Travels in India: Reflections on the Yoga Sutras

Yogas chitta vrtti nirodhah.

The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga. (1.2)

This is the goal of yoga. In his commentary on the Sutras, Sri Swami Satchidananda says it is the chitta vrittis that disturb our peace and create the differences we see in the world. He says, “The entire world is your own projection.” In Buddhism, this is called emptiness.  If we work from the inside out, we can heal ourselves and the world. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  If we can master peace within the mind, within ourselves, we realize the problem was never “out there” to begin with.

The Lake at the Sivananda Ashram, Neyyar Dam

Of course, I haven’t mastered chitta vritti nirodhah. So far, I may have experienced only brief moments of total awareness and silence - the kind that comes when one thought stops and another hasn’t yet come.

A practice of sitting meditation offers strength and awareness for the rest of the day. For example, traveling in India my first time here is a perfect opportunity to practice.  

Abhyasa vairagyabhyam tan nirodhah.

These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment. (1.12)

At Trivandrum railway in southern India, there was a six hour wait for the 4 am train. Weighed down by luggage and unwilling to wander outside the station looking for a decent hotel so late at night, I decided to sleep in the station. I found a waiting area marked ladies only. It was pungent and filthy.  Ladies and their babies sprawled out on the dirt-covered floor on sari scarves and newspapers.  Flies buzzed around them. I sighed, but tried to think of the positives like how nice that there was an exclusive waiting room for women or the fact that, contrary to what I had expected, it was perfectly acceptable to lay out on the floor for a sleep.

Trivandrum Railway Ladies' Waiting Room

Vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam.

When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite [positive] ones should be thought of. This is pratipaksha bhavana. (2.34)

Keeping this sutra in mind, I left the room to get a juice. On the way, I saw a sign for beds in the train station. Approaching the counter, the worker said, “I have one lady bed left”.

“How much?”

“$150 rupees for 12 hours.”

“I’ll take it!”

Once I made it to the Madurai train station, I was told I had to walk four kilometers to the bus city bus, then take a city bus to the state bus station. Once there, I learned  a road had been washed out by monsoon, meaning no direct bus to the Bodhi Zendo Ashram where I wanted to go.

Prachardana vidharanabhyam va pranasya.

Or that calm is retained by the controlled exhalation or retention of the breath. (1.34)

So, focusing on my breath, I asked around until someone offered a way.  I took a bus for three hours to one town and changed to a crammed bus. I was exhausted at this point and starting to get a little cranky so I happily slid into the last remaining seat, hoping for some sleep on the three-hour ride.

Once we took off, a woman near me began complaining about not having a seat, I didn’t understand her reasoning, but I stood and offered her my seat.  I stood the full three hours on a windy-mountain-sorry-excuse for a road, with little room to even adjust my feet. At times I thought I would throw up. To stay calm, I worked on rejoicing in those who had seats. I redirected my thoughts to good, chanting one of my favorite mantras, which comes from the Yoga Sutras: “Om Maitri Ahum, Om Karuna Ahum, Om Mudita Ahum, Om Upeksha Ahum”.

Maitri karuna muditopekshanam sukha duhkha punya-apunya vishayanam bhavanatash chitta prasadanam.

By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness. (1.33)

Finally, I got dropped off a juncture with two road signs and a couple of cows and their tenders.  Luckily, a local teacher that had been on the bus called a cab and I got the local price to the ashram.

All in all, just from one rail station to an ashram, it was an intense journey of 20 hours and $500 rupees ($8 USD or so). The idea of stilling the mind was with me as often as I could keep it there.  I was able to mostly stay rooted in the present and focus on my breath or the comfort of those people around me when I got to be overwhelmed.  Like this, I feel more doors were opened to me and I was present on the journey, without focusing just on the end goal.

In this way, I’m working toward Yoga. In working toward restraining the modifications of the mind.  This practice is making my life not only enjoyable and helping me be less selfish, but it’s offering glimpses at divinity.  

Om shantih, shantih, shantih.