From the archive of Gitananda Yoga Gesellschaft
Deutschland e. V.
19. Juni 2012
Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani:"Understanding
the Yoga Darshan"
An Exploration of the Yoga Sutra of Maharishi Patanjali
Sadhana Pada Sutra 48
"tato dvandvanabhighatah":
thereby the dualities cease to have any effect
The dynamic, living Universe is filled with inescapable
dualities (dwandwa). Dwandwa, charmingly enough, literally means "the
two-twos". These are the polarities of life, the pairs of opposites such
as success-failure, day-night, hot-cold, up-down, in-out, praise blame, male-female,
sun-moon. Hatha yoga is the physical science of balancing these equal, yet opposite energies.
These polarities are forces of nature in constant and dynamic flux. If one doesn't
work towards achieving a state of balance, disturbances will arise in every aspect
of existence, physical, mental, emotional or psychic. Maharishi Patańjali assures
us that these dualities will cease to affect us once we master asana. How
can this be? Asana implies a state of being which is steady and at ease.
Once we attain this comfort zone, a sukha stanam, all dualities cease to
affect us. The dwandwa affect only those who are imbalanced.
Lord
Krishna speaks of this ideally balanced state as stitha prajna
in the Bhagavad Gita. He stresses the importance of equanimity in
the face of both success and failure. Krishna describes the man of stitha prajna
as the one who is beyond passion, fear and anger (II.56), devoid of possessiveness
and egoism (II.7l), firm in understanding and un-bewildered (V.20), engaged
in doing good to all beings (V.25), friendly and compassionate to all (XIL13)
and who has no expectation, pure and skillful in action (XIL.16). Lord Krishna
also tells Arjuna (XII.18-19), "He who is the same to friend or foe, also
in honorand dishonor; who is the same
in heat or cold, and in pleasure and pain; who is free of attachment, to whom
censure and praise are equal, who is silent, content with anything, homeless,
steady minded and full of devotion — that man is dear to me”.
A
comparison may be made with the agonist-antagonist physiological principles of
the muscular-skeletal system. However, Maharishi Patańjali does not limit this
concept to the physical or physiological level. For him the whole of yoga
is based in mind. No wonder heis such an excellent psychologist. When
the body deeply understands the nature of balance, emotions and mind also gravitate
to a sense of inner balance. The body is a tool to produce changes in the mind.
This is an example of soma (body) influencing psyche (mind)
to produce psycho-somatic harmony. Mind and body move on a two-way street. A change
in one will produce a corresponding change in the other.
The
universal dualities will always exist whether we like it or not. All we can do
is transcend them and their effects. One cannot change the reality of life. but
one can change oneself. This is the concept of dwandwateetha. The process
is similar to a video game where one outgrows the earlier obstacles by going onto
the next level. Swarniji said, "You don’t solve your problems, you outgrow
them”. He also said, "Life takes you around your problems, so keep moving.
Change that which you cannot accept and accept that which you cannot change"
is an excellent motto in this regard.
There
are only four sutra related to asana in the whole of the Yoga Darshan.
In one sutra Patańjali mentions the word asana; in another he describes
asana; in another, how to move into asana, and in the last one he
gives the benefits of asana. Patańjali does not name a single asana,
nor does he give the physical benefits. Those ideas are not important to
him. His main rationale of asana is as a method of overcoming the dualities
of life. Through asana one goes beyond the dwandwa into the state
of dwandwateetha, and then, samatwam and samabhava can manifest.
"
The essence of this sutra is that through
asana, one becomes established in one‘s own self. A sense of contentment
is fostered as well as a feeling of being at ease. Yoga is not limited
to a yoga class, or a session of physical posturing and breath control,
but ratheris a way of life. One must see bigger picture, and not the
corners of the canvas.
Another
way to look at asana is as the present niche or place we occupy in our
evolutionary trajectory. There are asana inspired by plants, amphibians,
reptiles, mammals, humans, rishi, gods, geographical elements. When we
put our body and its limbs into a shape which resembles these various phenomena,
we can travelconsciously through the evolutionary history. Every time
we change our body position, it is a kind of death in the evolutionary sense.
We realize we are never the less for dying and lose our fear of changing form.
Humans are the only creatures blessed with this opportunity to practice asana
drawn from different moments in evolution.
Animals are trapped in their asana of birth. A snake is always a snake, a dog is
always a dog, and a fish is always a fish. But as humans, are we exercising this
choice? What happens if wedon't choose to choose? Do we continue to
evolve? Swamiji often said, “The evolutionary story is not about the chosen few,
but the few who choose". Are
you going to choose “to choose" conscious change?
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