some remarks on the yogasūtra.pdf

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Some Remarks on the YogastraAuthor(s): Marcus Sacrini A. FerrazSource: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Jul., 2009), pp. 249-262Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40469130 .Accessed: 30/10/2014 10:31

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SOME REMARKS ONTHE YOGAS TRA

Marcus SacriniA. FerrazPhilosophyDepartment, niversity f So Paulo

Introduction

Therecently eleasedcritical dition f the first hapter f the Ptanjalayogahas con-firmed hat here s no manuscript vidence in favor f the autonomous xistenceofa YogastraYS)SManuscripts resent whole text, he Yogasstra,ater ivided ntotwo parts, VSand Yogabhsyathe atter raditionallyttributed oVysa).Theextrac-tion of a YSfrom he Yogasstras evidently ossible,but it s not obvious whetherthe result s a coherent work hat onveysa clear message.Inthe present rticle,wediscusssometopics ncluded nthe YSin order o evaluatethe ogicalconsistency fthe yogasystem.2

Our leadingthread n this ask s provided n an article by T. S. Rukmani,3 hodefends he claim that here re so many ogical problems n the yoga school thatyoga should be taken more as a discipline o be followedrather hanto be under-stood intellectually/'4 e present nd analyze four problems raised by Rukmani:the first efers o a tension between the first egree of samdhi and the continuityof mental ctivities; he second is an interpretation f YS 11.27;he third eals withthe role of dharmamegha n the yoga system; nd the fourth xplores the living

liberation.Beforediscussing he YS,some major translation ptions must be pointed out.SeveralSanskrit echnical erms an be rendered nto English n different orms, ndcommentators ave not reached a consensus on the issue.Our options are the fol-lowing:we translate amdhifollowing liade'ssuggestion, s enstasy, word thatexpressesyogic self-realization s a perfect standing nside oneself, free from llphenomenal limitations.5 itta is translated s mind, the aggregate of mentalcapacities and contents. Nirodha is translated s cessation and vrtti s mentalmodification, which includes both mental processes as inference r perceptionand their ontents.Other choices are specifiedwhen required.

The Goal of Yoga

Before onsideringRukmani's hallengesto the theoretical asis of yoga, we mustoutline the goal of yoga as stated by the YS.In doing so, a general background sprovided othe discussionof the supposed problems dentified n the yoga system.Letus consider he safras n 1.2-4. YS1.2 definesyoga as the cessation of the mod-ifications f the mind.6 YS 1.3describesthe result f yoga: the permanence of theknower in its very nature.7 Finally, YS1.4asserts the effect f the absence of

yoga:the identification etween mind nd its modifications.8

Philosophy ast & West Volume 59, Number July 009 249-262 249 2009 by University f Hawai'i Press

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These sutras present yoga as a specifictechnique for reaching special state,where all mental modifications ease. The fact hat his tate must be reached sug-gests wothings.

(1)There s a factual dentification etween mind nd its modifications. ndeed,this dentification an be called metaphysical gnorance avidya) nd is the sourceof all human fflictions klesas) see II.4).9nthis tate f dentification, ind scribesperpetuity o the transitory, urity o the mpure, nd pleasure o the painful, nd suf-fers he bad consequencesof these mistakes see II.5).10

(2) There is an essential distinction etween the knower nd the mental pro-cesses whereby human beings are ordinarily nserted nto the phenomenal world.In the yoga system, mind is not conscious by itself. tra V.19 asserts hat mindhas not light n itself, ince it belongsto the seeable. 11 In other words, here s a

pure principle r being purusa) hatmustnot be confused with ny mentalprocess.The state where the practitioner s completely reefrom his confusion nd unveilsher true nature s

enstasy.The path from he practitioner's dentification ith mentalprocessesto her iber-ation is provided by yoga. Allpracticespresented y the YS aim to stop the flowofordinary xperience, o as to disclose a state where the practitioner s free rom erphenomenalmind nd exists nly as an unconditioned eing purusa). The YSclas-sifies he mentalmodifications hatmustbe transcended o that hepractitioner anattain he full iberation f her purusa YS I.6):12knowledge praman), rror vipar-yaya),creative hought vikalpa),deep sleep (nidra), nd memory smrti)P All nor-mal psychic ife including ll sound knowledge cquired by perception pratyaksa],inference anumna],or verbal cognition agama] [seeI.7]14)mustbe suppressed o

