SAMADHI PADA

Yogash Chittavritti_Nirodhah

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Union is then When mental modifications end

Yoga: Union Chitta: Mind stuff  Vritti: Modifications, fluctuations

Nirodha: cease, stop, avoid, eliminate, suppress, hinder, annihilate

The waves of thoughts are called the ‘vrittis’/modifications. It is a modification because it is a deviation from stillness. Stillness is the essence of Being. ‘Vritti’ is the Becoming. Becoming is a modification of the state of Being. These modifications are ceaselessly caused by ever increasing thought patterns. These thoughts arise as a result of stimulus from the external word or sights or the internal impressions formed as a result of experiences. These experience could be not only this birth experience but also previous and countless number of earlier birth experiences. Mind can be conceived as a lake. Thought waves that arise constantly create ripples in the lake. The bottom of the lake becomes invisible because of the ripples caused. The bottom is also muddied because of impressions formed. Yoga is the cleaning of the lake, so that the clear nature of the mind is visible. Yoga is pulling all mud particles out of the bottom of the lake of mind and throwing them out. Yoga is the avoidance of new thought wave formation.

Vritta means circle. And vritti means circular.When one throws a small stone into water, it creates ripples, which spreads outwards in a circular form. In the same way, mind has its own patterns which support identity, action, ambition and cause and effect.They influence the mental structure of an individual. Every dimension of knowledge, every kind of thought and every field of awareness is nothing but a modification of the mind.

When there is no modification, there is stillness.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika states that mind and Vital force Prana, are like water and milk. Both of them are equal in their activities. Where there is pranic movement or activity, there is mind (consciousness) and where there is consciousness, there is vital force Prana.

The sun can be verily considered as the external vital force. The sun and its luminosity aid the activity of the vital force Prana, which govern the sensory receptors. Sun’s light assists in the perception of name, frm and color/characteristic. By this action, chitta or mind stuff, memory, intellet and will are activated. This activation is referred to as vritti.

The HINDU goddess Saraswathi literally means "one who gives the essence(sara) of our own Self(swa). "The four hands of the Goddess represent the four aspects of the inner personality of man,namely manas(mind), buddhi(intellect), ahankar(ego), and chitta(conditioned consciousness). Saraswathi is the consort of Brahma who is the creator. Creation is not possible unless the creator has knowledge of what and how to create. Knowledge therefore is an essential prerequisite for creation.This idea is symbolized by the marriage of Brahma and Saraswathi.

The practice of Yoga is to increase the freeing forces and correspondingly reduce the binding ones.

How are modifications hindered?

Mind is stilled in to silence by the practice of Yoga. Yoga is the freeing tendency.

The state of equlibrium is the state of stillness of the mind. The very first‚ movement' of the cosmic mind, when it thought ‚ I am', resulted in the apparent disequilibrium, creating the ripples of Gunas- Sattva, Rajas and Thamas. This thought resulted in the creation of space(mind) and sound (Prana, vital energy). Mind and Prana are mixed like milk and water and hence are inseparable. Where there is prana there is mind (consciousness) and where there is consciousness, there is movement. Moving beyond the influence of Gunas would mean moving back to state of equlibrium.

How is mind modified?

	Mind is modified by any subject or object brought before it or to which it is directed
	The modification occurs from the  power of reproducing thoughts too.
	The channels by which the mind is led to go out to an object or subject, are the organs of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and so
	By means of hearing it shapes itself into the form of the idea which may be given in speech,
	By means of the eye in reading, it is molded into the form of that which is read;
	Sensations such as heat and cold modify it directly and indirectly by association and by recollection.

What if the mental modifications are avoided?

	The seer realizes his true self
	The seer abides in himself.
	The seer exits by itself as itsel

Does such a cessation of mental modification occur in one go?

