NIRODHA, YOGA AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND -Part 1

The sams aric identity of self – ineluctably locked into an epistemological and ontological duality with the objective world – is ingeniously captured by Patanjali (the reputed author of (theYoga-S utras or YS, ca second-third century CE) in the expression cittavrtti. Being by nature an extrinsic identity of self and fraught with affliction (kle sa),cittavrtti is rooted in ignorance (avidy a) and as such can be characterized as impermanent (anitya), impure (asuci), dissatisfaction (duhkha) and non-self (an atman)(YS II, 5).

Clearly then the yogin must learn to distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic identity of self, between citta vrtti and purusa.By locating the cause and functioning of affliction within the mind (citta) itself, Yoga asserts that there is a way to overcome misidentification with the modifications (vrtti) of the mind and “achieve” emancipation from the afflictions which permeate our everyday modes of perception, experience (bhoga) and livelihood. For example, Patanjali tells us that the modifications arising from the afflictions are overcome trough meditation (dhy ana).

Our true nature, form (svar upa) and identity (purusa) are not intrinsically predisposed to the influences and affects of habit patterns (v asan as), latent impressions (samsk aras) and afflicted mental processes or modifications (vrttis) which perpetuate actions (karma) based on ignorance (avidy a).
How is the purpose of Yoga – the very ending of suffering and dissatisfaction (duhkha)– to be brought about? The cessation of suffering and its concomitant misidentification is effected through a
process of purifying and mastering the vrtti-generating complex: the mind and the activity to which it gives rise. The foundation of yogic praxis, the mastery of mind, takes place through the process of nirodha(cessation) as stated inYS1, 2: “Yoga is the cessation of [the misidentification with] the modifications of the mind.”
Through a study of the meaning of “cessation” (nirodha), the theory-praxis unity so central to Yoga
philosophy can be better understood and appreciated. The process of “cessation” takes many forms depending on the needs of the practitioner and includes the physical, moral, psychological and spiritual dimensions of our being. As the foundation of all Yoga practice nirodha can be seen to encompass a wide range of methods – cited throughout the YS– which can be applied in a variety of situations.

In comparison, Classical S amkhya prescribes essentially one practice for the release from suffering: the cultivation of knowledge (jn ana). In contrast, Yoga offers over twenty practices that can be undertaken to prepare the mind for the event of spiritual liberation wherein purusa is allowed to shine forth in its pristine purity.

However, rather than being “any ascetic technique or any method of meditation"v(as in M. Eliade’s broad definition of Yoga), Patanjali’sYoga involves a serious inquiry into the structures and contents of the
mind along with an analysis of how the mind – including the empirically rooted sense of self – differs from purusa. The human dilemma of misidentification is such that with each vrtti the consciousness reflecting
in the mind becomes that vrtti and identifies with it, just as the sum reflected in a lake appears to be modified according to the nature of each wave in the water. To whatever takes place in the mind, the reflected I or ego says, “I am this wave, I am this experience,” or “This is me, this is my experience.” The vrttis of the ordinary person carry with them the influence or “colouring” and “seed” of misidentification (vrtti-s ar upya, YSI, 4) in the perceptions and experiences taking place resulting in a confusion of identity in the condition of samyoga, the seer being mistaken for the seeable. Vy asa gives a dramatic portrayal of the underlying process of misidentification involving the empirical self and the way out of this dilemma through right vision (samyag-dar sana):
:::that other [i.e. empirical identity] is subjected again and again to dissatisfaction brought on by [it]self, casting it off and then subjected again to what has been cast off:::with the mental processes from beginningless time infected so to say with the various habit patterns, taking on what should be avoided, namely ‘I’ and ‘mine’, born again and again – [on that empirical self] the three-fold suffering, with causes both objective and subjective, flood down. Seeing that other one, and himself, and all beings, carried away by the beginningless stream of pain, the yogin takes refuge in right vision, destroyer of suffering.

Vy asa’s above description notwithstanding, it is essential to note here that in Yoga the power of identification with the mind and vrtti is not intrinsically problematic and without purpose. Identification involves potentialities of power (sva-sw ami- saktyoh,YSII, 23). When it is misdirected and misappropriated, identification remains confined to a particular person and what that person calls “I” and “mine.” From this egoic perspective, the world and other persons are viewed as being separate from oneself. However, when the power of identification is properly directed and concentrated through Yoga, it can be transformed into illuminating and expanding states of consciousness and one can ultimately know one’s identity as purusa. Identification is thus a power to be accessed and harnessed in Yoga discipline (s adhana). The average
person is born with a limited power of identification. It is, as it were, a constitutional defect (dosa) caused by avidy a and is not one’s “personal” fault; nor is it ultimately the fault of one’s parents, teachers, education or
society as a whole. For Yoga, the human dilemma of mistaken identity (s ar upya) is generated by ignorance or a profound misconception of authentic identity (purusa). This impure consciousness or confused state of selfhood is actually “built into” the unenlightened human apparatus, is a congenital infection located within our psycho-physical being. Yet as the vehicle or catalyst which ousts one from one’s complacency in the condition of ignorance by the sheer uneasiness or affliction it creates, it can be said to be purposeful. Moreover, Patanjali informs us that wrong cognition or error is a momentous problem which must be tackled if one is to be free from ignorance and the turmoil it creates. Our authentic nature is purusa, pure consciousness. As a reflection of purusa, however, consciousness has two basic modes in which it can function:
(1) as the consciousness (mind) that is under the sway of ignorance and is propelled in the direction of affliction; and
(2) as the consciousness (mind) which due to increasing purification and illumination is propelled in the direction of liberation from ignorance. As will be later argued, “cessation” (nirodha) can be understood: (1) as a process that counteracts ignorance, temporarily preventing the afflictions’ domination over the mind and thereby correcting the wrong functioning of vrtti,i.e.vrttis as appropriated in the condition of samyoga; and (2) as a process that reveals knowledge (jn ana) or insight (prajn a), which can be called the “sattvification of consciousness,” and which grounded in knowledge of purusa(purusa-jnana) allows for the right functioning of vrtti,i.e. vrttis as appropriated through the illumination and purification attained in the practice of Yoga. The latter process culminates in the goal ofYoga –kaivalya.