that hepurusa can be released from ll phenomenal imitations.The accomplishment f this final goal, the samdhi, s not immediate. Enstasysupposes skillfulness n the eight techniques, designated as astngayoga, hat areexpounded in the second chapter of the VS.In addition to this, here re at leasttwo degreesof enstasy according o the first hapter f the VS. n stra .1 , the firstdegreeof samdhi spresented s enstasy with ll intuitive nowledge samprajn-faj.15 his ntuitive nowledge r insight prajn) s not described by stra .7,whichpresents he cognitive killsof common people. Indeed, prajn implies direct c-cess to the nature f anything hosen as the object of contemplation, hat s, a per-fect usion sampatti) f the practitioner's indwith her object or support. rajn s

not a cognitive esource ommonly vailable;this ntuitive nowledge risesfromspecial technique of yoga, samyama control),which is composedof the final hreemembers astngayoga: hrana mental oncentration n an object [III.1]16),hy-na (thecontinuity f this oncentration III.2]17),nd samdhi the complete ntegra-tion with heobject [III.3]18).hus, ntuitive nowledge prajn) presupposes hat tleastone level of enstasyhas been achieved,precisely heone calledsamprajnta.

Stra1.17affirms hat amprajnta-samdhi s accompanied by four upportivefactors: easoningvitarka), refined eflectionvicra), ublimehappiness nanda),and sense of egoity (asmit)}9These four factors do not play the same role.According o saras I.42-44, the first wo (vitarka nd vicra)

designate cognitive

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processesthat providefour ubleveis of enstasy.The last wo,as we willtry oshow,describethe objects whereby heseprocesses operate.20

Let us consider he four ubleveis of the first wo forms f samprajnta-samdhi.First, he YS describesa samdhi with reasoning, kind of enstasybased on infer-ence (see I.42).21Here, prajn does not arise from special mental capacity but

from hespecial use of a cognitive esource vailable to normalpeople (reasoning),which must be employedas vehicle for perfect usionwith n objective support.Second, YSpresents he next sublevei of enstasy, amdhi without easoning seeI.43).One may here ask what mental apacity s the vehicle for his econd enstasy.Indeed,there s none. This second subleveiof enstasy s intended o reach the sameoutcomeas the first, ut without he mental resourceused for t. ndeed, reasoning srequired o achieve samdhifor he first ime.When this tate s reached in a soundway, the practitioner an attain he resulting nstasy without hecognitive kill hatwas usedas a leading hread efore. he YSpoints ut that he cognitive onstituentsof reasoning includingmemory)mustbe purified o that nstasywithout easoningcan take place.22Thispurification eansthat he practitioner ainsautonomywithregard othese cognitive onstituents nd achievesprajn without heirhelp.

Thethird nd fourth ubleveisof samprajnta-samdhi epeat he structure f thefirst wo,although hemental apacity t stake n these ast evels s no mere reason-ing but refined eflection. ccordingly, he YSdescribes two more enstasiesfromwhence prajn arises: with refined eflection nd without refined eflection seeI.4423).Here, refined eflectionvicra)designates more subtlecognitive kill hanreasoning. n the third ublevei, fusion f this reflection ith tsobject is intended,and in the fourth hesame outcome is to be achieved without hismental kill.

The two last upportive actors f samprajnta-samdhiannda and asmit) renot mental apacitiesbut two kinds f object on which at least vicraoperates.Thisidea can be inferred rom tra 1.41,which describes what the supports used insamprajnta-samdhi re. One of these supports s grhya, hat s, an object thatcan be grasped by the normal processesof human cognition, s reasoning. n thissense, grhya an designate heobject upon which samdhi with nd without ea-soning sattained.Moreover, tra .41 tells us that he instruments f human cogni-tion (grahana)and the very knower grahltr) re also supports f enstasy.24 hesesupports re subtler hanobjectsof reasoning nd require subtler ognitive rocessin order obe grasped.We suggest hat his ognitiveprocess is vicraand that he

objects on which the enstasieswith and without efined eflection re attained reexactlygrahana and grahltr. f ne accepts that nanda is an instrument f cognitionand that smit is a subtle part of the knower, hen one clarifies hat the two lastforms f samprajnta-samdhi re not cognitiveprocessesbut the objects to whichmental oncentration sapplied.25

The main differences mong the supportive actors f samprajnta-samdhi anbe summarized n the diagram n figure . According o this diagram, he two firstforms f samprajnta-samdhi vitarka nd vicra)are mental processes, dividedintofour ubleveisthat re organized n an order f increasing ubtleness from tod). The last two of these subleveisuse as support he other woforms f samdhi.

