Nya Patrinos

Question: Read the translations and commentaries for Sutras I.1 – I.4 and answer the following
questions:
- What is your understanding of the meaning and purpose of the first four Sutras?
- Did this assignment confirm or change ideas and beliefs held previously?
- Which commentary or commentaries did you find most enlightening and helpful?



My first encounter with the Yoga Sutras was in a two weekend course with Srivatsa Ramaswami at LMU in the Yoga Philosophy Department. During the course we chanted through the Yoga Sutras in Sanskrit.  We didn't translate anything. We just chanted and worked on the pronunciation.  I love that I had that experience of chanting the Sutras before knowing what they meant or what I think they mean because it showed me how the sound and vibrations of the Sutras is so paramount. Experiencing the Sutras as they are in Sanskrit is an extremely powerful experience.  Although I appreciate very much the ideas of the the Unadorned Thread (putting different translations next to each other) for me the Sutras are not the Sutras until they are chanted in their language.  When doing this assignment I chanted the Sanskrit before reading the individual Sutra to put me into the experience.

The Sutra translation I relate to the most is not in the book The Unadorned Thread it is in the The Secret Power of Yoga.  I want to start there because that's what I relate to the most. Nischala Joy Devi is my teacher and I respect her so much and have learned so much from her I can't begin to write about the Sutras without mentioning her translations/interpretations.

Here is her take on Yoga Sutras 1.1-1.4

With humility (an open heart and mind), we embrace the sacred study of yoga.
Yoga is the uniting of consciousness in the heart
United in the heart, consciousness is steadies, then we abide in our true nature-joy
At other times, we identify with the rays of consciousness, which fluctuate and encourage our perceived suffering

Why do I relate to it?  There is not gender, the language is poetic and it is heart centered.

THIS WHAT I APPRECIATE IN A SUTRA TRANSLATION

1) GENDER NEUTRAL (I am a girl - when you use all masculine pronouns you lock me out of the experience)
2) POSITIVE - I don't like restrictive words, I was taught the mind doesn't read NOT
3) POETIC - beautiful wording is just plain beautiful
4) EMOTION - I want to feel the Sutra in my heart and gut.  I don't only live in the mind.



In my opinion, the first four Sutras are an the introduction to the text and going to happen in it.

1.1) There is this thing called Yoga and we are going to study it RIGHT NOW! BUCKLE UP!
1.2) This is a definition of Yoga . . . cessation, stilling of mind/heart - heart/mind, blah, blah, blah
1.3) When we are in the Yogic State we are blissful, joyful and experience our true nature
1.4) When we leave the yogic state we suffer

Looking into The Unadorned Thread



SUTRA 1.1
I enjoy translations here by Arya, Jnaneshvara, and Shearer

Arya
"Now, at this point of transition from previous involvements, teaching (or imparting) the discipline of yoga (begins)."

- I appreciate the idea that we are in a point of transition from previous involvements.  Arya is setting up a context. You were doing something before, you will do something after, but right NOW the teaching of the disciple of yoga begins.
- I relate to yoga as a discipline. I like that the word "discipline" is there right from the start to tell everyone something serious is about to happen and you need to be disciplined to participate.

Jnaneshvara
"Now, after having done prior preparation through life and other practices, the study and practice of Yoga begins."

- I again enjoy the idea of using Now to show we are in an exact moment.
- I am intrigued that you have to have done prior preparation before - life and other practices
- I like that Yoga has a capital Y
- I believe strongly in the idea that yoga is both a study and a practice

Shearer
"And now the teaching on yoga begins"

- I appreciate the simple language
- The now is still there which I relate to.
- It's easy to grasp what the translator is saying



SUTRA 1.2
I am drawn to the translations by Arya Jnaeshvara, Prabhavananda, and Shearer

Arya
"Yoga is the cessation of the waves (arising in) (or) activities of the mind-stuff

- I like that he uses a lot of parantheses.  It means to me that he is open to many possibilities.  The parantheses makes it feel less dogmatic. It is almost as if he is admitting I am a translator and anything I say it open to interpretation
- The water imagery in the waves it's poetic

Jnaneshvara
"Yoga is the control (nirodhah, regulation, channeling, mastery, integration, coordination, stilling, quieting, setting aside) of the modifications (gross and subtle thought patterns) of the mind field.

- It's not poetic.  It is in fact a little awkward.  But I like how all encompassing it is.
- I am not so crazy about the word control because it seems very patriarchal


Prabhavananda
"Yoga is the control of thought-waves in the mind"

- Again, I don't like the word control but I like the idea and imagery of the thought-waves in the mind
- I like that it is simple to read because these our Sutras not discourses.  And Sutras are supposed to be short.

Shearer
"Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence"

- I am much more comfortable with the word settling over control
- I like the simplicity of the translation it reads like a haiku
- The translation is poetic yet accessible


SUTRA 1.3

My favorites here are Jnaneshvara and Shearer.  Many of the translations like Satchidananda, Taimni, Arya and Bailey use the masculine words here like "his" own true nature, "himself", which I don't relate to because I am not a man.