NIRODHA (“CESSATION”): ANNIHILATION/NEGATION OR
TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND?
Nirodha(“cessation”) is one of the most difficult terms employed in the YS and its meaning plays a crucial role for a proper comprehension of Patanjali’s system of Yoga. The “attainment” of liberation is based
on the destruction of impurity (a suddhiksaya, YSII, 28) leading to the progressive purification of the body-mind (sattva suddhi)and the increasing light of knowledge (jn ana-d ıptir, YSII, 28) that takes place in
the process of nirodha. Since, as I shall now argue, the misunderstanding of this process has been fundamental to the misapprehension of the meaning of Patanjali’s Yoga, there is a need to clarify it.
The word “nirodha” is derived from ni(“down, into”) and rudh: “to obstruct, arrest, stop, restrain, prevent.”

In some well-known translations of YSI, 2 (yoga s cittavrtti nirodha) nirodhahas been rendered as “suppression,” “inhibition,"“restriction,”“cessation,”“restraint” and “control.”

These meanings I submit, are highly problematic, erroneous or misleading if understood, as is often the case, with a view which emphasizes nirodhaas an ontological negation or dissolution of the mind and its functioning. I am suggesting that any attempt to interpret Patanjali’s Yoga as a practice which seeks to annihilate or suppress the mind and its modifications for the purpose of gaining spiritual liberation grossly distorts the intended meaning of Yoga as defined by Patanjali. In regard to the process of nirodha, the wide range of methods in the YS indicates an emphasis on the on going application of yogic techniques including meditation, not a deadening of the mental faculties wherein the operations of consciousness, including our perceptual and ethical natures, are abandoned or switched off. By defining nirodhaas “cessation,” I mean to imply the “undoing” or “dissolution” of the conjunction (samyoga) between purusa– the “seer” (drastr) and prakrti– the “seeable” (drsya), the conjunction which Vy asa explains as a mental superimposition (adhy aropa) resulting in the confusion of identity between purusa and the mental processes.

Our intrinsic nature as purusa becomes as if misidentified with the mental processes (vrttis) thereby creating, in the words of Vy asa, “a mental self out of delusion.”

Nirodha,I am suggesting, refers to the cessation of the worldly, empirical effects of the vrttis on the yogin’s consciousness, not the complete cessation of vrttis themselves. Nirodha means to cease the congenital, epistemological power of the vrttis over the yogin, i.e.nirodha is the epistemological cessation of vrttis in the form of the congenital ignorance (avidy a, YS II: 3–5) of our true spiritual identity and ultimate destiny.
To understand nirodha one needs to comprehend the entire Yoga scheme of evolution and involution, especially the latter. The last s utra of the Kaivalya-P ada(YSIV, 34) defines the liberated state of “aloneness”
(kaivalya) as:purusartha suny an am .gunan am .pratiprasavah. kaivalyam
.
:::, “Aloneness is the return to the origin of the gunas, now without any purpose for purusa.:::”

The important term,pratiprasava, stands for the “involution” or “counterflow” of the gunas into their source
or state of equilibrium. It is of interest to note the one earlier context (only) in which Patanjali uses this term.YS II, 10 states: “In their subtle form, they [the kle sas] are to be overcome by a return to the origin or source.”

In the above s utra the term pratiprasava refers to the dissolution of affliction in the mind implying a purification and illumination of consciousness. Scholars have often interpreted prasava with an ontological emphasis signifying the “streaming forth” of the ultimate building blocks (tattvas)of prakrti into the myriad forms of the cosmos in all its dimensions, including the human organism.

Pratiprasava, by the same token, is often understood to denote the process of the dissolution of those forms relative to the microcosm of the yogin who is about to win liberation.

Is this ontological dissolution of manifest existence – where the gunas are recalled back to their unmanifest condition of equilibrium – the intended meaning in theYS?
Koelman refers to pratiprasavaas the “inverse generation,” the definite return of a given prakrtic organism to its ultimate substrative cause.
He goes on to describe this process as follows:
Everything has been exhausted or burnt out so that no living seed is left to enable a new energisation in the shape of a living prakrtic organism. Like a tree that slowly withers away for want of any moisture or contact with the soil, however rich that soil may be, the prakrtic organism tends to dissolution, to the disintegration
and suppression of our empirical personality. [The yogin] has induced a state of psychomental anaemia by starving his psychical life:::

