By Dinesh Nath

Let your dreams awaken you: The next sutra is Swapnanidrajnanalambanam va meaning "the knowledge of dream or sleep can also awaken you". This is very interesting. You sleep all your life, but you have never met your sleep. It's like a person who has lived all his life with millions in his hands but never knew how to spend it. Or like a person who is sitting at the dining table with a delicious, elaborate meal, without knowing how to eat it. It is the same with our life. Sleep is there but we do not know how to sleep! We dream everyday and we do not know what a dream is. When you sleep you let go of everything. If you hold on to anything, can you sleep? In sleep, your identity vanishes. You are neither male or female. There is no difference between a rich man's sleep and a poor man's sleep, between an intelligent man's sleep or a stupid man's sleep. Sleep is sleep. In sleep, what do you do? You let go of who you are, of your likes and dislikes. You cannot ...

Shaping your mind: Be wary of what you let into your mind for it will determine who you are. The series on Patanjali's yogasutras continues The next sutra is Vitaragavishayam va chittam meaning "the mind which is free from craving for objects blossoms fully". Water always assumes the shape of the cup it is poured into. In the same way, whatever thought you engage your mind with, your mind becomes like that. It develops the qualities of everything you put into it.Keep your mind engaged in the thoughts of the enlightened. Vitaraga means one who has gone beyond cravings or one who is liberated from cravings. If you think of such a person, then your mind also gets those qualities. It begins to feel the peace and quietness. You start assuming all those qualities and start developing those qualities in you. Our mind is like air which does not have a location. It is not fixed. Vitaraga is all permeating. So that air, that cool breeze, that energy enters in.The mind is also like...

Breaking the rhythm: Only you have the power to free yourself of your sorrow. The series on Patanjali's yogasutras continues Sutra 34 says Prachchardana vidharanaabhyam va praanasya meaning 'by splitting and retention of breath in a special manner'. Prachchardana pranasya means breaking the natural rhythms of breath and holding the breath. It means sustaining the breath in different rhythms. By modulating the prana, the mind becomes calm. Sutra 35 says Vishayavati va pravruttirutpanna manasaha sthithinibandhini meaning "by that very activity in the mind, through those very objects of senses, the mind can be made steady, brought to a stand still". Through any one of the objects of the senses, the mind can be made still. By the same activity in your mind, that very activity through that very sense, mind can be brought to a stand-still.. Sutra 36 says Vishoka va jyotishmati meaning "get rid of unhappiness and at the same time know that your mind is bright...

How to make friends: Sutra 33 says Maitrikaruna muditopekshanam sukhadukhapunyapunyavishayanam bhavanataschitta prasadanam , meaning that "by practising the habits of friendliness compassion, happiness and virtues and by being indifferent to misery and sinful vices, your mind is pleasant". Patanjali categorises people into four types. One, those who are happy; two, people who are unhappy; three, people who are engaged in good or virtuous acts; and four, people who are engaged in not so good acts. So, the four categories of people are sinful, blessed, happy and unhappy. Now, how do you deal with them? He says to have maitri — the act of being friendly with those who are happy. If you are not friends with people who are happy, you will feel jealous at the thought that someone is happier than you. But if you own them, if you feel they belong to you, then you will not be jealous of them. When they are happy it will no longer bother you. Now what about unhappy people? If you are f...

One body, one mind: We discussed the nine types of obstacles in the path of yoga. There is no tenth obstacle. Every possible obstacle has been counted and included in these nine categories. Patanjali is such a scientist. With a few words, he has said all that has to be said. Along with these nine obstacles, the five indications or signs of the disturbed mind. Which brings us to Sutra 31: Dukha dourmanasyangamejayatva shwasaprashwasa vikshepasahabhuvaha, which means "Sorrow, bitterness, body not listening to you, shaky and irregular inspiration and expiration are the companions of these distractions". In the previous Sutra, we discussed the nine obstacles on the path. What come with these obstacles are dukha or sorrow and "Dourmanasya", which means bitterness of the mind. Angamejayatva means the body is not listening to you. It is like a man who has drunk too much wants to go left but starts moving to the right. He wants to walk straight but his body goes won't ...

Hurdles of peace: What are the obstacles on the path to discovery? They add up to nine — Vyadhistyanasamshaya pramadalasyavirati bhrantidarshanalabdha bhoomikatvanavasthitatvani chittavikshepaste antarayaha meaning "Illness, inability to comprehend; doubt, carelessness, laziness, non-attachment towards the senses, hallucination, and non-attainment of any state or instability are the distractions of the mind which cause obstacles in the path". Vyadhi or illness in the body is the first obstacle. The second is styana or the illness in the mind that is either mentally challenged or is incapable of comprehension. For example, you will be perfectly alright but when you get to start meditating, sickness befalls you! If you are watching television, nothing happens, but if you sit down to meditate, the body grows restless. This is an obstacle in your path. The third obstacle Samshaya or doubt . You first need to understand doubt. Your doubts are always about something that is good. ...

Word Power: What do you call the consciousness where the all-knowing seed is present? How do you address it? Patanjali says 'Om' is the nearest sound that it can be addressed with. When you say Om, the consciousness is complete. Om is the combination of 'Aa', 'Oo' and 'Mm'. When you say 'Aa', the prana is in the lower portion of the body. When you say 'Oo', it is in the middle portion and when you say 'Mm', the prana moves to the upper portion. When you say Om, the prana is complete. Om is therefore the sound closest to complete consciousness. All religions in the world have something very close to Om. Christianity has 'Amen' and Islam has 'Ameen'. Tajjapastadartha bhavanam is the next sutra, meaning "When you remember the Divine by repeating the word, the word uttered gives you the feeling of the Divine". This is an important sutra. Japa is basically a sound that can remind you of that state of feeling...

All seeing, all knowing: The next sutra is Tatra niratishayam sarvagnabëjam (Sûtra 25) meaning "In Him exists the seed of all knowingness in a special manner." The seed of knowing is present in God. But then people begin to ask questions — "Well, if Lord Krishna knew everything, why did he try to stop the war three times? He knew the war was going to happen anyway. He never told Arjuna that he was going to win the war. No. All He says is 'If you win the war, you will rule this world. If you lose the war, you will go to heaven'.' He does not give the right answer, the right knowledge. He does not tell Arjuna what the result is going to be. The question is why. This seed of 'all knowing' is present everywhere. For instance, when you have a dictionary at home, any moment, any word you want, you can just turn the page and pick it out. You do not need to know by heart every word present in the dictionary. Similarly, if you open yourself up to this highest...

God is in you: Eshwara pranidhanad va " (Sutra 23) meaning "Just by pointed devotion to God." Just by surrendering to the lord, you can achieve the fully blossomed state of consciousness. Now, what is the lord? Who is the lord? Where is he? It is easy to say surrender to God, but what is God? Where is God? Nobody has ever seen God. Then comes the next question. What is lordship? What is that which rules this world? You find that it is love that rules the world. The core of the existence rules this universe. Like the Sun is the centre of the solar system and rules all the planets, the very core of your existence life is governed by love. That consciousness, that core of existence is responsible for this whole creation. A bird feeds its young out of love. Ducks hatch eggs out of love. Cows take care of their calves out of love. Have you seen monkeys? How they care for their young ones! Love is in-built in this creation. That is how creation functions. That is why Jesus sai...