- 1.47 Nirvicara vaisaradye'dhyatma prasadah
- nirvicara = without subtle thought / the highest of the samapatti states
- vaisaradye = experience / profound knowledge
- adhyatma = true self / supreme Self
- prasadah = shine / brightness / illumination / purity / grace
Research has shown and Dr. Rick Hanson describes that "the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones" Due to evolutionary reasons, the mind tends to wrap around negative ideas, thoughts, fear based or shameful experiences like velcro, but tends to let positive ideas, thoughts, encouragement or elevating experiences slide off it like butter on a teflon frying pan. Having this awareness, I ask you to work to let the idea of this sutra be one of the rare POSITIVE velcro moments.
Remember how last week I mentioned that Patanjali starts to repeat concepts he introduced earlier as we come to the end of this first pada (book/section/chapter)? Well he does it again here, and this one's a gooder!! The concept Patanjali talks about in today's sutra was first introduced in sutra 1.3, brought up again in sutra 1.41 and also reiterated here. It's THAT important!! So . . . . are you ready to hear it again?!
YOU ARE AMAZING!!! YOU are divine, you are magic, you are special! THAT is who you are at your core and it's your true, authentic, divine nature. This is true for everyone. It's true for you, it's true for your partner, it's true for your best friend, it's even true for that neighbour you're currently having a feud with!! Your authentic nature (before the programming of your upbringing, or your fears, or your stories, or your thoughts, or your biases and opinions get in the way) is pure, bright divinity. Yoga's true goal is to take you back to that!
It's not until the second pada that Patanjali gets to the actual specifics about the practices of yoga. This first pada is about laying the foundation of why yoga. Have you noticed that a lot of it is talking about meditation? The west may have tricked us into believing that yoga is a physical practice, but in actuality it is a training of the mind. Yoga uses meditation techniques to refine awareness, free us from distractions, shed all that is unnecessary and realize that . . . .
"Yoga teaches us that our true nature isn't outside. It's not something that we need to acquire or something that we need to do. YOU are special for what's on the inside. The act of simply being makes you amazing, and it is getting rid of things (the incessant chatter of the mind) and clearing out the excess that will give you the space to see this." - from Sutra 1.3 blog post
Your challenge for this week? Let THIS knowledge and awareness be a velcro moment! You ARE amazing!!!!
Sutra 1.47 With experience in nirvicara (without subtle thought), the true Self shines.
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