Yoga states that deep reality is beyond intellectual understanding which has it’s limits and can only take you so far.”, I.8: Unweaving the mind

“All creation is governed by law,” / “The principles that operate the outer universe discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; …”, page 131- Autobiography of a Yogi (Paramhahansa Yoganananda)

Ever the skeptic that I am, I like to find facts that support my writings, thinking and experience. This may seem a contradiction with the above quote, but it is not, for when one is treading the yogic path and has learnt things (experientialy and intellectually) that prove aspects of the map are correct he feels confident with the path;however, when he then has “experiences” which he can not deny, but does not intellectually understand
it is nice to try and use science, yogic and other significant literature and evidence to help his understanding. This is more important where a guru is not at hand, and living in England I have found no guru, although I have found some good teachers.

Charles Robert Richet (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Robert_Richet – foot note, on page 136 of Autobiography …) has performed some research and performed demonstrations regarding these matters. As I am reading my way through Autobiography I thought I would find what I could on the internet, except I haven’t found as much as I would like; however, please find a few links below for further reading. A biography for Charles Robert Richet can be found at the following link; www.spiritwritings.com/charlesrichet.html

Unfortunately with limited time I have not found much more, but I do intend to delve into Charles Roberts work in the future sometime.

Autobiography of a Yogi is a fantastic book. The chapter “Years in My Masters Hermitage” is full of interesting and insightful things, a treasure trove of wisdom. I recommend it even though I have not finished reading.

Copyright © 2008 Russell Smithers

An important aspect, no, lets say a central aspect of yoga practice, physical and mental, is the process of transforming oneself. Many people manage to transform their bodies through yoga asana practice (postures), how many look inside at themselves and work on true transformation?

This is a question that I find myself pondering. It seems that most people, and I say seems because I do not know and I do not want to judge, are distracted and not even the slightest bit interested. A certain amount of slow transformation occurs through life’s knocks, but sometimes these knocks transform us in negative ways.

There is a lovely quote in “Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda” which realy needs to be read in it’s fuller context, but is still significant;

“Is the world going to change for you? Change yourself …”, page 126

Which I thought works well with; “Make it a way of life to observe yourself, for by being aware of your behavior you will be your own guru.”  Kevin and Venika Kingsland from the book Cassandra Powers/page 82

Which links nicely into yoga sutra I.33; “By cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.” taken from the book The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda).

I also like I.33 as presented by TKV Desikachar from the book “Reflections on Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali”; “… if we can be happy for those who are happier than ourselves, compassionate towards those who are not as happy, pleased with those whose activities are praiseworthy and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our minds will be very tranquil.” page 35

And also I.33 from the book “Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy”; “Clarity of mind is produced by meditating on friendliness towards the happy, compassion towards the miserable, joy towards the virtuous and indifference towards the wicked.” page 168

 Copyright © 2008 Russell Smithers

The aim of science and yoga is the search for the truth by understanding reality. Science allows new understanding to be gained and others to prove new ideas through empirical analysis. These ideas can be verified by other scientists. Science continually refines its intellectual knowledge (scientific view) of reality and by doing so is able to uncover deception, confirm truths and find new truths.

The title of this post takes it’s name and inspiration from the book Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins. I’m not sure I will do justice, so you may want to read this book, at least the chapter “Reweaving the World” for the benefit of this post. In this book Richard looks at how the mind perceives the world, practical experiments are presented that need no equipment and can be done whilst reading, these help demonstrate the points he makes.

Richard explains we see the world through an abstract view that is constructed to represent reality, a virtual world we perceive even though we act in the real world. The brain is constantly receiving information which it uses to construct an internal view of the world. Therefore basing our perception on a model and not reality itself, to quote Richard,“… has a darkside. A brain that is good at simulating models in imagination is also, almost invariably, in danger of self-delusion.”

Yoga and science are similar in that they ask you to prove to yourself what is true and what is not, the difference is that science doesn’t know the ultimate truth. Yoga states that deep reality is beyond intellectual understanding which has it’s limits and can only take you so far. Yoga is based on the knowledge of others who have found the fundamental truth and, yogic philosophy provides a map we can use to guide us, but we must walk the path and prove things for ourselves.

Sutra I.8 states“Misconception occurs when knowledge of something is not based upon its true form.” and the example; “In the twilight you see a coiled rope and mistake it for a snake. You get frightened. There is no snake there in reality; there is a false understanding. But still it created a terror in your mind. It is not only valid knowledge that creates thought waves, but erroneous impressions”. Taken from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Translation and Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda.

Copyright © Russell Smithers 2008