Sutra 1.40: It ALL Matters

Samadhi Pada: Yoga of Being in the Now

1.40 Paramanu paramamahattvanto'sya vasikarah

• paramanu = the smallest
• parama = most
• anu = smallest / minutest
• paramahattva = the largest
• parama = most
• mahattva = largest / infinity / universe
• antah = end / extending to
• asya = of this
• vasikarah = power / mastery / insight

   

For much of my life, I lived on the prairies and part of that time, I appreciated walking along the river. Then I moved to the Okanagan, and I fell in love with the big, beautiful lakes. When I had the opportunity to stand on a beach of Lake Superior last week, I was in awe of the expansiveness. How was this not the ocean?! It doesn't matter how these bodies of water compare to each other. It doesn't matter that one makes another look like a puddle. In the end, my times next to these bodies of water nourished, calmed and inspired me in different ways and for different reasons. They all matter. IT ALL matters, and this is what my interpretation for this week's sutra is.

Part of yoga is a body practice, but it's not the whole part. In fact, training the body is only a small fraction. Yoga in the end is about training the mind, and if we really think about it, the mind creates EVERYTHING! The last few sutras introduced different meditation techniques to work on training the mind. These next few sutras tell us what some of the advantages or reasons for pursing this training are. Sutra 1.40 tells us by training to focus our mind on one thing, which allows the distractions and monkey mind chatter to fade to the background, we come to know that it is ALL important. The smallest things along with the biggest things matter.

Osho said  "From the smallest to the greatest, he becomes master of all. Meditation is the door to the infinite power." The key to mastery and power in yoga is the focus on one thing whether it be big or small. In the end it is the focus with the all encompassing idea that it all matters. So, I challenge you this week to acknowledge how everything you do makes a difference in some way. From the microscopic details of what you ate for breakfast, to the larger ideas of what values you hold. Acknowledge the thoughts you have about someone whose views you don't agree with, and the compassionate smile you give to someone on the street. Be aware of the words you say to uplift a child, or the disregard you intentionally or not direct towards a friend. Let go of right or wrong, good or bad and just simply observe how everything you do, big or small, matters. Now be advised that this knowledge and developing this skill not only brings infinite power (as Osho described), but also comes with great responsibility. THAT is the essence of this sutra 1.40.     

Sutra 1.40 Of  this (practices in preceding sutras), power and insight is revealed by all aspects 

extending from the smallest (atom) to the largest feasible object or idea.