Our charity offers a traditional approach to the practice of Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy, promoting both inner peace and spiritual growth.
Our charity offers a traditional approach to the practice of Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy, promoting both inner peace and spiritual growth.
Our charity offers a traditional approach to the practice of Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy, promoting both inner peace and spiritual growth.
Our charity offers a traditional approach to the practice of Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy, promoting both inner peace and spiritual growth.
Our charity offers a traditional approach to the practice of Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy, promoting both inner peace and spiritual growth.
In our Thursday Philosophy group, which is a ‘hybrid’ set up of ‘Zoomers’ and ‘in person’ attendees, we have this term been re-visiting the basics of the ‘Samkhya’ philosophy which underpins a good deal of our work.
Samkhya is one of the six classical systems of Indian philosophy, (probably the oldest) known for its emphasis on understanding existence through enumeration and dualistic principles. The term itself is derived from Sanskrit, meaning “counting” or “reckoning,” reflecting its methodical approach to examining the nature of reality. Central to Samkhya is the distinction between two fundamental realities: purusha (pure consciousness) and prakriti (nature or the phenomenal world). This philosophy addresses the suffering inherent in human existence, positing that the ultimate goal is to achieve liberation from this suffering through the understanding of these dualities.
The philosophical roots of Samkhya can be traced back to ancient texts, including the Samkhyakarika, attributed to Ishvarakrsna, which outlines its principles. While there is no single foundational text, its ideas have been influential across other Hindu scriptures, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. Samkhya’s methodological approach involves categorizing and analyzing the components of the universe, which can lead to deeper insights into the nature of consciousness and existence. Notably, it is considered compatible with practical applications in modern psychological contexts, offering tools for addressing mental health challenges by fostering a sense of detachment from the physical self and cultivating a witness consciousness. Samkhya’s teachings are thus relevant not only to practitioners of Hindu philosophy but also to those seeking a framework for understanding the human condition.
Most of us in the group have been involved with Yoga for a number of years (in one case over 60), and the Thursday meetings are a useful way of keeping in touch and also sharing discussion about whatever the week’s topic might be. One of the enduring characteristics of work of this sort is that it effortlessly accommodates and allows re-visiting and re-examining its content and message. Hence our focus on ‘back to basics’ this term.
The sessions were based on a course booklet produced some years back, which was designed as a programme for students who had some experience of the teachings and who had reached the point of ‘Atha Yoga Anushasanam’ (Sutra 1.1) – i.e. they were ready for some serious tuition in Yoga.
Over a period of 10 weeks we covered 5 of the 7 sections of the booklet, with the intention to look at the remaining 2 at an appropriate time next term.
Feedback from the group has been very positive, with appreciation being expressed for the opportunity to revisit these basic precepts, and look at some additional commentary on the topics, As ever, the most valuable feature of the sessions has been the chance to discuss, debate and share experiences, a process which reinforces both the perennial wisdom and practical application of the teachings.
Here is the material for the 5 meetings:
PART ONE
Creation
The nature of creation is said to be Sat Chit Aananda
= Being, Consciousness (Love & Awareness) and Bliss.
The Creator desires that all creatures seek their own
true and substantial happiness.
Philosophy and Wisdom
Philosophy = Love of Wisdom.
Wisdom brings experience of Sat Chit Aananda.
Wisdom is found within ourselves and brings inner freedom and bliss.
Know Thyself
“This above all, – to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
That thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Hamlet; Act I, Sc.iii.
Once one finds Truth in oneself, one knows It everywhere
and experiences oneself as part of the whole.
To ‘Know Thyself’ requires Self-study.
Ignorance
Ignorance means not knowing the Truth within.
It causes one to the feel separate from the Creation, and breeds discontent.
It makes one seek self-knowledge in actions, events and the opinions of others.
Knowledge and Being
Wisdom needs right Knowledge about oneself, plus a lift in Being to raise awareness and strength.
If Knowledge exceeds Being, one will know much but have no power to act on it.
