Namaste.
Have you ever tried to calm the mind by force?
You notice that you're overthinking and so you say stop thinking.
You notice you are anxious,
So you say,
I should stop.
Or I should not feel anxious.
You notice that an old pattern has returned.
And you become frustrated with yourself.
Why am I still like this?
Why can't I just let go?
Why do I keep coming back to the same thoughts?
And very often,
The movie fight the mind.
The stronger the mind becomes.
The thought resists,
The emotion tightens,
The pattern repeats,
The inner struggle continues.
And this is why Yoga Sutra 1.
12 is so important.
So far,
Patanjali has been helping us understand the movements of the mind.
In Yoga Sutra 1.
5 he told us that the movements may be painful or non-painful.
In 1.
6,
He names the movements,
Correct knowledge,
Misperception,
Imagination,
Sleep and memory.
And then from Yoga Sutra 1.
7 to 1.
11 he explained each of these movements in more detail.
Correct knowledge,
Misperception,
Imagination,
Sleep,
Memory.
Now after showing us how the mind moves.
Patanjali gives us the way to study.
The Sutra is A B I C E L Vairagyabhyam Tan Nidoda Let's see it slowly.
Abhyasa.
Vairagya.
Opium.
NEDOTA A simple translation.
The stilling of these movements.
Is brought about through practice and non-attachment.
The stilling of those movements is brought about through practice and non-attachment.
Or more simply,
The mind becomes steady through consistent practice and the ability to let go.
This is one of the most practical sutras.
Because Patanjali does not say that the mind becomes still true force.
He does not say the mind becomes still true self-criticism.
He does not say the mind becomes still true one intense experience,
One retreat,
One meditation,
One insight or one emotional breakthrough.
He gives us Do things.
I'll be awesome.
Steady practice.
And Vairagya,
Non-attachment,
Letting go,
Freedom from clingy.
Both are needed.
If we only practice without letting go,
Practice can become pressure.
If we only let go without practice,
Letting go can become passivity.
Abhyasa gives direction.
Vairagya gives freedom.
Abhyasa returns us to the path.
Vairagya releases our grip on the outcome.
Abhyasa says come back.
Vairagya says do not cling.
Together.
Together.
They help the mind become steady.
Let's look at the Sutra word by word.
The first word is Abhyasa.
Abhyasa means practice or repetition or steady effort,
Returning again and again.
Not just doing something once,
Not enthusiasm for the few days.
It is the willingness to the turn.
To the turn to the breath,
To the turn to awareness,
To the turn to the body,
To the turn to the present moment,
To what matters.
Return after forgetting,
Return after distraction,
Return after falling into old patterns.
The dog.
This is very important.
Practice is not the same as perfection.
Many people think practice means I must do this perfectly.
But in yoga,
Practice often means returning after not doing it perfectly.
You get distracted and do the turn.
You the act and you the turn.
You forget.
And you the turn.
You become identified with a thought and you return.
You get caught in memory or imagination or misperception or emotional reaction.
And you the turn.
That returning is black.
This is a much kinder way to understand discipline.
Discipline is not punishment.
Discipline is devotion to the turning.
Abhyasa is not harsh,
It is steady.
It is the quiet commitment to come back.
Again and again.
To the direction of freedom.
Think about learning music.
You do not become skillful by playing one beautiful note again and again.
You return to the instrument.
You will turn to it again and again.
Some days the sound is clear.
Some days it is clumsy.
Some days you don't feel inspired.
Some days you do.
But the practice continues.
Or think about strengthening the body.
One workout does not create strength.
Strength comes through repetition,
Through consistency,
Through recovery,
Through patience and the turn.
And the same is true with the mind.
The mind becomes steady through repeated returning.
Not one dramatic act of control.
Repeated the telemetry.
And this is very encouraging.
Because it means that every small return matters.
That one conscious breath,
It matters.
One moment of pausing before the acting,
It matters.
One moment of noticing.
This is a thought.
It matters one moment of saying this is memory.
It matters.
One moment of choosing not to believe the first story of the mind,
It matters.
These small returns They saved the mind.
They create new grooves.
They create.
They teach the nervous system another way.
They slowly weaken old patterns.
They strengthen awareness.
This is abyasa.
Now the second word.
Vaidhyakya.
Often translated as non-attachment,
Dispassion,
Detachment,
Or freedom from craving,
And also a very misunderstood water.
So we have to understand this carefully.
Vairagya.
Does not mean not caring.
It does not mean becoming cold.
It does not mean withdrawing from life.
It does not mean suppressing desire.
It does not mean pretending we do not have feelings.
Vairagya means we are no longer ruled by clinging.
We are no longer helplessly pulled by every desire,
Every fear,
Memory,
Fantasy or emotional demand.
This word is related to Raga.
The garbage.
Translates to attachment or coloring.
So Vairagya,
It points to a kind of freedom from the colouring of craving.
The mind wants something.
And we can notice the wanting without being enslaved by it.
