CHAPTER 3 - ASHTANGA YOGA (EIGHT LIMBS OF YOGA)🔗

Story about Patanjali, Father of Yoga

There is a beautiful story describing Patanjali's incarnation. When Shiva was dancing in Kailash, his anklet suddenly broke and he had to stop the dance for a moment. Patanjali who was witnessing the dance felt the dance should not be stopped as it was going in such a beautiful rhythm. So, he became the anklet at the foot of Shiva so Shiva could continue his dance. After the dance, Patanjali said, 'Oh, Master, I was at your feet as an anklet so I couldn't enjoy your dance. Please bless me to have the darshan of your dance once more. I want to see your dance once more. Shiva replied, 'Don't worry, meditate on me. I'll give you darshan and you will see my dance. You will see my Ananda Tandava, the blissful dance.'

So Patanjali came down as an incarnation, meditated in Chidambaram and experienced Shiva consciousness. After Shiva consciousness was experienced, he trained one thousand disciples and started expressing the truths and the science through one thousand heads. He told all of them, "Please understand, I'll express whatever I have to express, all the great truths, once and for all. 'Each disciple will note down what one head says. Don't get confused listening to all the thousand heads."

He allotted one disciple to one head. That disciple would only note down what that one head said. The enlightenment cannot be expressed just with one body as it is like trying to transfer lightning energy to houses. Trying to supply lightning energy to the houses is impossible. So he took on a thousand heads so that he could step down and properly transmit the whole energy.

One head was talking about vastu shastra, one head was talking about astrology, one was talking about deities, one was talking about yoga, one was talking about meditation and one was talking about the different spiritual sciences. Each head was talking about one spiritual science, one spiritual truth. Suddenly, the whole group felt an intense energy that they were not able to bear. Patanjali said, 'All right, let me put up a thick screen.' He puts up a big thick screen and he said, 'Now I'll express all the truths. You only record, but never remove the screen because if you remove the protective screen, you will all get burnt in this intense energy,'

The story has many beautiful meanings. Patanjali is expressing the truths while disciples are sitting on the other side of the screen, each connecting to one head, noting down, recording whatever that head is saying. Intense transmission, energy expression and recording is happening. When the discourse and recording was almost going to end, one disciple suddenly had a strong doubt about his master.

"Master says he's talking through one thousand heads, and he is behind the screen. I am listening only to one head and I feel that what he usually teaches is what I am listening now.' But this foolish disciple does not remember that he usually hears from one head, and now he is also listening only from one head, but nine hundred and ninety nine other disciples are listening to other different truths. He did not think from that angle. He thought Patanjali was talking what he used to talk before. "How come he is saying, don't remove the screen, I am expressing extraordinary energy, I am talking through one thousand heads. I think these are all stories. Maybe he is telling these things to inspire us so we should have more respect for the truths he expressed."

Having doubts is a big problem with disciples when they are not completely devoted. They can cause big damage, not to the master, but to the truths which are delivered. All the thousand disciples are recording the truths from the thousand heads. It is almost about to end, when one disciple gets the doubt - "Maybe Master is sleeping on the other side and is not expressing through one thousand heads as he claims, because I am listening and hearing the same thing as when he talks through one head." So, this disciple wanted to verify, to check. He removes the screen. Once the screen came off, with the intense energy being radiated, all the thousand disciples become enlightened and got burned. All the disciples and whatever had been recorded, got burned. Patanjali suddenly realized what had happened and he came down, relaxed, and came back to his normal energy, normal position. 'Oh God, what happened.'

The story says, they were recording for more than one thousand years. A thousand heads were talking, a thousand years of recording and the whole effort went to waste. Gone! He felt so sad. All the data got burned, disappeared. Suddenly his face became bright as he saw one disciple entering the area and jumped in ecstasy, and with extraordinary joy, went and hugged the disciple and asked, "how did he survive? What happened?" The disciple answered, "I went to attend to the call of nature!"

The story says that whatever that one disciple recorded, that one part is what we have now as Patanjali Yoga Sutra. Whatever was expressed from that one head, whatever that one disciple had recorded, is Patanjali Yoga Sutra. Patanjali was happy; at least one part, 0.1%, was preserved. But there was one unfortunate thing. When Patanjali was talking about initiating a person into the enlightenment science, the disciple was not there then. He was not recording. Hence, a key part was missing.

