Wednesday, April 17, 2013

(Apr 17, 2013) The Cause of Bondage

The Cause of Bondage
From Divine Life Society Publication “The Study and Practice of Yoga” by Swami Krishnananda
(Part 1: Samadhi Pada - An Exposition of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)

Everything in all the worlds – is constituted of the three gunas. Na tadasti pṛithivyāṁ vā divi deveṣu vā punaḥ, sattvaṁ prakṛitijairmuktaṁ yadebhiḥ syāttribhirguṇaiḥ (B.G. XVIII.40): There is none free from these three gunas anywhere in creation; and the freedom from gunas is liberation.

As the old saying goes, stone walls do not a prison make. A prison does not mean a building with walls, because even a house is a building with walls, but we do not call it a prison. So bondage is not merely a physical association, but is also a psychological feeling, and ultimately it is a state of consciousness. 

To bring about the ultimate purity and freedom of consciousness in spite of its so-called association with the gunas, the Samkhya gives us the example of a crystal that can falsely appear to be coloured on account of its proximity to a coloured object. If there is no proximity of the object to the crystal, there would be no reflection, and the crystal would appear in its pristine purity. Likewise, it is said that consciousness appears to be bound on account of what they call adhyasa, or transference of characters, which happens to take place between consciousness and the gunas of prakriti in a mysterious manner. This transference of characters, which is called adhyasa, is the real bondage.

Our world is a psychological world and everyone carries a world inside his cap or hat, which causes the bondage. The larger part of what we are is inside, and that cannot be seen by us. The only instrument with which we can see things is a pair of eyes, and the eyes cannot see what is inside us, because even the way in which we see things through the eyes is conditioned by what we are inside.

We can know our self a little better when we are absolutely alone, for, in the midst of other people, we put on a false personality. When we retire to a secluded place for japa, meditation, swadhyaya, etc., the impressions of the false personality will not leave us so easily. A collector will think he is still a collector, though he is a retired man.  Yet he has a false personality which he has created in himself due to his association with other people while he was in service, and those impressions do not leave him even now. We have deep-rooted thoughts of collecting pension, of old relationships, and many other associated factors which will be pursuing us wherever we go, in spite of our attempt to lead a holy life of spiritual practice.

The liberation of consciousness, which is moksha, said to be freedom from the gunas of prakriti, cannot be achieved until the root of bondage is dug out – which means to say, the ultimate connection with the gunas is snapped. Moreover, our physical individuality is not merely constituted of the visible body alone. Our real individuality is in the subtle body. The mind, the intellect, etc., including the principle of ego, are all in the subtle body, inside this are the pranas, the powers of sense.

This subtle body that is within us, which is the operative principle of the self-affirming ego, is a form taken by an ethereal transformation of the three gunas. The self-affirming consciousness urges itself forward outwardly through the mind and the senses, and then this urge, called desire, creates impressions. To untie these knots (granthis)  and remove the layers of bondage, that have formed on account of  the many births that we have taken, requires a herculean effort.

The gunas operate both outwardly and inwardly. The gunas are the desires inside, as well as the objects of the desires, so when we tackle the gunas, we have to tackle the objects of desire as well as the conditions of desire.

Hence, the practice of yoga is not merely a one-sided effort – it is a total effort in two ways. Firstly, it is a total effort in the sense that the whole of our personality is worked up into action in the practice of yoga. Secondly, the whole of the atmosphere, inwardly as well as outwardly, is taken into consideration for the purpose of the practice. Thus, it is ultimately an effort of consciousness only. Therefore, freedom means the freedom of consciousness from its feelings in respect of its conditions, which are called the gunas.

Continue to read:
The Three Gunas” by Swami Sivananda
Prakriti does everything” by Swami Sivananda
Gunas” by Swami Sivananda

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