The mind fears losing something and we can notice the fear without letting it control our life.
The mind wants approval,
Certainty,
Comfort,
Success,
Recognition,
Pleasure,
Control.
And Vairagya allows us to see I see this desire.
I see this fear,
I see this clinging,
But I do not have to be ruled by it.
This is freedom.
Not the absence of feeling.
But freedom in relationship to feelings.
For example.
You may want someone to approve of you.
This is human.
But if your whole peace depends on their approval.
The mind becomes restless.
You may want your work to succeed.
This is natural.
But if your identity depends on the outcome,
The mind becomes anxious.
You may want clarity about the future and that is understandable.
But if you cannot rest until every uncertainty is resolved,
The mind becomes exhausted.
Vairagya does not say do not care.
It says,
Care deeply.
But do not cling.
Act with sincerity,
Love fully,
Practice steadily.
Offer your best.
But do not hand your inner freedom over to the result.
And this is why Abhyasa and Vairagya must go together.
Abhyasa without Vaidhagya can become control.
We practice,
But we become attached to progress.
Attached to spiritual experiences.
Attached to being calm.
Attached to being seen as disciplined.
Attached to the idea of becoming a better version of ourselves.
Even Yoga can become Ego.
If there is no Vairagya.
If there is no Vairagya.
We may think.
I must meditate perfectly.
I must always feel peaceful.
I must not have thoughts.
I must not feel anger.
I must be progressing faster.
I should be more spiritual by now.
And then practice.
Becomes another form of suffering.
The Vedic Path.
Meant to free us.
Becomes another place where the mind clings.
And this is why Vairagya is needed.
It softens the grip.
It reminds us,
Practice.
But do not cling to the image of yourself as a practitioner.
Meditate.
But do not cling to special experiences.
So.
.
.
But do not cling to recognition.
Good Lord!
But do not cling to becoming perfect.
They don't.
But do not condemn yourself for wandering.
At the same time.
Vaidhagya without Abhyasa.
It can become avoided.
We may say I am detached.
But really,
We are free to care.
We may say,
I am letting go,
But really we are not willing to practice.
We may say everything happens as it should.
But we may use that as an excuse not to take responsibility.
We may say I surrender.
But avoid action,
Avoid boundaries,
Avoid discipline,
Avoid truth.
That is not Vairagya.
That is passivity.
Wearing spiritual language.
True Vairagya.
Does not weaken practice.
It purifies practice.
It removes desperation.
It removes grasping,
It removes egoic pressure.
And then Abhyasa becomes steady.
And Vairagya keeps it free.
Let's bring this into our daily life.
Imagine you are trying to develop a meditation practice.
Abhyasa says,
Satish D.
Even for a few minutes.
They turn to the breath.
They turn to awareness.
They turn after distraction.
Vedagya says,
Do not judge the meditation by whether it felt peaceful.
Do not cling to yesterday's experience.
Do not make a restless meditation into failure.
Do not make a calm meditation into identity.
Just practice.
Let the result unfold.
Let the result unfold.
Or imagine you are trying to change an emotional pattern.
Perhaps.
You often react defensively when you receive feedback.
Abhyasa says,
Pause.
The lead.
Notice the body.
Ask,
What is actually happening?
Practice responding instead of reacting.
And Vaidya Gyasis.
Do not demand that the pattern disappear overnight.
Do not hate yourself when it returns.
Do not cling to the identity of I am damaged or I am healed.
Let the process be gradual.
Keep the tone.
Or imagine you are working toward a meaningful goal.
Abhyasa says,
Take the next step.
Sure.
Create the habit.
Do the walk.
Vairagya says,
Do not make your worth depend on the outcome.
Do not become obsessed with comparison.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
Offer the action,
Release the clip.
This is not only yoga on the mat.
This is Yoga in Relationships,
Yoga in Work,
Yoga in Parenting,
Yoga in Creativity,
Yoga in Healing Life,
Yoga in Healing Yoga in Spiritual Life Yoga in Ordinary Moments Every time the mind is pulled into restlessness,
We practice returning.
Every time the mind clings,
We practice releasing.
The turn.
And release,
So they turn and release.
This is the Vidya.
Of Yoga Sutra 1.
12.
Now the final part of the sutra is Dhan Nidodha.
Tan-o-tat means those.
Referring to the movement of the mind that Patanjali has just described.
The thoughts,
The perceptions,
The misperceptions,
The imaginations,
The sleep states.
Memories,
All the verities.
Nirodhaha means stilling,
Regulating,
Quieting,
Restraining or bringing into steadiness.
Sattan Nidodaha means the stilling of those movements.
And how does that stilling happen?
Trobias and Vidagyan.
To practice a non-attachment through the turning and release.
This is very different from suppression.
Suppression says I must get rid of the thought.
Nirodhara says,
The mind can become steady.
When I stop feeding every movement.
Suppression says.
This emotion should not be here.
Nilo Daha says,
This emotion is known.