If Being exceeds Knowledge, one will have power but not know how to apply it.
Who Comes To Philosophy?
“O Arjuna! The righteous who worship Me are grouped by stages; first they who suffer, next they who desire knowledge, then they who thirst after truth, and lastly they who attain wisdom”. Bhagavad Gita. vii 16.
People take to Philosophy (i) to relieve distress; (ii) to gain knowledge & development; (iii) to find the truth; & (iv) confirm their wisdom.
PART TWO
Mind and the Causal World
Functions of Mind
1. Ahankara (Ego)
The feeling of ‘I am’; ‘me and the rest’.
Source of duality & separateness.
Reduced by wisdom; increased by non-wisdom.
Influences the decisions of Buddhi.
Located in the head.
2. Buddhi (Discrimination)
Able to discriminate between wisdom & non-wisdom.
Decides actions; ‘do this’, ‘do that’, ‘do nothing’.
Buddhi needs purification by ‘Being & Knowledge’.
Located in the head.
3. Manas (Sensory-motor nervous system)
Connects impressions (eg sounds) with actions (speech etc).
Carries desires and counter desires.
Located at the heart.
4. Chitta (Memory)
Holds all a person’s knowledge & cherishes certain thoughts.
Located at the heart.
5. Antahkarana (Inner organ of Mind)
= the combination of Ahankara, Buddhi, Manas & Chitta.
Is the nucleus from which all thoughts & emotions arise.
6. Bhavana (Emotional attitudes)
Is the emotional realm of the Antahkarana.
Colours Buddhi’s response to desires raised by Manas.
Needs purification by ‘Being & Knowledge’.
The Three Gunas
The Gunas are ‘qualities’ whose interactions govern the Causal world of mind (Antahkarana).
Sattva = Light, intelligence, harmony; allows enjoyment. Transmits consciousness.
Rajas = Activity, energy, motivation; can lead to pain. Scatters consciousness.
Tamas = Darkness & inertia; may lead to stupor. Absorbs consciousness.
Guna balance.
Sattva & Tamas each seek to dominate, and once established they tend to persist.
The dominance of either may be altered by Rajas but the overall tendency in creation is for Sattva to decay into Tamas.
If Sattva dominates;
Sattva provides clarity and is served by Rajas and Tamas.
Rajas energises & overcomes stagnation.
Tamas stabilises, and maintains balance.
If Tamas dominates;
Tamas causes stagnation and dullness.
Rajas struggles to overcome the status quo.
Sattva is dormant, waiting to be energised by Rajas.
Finding wisdom needs Sattva
Buddhi needs Sattva to tell wisdom from non-wisdom.
In Tamasic situations, seek Rajas to alter the balance.
Once Sattva appears, minimise Rajas before it scatters the Sattva.
PART THREE
Five States of Mind
Disturbed [Kshipta]. Sattva 30% / Rajas 40% Tamas 30%
Rajas dominates. The person is restless. Sattva is too weak to allow any awareness or understanding of his state.
Stupified [Mudha]. Sattva 30% / Rajas 30% Tamas 40%
Tamas dominates. The person is tired / listless. Sattva is still too weak to allow awareness or understanding.
Distracted [Vikshipta]. Sattva 40% / Rajas 30% / Tamas 30%
Sattva is just strong enough to make the person aware of their state and begin seeking remedies.
One-Pointed [Ekagara].
By reducing Rajas & Tamas in stages more Sattva becomes available. The Mind is clearer & better focused. Activities are more efficient, enjoyable and less exhausting.
Well-controlled [Nirodha].
Eventually the mind is almost entirely Sattvic. The person becomes aware of, and is able to rest in, their own true nature (Sat-Chit-Ananda). Full Self Realisation becomes possible.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Bk 1 – [Vyasa’s commentary]
Although the first three states of mind are much discussed by modern psychologists and therapists, they are of no interest to the serious seeker of wisdom!
Swami Veda Bharati – [Commentary on Y.S. Bk 1]
Effect on the individual.
