Dear Friends,
First off I would like to address one question that arose from the previous email on Asana, regarding injury. Is there a connection between the ego and bodily injury? Of course there can be, though not necessarily. Let me first distinguish between pain/injury, and discomfort/suffering. Pain and injury usually occur around the joints and there has likely been a moment where something has snapped a little - this can be a muscle insertion point, a tendon or ligament bruise. These can be the result of ignorance, poor technique, or ego. All of these are reflections of the human experience and are almost inevitable, and they make us wiser. Discomfort/suffering occurs when muscles shift as you move deeper into a pose which is painful, though more indicative of growth rather that ignorance/ego. It is similarly reflective of the human condition - growth is uncomfortable, and there is no comfortable way to grow. There is little to no power that we have over inevitable suffering, be it derived from ignorance, ego, or growth. The only power we have is our choice of reaction. The strongest reactions that we can chose to any suffering is grace and forgiveness. This is more easily said than done. In truth, grace has the power to override and shift karma - the law of action. This stresses the importance of forgiving and being graceful with yourself when you've been injured. That being said, let's move on the content of this correspondence.
The goal of this writing is to cover the remaining 5 limbs of Ashtanga in this one email. They likely won't be as detailed as the previous emails because of my very limited knowledge of yogic texts, and the simplicity of my understanding of them. Regardless, I hope they still bring some insight to your practice, curiosity, and pursuit of enlightenment (whatever that may be). The first 4 limbs are physical (Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama) which make them easier for me to understand because the physical is often easier to understand. The last 4 limbs are metaphysical (Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi) and therefore difficult to communicate (both receiving and delivering) because they are abstract concepts. This is, at the moment, my best attempt to deliver.
The 4th limb of Asthanga yoga is Pranayama. Prana is the Ayurvedic term for Life Force, and Ayama means to draw out, extend, or work at with concious effort. Every form of meditation uses the breath as a vehicle to shift the mind into a place of focus. It is that physical thing we do, both consciously and unconsciously, that we cannot see, so it starts to bridge the gap between the physical and non-physical elements of the practice. There are many types of pranayama (i.e. Ujjayi, sitkari, bhastrika, bhramari). We primarily use Ujjayi in Ashtanga yoga as it is practised with asana. It is still effective to breathe deep ujjayi breaths without asana, but it is not effective to practice asana without ujjayi breath. In different asanas, energy channels, or nadis, are opened up and require the ujjayi breath to push blood and oxygen through the veins, and energy through the nadis. It also helps to keep the mind and body calm when the body is in a challenging asana. The breath establishes rhythm so that the mind can relax, much like a hypnotist who dangles a pendant back and forth with a steady tempo, allowing the mind to drop into a meditative state. The larger purpose of establishing a steady rhythm of breath is put our minds in a place where we can witness and appreciate (or be in awe of) the rhythm of the movement of the universe. This helps to decrease human frustration: nothing happens according to our will: that is definite. Everything in the universe occurs in accordance with the will of the Universal Self, not human desire (Jois, 19). Breath helps us to experience presence, or the present moment. It's important to eliminate ego and desire in the asana as they disrupt the flow of breath and energy (i.e. looking at someone else's asana and thinking that your pose is much deeper or not half as deep). In the asana, don't think "I want to do this asana" . . . eliminate the "I", that is ego. Eliminate "want to do" - that is desire. Just "asana." Physical flexibility and strength are irrelevant. This brings us to the 5th limb.
The 5 limb of Ashtanga yoga is Pratyhara - Sensory withdrawal. The purpose of withdrawing the senses in a meditative practice is to limit stimuli, thus limiting the fluctuations of the mind (Yoga Sutra 1.2 "Yoga Citta Vrtti Nirodha" - Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind). In Ashtanga yoga, the tools that we use to achieve sensory withdrawal are Ujjayi breathing (listening to its rhythm only, and not to other auditory distractions), and Dristi, which is the gazing point for each asana. The specific dristi points are not energetically important, they are more for the practice of conscious effort and meditation. It is easy to respond to stimuli with our senses. We discipline the senses by training the eyes to move where we command them, and not responding of their own accord - this is wallowing in conditioned existence. There is also the Ganesha icon that I used to illustrate the concept of Pratyahara in the Foundations of Ashtanga Yoga email. The mouse represents human desire, that has been disciplined by Ganesha to obey Ganesha's command rather than scatter around aimlessly.
The 6th limb of Ashtanga Yoga is Dharana - Concentration. This limb and the subsequent 2 are all interconnected. Concentration on breath, bhandas, dristi, are necessary to achieve the meditative state and thus achieve Samadhi, or moments of it. Concentration initially requires an object of focus - be it an asana (Raja yoga), an image (Bhakti yoga), a repetitive sound (Japa), etc . . . with unwavering attention - employing Pratyahara - and this carries us to the 7th limb, meditation.
The 7th limb is Dhyana - Meditation. We use Dharana, concentration, to achieve meditation which is like a sustained concentration, or being aware without the initial strain of focus. At this point, the mind has already been stilled with little to no fluctuations of thought. It takes a long time and requires a lot of mental strength and stamina that will develop, just like the asanas, as part of the process.
The 8th limb is Samadhi - Union with or without the object of meditation. Usually the object of meditation is God or the Self. There are 9 levels of Samadhi, 4 are union with the object of meditation, and 5 without. As far as I understand, everyone has moments of Samadhi that are nascent of Dharana and Dhyana, but to sustain such a level of consciousness is real mastery that I have not achieved . . . yet (I hope). I like to use the Om symbol to illustrate the understanding of human existence and the Samadhi experience. As a side note, the displayed Om symbol here is not Phonetic Sankrit, it is symbolic Om. The bottom portion of the symbol shows a number 3 on the left with a squiggly line on the right. These represent 3 states of being. The bottom, larger curve at the bottom of the 3 represents that state of being awake, the upper smaller portion represents the state of being asleep, and the squiggly line on the right represents the state of dream - slightly detached from awake and asleep. The upper portion shows a dot at the very top with a line underneath it. The dot represents the Self, or the Observer/Perceiver, and the line underneath represents the veil that from time to time draws back so that we can have an epiphany moment, or insight of the greater reality. Explaining the Observer . . . as I am writing this email, my mind is telling my fingers what to type. Then here is a higher awareness that observes the thoughts in my mind as they are being created to tell my fingers what to type. This is part of having a higher state of consciousness.
At this level of esoteric discussion, my limits are currently reached and I will share any other discoveries with you when I stumble upon them. And I say stumble because the course of study has no estimated time of arrival - my practice, like my life, has had a series of epiphany moments versus understanding of something entering my body once I've achieved an asana bind or lift. Further emails will discuss questions from students and the Ashtanga yoga asanas in greater detail.
I hope this has brought some more light and understanding into your practice. Peace, love, and blessings to you all.
Namaste.
Mark
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