These are, according to Koelman, some of the effects of Yoga discipline, and obviously imply the decomposition or death of the psycho-physical organism of the yogin.
I would like to suggest that the term pratiprasavacan be more appropriately rendered with an epistemological emphasis rather than (as in the above) an ontological one. Epistemologically, pratiprasava denotes a return to the source, withdrawal or dissolution of the afflicted state of the gun. as, i.e. insofar as the constituents of matter/nature have been under the influence ofavidy a(ignorance) and have fulfilled their purpose for purusa in the context of sams aric experience and liberation from the bondage of the afflictions, karmasand their fruition.
Purusa is therefore “disjoined” or “disengaged” from the gunas in the condition of samyoga implying here a state in which there is no longer misidentification of authentic identity with the mind and its modifications as in the empirical mode of selfhood.
Pratiprasava can be understood further as “withdrawal from the epistemological power of the gunas over the yogin.” Vy asa uses the term pratiprasava in the context of the elimination of the kle sas(afflictions) which involves a cognitive and moral cleansing process or purification of the body and mind (i.e.prakrti) allowing for a state of liberating knowledge. This need not imply the ontological negation or dissolution of prakrtic or
manifest (e.g. human) existence.YS IV, 32 also supports the view that the ultimate state of the gunas arrives when the tripartite process(triguna) has already served its purpose for experience (bhoga) and liberation (apavarga) and is of no further use soteriologically. By this is meant that the causative operations of the afflictions come to an end and there is the cessation of afflicted action.

The eternality ( anantya) of knowledge (jn ana-sattva) is no longer veiled or concealed.
What has been stated as the final goal in the s utra explaining the culmination of Yoga (YSIV, 34) is linked to and supported by Patanjali’s central definition of Yoga (YSI, 2). Part of the intent of this study is to show howYSI, 2 can be seen as ‘threading together” and integrating the text of the YS as a whole. The “cessation of the misidentification with the modifications of the mind” (citta vrtti nirodha) integrates the already interrelated concerns in Yoga of practice (s adhana), the “return to the origin” (pratiprasava) and the highest state of sam adhi where the yogin embodies a state of equilibrium, equipose and freedom (kaivalya). In
this, nirodha can be seen to encompass a plurality of practices as well as descriptions of culminating states of Yoga providing a “thread” of continuity throughout theYS in which theory and practice are unified, of a piece.
The mind (citta), which incorporates the entire ‘inner instrumentality”(antah.karan
.a), is the “substratam” or arena of the vrttis and samsk aras in which all the modifications arise, all the cognitive, affective and emotive processes take place. It is also that very “substratam” into which the yogin’s misidentification with the mind dissolves, that is, where samyoga, for that particular yogin, goes into permanent dissolution (laya). Such dissolution (laya) is considered to be Yoga. Vijn ana Bhiksu is correct to point out that Yoga does not result in the non-existence of vrttis because that does not fit the idea of the special state of the “substratam” in yoga.

Unlike Ny aya philosophy, for example, Yoga does not admit of the existence of a special category called “absence” (abh ava), “absence” referring to the special state of the “substratam” itself. In Yoga philosophy, dissolution means that the karmically binding effects (and affects) of the vrttis dissolve, not the existence of vrtti, i.e. all vrttis,intotal.The state of nirodha or laya need not imply the ontological negation of vrttis.

Bhoja R aja comments: “Yoga means ‘cessation’, that is their [vrttis] dissolution (laya) into their cause when
their outward transmutation ceases and the process of mutation is reversed.”

Bhoja appears to give an ontological emphasis to the meaning of nirodha, thereby implying a definitive dissolution of the existence of the modifications in total. Our understanding sides more along the lines of Vijn ana Bhiksu’s interpretation which alludes to the process of the effects of the gunas(all vrttis being composed of the three gunas) in the form of misidentification are dissolved back into their cause – ignorance (avidy a); and ignorance, no longer having a hold on the mind, disappears from the yogin’s view, ceases to function
due to the enlightened state of consciousness. The gradual process of nirodha leads the gunic-identified consciousness of self toward a state of dissolution into the original pure sattva of the mind – a state
of utter lucidity or transparency of consciousness (mind) wherein no epistemological distortion can take place, yet vrttis (e.g. valid cognition,memory, etc.) can still arise, can still function.
A word of caution must be given in order to avoid confusing the concept of “cessation” or “dissolution” of vrttis (in the sense that we have used it in the above) with the idea of rendering the vrttis nonexistent. The key to understanding the dissolution of vrttis into their cause lies in the S amkhyan theory of causation known as satk aryav ada.( pre-existence of the effect in the cause or effect pre-exists as a potential in cause)
In this foundational theory all states of matter-energy including our psycho-physical being are transformed according to the attributes within them, but there is never any amount of energy or material existence
more or less than there was or will be. Nothing that ever exists goes into non-existence;it simply becomes unmanifest, the form returning to dwell as an attribute hidden in its cause, where it originally arose and from which it may emerge again. The temporary disappearance of any “entity,” form, thought or idea is not its extinction. Pata njali would not accept that whatever disappears is ontologically destroyed.
Manifest existence does not become merely empty or extinct ( sunya), but identification with it is temporarily suspended, submerged, dissolved or absorbed (laya). Modern interpreters of Yoga, however, often speak
of the non-existence or deadening of the vrttis in nirodha, implying, as it were, an anaesthetization of human consciousness, the view which is here being countered.
The meaning of nirodhaas the cessation of the misidentification with the modifications of the mind (or the dissolution of the misperceived identification with the vrttis of the mind) is confirmed by the intent implicit in statements throughout the YS and more explicitly in Vy asa’s Bh asya. For example,YSII, 27 mentions seven “grounds” or “stages” of knowledge which the yogin attains. This “sevenfold-insight” (saptadh a prajn a) is described as following from the unwavering discriminative discernment (vivekakhy ati), the means whereby the misalliance or distorted conjunction (samyoga) of the seer and the seeable is progressively ended.
YSII, 27 states: “Therein [for the one who possesses the unfaultering discriminative discernment] the last stage of transcendent-insight (wisdom) is sevenfold.”
Pata njali does not explain what is meant by the “sevenfold-insight,” however, Vy asa offers a very probable elucidation. Summarizing Vy asa, the first four stages or “fourfold release” are:
(1) that which is to be prevented (duhkha, sam yoga) has been identified, known;
(2) that which is to be discarded [i.e. the cause of duhkha or dissatisfaction] has been abandoned; (3) through the attainment of unification (in sam adhi) also termed “cessation” (nirodha), freedom has been attained; (4) the means of discarding the conjunction (samyoga), i.e. the practice of discriminative discernment, has been perfected.
Vy asa tells us that the last three stages of the “sevenfold-insight” are known as “release of the mind” (cittavimukta). Vy asa informs us that having attained the fifth stage, described as the intellect having fulfilled
its role of providing experience and liberation, a sixth stage ensues whereby: “The gunas, like rocks dislodged from the top of a mountain peak finding no more resting place, are inclined toward dissolution (pralaya) into their own cause. Together with that cause (samyoga, avidy a) they are no longer produced into effects again since there is no further purpose for them.”

