Have you ever noticed that the mind is a bit like mercury?
It is elusive,
Hard to grasp,
And constantly moving.
One moment it is reflecting the world outside,
And the next it is lost in a memory or a worry.
Patanjali describes this constant movement as vrittis,
The thought waves.
Imagine the sea.
The sea is vast and deep,
But on the surface there are always waves.
These waves are the vrittis,
The endless cycles of fluctuations,
Thoughts and restlessness in our consciousness.
Sometimes these waves are created by what we see,
Direct perception,
Sometimes by our imagination,
And very often by our memories.
When the surface is choppy with waves,
We cannot see the bottom,
But when the waves settle,
There is stillness.
In that stillness,
Our feeling of I,
Our intelligence,
And our mind finally experience tranquility.
So how do we settle these waves?
Patanjali says we need two specific tools.
He famously says that a bird cannot fly with one wing,
It needs two.
In the same way,
We need the two wings of abhyasa and vairagya.
Abhyasa is constant practice.
This is a dedicated,
Unswerving,
And vigilant search.
It is the effort we make uninterrupted for a long time.
It is not just doing yoga once a week,
It's the constant choice to return to awareness even when we fail.
Abhyasa builds our confidence.
Vairagya,
Detachment.
This is the art of letting go.
Patanjali describes it like a doctor's attitude towards a patient,
Caring and responsible,
But not emotionally entangled.
It is the ability to free ourselves from cravings and worldly desires that pull our mind away from peace.
When our mind starts to drag us toward a worry or a distraction,
It's like being pulled by a stout rope.
Vairagya,
Detachment,
Is the tool that cuts that rope.
It saves us from being lured outwards so we can return to the seat of our being.
When we use both wings,
The effort of practice and the grace of letting go,
We are no longer bound by the wheel of time or the restlessness of our thoughts.
Remember,
Practice builds the foundation,
But detachment gives you the freedom.
Together they bring you to a state of poise and peace.
Namaste.
