The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali 17-22: Levels Of Absorption

In this episode, we discuss sutras 17 to 22. This section is about levels of absorption (samadhi) throughout one’s practice up until one’s final attainment.
In the first level of absorption, one is mindfully aware of the physical environment. In the next stage, one is absorbed in awareness of the mental world, letting thoughts come and go without attachment. In the third stage, one is absorbed in the joy of existence reflected in one’s psyche.

Transcript

Hello, Yogi. Welcome to my podcast. I'm Aiko and on this show we explore ways to put spiritual theory into sustainable practice. Hey, Sham. Welcome back to this series of podcasts about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Thank you. Always happy to be here. Thank you. So, Last time we left on chapter one, Sutra 16th. And maybe as usual, You can give us a brief recap of what we said now. Okay. Yeah. So, We have had three episodes so far before this one. So in the first one, There is the definition of yoga. And it speaks about what happens if you do yoga and what happens if you don't do yoga. So basically, If you do yoga and attain the fruit of it, You will rest in your own being. And if you don't, Then you will identify with the waves of the mind. Then in the second episode, We talked about what those waves or movements of the mind, What they are. And so in this last section, We talked about what yoga is as a process. Whereas the definition in the first section was what the purpose of yoga is. But here it's the definition of yoga as a process. And that process has two aspects, Which is practice and detachment. So you need to, Of course, Put effort into your practice, But also be detached from the results so that you don't get hung up on if you fail or something. You just continue. Yes. Let's jump into Sutra 17. And in this section, We are speaking about samadhi, Which is a deeper state of meditation. It is ultimately the goal of the practice, But there will also be stages of it throughout our practice as well. Yeah. So what it says in Sutra 17? Sutra 17 reads, Vitharka vicharandhasmita rupanugamat sampragata. Sampragata Samadhi consists of the consecutive mental stages of absorption with physical awareness, Absorption with subtle awareness, Absorption with bliss, And absorption with a sense of I-ness. So as I just mentioned, There are kind of stages of samadhi along the practice before you come to what we will discuss in the next sutra, Which is the kind of final samadhi. So here it talks about four levels of samadhi, Where the first one is that you are kind of absorbed but with awareness of the physical world. And this can also mean that you can experience this also like outside the realm of yoga practice, When you're just so absorbed in some physical objects so deeply that you kind of lose yourself in it. You're not kind of aware of yourself really, You're just kind of absorbed in this object. And then the next stage is that you're absorbed with subtle awareness. So like when you're absorbed in something, Some kind of thought, You can get like totally engrossed in one thought, So that you kind of lose yourself in that. And then the next level is just absorption with awareness of this joy of the self that is reflected in material nature. After that comes the stage where you are just absorbed in the sense of yourself, In your sense of self, Which is differentiated here from dwelling in your actual self, Which is the defined goal of yoga, Purpose of yoga that we discussed in the beginning. So this sense of self is like when you identify yourself as different things. And as our teacher often says, You can say, I am this or I am that. And what is constant in all such identifications is the I am. You will come to this stage of samadhi where there is just that sense of self, The I am part without something that follows it. And then in sutra 18, We come to when you actually are resting in your own self. Virama pratyaya bhayasa purva sanskara shesonya. In these mental stages, There is a stage attained after one has cultivated the determination to terminate all thoughts. In this state, Only latent impressions remain. So here you are still, Yourself is still connected to your psyche, But the psyche has no, Does not pull yourself away. It's there are only latent impressions means they're not active, Just kind of seeds that could have sprouted, But that did not. Can you give some practical example? So like, Whereas in the previous stage or stages, You can see it kind of like mindfulness practice, How you were first just aware of the physical sensations around you, Then being aware of the movements of the mind, Then just being aware of the joy of existing. And after that, There is the only your sense of existing. But here we come to when you are just resting in the self, But not being aware of the self as something like there is there is no thinking in terms of I am there is just being absorbed in the being itself without distinguishing it as something. This shloka, It says that like we're only once Samskaras tendencies remain. So maybe