1:2 yogah cittavritti nirodhah

Iyengar: Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness.

Carrera: The restraint of the modifications of the mind –stuff is Yoga. 

Taimni: Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind.

Each author mentions the importance of this sutra as defining the meaning of yoga. 

Iyengar talks about the (citta) consciousness being a fluid that envelops the ego (ahamkara), intelligence (buddhi), and mind (manas) and how the fluid becomes cloudy due to contact with the outside world via these three components.  He also introduces the five sheaths or kosas in this section.  When this fluid becomes clear through practicing yoga –all eight limbs- the sadhaka (or student) is in a sattvic (or clear) state. 

Both Iyengar and Taimni go in depth on the meaning of the Sanskrit word citta.  Taimni says citta is a material medium which can be molded into different forms when mental images of different kinds are produced.  Both authors mention dharana and dhyana (concentration and meditation) as key factors in restraining the fluctuations of the mind. 

Carrera also gets deeply into the definition of each word of this sutra. He also talks about the three components of the citta and what he says about ego is most interesting.  The ego he says, has expectations and cravings and is the root of suffering.  But it is also the ego that has love, caring, and compassion.   The task at hand is to eliminate the selfishness of the ego, not the ego itself. 

He also discusses the whirling vrittis and has examples of this whirling in everyday thinking.  Nirodaha is both a process and a state – which requires discipline, redirection of attention, development of non-attachment, and supported by morals and principles. 

Carrera also shows the relationship of nirodaha and repentance in the Bible.  Both represent turning points for those who practice to move them towards spirit. 

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