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Enstasy Process Object

(a) with easoning vitarka) - grhya

/ (b)withouteasoning

samprajnta-samdhiN. (c) with efined eflection viara) granaria a'nanda)

(d) without efined eflection grahftf asmit)

Fig.1.

The designation f both mental kills nd objectivesupports s samdhi seems prob-lematic t first, ince one maythink hat he same concept isappliedconcurrently osome capacitiesof human subjectivity nd to the objectson which these capacitiesoperate. However,one must cknowledgethat he objects'' designated s support-ive factors f samprajnta-samdhi re subjective capacities and not any externalcontent grasped by them. n this way, the YS suggests kind of gradual ascent to-ward the inner constituents f mind. The first wo subleveis of enstasy with ndwithout easoning) mply he mind's absorption the accomplishment f samyama,as revealed above) in an objectivecontent. After hat,both the enstasies with ndwithout efined eflection mply he mind's absorption n itself, n its very onstitu-ents. This ascent is not arbitrary, ut a preliminary askwith regard o the secondand ultimate egree of samdhi (asamprajnta),which aims at the absorption f

the practitioner'smind n purusa, the conscious principle hatgives rise to mentalactivities.

The Problem f Samprajnta-samdhi

The exposition f the first egree of samdhi in the last ection providesus with heindispensable ackground orunderstanding ukmani's riticism f the yoga system.Rukmanihas pointedout an internal ension n the definition f samdhi.26On theone hand, samdhi is defined by the V5 as the accomplishment f yoga, that s, asthe cessation of mental modifications. owever, on the other hand, the first egreeof enstasy samprajnta-samdhi)annot be understood s the full essation of men-tal modifications, ince mentalprocesses re still t work n t.Adilemma risesfromthese claims: either amprajnta-samdhi s not a true accomplishment f yogabut, n this ase, one cannot understand hy t s designated s samdhi or the ac-complishment f yoga does not really mply he cessation of all mental modifica-tions, nd, hence, one cannot accept the definition f yoga as stated n YS I.2.

This problem does not arise from he fact that the subleveis of samprajnta-samdhi are based on cognitive kills reasoning nd refined eflection). ndeed,one could answer to this supposed problem by remarking hat the second andfourth ubleveis of samprajnta without easoning nd without efined eflection)

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occur without ny cognitive skill, and that the first nd the third ubleveis aresimply reliminary ractices f he nstasies purified f ll cognitive apacity. ntruth,Rukmanirefers o the fact that, ccording to the YS,all subleveis of samprajnta-samdhiproduce latent mpressions samskras),which are effects rising rom nytype of mental ctivity even those enstasies without easoning r refined eflection).

Generally speaking, these latent mpressions rystallize habit patterns vsans),which are potential auses of new mental modifications. hat is why these latentimpressions re also called bija (seeds):they giverise o the future atterns f mentalreactions ased on past experiences.

The latent mpressions f samprajnta-samdhi re specialsincethey destroy hebanal latent mpressions see III.927)and, consequently, he old mental patternsderived from heir rystallization.Moreover, hese special samskrasproduce themental endencyfor eekingthe accomplishment f yoga. However, like all otherlatent mpressions, he samskras rising rom he first egree of enstasy re mentalimpressions, o that Rukmani s correct n pointing ut a tension between this firstdegreeof samdhi and the achievement f the yoga process.

