1.12 - 1.14 Self Care

1.12 अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः

Abhyasa Vairagyabhyam Tat Nirodhah
Stillness develops through practice (abhyasa) and non-identification (vairagya).

1.13 तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽभ्यासः

Tatra Sthitau Yatnah Abhyasa

Abhyasa is the effort of staying present.

1.14 स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः

Sah Tu Dirgha Kala Nairantaira Satkara Asevitah Dridha Bhumih 

Continuous care and attention for a long time establishes this practice.

Sutras 1.12 - 1.14 address the discipline required to cultivate stillness in the mind. According to this series of sutras, we must apply effort to remain in the present, using care and attention to establish the practice.

I feel some resistance to the word "effort" in this context. The last thing I want to accomplish with this blog is to add more items to people's to-do list. But what if we turn things around a little? What if our effort was directed at throwing out the to-do list, or at least putting it aside for a moment? What would it look like to redirect the full force of your care and attention inward?

On the surface, this practice can seem a little self-centered, especially if you are someone who considers everyone else's needs before your own. But you just might find that taking the time to focus on your own practice will improve your ability to show up in other areas of your life.

Regardless, you do not have to justify your practice to yourself or anyone else. You deserve to bring care and attention to yourself. After all, you are the only person who will be there for you every step of the way, from the moment you take your first breath to the moment you take your last.

So let's keep up the effort to gift ourselves care and attention, by bringing our mind into the present moment, cultivating stillness and letting go of any judgements that are clouding our mind.

According to yogic philosophy, we are all divine beings having a human experience. Relish the experience and the learning opportunity that it represents,  but don't get too caught up in the day-to-day minutiae of your life.

Ask yourself this: Would you live your life any differently if you accepted your own divinity?

1.5 - 1.11 True Knowledge

1.5 वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टा अक्लिष्टाः

Vrittayah Pancatayah Klishta Aklishta

There are five types of virtues, which may be pleasant or unpleasant.

1.6 प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः

Pramana Viparyaya Vikalpa Nidra Smritayah

These are true knowledge, false knowledge, imagination, sleep, and memory.

1.7 प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि

Pratyaksha Anumana Agamah Pramanani

True knowledge is based upon perception, inference, and valid testimony.

1.8 विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम्

Viparyayah Mithya Jnanam Atad Rupa Pratistham

False knowledge is conception with no basis in reality.

1.9 शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः

Shabda Jnana Anupati Vastu Shunyah Vikalpah

Imagination is thought based on images conjured up by words devoid of substance.

1.10 अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा

Abhava Pratyaya Alambana Vritti Nidra

Sleep depends upon and leads to non-being.

1.11 अनुभूतविषयासम्प्रमोषः स्मृतिः

Anubhuta Vishaya Asampramoshah Smritih

Memory is recollecting past experience.

Sutras 1.5 to 1.11 elaborate on the distinction between true knowledge and false knowledge. True knowledge is that which can be proven or logically inferred. False knowledge is knowledge which has been gleened with no basis in reality, through memory or imagination.

Becoming aware of the distinction between true knowledge and false knowledge is one if the major tools of cognitive behavioural therapy. It requires us to awaken to what is going on in our minds as we go about our daily lives.

It can be hard to catch ourselves going down the path of false knowledge, because the process is usually subconscious.

If this is the case, it can be helpful to sit down after an event has occurred and take time to analyze the situation, creating one column for true knowledge and one for false knowledge.  Be very honest with yourself when choosing what to put in each category. Let's say you feel very strongly that everyone at the party was judging you on your appearance. But do you know this for a fact? Or are you making a conclusion based on the insecurity you were feeling?

It also helps to ask yourself lots of questions. For example, you could ask yourself, "Is it a realistic inference to make that everyone at the party was thinking about me and the clothes I was wearing?" "Is it possible that they were just as caught up in their own minds, judging themselves, as me?"

The aim here is not to find answers to your questions, but to find different ways to look at a situation. Ultimately, we want to come out of our thinking mind altogether and just observe what is. However, the first step is simply to realize that the way we view the world is, just that - a point of view. 

By entertaining the possibility that there are different ways to read a situation, we come to realize that our reading of a situation can't possibly be true knowledge. If it was true knowledge, then there could be only one possible reading of the situation. 

After a while, you will become so aware of the workings of your mind that you will be able to nip the creation of false knowledge in the bud. As with all the exercises I suggest in this journey through the sutras, please don't beat yourself up if you catch yourself attaching to false knowledge. Instead, become really curious about the workings of your mind and use the experience as a learning opportunity. 

Knowledge truly is power!