DAN ALDER explores the topic of mental well-being during a Yoga4Unity 2023 masterclass. He asks: how does the sage Patanjali view the mind? What does Patanjali believe to be our potential, what gets in the way of us attaining that potential, and what solutions are offered to us to remove those barriers?

Yoga is the goal not the practice

You may think that there is no goal to yoga, but Patanjali states that yoga is the cessation of the mind’s fluctuations. So yoga is the goal, not the practice. When we talk about yogic practice, in a way we’re not talking about it correctly. Patanjali’s final result is yoga. And how do we reach that final result? By bringing the mind’s fluctuations to stillness so that there is no thought in your mind. Then we have yoga, and yoga is union.

The ego, the aspect of the mind that refers to “I,” tells us that we are different and separate from everything else. And along with that separateness comes suffering, whether it’s just a little bit or a huge amount of suffering. As long as there is perceived separation, we believe that union is the answer to our problem in life.

But Patanjali wants us to reject union. I know that must sound crazy, so I’ll say it again: reject union or yoga.

The reason? Because everything is already whole and united, it cannot be any other way. That is the natural state of things. Whether it’s a galaxy trillions of miles away, you, me, or the grass outside, it is already part of the whole, already unified with that which it should be unified with. We are already whole, complete, and unified with all things.

That in itself is a pretty big idea, and it is why Patanjali says that yoga, union, comes when the mind’s fluctuations cease. When our story of separation falls away, we find union.

This idea can be explained using a few other words, one being kaivalya, which is absolute freedom or liberation. “Freedom from what?” you might ask. Specifically, freedom from the kleshas, which I’ll explain soon.

Another way of expressing it is to say that when we are in samadhi (another term for bringing the mind’s fluctuations to stillness), our own nature vanishes. Normally we’re inquisitive, asking“Is this true? Is this false? Is this right? Is this wrong?” The nature of our mind, to be constantly on the go, vanishes. And what’s left is the ineffable, unspeakable peace of samadhi, yoga, kaivalya. What makes it difficult to attain this state? There are many things, and Patanjali is thorough about naming them.

Problems

1. Thoughts

The first difficulty or problem is thought itself. If yoga is cessation of the mind’s fluctuations, then thought is part of the problem.

Patanjali tells us that thoughts come in five types, and each of those five types will be either pleasant or painful. Sometimes I think we just want the mind to be full of pleasant, kind, compassionate, and loving thoughts, and it is a good thing to cultivate. But those very virtuous thoughts also prevent the mind coming to stillness. That is another big idea – we’re trying to remove both goodness and wickedness equally from our mind. That is how the mind comes to stillness.

In Patanjali’s mind there is no good thought or bad thought, there is only yoga or not yoga; there is only a mind that is fluctuating or a mind that is not fluctuating. So thoughts are a problem that we all encounter on our way toward finding absolute peace.

Thoughts are a problem that
we all encounter on our way
toward finding absolute peace.

2. Obstacles

Patanjali also presents the obstacles, and I’m sure that you’ll be able to identify with them – illness, sloth, doubt, carelessness, idleness, intemperance, confusion, and knowledge unattained. Now, each of these speaks for itself, but it is worth explaining the final one, knowledge unattained. Many of us believe that if only we knew what Patanjali knew, then we would have peace. But that in itself is a problem we need to overcome, because knowledge will not solve our problem. Knowledge is just more fluctuations of the mind. Whether the knowledge is right or wrong, true or false, it prevents the mind from coming to stillness.

So you are doing yourself a disservice by thinking that you need to know more to bring your mind to peace. Quite the opposite is true. You need to disband all your knowledge, temporarily mind you, if you are to bring your mind to peace.

3. Afflictions

Patanjali also presents the kleshas, and they are the main things we must overcome in our practice. Mental fluctuations, our thoughts, are a bit like software; we’re able to train ourselves to think along certain lines, we can discard bad thoughts and replace them with good thoughts. The same is true with the obstacles. What was a difficult obstacle a week ago or a year ago, can be overcome. We’re able to improve upon the thoughts in our mind and overcome the obstacles.

But the kleshas are like our hardware, and they are the things upon which our minds are built from birth. We cannot be completely free of them, and we cannot tinker with them. All we can do is overcome them.