We have said above that a dilemma arises from his tension. Ian Whicher,choosingthe second horn of this dilemma,defends he claim that nirodha the in-tended cessation or dissolution f vrttis) oes not imply true suppressionof allmental flux. Accordingto Whicher, in Yoga philosophy, dissolutionmeans thatthe karmically inding ffects and affects) f the vrttis issolves,not the existenceof vrtti, .e., of all vrttis n total/'28 He takes the classical theory f gunas (which, nfact, xceeds the scope of the YS)as his pointof departure. he gunas are said to bethe elements hat ompose all phenomena, ncludingmental vrttis. here are three

gunas: rajas, tamas, nd sattva.Only this asts said to

producebeneficial nd sub-

lime vrttis. orWhicher,yoga practices both dissolvethe harmful ffects f rajasicortamasicmental modifications nd produce the beneficialvrttis, ased on sattva, heluminous lement f mind.Accordingly, ogawould aim to dissolve onlythe rajasicor tamasic vrttis, ith which the mind s usually dentified. s Whicher tates, n theaccomplishment f yoga, it is a specific tate of consciousness or cognitive rrorevidenced in the mind nd not the mind tself hich is at issue/'29

The description f samprajnta-samdhin the YSgivesat least partial upport oWhicher's position.As we have seen above, in this degree of enstasy, mental pro-cesses still occur, so that mind does not really cease in samprajnta.30However,

supposethat Whicher's position s correct. When we presented he dilemma arisingfrom amprajnta-samdhi, e stated hat troublesome onsequence would ensuefrom he alternative efended by Whicher: f he accomplishment f yoga does notimply he cessation of all mental modifications, hen the definition iven by YS 1.2(yogais the cessationof mental modifications)s incorrect. hisconsequencewouldreveal he YSas an incoherent ext.Whicher ormulates complexargument odenythis problem,beginningwith modus tollens: f he YSintended o define yoga asthe cessationof mental modifications n general, hen stra 1.2 would use the pluralform f vrtti, hich would clearly comprehend the totality f mental processes.However, hispluralform s not used, and, thus, yoga cannot be defined s the ces-

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escape from hese problems fwe accept the other horn f the dilemma, hat s, fwedefend he claim that amprajnta-samdhi s not a true nd complete accomplish-ment f yoga. In fact, his laim seems the simplest nd most reasonable interpreta-tion of the sufras oncerning amprajnta-samdhi. fter ll, samprajnta-samdhiproduces latent mpressions, hich clearly mply hat t this degree of samdhi not

all mental modifications ave ceased. Samprajnta-samdhis an enstasybased onsupportive actors hat gives rise to samskras. Accordingly, ow should we dealwith heconsequence of the dilemmaat issue? As we have stated bove, ifwe ac-cept the first ilemma, then we must explain why samprajnta-samdhi s calledsamdhi, that s, the final ccomplishment f yoga, where no mental modificationis supposedto exist. We defend he claim that amprajnta-samdhi s included insamdhi because the final goal of yoga is a complex state, composed of severaldegrees. Indeed, samprajnta-samdhi escribes an important evel of enstasy,where most, lthough not all, mental modifications avealready ceased. This levelis an indispensable tage in the full ttainment f yoga since practitioners houldlearn how to reach enstasy with supportive actors n order to repeat the processwithout ny support, s we will see in the next ection. Thus,one is correct nassert-ing hat hefinal oalofyoga (samdhi)requires he cessation nirodha) f all mentalmodifications. owever, hisfull essation s not n instantaneous chievement, ndeven in the sphereof samdhithere re levelsof enstasywhere this finalgoal is notfully ttained.

The Final Degree of Enstasy

In the previoussection, we tried o solve a problem raised byRukmani oncern-

ing samprajnta-samdhi. onsequently, we intended to show that the role ofsamprajnta-samdhin the yoga system s understandable nd that his opicdoesnot confirm Rukmani's ppraisal of yoga as more of a practical disciplinethan acoherent heory. n this ection,we deal with woproblems aisedby Rukmani on-cerning he lastdegree of samdhi.

The YSdesignates his ast nstasy s asamprajnta-samdhi,hat s,enstasy be-yond all intuitive nowledge. At this level, the practitioner earches for a per-fect fusion, not with any kind of support, s she is supposed to have reached insamprajnta-samdhi, ut with hepure consciousprinciple,which mustbe isolated

from ll its phenomenal pplicationsby the usual mental processes.33Accordingly,the yoga process is achieved; that s, the unconditionedbeing of mind purusa) sreleasedfrom ll phenomenalaspects,even from hosesubtle components f mindas nanda and asmit,which serve as supports or he first egree of enstasy, s wehave seen above. When the final nstasy s reached, the samskras f samprajnta-samdhi which s considered xterior o this astdegree- see III.834)re suppressed.Consequently, here s no vitti r latent mpression t all; the enstasy sperfect, ith-out seeds, and the practitioner evealsherself s a pure consciouspower.

