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,