:

Life has never been easy. The human predicament has not changed since the beginning of time, which is why the 196 (195 depending on certain texts) Sutras of Patañjali are as relevant today as they have been for over 5,000 years. Astrologically, we are facing a very rare conjunction this week that will not happen again in our lifetime.

Some of us will be affected more than others by the conjunction of Uranus/Mars in Aries (a Mars ruled sign). Uranus is unexpected surprises, events, or breakthroughs and Mars is the planet of action, energetic shifts, or accidents. The news may illicit FEAR, because we question our ability to handle the unexpected. How prepared are we?

Yoga is more than a physical practice that gets our body in shape. It prepares us to face all that life brings. It helps us discover our authentic self, purify it, and strengthen all it’s powers. BKS Iyengar spent innumerable hours practicing, experimenting, and discovering ways to teach students in all stages of health, fitness, and wellbeing regardless of age, gender, height, weight, color or belief into a profound understanding of themselves and the world around them.

In life, nothing happens in a vacuum. It happens with interdependent mathematical virtuosity which catalyzes a myriad of actions and reactions, causing gravity and anti-gravity, matter and anti-matter, bright stars, black holes, and solar flares. It churns our energy until we remember face everything and rise to resonate on the non-dualistic harmonic state of love. I believe the Iyengar Method can wake up our collective memory faster and foster habits that will align us to evolve in a more positive direction.

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