The mind has accomplished its purpose of providing experience and liberation resulting in the cessation of
mistaken identity. By this Vy asa means that the gunas are of no further purpose insofar as they have fulfilled their purpose as a vehicle for the yogin’s liberation.

Thus, the seventh and final stage takes place – the stage of the “aloneness” of the pure identity of purusa which is beyond any superimposed connection with the mind.
For the sake of clarity, however, we must attempt to pinpoint what Vy asa means when he asserts that the gunas are no longer produced into effects. Discriminative discernment, the nature of which is sattva-guna,is the expedient by which the discarding or abandonment (h ana, YSII, 26) of samyoga and ignorance is brought about. AsYSII, 25 makes clear, without ignorance (as cause) there is no conjunction (samyoga);
the overcoming of misidentification brings about the freedom of pure identity as purusa, the “aloneness” (kaivalya) or “goal” of yoga.

Vy asa asserts that ignorance specifically refers to the complex network of habit patterns (v asan as) and personality traits based on erroneous or misconceived knowledge (viparyaya-j n ana) and its samsk aras:

Under the influence of the habit patterns based on erroneous knowledge (misidentification of self), the mind does not attain fulfillment of what it has to do, namely “to know”purusa. While it [the mind] has that involvement, continuously it [the mind in its afflicted nature] revives. But in the culminating knowledge of purusa it attains fulfillment of what it had to do. With its [former] involvement at an end, and the failure-to-see terminated, there is no cause of bondage and it [the mind under the influence of avidy a] does not revive again.
Vy asa’s statement (see n. 39 above), that the gunas are no longer produced into effects, can be understood to mean that the mind has been released from the binding effects (samyoga) or hold of ignorance, the
cause; the mind does not revive or generate vrttis in the former afflicted and misappropriated mode of mistaken identity (asmit a), i.e. as self referenced to an egoic sense of self. The mind is no longer anchored in
the epistemological distortion of the failure-to-see (adar sana), and this removal of ignorance results in the yogin’s release from bondage, dissatisfaction and further suffering. Purusa, thus, is said to be established in
its “own form” or nature (svar upa).

Unlike the changing, ego-centred world of empirical selfhood,purusa, whose nature is uncaused, is no longer misconstrued as being under the influence of or subservient to the three gunas as mental consciousness and whose nature is cause and effect, i.e. changing. Based on our interpretation given in the above and as evidenced by other statements in Vy asa’s Bh asya, it seems reasonable to suggest that Vy asa’s description (inYBII, 27) of the dissolution of the gunas refers to the dissolution of the gunas in the form of ignorance or affliction, i.e. of the worldly, empirical effects of the gunas on the yogin’s consciousness thereby altering self-identity. “Dissolution” or “cessation” in Yoga need not be understood to mean the “disintegration and suppression of our empirical personality.”

Rather, “dissolution” is of the (mis)perceived identification with the vrttis of the mind. Yoga involves a radical deconstruction of a positive misconstruction of self and world caused by avidy a. For the sake of clarification, I will now take issue with what I consider to be a popular misconception centred around the intent of Yoga
praxis. In Swami Vivek ananda’s (late nineteenth century) philosophical perspective,nirvikalpa sam adhi– understood by Vivek ananda to be the spiritual goal of Ved anta– is equated with the goal of liberation as experienced in Patanjali’s Yoga. The system of R aja-Yoga, based primarily on Patanjali’sYS, is proposed by Vivek ananda as a method for enabling one to attain direct perception of religious truths. In particular
he contends that sam adhi, as the culminating experience of Patanjali’s system, is the self-valid and only satisfactory authoritative source of all religious knowledge or brahmajn ana.