“Klesha” means affliction or a poison of the mind. The kleshas are the root causes of disturbance and suffering. There are five types of afflictions, and the first one is avidya, which means to “not know.” Now, you might think, if not knowing is the problem, then knowing is the solution. But that’s not quite it. The way we overcome avidya is not through knowledge, but through ceasing the fluctuations of the mind. The quieter the mind becomes, the more we start to feel part of the whole and less separate from it.

Avidya is described by Patanjali as being the fertile ground from which all the other afflictions grow. If there’s no avidya, there are no other afflictions; when there is avidya, the others have a nice place to grow.

The second affliction is egotism, asmita. The ego is the “I-ness” of our experience. So as long as there is I-ness, there is otherness and separation, and this is the beginning of suffering.

The third affliction is raga, which can be translated as lust – lust for power, lust for life, even lust for spiritual enlightenment… lust for anything. It disrupts the mind no end. And lust comes about because of pleasure. There’s nothing wrong with pleasure, but if we crave it enough, it morphs into the lust scenario. That’s very disturbing to the mind.

The fourth affliction is dvesha or hatred. Hatred is the result of suffering. Again, there is nothing wrong with suffering, it’s part of life. But when we develop an aversion to suffering, and particularly if that aversion becomes extreme, we begin to hate what causes us to suffer. That also disturbs the mind no end.

Finally, there is the fifth affliction, abhinivesha, the instinct to cling to life. And this is playing in the background of our minds in almost every single decision we make. Behind every plan there is a silent question: will this action prolong my life, will it keep me from death?

So these five afflictions are both problems and a part of life. What Patanjali is essentially telling us is that we must overcome them, not abolish but overcome them. A nice analogy for this is the hurdles at the Olympics. The 100-meter sprinters run as fast as they can to the finish line, and that seems like a pretty easy path. But the hurdlers have to confront the hurdles. What happens if they run to a hurdle and stop, saying, “I can’t get past that”? Then, that’s where it ends for them. What do hurdlers do? They jump over each barrier and encounter another one.

This is how we can view thoughts, obstacles, and afflictions. They are hurdles that make it difficult, but not impossible, to reach the goal of yoga. In a sense, the 100-meter sprint is what we would all like our spiritual practice to be – from start to finish in ten seconds flat we become enlightened. Well, it’s a little longer and more difficult than that! We can probably view our spiritual practice as a decade-long steeplechase, where we are going to encounter obstacles very regularly. And that means we have to consistently overcome them, otherwise we just remain where we are.

It’s like anything we pursue really; the learning process, the overcoming of difficulties, is always going to make or break our accomplishments. So there are problems, and there are solutions and the means by which we address the problems.

Solutions

1. Dispassion

Patanjali has given us ways to address the problems, and the single most effective way is vairagya, which means dispassion. That is to say, we need not be moved one way or the other by the outcomes of our mind. What does that mean? Let’s say you do something really well. Don’t be too uppity and happy about having done it well, because that will lead to pride. Likewise, if you don’t do it well, don’t be too down on yourself, too critical. It will lead to diminishing yourself. Keep an even footing at all times. Remember that we are always just one moment away from both our very best and our very worst self.

Dispassion is a way of gliding through all our emotional and mental states without letting them stick to us. We let them go as easily as they come to us.Whatever arises in our mind, be it beautiful and wonderful or horrific and terrible, we avoid attachment to it. Hugging it tight, saying, “I love you,” or squeezing the life out of it and trying to kill it, both just feed the monster.

So regardless of the quality of the thoughts that arise in your mind, be dispassionate toward them. You’ll find that things leave as smoothly as they came.

Thought, obstacles, and afflictions are hurdles
that make it difficult but not impossible
to reach the goal of yoga.

2. Practice

The other teaching that goes along with vairagya is abhyasa, and this is practice. It goes without saying that if you want to get better at something you must practice. Patanjali says practice, practice, practice, and continue to practice. We master things that we couldn’t do a year ago, and there will always be things in front of us that we are yet to overcome. So practice is the key to consistently overcoming the obstacles and problems.

3. Attitudes

There is a great bit of advice by Patanjali: he recommends four different attitudes to respond to the things that arise in the mind – friendliness, compassion, delight, or disregard. Now, the fourth attitude requires explanation. Friendliness, compassion, and delight need no elaboration – it would be lovely to respond to everything with those three attitudes. But sometimes things arise in us that are horrible or wicked. Friendliness, compassion, and delight are not appropriate for such thoughts and this is where the attitude of disregard comes into play. Disregard is no different from dispassion.