So Patanjali says, "I have given the whole thing, except the initiation. Let that be given only by master to disciple." That means you have to listen to these great sutras from an enlightened being. Only then, the true meaning will be revealed. Then, the click, the feeling connection happens. Without the experience of enlightenment, the sutras can be misinterpreted, misunderstood and misused. This great knowledge, if it is misused, is dangerous not only to the person but to the whole world. That is the reason why Patanjali had left the last key unrecorded.

That is why even now, the importance of the master, the importance of direct initiation is insisted in yoga tradition. In all the yoga traditions, people are requested to have direct initiation from the master, because, the initiation can never be transmitted through books.

Almost all the spiritual sciences, the science of healing, the science of doing miracles, were explored, experimented, experienced and expressed in this one book.

Ashtanga Yoga - New insights from the source

In this book, we introduce the core truths of Ashtanga Yoga as experienced by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, from his direct experience of the consciousness of Patanjali himself.

If you have read some of the literature on yoga, you will see that there is a general misunderstanding that the eight limbs have to be practiced in a linear fashion. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM says, Patanjali never meant that each step be mastered before going to the next step. Ashtanga Yoga means eight 'limbs' of yoga, not eight 'steps' of yoga. The eight limbs of yoga are not a linear progression by which you have to complete one step before moving on to the next step. If that were so, we would need several lifetimes to reach the blissful state of samadhi.

The eight limbs of yoga should be practiced and experienced all at the same time! The practice of Saptanga Yoga which takes us to the space of completion, enables us to experience and live the eight limbs of yoga spontaneously.

Below is a brief overview as revealed by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM on Ashtanga Yoga.

Yama

Yama is not just the laws. Yama is both the law and law enforcement energy. Yama is also the energy which makes the law into reality; the energy that executes the law. Patanjali says Yama has to be realized, has to happen, not to be practiced. That is the reason why in Vedic tradition, altering the consciousness is given so much importance; law and action both come from there. The person who is acting in you and making decision in you is conscious; your consciousness is responsible for your very actions.

Understanding about Yama will change the way you live the deeper truths of Yama. Go to the source of law from where it comes, the pure consciousness, and you will experience the energy from where it comes. Whenever you go to the source of law, you are liberated by the law and from the law.

Whenever yama is perceived as just laws, the mind will want to resist it. Mind always plays games. When one struggles with law and its execution, it leads to depression and schizophrenia. When you realize the source of yama, you need not practice it. It will just happen in you. Like a breeze, you will be untouched. These five great expressions of Yama will be just flowing through you, just become your qualities. You will feel such a joy and ecstasy and feel Yama as a wealth to be enjoyed.

The five wealth components of Yama are: -

Satya

Satya is truthfulness. Satya is not just talking the facts. Just talking the facts is just one dimension of satya. Satya means understanding the truths of life; and aligning your whole body, mind, action and speech with truthfulness.

Lao Tzu says " If you are established in truth, there is no need for spiritual practice."

Satya is practised by having integrity in the words you utter to yourself and to others. Always fulfil the words you give to others and yourself. The moment you decide that you are going to be in integrity with your thoughts and words, you will be forced to purify your very thinking! The continuous practice of living by the truth has a powerful impact on your subconscious.

Patanjali says the words of an enlightened being can be taken as the Truth. When you listen to or read great masters words again and again for one year, you will create a mental setup which will radiate enlightenment.

Brahmacharya

Celibacy is just part of brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is Living like God. How brahmacharya is interpreted and understood plays a major role in the technique, path and destination. When you become brahman, the way you live becomes brahmacharya. Patanjali says that if one is established in brahmacharya, one will have tremendous strength, energy, vigor, and vitality.

The first thing to do in practice is to establish you in non-duality, then only non-doing. As a side effect of living Advaitha, not having physical relationship happens. Then only you can declare to the world - I am brahmacharya.

If a disturbing thought about celibacy comes up and you try to suppress it because you want enlightenment, then it becomes suppression. If you try to suppress it because it will disturb your social identity or stability, then it is perverted suppression. If you have the cognition and feel that I am not the body, I am something beyond and I am using this body to exhaust all the prarabdha karma; this body and mind is just an instrument, then it is brahmacharya. If this is the cognition which clicks with you to break the disturbing thought, then it is brahmacharya. Integrity with one's desire, greed or lust is related to Brahmacharya

The idea, understanding, clarity, purpose, thought and way with which brahmacharya is achieved, is more important than the celibacy itself. Brahmacharya is not a pride; It is a wealth, a luxury. It is such an extraordinary ecstasy and freedom to having just your own inner spiritual ecstasy and not needing another body to give you pleasure.

