Iyengar: Self-preservation or attachment to life is the subtlest of all afflictions. It is found even in wise men.
Taimni: Abhinivesa is the strong desire for life which dominates even the learned (or the wise).
Carrera: Clinging to life, flowing by its own potency (due to past experience), exists even in the wise.
At a sutra retreat this past summer, we discussed this sutra with Edwin Bryant. Edwin believes that this attachment to life comes from the fact that all of us in past lives have experienced death. And sometimes, it’s scary and painful. This leaves a samskara or as Iyengar says “This imprint is the seed of fear”. Iyengar also says that through the practice of yoga, the student can “perceive that there is no difference between life and death, that they are simply two sides of the same coin.”
Taimni points out the universality of abhinivesa, and what a powerful force it is in maintaining life and evolution. He also points out how the klesas are related to one another like a tree with Raja and Dvesa fueling this attachment to life.
Carrera points out that our bodies have built in instincts to cling to life: our bodies heal, we shut our eyes to protect them in sand, etc. However this does not constitute “clinging”. He points out this clinging attachment in four ways: (1) the fear of annihilation, (2) the habit of depending on self-effort to sustain our lives (3) relying on sense experience for happiness (4) past-life recollections of dying.
This sutra brings to mind famous people who died recently. In Farrah’s Story we see Farrah Fawcett desperately fighting for her life against cancer. The misery and devastation bad news brings is a stark contrast from another person I knew who had cancer. Although she fought the disease initially, she accepted that she was going to die and did so with … well, less misery and sadness. (I’m not saying someone shouldn’t fight cancer, I’m just contrasting the reactions).
I read several accounts once of what it feels like to drown. The writers started thinking thoughts like “oh darn I have tickets to that play Tuesday night” – rather mundane things and not their lives flashing back. The attachment to the world at such a time seems to be a funny joke our minds play on us at such a juncture.
...clinging to sensory experiences for happiness. There's something there, in my own life, that needs reflection. Thanks.
Posted by: Andrea | July 02, 2009 at 07:36 AM