So do not give that wicked thought any regard, do not take it on board. Allow it to come, don’t suppress it, and don’t express it. As smoothly as it comes, let it go. I think that’s a terrific piece of advice for how things arise within us. And it’s not a bad bit of advice for how to operate in the world as well.

Patanjali gives us other ideas about how we can move the mind toward a peaceful place in sutras 34 to 39 of chapter one. There are half a dozen ideas that, if practiced, will calm your mind to a point where you’re able to begin proper meditation.

The eight limbs

And then we have the idea of the eight limbs, which were devised by Patanjali for one purpose, to overcome the afflictions. Which affliction in particular? The first one, avidya, which gives fertile ground for all the others to grow. So, the eight limbs are all about liberating ourselves from the affliction of avidya.

Patanjali introduces the eight limbs to us by name, and tells us that there are certain types of thoughts which disturb the mind; for example, harmful thoughts, untrue thoughts, envious thoughts, thoughts of a sexual nature, and thoughts of possession. He tells us to oppose or neutralize such thoughts. That leads us into the first limb, yama, which is about establishing a mind free from harmful thoughts. You might know from your own experience that harmful thoughts can be very regular; certainly, they are quite regular in my mind. So establishing yama is a very difficult thing to do.

I think of the eight limbs like dominoes. Imagine eight dominoes, and if we push over the first one, the rest will fall quite easily and naturally. Now, pushing over that first domino, establishing the yamas, requires enormous time, diligence, persistence, and practice. But once we knock over the first domino, once we become established in the first limb, the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and the eighth limbs are knocked over naturally, almost by consequence.

That’s exactly how Patanjali expresses it to us – cause and effect. Knocking over the first domino causes the second to fall, which causes the third to fall, and so on. When yama is established, then niyama is essentially ready to be knocked over.

When the yogi has established the second limb of niyama, then asana is very easy. I’m not talking about all the postures you do in a yoga class, I’m talking specifically about what Patanjali defines as being a comfortable and stable sitting posture. You position your body in a way that is comfortable and stable. That’s the third limb accomplished, because when the mind is peaceful, the body can be still and comfortable for long periods of time.

So regardless of the quality of the thoughts
that arise in your mind,
be dispassionate toward them.

Then there is the fourth limb, pranayama, the establishment of a breath which is long and subtle and free from irregularities. That is a result. You don’t need to force pranayama. It is the result of a mind that is peaceful and a body that is comfortable.

And when pranayama is established, the fifth limb pratyahara is now ready. That is when the mind withdraws from its sense objects, including thoughts. Just as sound is a sense object for the ear, thought is a sense object for the mind. The mind withdraws from taking notice of the things that occur within it. And that is the end of preparation. Preparation ends with pratyahara.

The sixth limb, dharana, is the beginning of proper meditation. Dharana is low level meditation, but it is proper meditation. The seventh limb, dhyana, is again proper meditation, above dharana but lower than samadhi. And then finally there is samadhi, which is essentially defined as disappearing – there is no longer a “you” to discern what is and what is not, between you and the object of your meditation. In samadhi, you are not there to experience, and as soon as you arrive again at experience there is separation. So, should you be diligent and disciplined enough to attain samadhi, you will not be there to experience it.

If I could leave you with one final piece of advice, it would simply be this: begin with yama, the first limb. Try to free your mind from harmful thoughts. If you can establish yourself in yama, the others will follow almost effortlessly. There’s no need to concentrate, but you do need to try to combat those disturbing thoughts that occur in your mind.

Yoga is the goal not the practice

Problems

Thoughts are a problem that we all encounter on our way toward finding absolute peace.

Solutions

Thought, obstacles, and afflictions are hurdles that make it difficult but not impossible to reach the goal of yoga.

The eight limbs

So regardless of the quality of the thoughts that arise in your mind, be dispassionate toward them.

Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL

Thoughts are a problem that
we all encounter on our way
toward finding absolute peace.

Thought, obstacles, and afflictions are hurdles
that make it difficult but not impossible
to reach the goal of yoga.

So regardless of the quality of the thoughts
that arise in your mind,
be dispassionate toward them.

Dan Alder