yogalila

2.7 sukha anusayi ragah

Iyengar:  Pleasure leads to desire and emotional attachment

Taimni:  That attraction, which accompanies pleasure, is Raga.

Carrera: Attachments is that which follows identifications with pleasurable experiences

At first glance this sutra appears to say we shouldn’t experience pleasure.  Iyengar says “Pleasurable experiences greed and lust, which strengthen attachment and stimulate a greater craving, as one always wants more and more.”  But what this sutra says to me is the  attachment to the pleasure is the problem.  Addiction is a form of this attachment.  Taimni says we can have this attachment to food, to a person – if we derive physical or emotional pleasure from that person, or to a “particular pursuit because it gives us intellectual satisfaction.”

Carrera says that this attachment or “craving” always results in deepening or maintaining ignorance (avidya). These cravings “deny the peace and joy of our Self by insisting that outside experiences are the root of happiness.” 

2.6 drk darsanasaktyoh ekatmata iva asmita

Iyengar:  Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrumental power of seeing. 

Taimni:  Asmita is the identity or blending together, as it were, of the power of consciousness (Purusa) with the power of cognition (Buddhi)

Carrera:  Egoism is the identification, as it were, of the power of the Seer (Purusha) with that of the instrument of seeing. 

Iyengar says that during the act of seeing the seen, the mind appears to be the pure seer.  This merging is due to asmita.  He says we should be aware of the seer (atma) and the instrument that sees (buddhi).  He says the mind and senses are the seer’s agents.  But the mind and the senses identify with the seer.  This is the cause of the seer and the seen to be polarized. 

Taimni discusses this in relation to the physical body.  We often can use our mind to separate ourselves from our physical body but few can separate their intellect from themselves.  He also discusses how highly evolved yogis can leave their bodies and then return – this reminds me of Autobiography of a Yogi:  there are many stores about yogis leaving their bodies. 

Carrera has a useful analogy that says “if we the driver identified with the instrument of driving a car;  if we actually thought we were our car” – this is the essence of this sutra.  When our car was new and we think ourselves new and when our car was old and ready to be junked, we’d think the same of ourselves. 

2.5 anitya asuci duhka anatamasu nitya suci sukha atma kyattih avidya

Iyengar:  Mistaking the transient for the permanent, the impure for the pure, pain for pleasure, and that which is not the self for the self:  all this is called lack of spiritual knowledge, avidya

Taimni: Avidya is taking the non-eternal, impure, evil and non-Atman to be eternal, pure, good and Atman (the individual self) respectively. 

Carrera:  Ignorance is regarding the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant, and the non-Self as the Self.

This sutra defines avidya and Iyengar gives a example of avidya.  Iron are coal are different but when they are heated they look the same – red hot material.  The body and the eternal Self are distinct entities but they may seem the same.  Iyengar says “Taking pride in the body as the Self is also avidya”. 

Iyengar also says we all make mistakes but if we fail to learn from those mistakes, they become habit. 

Taimni describes a V-shaped evolution of consciousness.  It identifies itself as matter and begins fuller and fuller with this identification until there is a turning point and it starts moving in the opposite direction.   In this direction, consciousness extricates itself from matter.  He also points out that Avidya has nothing to do with intellectual knowledge, but is an awareness of the illusion of the intellect.  The word “pure” in this sutra refers the consciousness unmodified by the outside world or matter. 

Carrera discusses that in life, we think “name, fame, romance, beauty, youth, and financial stability” will bring us happiness.  But the joy these things bring is almost always fleeting and are not sources of “unshakable happiness”.  He also discusses the painful as pleasant.  For example, a secure job, supportive relationship, or a rich meal can lead to unemployment, divorce, and indigestion.