Patanjali Yoga Sutra - 2

If the mind is quiet, so what?

Tada Drashtuhu Swarupe Avasthanam: What happens when there is a quietening of the flow of thoughts? One is able to get an understanding of something that is fundamental, refreshing, infinite, everlasting, original, fresh and unnoticed all the while.

The practice of Yoga in whatever form, whether it is the Yoga with the body, Hatha Yoga, Pranayama - the breath, Karma Yoga - through all the actions performed in a day, Bhakthi Yoga - through emotions of love felt for all and several innumerable forms of Yoga practices, one achieves just a singular goal. At the end of the practice, the mind is quiet as there is a finetuning in the flow of thought frequencies. The actual Yoga happens when the thought waves of the individual merge with the thought waves of the cosmos.

And this is the eternal original essence that one is able to experience when the mind is still. Just as when the river is turbulent, you can see just the ruddy, foaming eddies, gushing in currents. But when the water is tranquil, one gets a much deeper insight into what lies down in the river bed. With a quiet mind around, one is able to see through the world with the tranquil vision of truth. - Swahilya Shambhavi.

(Picture: The campus at the Chicago Law School, University of Illinois.)