"The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga" (Satchidananda, 3).
I talked about this sutra prior, but feel the need to dive deeper into its meaning today. Originally I shared my understanding of it, but left out a lot of the details to help others create their own understanding.
The most important question I asked myself when I first read this sutra is, "What is the mind-stuff (citta)?" Satchidananda explains that there are three levels of the mind: the ego, or "I", the intellect and discriminative factor, and desire through the senses (Satchidananda, 3). First we experience a sensation through one of our senses, then we use our knowledge and experience of what we are sensing to know what it is, and finally, our ego decides how to act. This happens within milliseconds, making it difficult to sometimes see each one separately. Our natural state is for the mind to be at peace, but if a desire, or want, is created we will not be at peace again until that desire is satiated.
Knowing and understanding our own mind can help us to better understand how and why we interact with the world the way that we do. As Satchidananda said, "The entire outside world is based on your thoughts and mental attitude," (5). How we perceive things and how our mind interprets them is how we will see the outside world. The goal is to quiet all the whispers of the mind and see reality. Our ego constantly wants to be fed, so as we interact with the outside world, our mind interprets things that feed into and fit with our ego. This creates a skewed view of ourselves and of the world. A small thing that happens can become massive if we allow the mind to make it so. Much like when a small pebble is thrown into a lake, the ripples that are caused by that small pebble can expand far enough to reach the shore. Our mind acts in the same way if we do not take the time to breathe, calm the mind, and see the reality that is truly before us.
It is not easy to quiet the mind, and it is something I work on daily. Many times, as we make decisions throughout the day, it is difficult to see where we have been lead astray by our ego and failed to see reality. When I catch myself performing actions that I know are the result of a skewed perception due to my ego, I make the apologies that I need to and attempt to open my mind, calm it, and try to truly see the reality of whatever the situation is. This includes recognizing that every person we interact with has their own sufferings and noisy mind to deal with. If we can remember that each of us is suffering in different ways and from different things, we should be able to make our best attempts to act out of compassion and love. Sometimes we will fail, but healing begins with acknowledging our shortcomings and striving to quiet the mind; to stop ourselves before we even throw the pebble into the lake.
Works Cited
Satchidananda, Sri Swami. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga Publications, 2012.
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