Asteya

Asteya is non-stealing in all dimensions. Owning only that which has been earned, and not trying to own the possessions of others is asteya. Integrity in owning and disowning is asteya. One should bring integrity to ownership of what is only ours - our body, our mind, our consciousness. The root pattern of trying to own others things is the most chaotic pattern on Earth. When collective minds try to own others' things, they commit the crime of wars.

Patanjali says, by being established in non-stealing, all wealth comes to us. When you feel a deep sense of security that wealth is always here, you will stop stealing. The storing and hoarding will stop happening. With insecurity, there will be more holding and stealing. Feeling this security releases tremendous creativity in you.

Aparigraha

It is non-possessiveness, not possessing anything that is not you. Aparigraha is living with the right amount of things one needs, and not taking away the body's abilities by giving it unnecessary things. The bio intelligence is made to function in the lowest possibility by too many luxuries, and this takes away one's innate intelligence to live naturally. Bringing integrity to aparigraha, living with minimum possible things, will awaken a new type of bio intelligence in the body.

Living with minimal things is the greatest wealth and freedom you can acquire because your body and mind are ready to live wherever you want.

There are different levels of practice. Start with non-possessiveness of external objects like luxury items. Give away anything you have not used in the past one year. Once you are comfortable with that, move on to giving away things you have not used in the last six months. Then move on to more subtle levels of aparigraha - whoever asks for whatever you have, give it away. Then, anything that is not you including your body and mind, give it up; decide not to possess it. When you don't possess the body, you will realize that all the seen are only the seen and not the reality. You will feel great health. This practice can be a complete technique for enlightenment.

Ahimsa

It is nonviolence to you or others. When you practice ahimsa, you will have a deep restful awareness inside you. Practising integrity in ahimsa is a process of self-awareness and awareness of everything around you. You have to be very aware that your thoughts and actions are not hurtful nor in violation of the right of others and of yourself to live in harmony and blissfully.

Self-hatred and denial violate the principle of ahimsa, yet is so commonly found in all of us. It takes us away from our true pure nature. When you have violence towards somebody, you are having violence inside you. Violence is like fire – first, it will burn you before it goes to burn others. It is wasting your life. At the end, you will realize that you have wasted so many years of your life just because of your foolish violence towards somebody.

If you are feeling threatened by someone, be very clear, that person is also feeling threatened by you. This is a basic law. If someone is established in ahimsa, in his very presence, all hostility will completely disappear. When you are established in ahimsa, you have the ultimate shield and strategy; you have a powerful energy that can bend air and you will simply radiate joy and bliss. Ahimsa is not just a moral code.

With any idea you are established in, your bio memory is ripe with that truth and you will radiate it. How does the truth transmit from one bio-memory to the other? THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM explains, "The words I utter are my experience. When I utter this word, not even one inch of my bio memory, not even one bit of my bio memory is resisting that truth. The whole bio memory is in tune with my truth. I am just expressing the honest in depth experience. Naturally the honest bio memory has to touch you, and be transmitted into your bio memory.

Yama and Integrity

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gives a new understanding to the eight strategies of Ashtanga Yoga, as he relates them to Saptanga Yoga. He revealed new light on yama, niyama and asana.

The first strategy Yama, is related to integrity in Saptanga Yoga. Living with integrity leads one to take ownership of their body and mind, and not giving up on oneself and others. Knowing the depths of the Truths and practising them with integrity is Satya. Living and practising integrity in the words one utters to oneself and others is also Satya.

Integrity in owning and disowning is Asteya. Owning only that which has been earned, and not trying to own the possessions of others is Asteya. The world suffers so much with this pattern of trying to own others' things. The biggest crime happening on planet Earth is, trying to grab others' things. Thousands of murders are committed because of that. If somehow human beings can be taught this integrity of Asteya, of not trying to own others things, the world would become the most beautiful place to live in. The root pattern of trying to own others' things is the most chaotic pattern on Earth. When collective minds try to own others' things, they commit the crime of wars. One should bring integrity to ownership of what is only ours - our body, our mind, our consciousness.

Aparigraha is living with the right amount of things one needs, and not taking away the body's abilities by giving it unnecessary things. The bio intelligence is made to function in the lowest possibility by too much of luxuries, and this takes away one's innate intelligence to live naturally. Bringing integrity to aparigraha, living with minimum possible things, will awaken a new type of bio intelligence in the body. Integrity with one's desire, greed or lust is related to Brahmacharya. In living integrity with ahimsa, one has to be aware that one's thoughts and actions are not hurtful nor in violation of the right to live blissfully. Self-hatred and denial violate the principle of ahimsa, yet are so commonly found in all of us. Living with incompletions to the principles of Yama eventually lead to depression and low energy.