One problem raised by Rukmani oncerning his ast enstasy rises from tra11.27,which asserts hat he ntuitive nowledge f the practitioner hat ccomplishes

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attains he last degree of enstasy s free from ll debts due to past actions and canreap the benefits f true virtue.43

The Problem f Living iberation

Untilnow, we have discussed some passagesin the VSthat, ccording to Rukmani,may contain seriousproblems oncerning he theoretical asis of the yoga system.We intend o show that his theoretical asis cannot, based on these passages,belabeled as incoherent r even illogical.However,we do not defend the claim thatsuch a basis is perfect, ither. There is at least one problem n the Y5,conciselypointed out by Rukmani,44 ith which we agree. We refer o living iberation, hatis, the claim that he practitioner an both completely iberate urusa and continueto live. Inthis final ection,we will present nd discuss this problem.

We have seen above that n asamprajnta-samdhi o mental hange occurs. Toreach this tate, he effects f past mentalmodificationsmustbe extinguished.Whenthese effects re fully ullified, hepure consciouspower is liberated rom ny phe-nomenalconstraint, nd to the extent hat n asamprajnta-samdhi o new vrtti sexpectedto be produced, he attainment f such enstasy mplies hat he practitionerhasno morementalmodifications. his s not tentative tate f mind, s samprajnta-samdhi is described,for nstance, n stra V.27, which asserts hat amprajnta sincomplete nd temporary.45ndeed, n this owerdegreeofenstasy, ne still eturnsto ordinary onsciousness,where different ental processestake place.46Neverthe-less,when asamprajnta sattained, hepractitioner o longerhas either mental vrttior karma as described n YSIV.30).

To understandwhat is at staken

asamprajnta,we must make explicitwhat isencompassed by the range of karma. All deeds, be they physical or mental, rekarma.According o the classical doctrine f karma nd rebirth, hese deeds havea crucial role in the fate of human beings during heirnumerous ives. Bronkhorstaddresses this point by saying hat deeds constitute he decisive factor hat auserebirth o take place and that determinewhat the new lifewill be like/'47 n otherwords, all mental and corporal modifications roduce effects hat hold humanbeings in a cycle of infinite ebirths. ccording o Bronkhorst, ifferent editationschoolsdeveloped in ancient ndia to discover ways to escape this ragic ate.Oneof these schoolssupports he claim that deeds are performed y a phenomenal elf,which s not the true nvariable elf. When this unconditioned elf s revealed,one isliberated rom he karmic ffects f deeds.48A second school claimsthat one mustperfectly mmobilizemind and body, so that no deed is created and the effects fpastdeeds are purgedby the time of death, when complete iberation s achieved.49

In our view, yoga containselements f these two traditional chools of medita-tion. On the one hand, yoga asserts hat he phenomenalmind citta) s not the trueself and that one can disclose the true elf and attain full iberation n life.On theother hand, yogapractices re intended o cause all bodily nd mental modificationsto cease so that he true elf purusa) s liberated;moreover, o deed is supposedtobe performed fter he full attainment f asamprajnta-samdhi. hus, yoga at the

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same time defends he claim that iving iberation s possibleand that when this ib-eration ccurs no further hysicalor mental deed is performed.

This last claim is difficult o accept since our ordinary notion of life is soentangledwith hat f deeds and mental modifications.Whicher xpresses he ncre-dulity rising rom he consequencesof asamprajnta-samdhi hus: if all the greatYoga masters f the past had obliterated r so thoroughly uppressed heirminds norder to attain spiritual iberation, ow did they speak, teach, reason, remember,empathize, r even use the word T ?50 To avoid such problems,Whicherproposes,as we have seen above,that nly the afflicted rttis re suppressed nd not hewholephenomenal mind. Againstthis interpretation, e have tried to show in the lastsection that the YSasserts that the practitioner ho has attained asamprajnta-samdhi has no mental modifications nd produces no karma. However, to theextent hat ife mplieskarma and phenomenal modifications at least from physi-cal metabolism), ow is it possiblethat liberated practitioner an be alive with-out producing ny karmai