Vivek ananda contends that nirvikalpa-samadhi, resulting in the liberating realization of the Self ( atman), finds its equivalent meaning in Patanjali’s central definition of Yoga (YSI, 2). He often describes the goal of Raja-Yoga as the total suppression of all thought forms.

Since he understands that the prerequisite for nirvikalpa-sam adhi is an inactive mind, the aim of Yoga is defined by him as follows: “Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (citta) from taking various forms (vrtti).”

“Yoga is the science in which we stop citta from assuming, or becoming transformed into several faculties :::only when the ‘mind-stuff,’ the citta is controlled to absolute calmness is the Self to be recognized.”

Vivek ananda speaks of the necessity to curb each thought as it enters into the mind, thereby making the mind a kind of vacuum, and repeatedly asserts that the knowledge of the Self ( atman) spontaneously follows
the extinction of the mind. In the above quotation he actually presents Self-knowledge ( atmaj n ana) as being dependent on this extinction; sam adhiis characterized by the definitive or final absence of all mental
modifications.
Vivek ananda therefore proposes that the goal of spiritual practice (s adhana) is attained by the complete cessation of mental modifications. On this basis he has put forward several noteworthy injunctions regarding the aspirant’s attitude and efforts in relation to the mind:
We have to exclude all thoughts from the mind and make it blank; as fast as thought comes we have to banish it.

Control the mind, cut off the senses, then you are a yogi.

The mind has to be killed.

The rascal ego has to be obliterated.

So when the mind will end, be broken into pieces entirely, without leaving any samsk ara,we shall be entirely free, and until that time we are in bondage.

One can seriously question the logic behind this approach to human consciousness and the mind as it relates to Yoga philosophy.
One will naturally ask how practitioners who attempt to obey any teachings resulting in death to their minds would have the capacity to comprehend or carry out any further instructions. Perhaps, more importantly, how could one function practically as a human being without the faculties of thinking, memory, discernment and reason, and an individual sense of self with which one can distinguish oneself from other people and the world? Surely such a person would have to be mad or unconscious. If all the great Yoga masters of the past had obliterated or so thoroughly suppressed their minds in order to attain spiritual liberation, how did they speak, teach, reason, remember, empathize, or even use the word “I”? The mind and the body are the only vehicles in which to attain liberation. It is the mind, as Yoga readily admits, that must be utilized for study and to listen to the spiritual adept or guru;it is the mind that is needed to follow a spiritual path to liberation; and it
is equally the mind that is required by the aspirant in order to function as a human being in day to day life.
By advising or explaining that the mind and its various faculties are to be negated, suppressed, abolished or severed from consciousness, scholars, teachers and writers on Yoga have, I would like to suggest, missed the point of practising Yoga. For, in Yoga philosophy, it is not the mind, but rather the exclusive identification with material existence – including our various forms of egoity – as one’s true identity which is the source of all human difficulties, sorrow, frustration and dissatisfaction(duhkha). It is a specific state of consciousness or cognitive error evidenced in the mind and not the mind itself which is at issue. In other words, it is the condition of misidentification (s ar upya)–the sams aric condition of self and world – and not the mind in total which must be discarded in Yoga. Any advice or teaching which suggests the destruction or negation of the mind in Yoga is, it seems to me, detrimental to a human being and to the practice of Yoga and is representative of a fundamental and pervasive misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Pata njali’s Yoga. How could progress on the path of Yoga be made with such an approach? What would the ethical ramifications be? The belief that mental annihilation or negation leads to spiritual emancipation has become a popular and unfortunate teaching of modem representatives or interpretations of Yoga. Despite the fact that it is neither truly yogic, practical, logical nor appealing, and furthermore may be destructive for aspirants, recent teachings and works on Yoga have often prescribed or assumed the negation or suppression of the mind, ego and thoughtsas the primary means to self-emancipation.

This stance, I submit, is a gross misrepresentation of Yoga; a confused, misleading and, at best, naıve attempt at conveying the depth and profundity of the yogic process which Pata njali refers to as nirodha. Yoga does involve states of consciousness where there is a temporary suspension of the mental processes and identification with vrtti which culminates in enstasy (asam .prajn ata-sam adhi): a state where the pure experiencer or knower–purusa– is left alone with nothing more to experience or know for“its” liberation. This advanced and crucial stage of yogic practice is for the purpose of the final elimination of ignorance; but it need not be understood as a definitive or permanent cessation or suspension of the mental processes of the mind in total.
I am arguing that it is misleading to view nirodhaas a process of repression, suppression or inhibition.Nirodha does not refer to a forced cessation, coercion or restriction nor to the non-existence of vrttis as many modern translators seem to imply.
I am suggesting that Yoga (YSI, 2) is not such a manipulation or control of the mind, nor is it a “blank” or unconscious state of mind or a “thoughtless” or “mindless” state of being. One recent commentator on theYS aptly writes:
Nirodha does not mean and imply a wilful control of vrttis, or their suppression or repression. Wilful control, suppression, and repression must necessarily result in a derangement, if not the destruction of the human psyche. Because any egocentric act of [a human being], already caught in vrttis ar upya[“conformity” of self-identity to the nature of vrtti], which has conditioned [one’s] mind, will be tantamount to exercizing [one’s] mind in the same old way:::. This can never bring about nirodha, but only the death of the psyche, if the pressure of wilful control, suppression or repression is persisted beyond the point of endurance.