No, except in one in a million. It is a gradual process. As all our sense organs are projecting outwards, our vision is outward-oriented. Men have lagged behind in the practice of developing the inward-look. Only thse who can swim counter to the outward-flowing current of sense-organs can succeed in accomplishing the inward vision. Those who have been dwelling in this tree of life should thoroughly understand it and make efforts to know the root which sustains the whole tree in order to achieve real vision.

What is the relationship between modifications and misery?

From the stand point of the mind, the body, the sense organs and the objects of the world are all “objects”. Not only does the mind project all these, but having projected them, it further creates an attachment in man for these “objects”. By this attachment he gets bound and becomes limited and sorrowful. From the stand point of the Being even the mind is an object.

“ Apart from the mind there is no ignorance. The mind itself is the ignorance which is the cause for the bondage of rebirth. When the mind is destroyed, everything else is destroyed. When the mind manifests, everything else manifests” Adhi Sankara

How is mind influenced?

Mind is influenced by several forces. They are

The issue:

	As human beings we perceive world outside through our mind
	The mind does not perceive objects as they are
	The mind does not perceive correctly because it is influenced by Avidya (false understanding)due to identification with body, breath, senses, food, personal disciplines, habits , society and environment
	This wrong perception leads to false understanding
	False understanding influences our action
	The action based on false understanding causes suffering and binding
	We need to be free from this suffering and binding.
	Freedom can come about if the “Perceiver” is not clouded by mind.
	Perceiver we see is a different entity from the process of perceiving and the object of perception
	Yoga is the means to free ourselves from the bondage and take us to a state of union of the perceiver, process of perception and the perceived

What is mind?

	Mind is not a gross thing, visible and tangible
	Mind's magnitude cannot be measured
	Mind does not require a space in which to exist
	Mind's existence is nowhere seen
	Mind precedes matter
	Mind is all electricity
	Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food
	Mind is made up of subtle matter of various grades of density with differentiates of vibration
	Mind is atomic, all pervading
	Mind is a bundle of habits, desires and ideas
	Mind is ever changing, wavering and unsteady
	Mind is intelligent when compared to senses and non intelligent compared to Intellect
	Mind is the cause for liberation as well as bondage
	Mind is the manifestation of the non apprehension of Reality caused by inertia
	Mind is the equipment that orders all types of action that should manifest

Is brain and mind the same?

The brain is a heap of cells made up of protein and fat molecules. It is formed of nerve cells called neurons. There is no power in this piece of meat to observe the images, to constitute consciousness, or to create the being we call “myself“

Dr. Michael Solomon a cardiologist at the Emory University Medical Science in his book, 'Recollection Of Death: A medical investigation' - 1982 reports of his extensive research on near death experiences. He consculdes that the mind is an entity distinct from the brain and the near death crisis caused the mind and brain to split apart for a brief time. Solomon wrote: 'Could the mind which splits apart from the brain, be in essence, the soul, which continues to exist after the final bodily death, according to some reliaious doctrines?'

Monkey by its very nature is always restless and jumping from one object to another. It is ever changing and wavering. Imagine such a restless monkey intoxicated with alcohol and bitten by a string of bees, that is the state of mind.

A frog on the river bank can see only what moves. When the wind ruffles water,frog sees the water surface. If wind stops, the water body does not register on the frog’s mind. Similarly as long as a minnow is darting around in the pond, the frog’s eyes can follow it everywhere. But the moment the minnow stops, it disappears from the mind of the frog. As long as the frog is concerned the minnow has slipped away- until it flicks its tail again.

This is exactly the relationship between the mind and the intellect. As long as there is mental modification, so long will intellect keep following the mind. When mind stops, when its modifications cease, for the intellect, the mind has disappeared – until modifications start again.

When the intellect looks at the Self it does not see anything at all. Right under its nose as it were exists the Self, and yet intellect cannot perceive it until mind stops moving. When mind stops, intellect sees the being. When mind moves, intellect follows the mind.

As long as there is duality, the separateness of the subject and object, there is  mental modification. So long as there is mental modification, intellect will keep following what is going on. But when modifications stop, duality ceases. When duality ceases, Self is realized.