we can explain what this word Samskara means. Yeah, It's impressions, Imprints in the citta, As it's called, It's our, You can say subconscious, It's like the store the storage of everything you have ever experienced is kind of stored in your subtle body. And those impressions is what urges you to do things. It's kind of the sort of tracks you've been walking in that makes you continue to walk in those same tracks. But in this second stage here of Samadhi, Second kind of Samadhi, Beyond the four mental stages of Samadhi, All those impressions are only latent, They don't urge you to do anything. You just remain resting in your own being. Then in the next sutra in 19, It is mentioned about kind of special beings who are kind of advanced in their practice, But who still have, Who are still in these, According to some commentators, They are still kind of going through the mental stages of Samadhi. The sutra reads, Bhava pratyayo videha prakrti layana. For some, Those who are unembodied, And those who are merged in matter, The state of sampragata is characterized by absorption in subtle states of prakrti. Prakrti is material nature. So this talks about advanced yoga practitioners who are able to practice yoga even without having a body. But one way to look at it here is that, Even though that may seem spectacular, Like wow, Still they are in these mental stages of Samadhi. And it means that they will have to come back to embodied life if they cannot like complete their practice that way. In sutra 20, It speaks about this second type of Samadhi that we had in sutra 18. Shradha virya smriti samadhi pragya bhurvaka itare sam. But for others, The state where only subconscious impressions remain is preceded by faith, Vigor, Memory, Samadhi absorption and discernment. So this is again this type of Samadhi where you have your samskaras, The impressions in the citta, But they are latent, So not active. And then the last two sutras in this section are giving some inspiration, Trying to inspire commitment to the practice. So number 21 reads, Tivra samveganam asana. This state of Samadhi is near for those who apply themselves intensely. And then number 22 reads, Mridu madhyadim atratvat tatopi vishesha. And even among these, There is further differentiation of this intensity into degrees of mild, Mediocre and extreme. So it is telling the practitioner that Samadhi is near if you practice intensely. But intensity can be mild, Medium or extreme. And it can even be further broken down into like mild, Mildness, Medium mildness or extreme mildness and so on. So it basically means as much as you devote yourself and commit to your practice, The closer you will be to Samadhi. But here also there is like a warning that it doesn't mean for example that you do, You try to do very extreme asana practice, Like more than you can handle just because you're supposed to do it with extreme intensity. It means that your kind of eagerness should be intense. And then you should kind of be willing also to kind of do the slow parts. But you can practice slowness with intensity also, Like really getting into it. So how would you summarize in brief like the teaching of this section and how people who are listening to this episode could put this into practice? Well, One thing is to keep the goal in mind. But to be like aware of all the steps that it will take to go there and to kind of have some appreciation for how special it is, Even if you're like there are things that you can practice whether you are in a body or outside of a body. Most of us are in a body, Especially if we're listening to this most likely. Like even if you hear of like spectacular stages of practice where someone is able to just be in their like astral body or something. It's like the point is that we have to go through these mental stages of samadhi, Not be distracted by other things. And actually like mindfulness practice is a way to not try to hide from anything either. It's like not be distracted, But let those things that would otherwise be distractions just be aware and mindful of them and gradually become mindful of more and more subtle things. So from physical to mental to just like the joy of existing, Then just to the sense of existing until you can just rest in your own being. Thank you. So next section will be from Sutra 23 to 29. And we will speak about the definition of God. Do you want to say something about it? Yes, This is a, Of course, For for us a very nice section of the yoga sutras since we are, This is kind of what we are practicing. And it is an alternative to the kind of mechanics that have been described so far. So it is beginning with kind of saying, Like, You can do all those things that have been mentioned this far, Or you can do this meditation on God. And then by grace, You may attain things that are otherwise you have to kind of mechanically try to attain. Okay, So thank you and see you next time. See you next time. Bye. I hope this episode fulfilled its purpose of inspiring you. If you like it, Feel free to share it, Give a review or a rating, Subscribe. And if you have any question, Please get in touch at aikoota. Com