PHILOSOPHY/THEOSOPHY T The purpose of this book is to bring together in a convenient and HE coherent form the many HERMES articles written by Prof. Iyer that dealt with this subject. In truth, meditation and self-study represent two HE OGA UTRAS T Y S sides of one human activity, something analogous to the operation of Y the systolic and diastolic movements of the human heart. The one is the OGA centrifugal movement of consciousness expanding to Universals beyond OF PATANJALI the limits of Self; the other is the centripetal movement focusing with laser-like precision upon the particulars within the limits of Self. They S represent roughly the sub-principles of Buddhi and Manas acting within the incarnated Manasic principle; for the spiritual aspirant they should U – in time - become as natural as breathing in and breathing out. These tr two aspects of the inbreathing and outbreathing within the neophyte’s consciousness are dealt with in the three treatises of The Voice of the A Silence, as well as in Prof. Iyer’s seminal article, Meditation and Self-Study. S Alas, most of us find this existential balance to be elusive, as there are OF many obstacles to such a natural and easy relationship to meditation and self-study, obstacles that have been self-created and reinforced over many P lifetimes of misdirected thought and attempts to short-circuit what is unavoidable in the spiritual path: the careful and painstaking unwinding of A the coils of self-induced delusions. These obstacles are detailed in the Yoga T ANJAL Sutras with surprising brevity and familiarity, suggesting to the perceptive reader that the author had so thoroughly studied and mastered the subject that he is able to reduce the issues to their fewest essential elements. I Shri Raghavan Iyer earned first-class honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, a doctorate in Philosophy, and then was R selected to be an Oxford Don in philosophy and politics. He lectured AGHAVAN throughout Europe and also in Africa, and his extensive writings have been published by Oxford University Press and Concord Grove Press. By I YE RAGHAVAN IYER R T COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF Theosophy Trust T THEOSOPHY TRUST T Books www.theosophytrust.org T Other Theosophy Trust Books Meditation and Self-Study by Raghavan Iyer compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust The Origins of Self-Consciousness in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust Wisdom in Action Essays on the Spiritual Life by Raghavan Iyer The Dawning of Wisdom Essays on Walking the Path by Raghavan Iyer Teachers of the Eternal Doctrine From Tsong-Ka-Pa to Nostradamus by Elton Hall Symbols of the Eternal Doctrine From Shamballa to Paradise by Helen Valborg The Key to Theosophy An Exposition of the Ethics, Science, and Philosophy by H. P. Blavatsky Evolution and Intelligent Design in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI by Raghavan Iyer Compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust Theosophy Trust Books Washington, D.C. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Copyright © November 17, 2011 by Theosophy Trust All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means -graphic, electronic, or mechanical - including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Theosophy Trust books may be ordered through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and other booksellers, or by visiting: http://www.theosophytrust.org/online_books.php ISBN 978-0-9832220-7-1 ISBN 098322207X Library of Congress Control Number: 2011943515 Printed in the United States of America Dedicated To All Those Who Have Tried to Learn Meditation and the Practice of Self-Study, and Even More, Those Who Have Tried and Failed May This Work Help Them Succeed KRISHNA "He who has attained to meditation should constantly strive to stay at rest in the Supreme, remaining in solitude and seclusion, having his body and his thoughts under control, without possessions and free from hope. He should in an undefiled spot place his seat, firm, neither too high nor too low, and made of kusa grass which is covered with a skin and a cloth. There, for the self's purification he should practice meditation with his mind fixed on one point, the modifications of the thinking principle controlled and the action of the senses and organs restrained. Keeping his body, head, and neck firm and erect, with mind determined, and gaze directed to the tip of his nose without looking in any direction, with heart at peace and free from fear, the Yogee should remain, settled in the vow of a Brahmacharya, his thoughts controlled, and heart fixed on me. The devotee of controlled mind who thus always bringeth his heart to rest in the Supreme reacheth that tranquility, the supreme assimilation with me." The Bhagavad-Gita, Ch. VI . CONTENts INTRODUCTION . xi PATANJALI AND THE YOGA SUTRAS . 