Patanjali Yoga Sutras Part5 - Swami Mukundananda - You are not the body, you are the Soul.
Swamiji quotes Swami Vivekananda “Thou are souls immortal; spirits free, blessed and eternal; Thou are not matter, Thou are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.”
Swamiji further explains we are the immortal soul. When the mind is not pure it is in the illusion and lives in bodily consciousness. When we start thinking I am the body all our computations go wrong. The soul forgets its divine nature and identifies itself with the body. When the mind is pure the soul is perceptible and we will be able to situate ourself on the platform of soul.
The science of yog consist of controlling the mind, eliminating the material thoughts the vritti’s or the perturbations of the mind. The vritti’s are five namely, attachment, desire, greed, envy, ego. When the mind is purified of these vritti’s the perturbations of the mind stops.
Maharshi Patanjali, one of the six sages who wrote Shad Darshan (the six-philosophical theses,) is a highly regarded Sanskrit scholar with multifaceted dimensions. His Yog Sutras(also known as Yog Darshan) that primarily deals with sadhana or spiritual practices is in the form of sutras. These sutras are “simple yet effective aphorisms that have strung the philosophy,” says Swami Mukundananda ji. The Yog Sutras are not only ancient but also very practical. Modern Psychologists too are discovering its utility in guarding or in regaining mental health.
In this preamble to Patanjali Yog Sutras, Swamiji introduces us to one of the primary requisites for spiritual progress, while answering these questions in a lucid manner - Who is Patanjali? What was the purpose of his birth? How did Yog Sutras come about? What are the elements of Yog Sutras?
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