Could efforts to achieve a wilful control of the mind (as mentioned in the above) be the result of a fanatical, ascetical, imbalanced approach to Yoga, a misguided attempt to transcend ego and to go beyond the enterprise of dissatisfaction and affliction? Does psychic closure – a compulsive shutting out/down or switching off of the psyche, constitute an authentic opening to true identity? A careful examination of the mind
and its functioning in the context of Yoga philosophy suggests that any form of psychic suppression or repression is not true to Yoga theory and practice. Ego-transcendence is not something that can be forced
or ultimately willed. The ego itself must give way or let go into the illuminating power of sattva which, located in a subtler dimension of the mind (the buddhi), eludes the ego’s grasp and its self-centred efforts as well as other afflicted modes or attitudes generating action or inertia (stasis) as mediated through rajasandtamas respectively. In short, self-transcendence is only possible as a voluntary gesture, a gesture which is often misunderstood by seekers resulting in a perversion of praxis leading to forms of self-denial or self-indulgence and which can surreptitiously inflate the ego and even cause harm to the psychophysical organism and to others.
The “wilful control” referred to in the above quotation (n. 61) must, therefore, be qualified in the context of those personality types in which rajas and tamas are predominant and sattva-knowledge is covered over
( avarana, YSIV, 31). Such wilfulness leading to suppression, etc., is simply a form of misguided effort based on rajasic and tamasic vrttis and predispositions in the form of aggressive (ghora) or deluded (m udha) ideas(pratyaya) or intentions – in order to achieve a state of nirodha. For example, nirodha cannot be equated with a state of inertia or stasis (tamas) wherein the mind and its modifications are suppressed or forcibly stopped, rendered inoperative. It is misleading to assert, as has S. Dasgupta, that nirodha is a complete (final) stopping of the movements of the mind. According to Vy asa (YBI, 2) such an inert state of the mind, far from being an experience of yogic illumination, merely constitutes a state of tamas implying a confusion of or delusive identity highly prone to non-virtue, impotence, dullness, etc. The disempowerment of avidy a over the mind is not to be confused with the guna of tamas! The mind’s highest disposition is sattvic,sattva or “illumination” (prak a sa) being the purest and most lucid aspect of prakr.ti. Sattva is inclined to ideas of a peaceful ( s anta)nature and supportive of the practice of Yoga. As a moral, psychological and
epistemological state,tamasis not supportive of the practice of Yoga, is not Yoga proper. The non-afflicted (aklista)vrttis, intentions and ideas(pratyaya) pertaining to a sattvic nature are morally and cognitively drawn upon or attuned to, serve the soteriological dimension of Yoga and are part and parcel of the sattvification of the will or intellect –the faculty of determinism and decision making. Vrttis return to their source of pure sattva and can then arise in a purified and illuminated mode when that purpose is fulfilled, as for example, in the form of yogic perception and moral virtues. Thus the cessation of vrttis in the process of nirodha refers to the “undoing” or dismantling of purusa’s misidentification with vrtti in samyoga wherein avidy a– the cause of
the erroneous appropriation of vrtti – is dispelled, and the mind, resting in its subtlest nature as pure sattva– can then give rise, following from the exercise of discriminative discernment, to the right functioning of
vrtti in that vrttis are no longer appropriated by a mistaken identity of self.
Explaining the S amkhyan view of causation in terms of yogic praxis,Pata njali shows how, through direct experience and perception (yogipratyaksa), we can see that our mind and sense of self continuously change depending on the nature and type of vrttis, cognitions and ideas (pratyaya), in the process of apprehension, that we are entertaining at any given moment. This changing sense of identity, which continuously wavers from authentic identity, must be transcended in Yoga. Thus, Yoga discourages any clinging to ideas or perceptions of purusa experienced along the way; whatever idea one arrives at through the process of
vrtti will never be the actual liberated state itself. Only by breaking through the barriers imposed by the relative states of consciousness or the mind can one enter into the domain of the knowledge of purusa(purusa-j n ana) and experience life in the light of yogic awareness rather than the limited awareness in the situation of samyoga.The S amkhyan theory of satk aryav ada takes on a highly experiential dimension in the actual practice of Yoga. The experiential element consists of: (a) putting into practice a method or methods which lead one to experience yogic perception in sam adhi wherein cittavrtti nirodha will be “attained” and matured; and (b) the processes – including the physical, ethical and psychological – which occur while the process of “cessation” is taking place.
Primarily, Patanjali takes the S amkhyan theory of causation and applies it to understanding states of mind or “shapes” the mind takes when left to its own karmically derived momentum. The modifications(vikrtis) of the mind are its vrttis, all the mental functioning, processes and content. Insofar as we are ensconced in a world-view generated by avidy a and are ineluctably programmed within the circumscribed patterns of afflicted identity (asmit a) – a mere product of the gunas in the form of misidentification – our self-referential centre of awareness and its compulsive attachment to vrtti must be severed in order for the mind to be transformed into finer states of perception and understanding.
What is pralaya or prati-sancara(the dissolution of the universe and itsphenomena) in the cosmological context of S amkhy becomes in the YS respectively nirodha or pratiprasava(the cessation or dissolution
of the misperceived identity with gunas as they manifest in the form of vrttis). This can only happen through the experiences in sam adhi and which culminate in “aloneness” (kaivalya).
In theYS the principles (tattvas) of existence are of special relevance with regard to their relation to the individual yogin, including the intellect, ego, mind-organ, senses and body. One needs to know their
origin and processes of manifestation and actualization so as to cease from any misidentification with them. Not only does the empirical sense of self identify with the body and the nature of the mind and everything about which one says “I am”; it even becomes identified with the objects and persons one calls “mine,” and experiences dissatisfaction or enjoyment according to the changes that take place in relation to the
objects of experience, including our vrttis.Patanjali asks us to learn to discern the difference between our true identity as Self (purusa) and our self as a mistaken identity – the congenital conflation or mixture/conjunction (samyoga) of the “seer” and the “seeable” – by observing the processes of identification and cognition taking place within our own minds. Thus Patanjali describes the nature of the“seeable” (drsya) with an epistemological emphasis focusing more on its manifestations as psychological and cognitive phenomena rather than as ontological essences (as in S amkhya).Purusa appears to take on or conform to (s ar upya) an identity based on the changing the nature of the gunas and functioning within the mind as its modifications (vrttis).
This reflected albeit deluded I-consciousness, as human consciousness appears in the form of a body-mind and in the nature of the elements (bh utas) and the sense-organs (indriyas), and is for the purpose of
experience (bhoga) and eventual emancipation (apavarga).