Jnaneshvara
"Then the Seer abides in Itself, resting in its own True Nature, which is called Self-Realization"

- I like that it is gender neutral although it feels a little clunky
- I like the idea of Self-Realization in the definition

Shearer
"When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbound consciousness."

- I am over the top in love with this translation
- It's gender neutral but uses 2nd person plural WE which is so beautiful because "we" emphasizes the inter-connectedness of all beings.
- "Our" is also an inclusive word that adds to the beauty of this translation
- Unbound consciousness is an amazing phrase - it's expansive language. To think that our essential nature is unbound consciousness gives me chills.



SUTRA 1.4

Because of the masculine emphasis of some of the translations completely turn me off, my favorite translations are Jnaneshvara and Shearer. I especially don't relate to the word conformity used in the Feurstein and Houston translation.


Jnaneshvara
"At other times, when one is not in Self-realization, the Seer appears to take on the form of the modifications of the mind field, taking on the identity of those thought patterns.

- It's a little clunky but I appreciate the concepts of Self-realization and the Seer.


Shearer
"Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind"

- Again, poetic language, inclusive gender neutral pronoun, easy to understand yet still profound.


The Yoga Sutras are becoming one of my most favorite texts. I feel as if all the answers to life's questions are in the Sutras.  I hope to make a series art pieces based on the Sutras.


Namaste,

Nya

Yoga Sutra 1.4 - Vritti sarupyam itaratra

Here are some translations/interpretations I have found inspiring for Yoga Sutra 1.4.



Joseph Le Page: When not resting in our own true nature, we identify with our thoughts and emotions as if they were our real self.

Nischala Devi: At other times, we identify with the rays of consciousness, which fluctuate and encourage are perceived suffering.

Melissa Townsend: At other times, we identify with the movements of the mind.

Arya: At other times (when the is seer is not his own true nature because the mental waves have not ceased), the seer (falsely experiences himself) as having assimilated and identified with the mental acitvity (or with the objects of the mental activity).

Shearer: Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind.

Jnaneshvara: At other times, hen one is not Self-realization, the Seer appears to take on the form of the modifications of the mind field, taking on the identity of those thought patterns.


Today I am off from work. I meditated. I did some yoga. I went to LACMA museum with my husband and saw the Rivera/Picasso show with my husband and then we had a beautiful India dinner. The day was good. The day was perfect. It is December 24th, Christmas Eve and all is well.  I am so relaxed.  I am at peace.

Last week the same Rivera/Picasso exhibit was at LACMA, the Indian restaurant was there too, my yoga and meditation practice was there, everything was there just like today.  Last week, I was busy, so busy, preoccupied doing things . . . making sets for TV shows, teaching yoga, driving all over the place.  Many times when I am working, perhaps even last week, I get so caught up in getting to work on time, decorating the sets to please the actors/producers/directors/production designer that I lose myself. I have so many things to do it's like I am trying to run for a train that I never can catch.  I have so many things to juggle like yoga teaching, running the studio, and working in TV I feel like a vaudeville performer. I lose myself.  I am just trying to get through the day. I am exhausted most of the time.  My eating is out of control.  I often am dehydrated. Sometimes I want to scream. Sometimes I want to cry.  Sometimes I feel like I need to tell everyone I am a person not a mule.  It's too much this job.  It's so overwhelming.

I identify with this chaos with the movements of the mind.  I don't know my true nature, I know I need to be at work at 5am. I know I need to comb the script to I understand all the nuances and details to get the set right. I know I need to go to this meeting, or that tech scout, I know, in addition, I need to be a supportive yoga teacher, do my yoga therapy homework, and a be loving and interested wife.  I also need to figure out how to get more people in the yoga classes at the studio. How to make the studio a success. So post of facebook. Post on meetup. Be courteous. Teach a good class. Come up with workshops and teacher trainings. Check check check off the to do list right before the list is written again. And the cycle repeats and continues. I cram more things into the day, as much as I can, then on Saturday afternoon I fall out from complete exhaustion.  Then I get up, teach my 5pm Saturday class and the cycle begins again.


So who is the real self, what is my real nature, is it the one that feels content today, a day with no real responsibilities - the Nya on vacation from work, or the one that is running for the illusory train, performing in vaudeville show. Or is my true nature someone who I have not quite met yet, or I have we met but I haven't spent enough time with her.  Maybe my true essential nature is not a persona but a moment, the moment when I am drawing or holding a yoga pose. Maybe that is my real self.

Am I afraid of my true nature. Is that why I keep myself so busy?  Is there some kind of child conditioning that keeps me on the move. Joseph le Page writes:



I feel a high price tag for my life over the last two decades.  This fast fast life.  I have chosen to make a career change to yoga therapy because I want something different for myself.  I started working in entertainment at 21 years old and now I am approaching 47.  26 years of being a circus person seems like enough.  I want to slow down. I want to notice the trail along the dunes sprinkled with tiny violet and yellow wild flowers. I hear my name being called. I hear a voice telling me it's time to make a change.  That voice, I believe, is my true nature asking to take control of the wheel of life.  I feel the price tag for living this crazy life is just too high!