Monthly Archives: May 2023

Remember to Remember

In our recent studies, we’re delving into aphorism 1.20 from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra. In a previous essay, we considered the first two listed qualities: śraddhā/faith and vīrya/strength or energy. The third listed quality is smṛti, variously translated as memory, remembering, or even mindfulness. This always reminds me (I remember!) of something Krishna Das said: remember to remember. I suspect he was talking about remembering the Highest, the Divine, the beloved, always and all ways.

One very concrete interpretation of smṛti is to remember the lessons you’ve learned in your life. This may be a recollection, but it also could be an active inquiry into your history to discern the connection between your actions and the outcomes in your life. First off, we don’t want to continue making the same mistakes. When we encounter some situation we have previous experience with, we bring to bear all we’ve learned about what type of action will bring about the highest in a given situation.

This is related to the concept of sambandha, which is the ability to see the relationship, to connect the dots between one thing and another. Especially important is remembering what takes us further along the path of yoga, understanding what actions on our part keep us most aligned with our Heartself. We must identify how our practice of yoga impacts our life, remember that connection between our practices and the unfolding of our life. This will feed back into the faith/śraddhā and energy/vīrya to do our practices, and to generally affirm we are continuing to move forward in an aligned way.

Another interpretation of smṛti that I see in the commentaries concerns recalling the calm, loving, and luminous states we experience during practice. This relates to the concept of vyutthāna, mentioned by Kṣemarāja in the Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam (e.g., PH 19). This is a practice done as one is emerging from practice, like when getting up from śavāsana and sitting quietly for a moment to remember and imprint the state of sattva/luminosity the practice brings. Then one’s life can be uplifted by actively recalling that state later during daily life on a moment by moment basis.

Which brings us back around to remembering the Highest in each moment, being mindful of the dynamics of each situation and instead of reacting from some habitual behavioral pattern, remembering your heart, remembering you have some freedom of choice, remembering previous lessons and consciously choosing to move from the highest possible place. And remember to remember.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

Contemplate and write about smṛti.

What are all the ways you think about smṛti? How can they be applied to your life?

What connection/sambandha do you see between your practice of yoga, and living your householder life?

How is smṛti related to śraddhā and vīrya?

FAITH AND STRENGTH

One of my favorite sūtras from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra relates to yogic qualities associated with the path of yoga. You can think of these as virtues that naturally emerge as we move further along the path, and/or as qualities to consciously cultivate as part of your practice.

YS 1.20 śraddhā-vīrya-smṛti-samādhi-prajña-pūrvaka itareṣāṃ
śraddhā: faith
vīrya: vigor, energy, strength
smṛti: memory, mindfulness
samādhi: meditative absorption
prajña: wisdom, insight
pūrvaka: preceded or accompanied by
itareṣāṃ: for others
For others [the state of yoga] is accompanied by faith, strength, memory, samadhi and wisdom.

For starters let’s consider the first two qualities. First listed is śraddhā/faith. What does faith mean? You may want to take a moment to contemplate that question.

Sometimes faith gets a bad rap because it can be seen as a blind religiosity. I think of it as faith in the process and your path, in the teachings and your teachers. This includes faith in yourself, that you will progress on the path, expanding awareness and understanding. And as well, faith can mean sensing that everything will work out. I know that sounds rather Pollyanna-ish, but it’s a sense that even when things are really hard, you will learn something from it, refine your understanding, and get through it.

I remember once I was at a big workshop with my teaching colleagues. My main teacher at the time asked in front of everyone: “Cindy Lusk, what is the first sūtra of the Yoga Sūtra?”, which I answered correctly. The teacher proceeded to point out how I hadn’t freaked out when he put me on the spot, and just called forth the answer in a calm way.

Then the next day, he said, “Cindy Lusk, what is Yoga Sūtra 1.20?” And…I freaked! It is so ironic because the very first word of this sutra is śraddhā/faith, but when I freaked out, I lost faith that the answer would come if I paused to remember. Yet, even though it was embarrassing in the moment, I will never forget this sūtra again.

The second quality listed in this sūtra is vīrya, energy or strength. One way to think about this is as the energy we bring to the practices, be they meditation, āsana, or svādhyāya/study. But as well it involves sticking with it through the challenging times, through the boring times, through the times when we just don’t want to do it. Vīrya is the energy to start, and just keep it going, whether the experience is easeful or challenging.