In Yoga, even ignorance and misidentification ultimately serve the highest purpose of liberation through a fundamental transformation of the mind. The various categories of the “seeable” (dr sya, prakrti) should
not be reified,but rather should be understood as interconnected and interdependent dimensions of human experience. The descriptions of the “seeable” can be understood as descriptions of the situation of purusas if misidentified with prakrti. Prakrti’s various levels of manifestation are correlated in theYS with states of consciousness, self-understanding and identity analogous to purusa, and, I submit, are to be understood with
an epistemological emphasis; through prakrti, purusa comes to know its true form and identity. The ultimate significance of prakrti is seen in very definite, positive terms, wherein, from at least a provisional point
of view,prakrti has meaning, metaphysically speaking, in the service of soteriology: The metaphysical dualism of purusa and prakrti can be taken as a provisional perspective and as one that has been abstracted from yogic experience. This provisional approach to the existences of purusa and prakrti can serve important pedagogical purposes. In fact, the whole concept of the mind (citta) in Yoga can be seen primarily as
a heuristic device, rather than as a substance per se, whereby the yogin comes to understand the functioning of consciousness and discerns the difference between it and purusa. The essence of the “seeable” to which Patanjali refers and whose reality is for the purpose of purusa becomes a vrtti of self-understanding or identification referenced to an egoic centre of consciousness based on mental content in the form of
thoughts, intentions or ideas (pratyaya) in the mind. Ego-identity is essentially a vrtti-accumulated sense of self, which as a false “centre” of consciousness, has become dependent on the activity of vrtti for its existence. Ego is thus an activity constituted of the three gunas.
The yogin must ultimately be identified as the auto-transparent knower(YSIV, 18) or seer of vrttis – free from any misidentification with and misappropriation of vrtti – in order to discern permanently the
difference between mistaken identity in samyogaand pure identity in Yoga. It is here that a clear understanding of the difference between purusa or pure consciousness (our intrinsic nature of Self) and prakrti or matter (including all modifications of consciousness which form an extrinsic nature and identity of selfhood) is essential.
In his commentary onYSI, 1 Vy asa defines Yoga as sam adhi(yogah sam adhih).

He goes on to state the two divisions of that Yoga as: (1) samprajn ata,the sam adhi of cognition consisting of four types (outlined in YSI, 17), and in which sattvic vrttis persist and can still arise in the context of s ar upya, purusa’s“conformity” or misidentification; and (2)asam .praj n ata, the supra-cognitive sam adhi in which all the vrttis, including the sattvic ones, are mastered and any attachment to them is overcome (i.e. all their effects are transcended). In (2), ignorance no longer masks authentic identity for the yogin. The power
of misidentification has been temporarily removed and purusa,left“alone,” abides in its true form (svar upa) and identity.

Vy asa elaborates on the meaning of Patanjali’s definition of Yoga (YSI, 2) pointing out that because the word “all” is not included to suggest the “cessation” of all misidentifications with vrtti – which reduce purusa to some form of prakrtic existence, however subtle, thus reifying purusa– it implies that samprajn ata is also included in Yoga.

In samprajn ata or cognitive sam adhi the rajasic and tamasic vrttis – all of which are of an afflicted
(klista) nature – are mastered by resorting to the sattvic, nonafflicted (aklista)vrttis.