I can do me in a bit.
Suppression says,
I must control the mind.
Nido Naha says,
I can train the mind gently and release my clinging.
The mind becomes still not because we cling.
Violently force it into silence.
But because we stop being dragged by every movement.
A lake becomes still when the winds settle.
A flame becomes steady when the air becomes calm.
The mind becomes steady.
When practice enables it to return again and again.
And at the same time non-attachment stops feeding the restlessness.
This sutra is also deeply compassionate because it gives us something workable.
Because sometimes spiritual teachings can feel abstract.
Still the mind.
Be present.
Let go.
But how?
And Yoga Sutra 1.
12 answers.
Practice.
Let go.
The Don.
Release practice let go the turn release again and again it is simple but not always easy.
And because it is not always easy,
We must understand the practice with patience.
Abhyasa is not a short-term mood.
It is a long-term relationship with the path.
Some days,
Practice feels beautiful.
Some days ordinary,
Some days difficult,
Some days dry.
Some days we feel connected.
Some days we are distracted.
Some days we feel steady.
Some days we feel like we are beginning again.
But in yoga,
Beginning again is not failure.
Beginning again is the path.
The mind may say,
I have been here before.
Awareness says,
Then they turn again.
The mind says,
I should be further ahead.
Awareness says,
They're done here.
The mind says I lost my practice.
Awareness says you can begin now.
This is Abhyasa.
And Vairagya helps us not cling even to the idea of progress.
Progress happens,
But not always in the way the ego expects.
Sometimes progress looks like becoming calm.
Sometimes it looks like noticing sooner.
Sometimes like apologizing faster.
Sometimes like pausing for one breath before the acting.
Sometimes it looks like resting when we used to push.
Sometimes it looks like telling the truth to ourselves.
Sometimes it looks like not believing a story that once controlled us.
And sometimes it looks very quiet.
Vairagya helps us to respect the quietness of the path.
It helps us stop measuring everything.
It helps us practice without constantly asking.
Am I there yet?
Am I there yet?
Because Yoga is not only about reaching a future state.
Yoga is about how we relate to this moment.
Can I practice now?
Can I release now?
Can I return now?
Can I let go now?
This is the invitation.
This is the invitation.
Let's take another simple example.
Use it for meditation.
And within a few seconds a thought appears.
Then another,
Then another.
Than another.
And the mind says,
This is not working.
Abhyasa says,
Return to the breath.
And Vaidhagya says,
Let go of the idea of a perfect meditation.
I'm Ahmed Iyapia.
Abhyasa says notice and return.
Vaidhagya says,
Let go of the need to follow the memory.
A feeling appears.
Abhyasa says,
Feel it in the body.
Vairagya says,
Let go of the story around it.
A pleasant calm appears.
Abhyasa says,
Stay away.
Vairagya says do not cling even to the Kaab.
This is the practice.
Again and again.
The dawn,
The leaves,
The dawn,
The leaves.
And eventually the mind learns.
Not your force.
True Familiarity.
The mind becomes familiar with returning.
The body becomes familiar with softening.
The nervous system becomes familiar with not reacting immediately.
Awareness becomes more available.
And little by little.
The movements of the mind lose their power to completely carry us away.
A very logical flow.
After explaining the movements of the mind,
He does not leave us merely to analyze them.
But He gives us the path.
The mind moves,
See the movement,
Return to practice,
Release to non-attachment.
This is Yoga.
You may wish to reflect on these questions.
Where in my life do I need more steady practice?
Where do I keep waiting for motivation instead of the turning gently?
Where has practice become pressure rather than devotion?
What am I clinging to right now?
What outcome,
Identity,
Story or emotional demand am I holding too tightly?
Where am I using letting go as an excuse not to practice and what would it look like?
Are they done?
And the leads.
Today,
What would it look like to return and release today?
These questions bring Yoga Sutra 1.
12 into daily life.
Because most of us need both.
We need the steadiness to show up.
And the softness to let go.
We need discipline and we need freedom.
We need commitment and we need spaciousness.
We need to care and we need not to cling.
Abhyasa Vairagya Abhyam Tan Nirodaha The movements of the mind are still through practice and non-attachment.
This sutra reminds us that inner steadiness is not created by force.
It is cultivated through the turning and releasing.
Return to the planet.
Release the story.
They turn to awareness,
Release the grip,
They turn to the body,
Release the outcome,
They turn to the path,
Release the need to be perfect.
Again and again,
The mind is trained.
Again and again,
The heart is softened.
Again and again,
Awareness becomes steady.
So may this Sutra help us practice without harshness.
May it help us let go without becoming passive.
May it help us return without self-judgment.
May it help us release without losing love.
May it help us discover the quiet strength of consistency and the deep freedom of non-attachment.
In the next video we go to Yoga Sutra 1.
13 where Patanjali explains abhyasa in more detail.
What practice really means.
And how we can become established in study.
Thank you for listening.
Namaste.