Niyama

Niyama is not rules. It is raising your life to the highest coherence. Patanjali gives a very powerful technique to create the highest possible coherence in you, in the community and society you are living in, and ultimately the whole civilization. Niyama is creating the highest possible coherence in your body by increasing your understanding to higher and higher levels through the right ideas.

A man who can do this in his body is an enlightened man. He who is trying to create this in his body is a seeker. He who can create the same highest possible coherence in a few people is an enlightened mystic. He who can create this in a large number of bodies with sadhana is an enlightened master. He who can create this in any number of bodies just by His presence is an Incarnation. Swami Nithyananda explained that all He is doing is creating this coherence in more and more bodies that can transmit this coherence to others. Wherever you may be, if you are feeling connected, even if you are not in his physical space, try to connect to him. Space does not limit you. You will fall into the same coherence and experience the intense spiritual awakening, the eN-effect.

When this highest coherence happens in one body, it awakens kundalini and non-mechanical parts of that body. When a few people sit together, the highest coherence falls in place and the eN-effect is created on the group. If a group sits in different parts of a city, eN-effect is created in that city. And if different groups sit in different parts of the world, eN-effect happens on planet earth itself. And, if groups at different planets sit in the same time and connecting, the eN-effect happens in the whole universe.

The five components of Niyama described by Patanjali are:

Saucha

Saucha is cleanliness, purity of the sense organs. When you keep the internal and external purity, you will raise yourself to the highest coherence.

Santosha

It is happiness, always being blissful, contentment. When you keep yourself always blissful, you will raise the family and community you are living in to the highest coherence.

Tapas

Traditional orthodox translations say tapas is mortification. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM translates tapas as the practices through which your bio memory falls in tune with the all-knowing, all powerful, all intelligent, all compassionate atman. The stuff which is inside your bio memory which is responsible for your bio memory to be alive is Sat-Chit-Ananda. Sat is all knowing, Chit, all powerful; Ananda, always blissful. However, your bio memory is not completely aware of its own sweet truth, sat-chit-ananda. Therefore, any practice which makes your bio memory aware of its own nature is tapas.

Sometimes a very joyful action can be a tapas for you. Tapas is not always, painful or austerity or mortification. It can sometimes be very happy, joyful or something which you always wanted to do.

Swadhyaya

Swadhyaya is reading, understanding and raising your intellectual capability to grasp the truth so you can be in the highest possibility. That is what THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is doing every morning through morning satsang. He is raising your ability to grasp the truth again and again, so you can be in the highest possibility.

Ishwara Pranidhana

This is the deep devotion, complete surrender, and relaxing into the cosmos to bring the whole cosmos to the highest level of coherence, highest consciousness level.

Asana

Asana means tuning yourself with the Cosmos. Posture, your consciousness and your action, all three are closely connected. By lying down, you can't scream at somebody. By standing up, you can't sleep. Each posture creates a particular state of consciousness in you and helps you for a particular action. Sit with chin mudra hands in two positions, first down and then up, and you will feel the difference.

Sthira, sukham, asanam translates as, the way in which you tune yourself to cosmos should be stable, steady and comfortable for you. There is a particular body posture for you to have the ultimate state of consciousness. You need to find out and move towards that body posture where you experience the highest state of consciousness in your body. That evolving should be steady and comfortable. The posture for the ultimate state of consciousness is mahasana or mahamudra.

Asanas will prepare your bio-memory for the intense spiritual experience. When the root thought patterns, the engraved memories dissolve, and the non-mechanical parts of the brain are awakened, your body should be capable of holding and radiating energy in a proper way. Asana will increase the sensitivity and make the experience stay forever.

Pranayama

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM says that the breath we generally experience is the air movement that awakens thoughts along with it. That breathing should be stopped. When breath with thoughts ceases, pranayama happens, expansion of our life energy happens. So, we should learn the art of breathing without awakening thoughts. Orthodox translations define pranayama as, control of breathing.

The science of pranayama teaches the science of breathing without thinking. After mastering steady, comfortable postures/asana, you should learn the science of breathing without thoughts being awake and breathing without thinking.