If YSI, 2 had said al lvrttis in total, then the definition would have been limited to asamprajn ata– the supra-cognitive sam adhi– and the cognitivesam adhiwould not be included in Yoga. The term nirodha is therefore ambiguous. It means both the process of cessation of the misidentification with the modifications of the mind and the culmination or “goal” of Yoga, that being spiritual liberation. There is a similar ambiguity in the terms sam adhi and Yoga.
If nirodha were seen as the restriction, suppression, repression or the ontological negation of vrttis, then Yoga would have to be defined as a particular condition of the substratum of those vrttis, the substratum being a state somewhere within the mind. But sam adhi,it must be emphasized, is not such a state within the mind. As I later argue, in the actual experience of sam adhi the mind is not made blank or is not in a state of void, nullification or the permanent absence of vrtti. The mind may continue to function according to its own nature
but as a purified instrument of sattva-intelligence which is capable of perfectly reflecting the light of purusa.The vrttis of the mind become transparent to the Self (purusa), whereas in samyoga they are “coloured” in affliction – egoity, attachment, aversion, etc. – constantly altering one’s sense of self.Nirodha means to take away or discard the empirical limitations, including all “restrictions” and suppressions inherent in the mind;nirodha is the removal of the kle sas and karmic barriers only to reveal the full-blown nature of purusa. The yogin therefore is not a mindless, inactive being. Rather, the mind has become an instrument
of consciousness under the yogin’s direction. The modifications of the mind may continue in day to day life but they no longer enslave the yogin, no longer divert the yogin’s attention from authentic identity.
Ultimately the yogin attains to the status of aj ıvanmukta – one who is liberated while yet embodied– and can use the body and mind out of benevolence and compassion for the spiritual benefit of others.
The presence of the enlightened being, adept or spiritually wise person is confirmed in the historical tradition of Yoga through the guru- sisya relationship, a relationship made possible by the grace of the guru or
liberated being.
What therefore is the ‘cittavrtti’ which must cease through the discipline of Yoga? Based on the argument put forward in this study –that mental activity, cognition, feelings, emotions and thoughts are not incompatible with Yoga praxis or the final goal of purusa-realization
– I will now attempt to clarify Pata~ njali’s definition of Yoga. No doubt addressing an audience primarily composed of Yoga aspirants, it seems logical to suggest that Pata njali defined Yoga inYSI, 2 with a strong pedagogical intent so that his listeners would be able to grasp (and be sufficiently disillusioned with) their present understanding of themselves and the world. Nirodha implies that it is the world-view born of ignorance “located” within one’s own psycho-physical being which is to be abandoned or discarded, not prakrti herself.YSI, 2 is in part a teaching and heuristic device aimed at devaluing the level of understanding based on misidentification with the body and mental processes and which sees identification with thought constructs or mental content as bringing ultimate satisfaction.Nirodha is not the denial or renunciation of prakrti in total; it is a negative affirmation of the reality of purusa. Initially one could say that nirodha actually is a recommendation for the practitioner to develop meditational practice. Yet on the other hand, Pata~ njali had to inform seekers who had incorrectly assumed a subjectively idealist viewpoint that the mind and the objects perceived through it are real and are not to be negated or denied.
As noted earlier, many people see the external, “objective” world and therefore it is does not arise from the mind itself (YSIV, 15–16).Prakrti is real; the external world is not denied or extricated. All effects are
pre-existent in their cause. However, the concern of Yoga is not merely to describe, categorize or explain the “outside” world, but rather is to show various means by which the practitioner may obtain direct access
to empirical reality without the interference of avidy a’s network of confused and impure identity patterns which veil our direct perception of the world. Yoga “undoes” the world of misidentification,cittavrtti
or fractured selfhood and corrects a basic misalignment between the seer and the seeable so that life as a whole, and on the basis of an unfractured self-identity, is revealed. Clearly,cittavrtti does not have
the capacity to see and experience life from the perspective of Yoga dar sana which discloses the full integrity of life. The cultivation of an ever-deepening process of “cessation” in Yoga serves to dismantle the habitual tendency to reify one’s self and the world by unfolding an awareness which reveals the trasnscendent yet immanent seer (purusa).
The yogin does not need to force, struggle with or push away the mind,vrttis and thoughts as is usually recommended in discussions on nirodha.
Any attempt at a forced removal of vrtti or coerced “identification” with purusa is merely a perpetuation of the rajasic and tamasic tendencies or habit patterns (v asan as) of the mind. The yogin’s need is to contact
more sattva-intelligence which is concealed in the mind. However, due to the afflictions present along with their karmic investment, this innate sense ofsattvais covered over and obscured from entering fully into
consciousness. Through Yoga discipline, one learns to recognize and identify with purer, sattvic and subtler forms of vrttis and is relieved from the former identification with vrttis of a rajasic and tamasic nature
which previously were predominant. The mind can then more easily settle into its finest nature of sattva; the yogin’s understanding becomes sattvified. Similarly, by identifying as purusa,in a sam prajn ata,the yogin overcomes the need to identify with sattvic vrttis for the purpose of steadying and stabilizing self-identity. Cessation (nirodha) implies a process of “subtilization or sattvification of consciousness, of a gradual de-identification with vrttis to the point of being unmistakably one-in-identity as purusa.
Thus the cessation of the misidentification with the modifications of the mind involves a progressive “interiorization,” “subtilization” or “sattvification” of consciousness, of one’s focus of attention, wherein
initially the congenital perceived misidentification with the tamasic and rajasic (klista-) vrttis constituting one’s mental apparatus ceases(in sampraj n ata-sam adhi). Eventually (in asamprajn ata-sam adhi)the congenital perceived misidentification with sattvic (aklista-)vrttis alsoceases. Yet vrttis themselves do not cease to exist. Even in the enlightened yogin there are tamasic, rajasic and sattvic dimensions constituting his or her prakr.
tic apparatus but these gunic qualities no longer obscure the yogin’s perception of reality. The yogin is, however, detached (vair agya, YS1, 15–16) from any identification with the gunas,is no longer enslaved to the vrtti-generating complex of the mind.
Summarizing this section, it has been strongly suggested that nirodha denotes an epistemological emphasis and refers to the transformation of self-understanding, not the ontological cessation of prakrti (i.e. the
mind and its modifications).