1 THE SIX DHARSHANAS . 9 THE SANKHYA DARSHANA. 23 THE YOGA SUTRA. 31 YOGA SUTRAS – Book I: Samadhi PADA . 39 SAMADHI PADA . 46 YOGA SUTRAS – BOOK II: Sadhana PADA . 58 Sadhana PADA. 66 YOGA SUTRAS – BOOK III: Vibhuti PADA . 77 Vibhuti PADA. 86 YOGA SUTRAS - BOOK IV: KAIVALYA PADA . 99 KAIVALYA PADA. 105 MEDITATION AND SELF-STUDY. 115 GLOSSARY. 133 INDEX . 193 ix INTRODUCTION When Professor Iyer spoke to theosophical students of either meditation or self-study, he invariably employed the phrases "deep, daily meditation" and "thorough self-examination" to emphasize the importance of these practices to the successful endeavours of spiritual aspirants. In his private discourses, meetings and conversations, and in his public lectures and writings, Prof. Iyer pointed to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as the model upon which a real discipline of spiritual meditation should be based, and took great pains to separate that ancient system of meditation from all of the forms of self-hypnosis that currently pass as "meditation". In Patanjali's system, which is that of the Raja Yoga school, meditation is a distinct quotidian practice that has well-charted points of entry, a cycle or rhythm of activity, and points of exit; it is also the dominant undertone to one's life, that upon which the heart is set, the "line of life's meditation". Whether meditation is considered as a constant undercurrent carried on while engaged in the necessary duties of life, or as a distinct and daily practice undertaken at specific time, both aspects of real meditation must be nourished, strengthened, and sustained. Likewise Prof. Iyer consistently pointed to the practice of self-study enjoined upon the brotherhood of Pythagoras and expressed in his Golden Verses: "Do not let sleep close your tired eyes until you have three times gone over the events of the day. 'What did I do wrong? What did I accomplish? What did I fail to do that I should have done?' Starting from the beginning, go through to the end. Then, reproach yourself for the things you did wrong, and take pleasure in the good things you did." In his article, Pythagoras and His School, Prof. Iyer notes "what is said in the Golden Verses about proper self-examination, which is an activity very different from offering a confessional before a priest, or going to a psychiatrist and having oneself analysed, or engaging in one or another form of tedious, furtive and repressive discussion of the shadow. In the Pythagorean teaching, the shadow cannot understand itself. The shadow is void of the very possibility of self-knowledge. Real understanding xi xii Patanjali's Yoga Sutras can come solely through the light of self-awareness which is inherent in every human being." The heart of the matter is this: we must learn to conduct a patient and thorough examination of the lower, personal self by the light of the Higher Self, accompanied by an affirmation of one's fundamental identity with one's true Self, the Self of All, and a simultaneous negation of any false identification with the personal and transitory self. Such an activity could become a daily discipline that makes the quest for self-definition and authentic self-actualization possible. The purpose of this book is to bring together in a convenient and coherent form the many HERMES articles written by Prof. Iyer that dealt with this subject. In truth, meditation and self-study represent two sides of one human activity, something analogous to the operation of the systolic and diastolic movements of the human heart. The one is the centrifugal movement of consciousness expanding to Universals beyond the limits of Self; the other is the centripetal movement focusing with laser-like precision upon the particulars within the limits of Self. They represent roughly the sub-principles of Buddhi and Manas acting within the incarnated Manasic principle; for the spiritual aspirant they should – in time - become as natural as breathing in and breathing out. These two aspects of the inbreathing and outbreathing within the neophyte's consciousness are dealt with in the three treatises of The Voice of the Silence, as well as in Prof. Iyer's seminal article, Meditation and Self-Study: We might begin to wonder whether perhaps there is a golden chord that connects the golden sphere of a man of meditation and the complex intermediary realms in which he must, by pain and anguish and awakening, by knitting together minute golden moments rescued from a great deal of froth and self-deception, come to know himself.