Ramana Maharshi about limbs of yoga(Yama,Niyama..)

[Guest guest]

D: Although I have listened to the explanation of the characteristics of enquiry

in such great detail,my mind has not gained even a little peace. What is the

reason for this?

 

M: The reason is the absence of strength or one-pointedness of the mind.

 

D: Of the means for mind-control, which is the most important?

 

M: Breath-control is the means for mind-control.

 

D: How is breath to be controlled?

 

M: Breath can be controlled either by absolute retention of breath

(kevala-kumbhaka) or by regulation of breath (pranayama).

 

D: What are the limbs of yoga?

 

M: Yama, niyama, asana, ,pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and

samadhi. Of these -

 

(1) Yama:- this stands, for the cultivation of such principles of good

conduct as non-violence (ahimsa), truth (satya), non-stealing (asteya), celibacy

(brahmacharya), and non-possession (apari-graha).

 

(2) Niyama:- this stands for the observance of such rules of good conduct as

purity (saucha),contentment (santosha), austerity (tapas), study of the sacred

texts (svadhyaya), and devotion to God (Isvara-pranidhana).

 

 

(3) Asana:- Of the different postures, eighty-four are the main ones. Of these,

again, four, viz.,simha, bhadra, padma, and siddha are said to be excellent. Of

these too, it is only siddha, that is the most excellent. Thus the yoga-texts

declare.

 

(4) Pranayama:- According to the measures prescribed in the sacred texts,

exhaling the vital air is rechaka, inhaling is puraka and retaining it in the

heart is kumbhaka. As regards ‘measure’,some texts say that rechaka and puraka

should be equal in measure, and kumbhaka twice that measure, while other texts

say that if rechaka is one measure, puraka should be of two measures,and

kumbhaka of four. By ‘measure’ what is meant is the time that would be taken for

the utterance

 

(5) Pratyahara:- This is regulating the mind by preventing it from flowing

towards the external names and forms. The mind, which had been till then

distracted, now becomes controlled. The aids in this respect are (1) meditation

on the pranava, (2) fixing the attention betwixt the eyebrows,(3) looking at the

tip of the nose, and (4) reflection on the nada. The mind that has thus become

one-pointed will be fit to stay in one place. After this, dharana should be

practised.

 

(6) Dharana:- This is fixing the mind in a locus which is fit for

meditation. The loci that are eminently fit for meditation are the heart and

Brahma-randhra (aperture in the crown of the head). One should think that in the

middle of the eight-petalled lotus6 that is at this place there shines, like a

flame, the Deity which is the Self, i.e. Brahman, and fix the mind therein.

After this, one should meditate.

 

(7) Dhyana:- This is meditation, through the ‘I am He’ thought, that one is not

different from the nature of the aforesaid flame. Even, thus, if one makes the

enquiry ‘Who am I?’, then, as the Scripture declares, “The Brahman which is

everywhere shines in the heart as the Self that is the witness of the

intellect”, one would realize that is the Divine Self that shines in the heart

as ‘I-I’. This mode of reflection is the best meditation.

 

(8) Samadhi:- As a result of the fruition of the aforesaid meditation, the mind

gets resolved in the object of meditation without harbouring the ideas ‘I am

such and such; I am doing this and this’.This subtle state in which even the

thought ‘I-I’ disappears is samadhi. If one practises this every day, seeing to

it that sleep does not supervene, God will soon confer on one the supreme state

of quiescence of mind.

 

D: By practising the disciplines taught above, one may get rid of the

obstacles that are in the mind,viz. ignorance, doubt, error, etc., and

thereby attain quiescence of mind. Yet, there is one last doubt. After the mind

has been resolved in the heart, there is only consciousness shining as the

plenary reality. When thus the mind has assumed the form of the Self, who is

there to enquire? Such enquiry would result in self-worship. It would be like

the story of the shepherd searching for the sheep that was all the time on his

shoulders!

 

M: The jiva itself is Shiva; Shiva Himself is the jiva. It is true that the jiva

is no other than Shiva.When the grain is hidden inside the husk, it is called

paddy; when it is de-husked, it is called rice.Similarly, so long as one is

bound by karma one remains a jiva; when the bond of ignorance is broken, one

shines as Shiva, the Deity. Thus declares a scriptural text. Accordingly, the

jiva which is mind is in reality the pure Self; but, forgetting this truth, it

imagines itself to be an individual soul and gets bound in the shape of mind. So

its search for the Self, which is itself, is like the search for the sheep by

the shepherd. But still, the jiva which has forgotten its self will not become

the Self through mere mediate knowledge. By the impediment caused by the

residual impressions gathered in previous

births, the jiva forgets again and again its identity with the Self, and gets

deceived, identifying itself with the body, etc. Will a person become a high

officer by merely looking at him? Is it not by steady effort in that direction

that he could become a highly placed officer? Similarly, the jiva, which is in

bondage through mental identification with the body, etc.,should put forth

effort in the form of reflection on the Self, in a gradual and sustained manner;

and when thus the mind gets destroyed, the jiva would become the Self.

 

The reflection on the Self which is thus practised constantly will destroy the

mind, and thereafter will destroy itself like the stick that is used to kindle

the cinders burning a corpse. It is this state that is called release.

 

Source: Self Enquiry A new translation by DR T. M. P. MAHADEVAN, M.A., Ph.D.

from the original Tamil

--

Love And Love Alone

 

Om namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prasanth Jalasutram