The fourth hapter f the YS tries o conciliate iving iberation nd deeds. Saras4, 5, and 6 describe how the liberated ractitioner an create auxiliarymindsbasedon her mastery ver the sense of egoity asmit).Stras111.16-54 ssert hat hepractitioner stablishes ontrol samyama) ver any support sed to attain amdhi.We have seen above that n samprajntasamdhi ne of the supports sed to reachenstasy s asmit. Consequently, he practitioner stablishes ontrol over asmit,control hat ncludes even the ability o reproduce t by creating ne or several dou-bles of oneself. Thesedoublesare said to be used by the iberated ractitioner oper-form ny deed, such as teachingdisciples.As the duplicatedmindsdo not produce

latent mpressionssee IV.6),51heydo not mprison he liberated urusa n the phe-nomenal world.This doctrine f the creation f auxiliaryminds s intended o reconcile he iving

liberation nd the mmutability f the released self: ll deeds would be performed ycreatedbeings nd not by purusa tself. owever, everalproblems rise from uch adoctrine: ven ifwe accept that he creation f such doubles ispossibleand that heyproduce no karma, how should we understand he act that creates the duplicatedminds? s this not mentalmodification? oes not uch an act cause karmic ffects?Moreover,we understand he doctrine of created minds as an attempt o explainhow a liberated ractitioner ould perform olitional cts. Nevertheless, hiskindof

act does not exhaust he rangeof karmic ffects ince involuntary cts, such as thosenecessary o keep the body alive (breathing, igestion, nd excretion, t the veryleast),still hould, according to the classical doctrine, be taken as karma. Shouldnot this organic or involuntary armahinder he liberation f purusai If he answeris no, it hould not, henone implies hat he processofyoga is limited othe men-tal dimension f human being,which is to be distinct rom he physical phere.Thisanswer s problematic, ince the YS defends no substantial ualism concerning odyand mind. The ontologicaldistinction resented y the yoga system s that betweenphenomenalor material ntities including hephysicalworld nd citta, heordinaryhuman mind) and a nonmanifested onscious principle purusa).52 Thus, when

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5 - See Mircea Eliade,Yoga, mmortality nd Freedom Princeton: rincetonUni-versity ress,1969).

6 - YSI.2: yogascittavrttinirodhah. e use the following dition: Bangai Baba,Yogastra of Patajali with the commentary of Vysa (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas,1976).

7 - V5 1. : tada drastuh svarupe 'vasthanam.

8 - YS 1.: vrttisarupyamitaratra.9 - YSII.4: avidy ksetramuttaresm rasuptatanuvicchinnodarnam.

10 - YS1 . : anityasuciduhkaanatmasu nityasucisukhatmakhytiravidya.11 - VS IV.19: na tatsvbhasam drsyatvat.12 - VSI.6: pramanaviparyayavikalpanidrasmrtayah.

13 -The concept of vikalpa is not restricted o the active production f mentalimages, ince it lso includes inguistic reations o which no real object corre-sponds e.g., such logicalabsurdities s a round quare).

14 - YS1. : pratyaksanumananagamah pramanani.15 - VSI.17: vitarkavicaranandasmitarupanugamatsamprajatah.16 - YS1 .1 desabandhascittasya dharana.

1 7 - YS1 . : tatra pratyayaikatanata dhyanan.18 - YS III. : tadevrthamatranirbhsam

varupasunyamivasamadhih.

19 - The YSalso defines asmita as a klesa (affliction) hat must be suppressed norder o reach the goal of yoga, which is samdhi see YS II.). Thisapparentparadox is explained in note 23 below.

20 - We follow he interpretation f Baba;see Baba, Yogastra f Patajaliwith hecommentary of Vysa, pp. 24-25 n. 3.

21 - YS 1. 2: tatra sabdarthajanavikalpaih sakirna savitarka sampattih.22 - YS I.43: smrtiparisuddhau svarpasunyevarthamatranirbhasa nirvitarka.