Vīrya reminds me that there is work to be done. This may entail a summoning of inner resources to start shifting non-aligned patterns in order to manifest refinement in its many forms: healing, growth, change, and transformation. At times we can get stuck in situations be they physical, mental, or matters of the heart, and it takes strength and courage to choose to shift.

These two qualities of faith and strength interact and feed each other. As we have śraddhā/faith in the wisdom of the teachings as guidance for our actions, vīrya/courage arises that provides energy for those actions, and as we see the efficacy of the aligned action, we have more faith. And this is why I continue to study the teachings of yoga again and again, deepening my understanding, my faith, and my courage to manifest them in my life on a daily basis.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

How have you experienced the qualities of śraddhā and vīrya manifesting in your life?

Are you inclined to one more than the other? How is that working?

What helps them manifest?

The Role of the Guru

The whole process of yoga, including study as well as guidance in all the practices, is supported by teachers. Spiritual teachers are among the most venerated professionals in the world, and rightly so. A human teacher is a necessary component because having walked the path already, they can guide us in the right direction, help us avoid pitfalls, and generally make our journey more efficient and effective.

That said, gurus and teachers who abuse their power and engage in exploitation have been unveiled and widely denounced by the yoga community and elsewhere. In response, some people are inclined to entirely reject gurus and the notion of needing a teacher at all, relying solely on inner guidance.

Before going any further with this topic, take some time to consider your current beliefs about gurus and teachers. Take a moment to pause, contemplate, and write down answers to any of the following:
– When you hear the word guru, what comes to mind?
– What role have teachers played in your life?
– Who or what have been your greatest teachers, and why?

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What is a guru really? What is their role on the path of yoga? An often-given definition of guru is whatever takes one from the dark to the light. The guru is that which takes you from ignorance to knowledge, concealment to revelation. The guru is whoever or whatever guides you in the journey of yoga.

SS 2.6 gururupāyaḥ
Guru: guru
Upāya: method or means
The guru is the means

We know the value of a teacher, in any field of knowledge, as someone who takes a student from a place of not understanding to a place of knowledge. This applies to everything from cooking to car repair to art and, of course, any academic field. We rely on experts to educate us. As Śiva Sūtra 2.6 clearly states, teachers are a primary means to knowledge. We can certainly teach ourselves to some degree—and there are rare cases of spontaneous knowledge, such as child prodigies—but it’s generally more effective and efficient to learn from a teacher.

The one primal guru that is Consciousness itself appears in many forms. Human teachers who can access this Consciousness act as conduits for the highest knowledge. The tradition differentiates between different types of gurus, which are forms of the sadguru or sat–guru, referring to the “true teacher.” The guru can be an enlightened spiritual master, but another way to think of the sadguru is as the underlying higher Consciousness that can guide us, if and when we choose to listen to it. This is where we get the idea that guru is within—because ultimately it is.

But let’s be clear: Who are you consulting when you turn within? We can’t delude ourselves into thinking that our everyday neurotic self is the best counsel to seek because this has the potential of reiterating all of our old patterns and ways of being. It is not moving us from the dark to the light and could simply reinforce our ignorance. So before relying solelyu on insight, we must first clarify our individuality to create access to the wisest self. And usually, the means to do so (such as practices like meditation) come through a teacher.

Eventually, as we move farther along the path of yoga—and especially as we meditate more—our access to, and clarity of, the inner Self becomes greater and is, therefore, a more reliable guide. In the meantime, we must be careful not to delude ourselves. This is why it’s suggested that in addition to consulting the inner guru, to verify insights with both the texts and teachers.

A consistent message I’ve received from my teachers is that the time of the mega-guru is over. Instead, what is now emerging is a larger number of teachers, each working with smaller groups, quietly creating shifts in consciousness that eventually will reach a critical mass. For this to be successful, of course, the community members have to be actively practicing and studying, not just being passive recipients of the teachings. Each must make the effort required to understand and apply the teachings, so that what they offer each other has authenticity.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

– How have you learned about yoga and meditation? Consider what has influenced you, including particular teachers, lineages, other people, books, etc.

– Do you favor learning from teachers, the traditional texts, or from listening to yourself? How has that worked?