“When a man has no sentiment nor personal vanity, when he possesses courage and confidence, cares not whether he succeeds or fails, then his action arises from Purity [Sattva]”.
“In him who is impulsive, greedy, looking for reward, violent, impure, torn between joy and sorrow, in may be assumed that in him Passion [Rajas] dominates”.
“While he whose purpose is infirm, who is low-minded, stubborn, dishonest, malicious, indolent, despondent, procrastinating may be assumed to be in Darkness [Tamas]”.
Bhagavad Gita; XVIII, 26-28.
Effect on Person’s Lifestyle.
Sattvic;
Works happily & peacefully, sharing life with family, friends, and home.
Balanced, regular routines of waking up, eating, exercising, even at weekends.
Rajasic;
Works with anxiety & stress. Home restless & argumentative. Excessive partying and showy activities. Well-intentioned routines spoilt by frequent disruptions.
Tamasic;
Life full of complaints, sadness & depression.
Poor communication / motivation within the family.
TV watched simply to pass the time.
No sense of appropriate sleep, food or exercise routines.
PART FOUR
Purifying the Mind – [Yoga Sutras Book 1]
[Sat (being), Chit (awareness) and Aananda (bliss)]
Practice & non-attachment reduce identification with the mind and enable the person to experience their true being.
“We seek for wisdom not in sense experience at all, but in that other way of knowing, whatever called, in which the mind is alone and engaged in being”. Plato “Theatatus”
PART FIVE
Emotions
The Five Afflictions – [Y.S. Bk. 2, Sutras 5-9]
1. Ignorance – Loss of Wisdom
“When very young, I had a sense of being in a magic world, outside of time and the need to have or to do or to become anything. An unrecognised oneness enveloped me simply in the wonder of what is.
One day all that changed, and I entered a world of separation. I found I had a separate mother and father, a name, and a choice to do this or that. I moved into a world of time and space, boundary and exploration, endeavour, manipulation and the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.” Tony Parsons “The Open Secret”.
2. Egotism [Ahankara]
Mind desires to recreate Sat-Chit-Aananda for itself.
Ahankaara = Aham + Kaara. ‘Ego’ – ‘I am’ -Doing, making.
Arjuna asked; “My Lord! Tell me, what is it that drives a man to forget wisdom, even against his will and as if by compulsion?” Lord Krishna said; “It is desire, it is aversion, born of passion. Desire consumes everything. It is man’s greatest enemy”.
[Bh. Gita. Chap 3, 36,37]
3. Attachment (to the pleasant)
4. Aversion (to the unpleasant)
5. Fear of Death
Ego and Identification
Ego desires to re-create its own separate Sat-Chit-Aananda by Identifying with the outside world.
Identification; from Latin idem = ‘same’, + fecere = ‘to make’. So identifying means “to make (it) the same (as I)”.
i.e. I endow things or situations with a sense of myself – making them part of my identity – i.e. ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’.
Ego uses words and thought forms to cover reality with labels. Often manifests as a ‘voice in the head’.
Descartes’ error; “I think therefore I am”. [c. 1620]
Sartre’s insight; “The consciousness that says ‘I am’ is not the consciousness that thinks.” [c.1950]
“At dawn do I sing the praise of That
Which is un-reachable for the mind and words,
But by whose grace all words shine”… [Vedic prayer]
[‘That’ = the Divine world of Sat-Chit-Aananda which is the consciousness that says ‘I am’.]
The word “I” embodies the greatest error and the deepest truth, depending on how it is used. Normally it means one’s illusory sense of identity – what Einstein called ‘an optical illusion of consciousness’”
“To rediscover our freedom we need to let go our projections and allow the possibility of presence. This quality of presence is the bridge between the timeless Self and our illusory sense of separation. It is our constant nature, but most of the time, we are living in a state of expectation, motivation or interpretation”. Ibid.
The ego tries to find itself in things & situations, but ends up losing itself in them.