23 - YS I.44: etayaiva savicar nirvicara ca suksmavisaya vykhyata.24 - YS 1.41 ksinavrtterabhijatasyeva manergrahitrgrahanagrhiesu.25 - Asmita s a component f the knower nd, because of this, support n which

the samdhi with and without refined reflection hould be reached. Thus,asmit gives rise to enstasy nd can be called a form f samdhi. However,asmit s a phenomenal aspect of citta nd makes use of the pure consciousprinciple n order o exist see VS.II.6).That is why asmit s also a klesa,thatis, a limitation hatmustbe surpassed o that yoga can be fully ttained.

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26 - See Rukmani, Tension between Vyuthana nd Nirodha in the Yoga-stras,pp. 614-615.

27 - V5 1 . : vyutthananirodhasamskarayorabhibhavaprdurbhavauirodhaksana-cittnvayo irodhaparinmah.

28 - IanWhicher, Nirodha,YogaPraxis nd the Transformation f the Mind, Jour-nal of ndianPhilosophy 5 (1)(1997):6.

29 -Ibid., p. 11.

30 - It s not clear if heseprocessesare only sattivic, s Whicher's positionholds.

31 - As he asserts, it is the cittavrtti s our confusedand mistaken dentity f au-thentic elfhood (purusa), not our ymis, thoughts nd experiences in totalwhich must ome to a state of definitive essation Whicher, Nirodha,YogaPraxis nd the Transformation f the Mind, p. 20).

32 - YS1. : vrttayah acatayyahklistklistah.33 - We agree with MaxMller,who affirmed hatyoga is not an activity hat oins

physical nd psychic spects of existence, s is usuallyunderstood, ut a tech-nique to put under he yoke of the pure consciouspower all the phenomenalaspects of the experience. See Mller, The Six Systems f Indian Philosophy(London:Longmans,Green and Co., 1912),p. 309.

34 - YS1 . : tadapibahiragam rvebhyah.35 - YSII.27:tasya aptadh prntabhumih raja.36 - See Rukmani, Tension between Vyuthana nd Nirodha in the Yoga-sutras/f

p. 618.

37 -See Ibid.,pp. 618-619.

38 - See J. Bronkhorst, Patajaliand the YogaStras Studienzur IndologieundIranistik 0 (1984):209.

39 - See Y. Grinshpon, Yogic Revolution nd Tokens of Conservatism n Vyasa-yoga, Journal f ndian Philosophy 5 (2)(1997):129-138.

40-

See Rukmani, Tension between Vyuthanand Nirodha in the

Yoga-stras,pp. 619-621.

41 - YSIV.29:prasamkhyne pyakusTdasyaarvath vivekakhyterdharmameghahsamdhih.

42 - YSIV.32:tatah krtrthnam arinamakramasamptirgunnm.43 - The word dharmamegha xpresses his tate n a metaphoricalway, as if he

liberatedpractitioner ould enter nto a different tmosphere r would evenfeel a blissful rain from hespecial cloud of virtue.

Marcus acrini .Ferraz 261



15/15

44 - Rukmani, Tension between Vyuthna nd Nirodha in the Yoga-stras, p.621-622.

45 - V5IV.27: tacchidresu ratyayntarni amskrebhyah.46 - Many of these processes use the latent impressions f the experience of

enstasy, mpressions hatbesidesdestroying he normal amskras lso stimu-late the practitioner o repeat heenstasy n a more enduringway, since thereare supposedto be fewer nd fewer atent mpressions hathinder he iberationof purusa.

47 - Bronkhorst, Selfand Meditation n Indian Buddhism Paperpresented t theInternational onference on KoreanSon Buddhism, eoul, 1998; electronicversion, retrieved January 3, 2007, from http://kr.buddhism.org/zen/koan/y_bronkhorst.htm).

48 - See ibid.

49 - See ibid.50 - Whicher, Nirodha, Yoga Praxis nd the Transformation f the Mind, p. 10.51 - YS IV.6: iatradhynajamansayam.52 - In his article Mind/ConsciousnessDualism in Snkya-YogaPhilosophy,

Philosophy nd PhenomenologicalResearch 53 (4) (1993):845-859, PaulSchweizer extracts onsequencesfrom his ntology or ontemporary hiloso-phy.

53 - YS 11.10: epratiprasavaheyh ksmh.54 - YS 11.1 :heyamduhkhamangatam.

262 Philosophy ast & West

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