Air is not life energy. There is a subtle energy that goes along with the air - that is the life energy, prana. If there are thoughts while breathing, you are not inhaling pure prana. If there are more thoughts, less prana will go inside; if there are fewer thoughts, more prana or life energy will go inside the body. The ideal situation is - only life energy should go inside, no air.

Pratyahara

Ahara means absorbing, taking in through the five senses. Your senses are the door through which you experience not only the world, but even your identity. Your mind works through your senses to experience the world through sensual pleasures or pain. If you see anything new, your senses will come alive.

Pratyahara means, not taking anything in through the five senses. Pratyahara happens if your mind withdraws from sensory activities, and returns to its source. Pratyahara is restoring the senses to the space where intense excitement and joy is a constant happening, without any external event happening. Withdrawing the senses, restoring them to the space where constant joy is happening without any happening, is the ultimate goal!

When the Kundalini is awakened, the senses shift. The senses are no longer ordinary. When the Kundalini awakens, when you experience levitation, you will automatically experience pratyahara.

Dharana

It is not just concentration of mind. That is just one dimension. Dharana is the capacity to create, express and make into reality whatever it carries in seed form. It is the mind opening up to release all that it carries in seed form.

Dharana needs to be understood in a deeper way. If you are able to absorb energy without breathing, that is the breathing without thoughts. The veil which covers your inner light is lifted, removed. Now, your mind is capable of expressing what it carries in its seed form. It can just create any world you want. The science and ability to project anything you want and enjoy is dharana.

When you fall asleep, whatever your mind expresses is called dream, because you are unconscious. It has no impact on your real life. When your enter into dharana, the higher states of consciousness through kundalini, whatever you express not only creates your life, it creates the life of whatever you want and to whom ever you want. You become a kalpataru, a wish fulfilling tree.

Dhyana

Dhyana or meditation is raising your frequency to a certain level, so that the object on which the meditation is happening, and the mediator, both lose their boundary and become one. Meditating on a piece of cloth to where the mind and the cloth loose their boundary, and they disappear into each other is meditation.

Samadhi

The only difference between dhyana and samadhi is, in dhyana (meditation), mind and object loses its mind and form into a certain frequency which is beyond the mind and the object meditated upon.

In samadhi, not only they lose form, even the stuff out of which they are made loses its form and name into the highest space, the non-return zone. In dhyana, the possibility for return exists. In samadhi, the possibility for return does not exist. It is the start of spiritual life. Non return means, it is impossible to get back to the space you were before the samadhi.

When you meditate on me (THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM), your identity, name and form, my identity, name and form disappearing into a certain frequency is dhyana. But, the stuff out of which you are made and the stuff out of which I am made, both disappearing into a certain space, never to come back to its form before samadhi, is samadhi.

Your mind is nothing but words. If the sacred secrets are hammered again and again on your mind, simply the mind dissolves into it and experiences the reality expressed through the sacred secrets.

Pratipaksha bhavanam

Patanjali gives a simple, powerful technique called pratipaksha bhavanam, to make yama and niyama possible in your life whenever your body and mind are not interested in following the yama and niyama. When obstructing thoughts to yoga arise, contrary thoughts should be employed. Create 'vitarka' -- the strong feeling connection, by creating the right, opposite thoughts in you, to align yourself and establish yourself to the yama and niyama. This needs to be practised again and again in the initial level. 'Vitarka' describes the logic, the right logic that takes you beyond logic, leading you to the ultimate experience of feeling connection. Stop the negative, destructive thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.

Samyama – what is samyama

Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi all three put together is called Samyama. By samyama the knowledge is achieved and lighting up of the consciousness happens. Samyama is the science of experiencing and expressing the extraordinary experiences and/or powers from the super consciousness through your body and mind. Your super consciousness has all powers. It is all pervading, all knowing, and eternal but your body and mind needs to be prepared, so it can experience and express these experiences and powers. You are a human being with all extraordinary possibilities, "you are God living in human body".

In the Yoga Sutras, samyamas are tools, ways to achieve extraordinary powers. Samyama gives you the capacity or the power to experience the extraordinary power and then either enjoy it or renounce it as you want. Patanjali calls the siddhis worthless, and a hindrance to the true goal of Self−realization.

A complete section of Patanjali Yoga Sutras is dedicated to various samyamas, where Patanjali reveals the science of levitation, teleportation, living without food or sleep, and many other siddhis or powers. As much as these siddhis are a source of inspiration to keep expanding on the spiritual path, Patanjali reminds us to keep our inner space untouched by miraculous manifestations and continue to move on the path of living enlightenment.