Dharma Studies

Sutra is a Sanskrit word meaning “string” or “thread” and refers to an aphoristic style of writing found in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist texts of the Ancient and Medieval period. Literacy at this time was virtually nonexistent and printing technology barely inchoate. These ancient practitioners thus took great pains to string each Sanskrit character onto proto-paper made from the leaves of the tala tree. These leaves were then strung together with a thread.

The field of the mind is endlessly fascinating to those interested in mastery and transcendence. So much affects us – from the external forces of the universe to the internal forces of our thoughts. The practitioner whose goal is to gain control over the mind must contend with both facets.

There are Five Samskaras of a Yogi: five ways to engage the practice based on our past karmas and mental impressions. Each of these brings with it a particular desired outcome, which informs the appropriate practice. For example, am I yoking or unyoking? Am I finding God as an aspect of myself, or am I in relationship to God as separate from myself? Is this my duty or my desire? As a result, each type of yogi will endorse or focus on particular aspects of the primary philosophical texts du jour, the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Delving into the ancient yogic texts requires having a strong sense of imagination and a splash—if not more—of suspended disbelief.  More than mere philosophy, these texts introduce the reader to a symbolic work in which hangs the delicate veil that separates reality from myth. In fact, many ancient yogic texts and their study depend on the very question of the existence of reality.

The word “enlightenment” is a translation of the German aufklärung, literally “up-clearing.”  For scholars, these words (both German and English) are effectively synonymous with the 18th Century, the “Age of Reason.” The metaphor of clarification or aufklärung was used by intellectuals of that time to describe their own project, of clearing away superstition to make room for scientific liberal democracy.

When we do yoga, we move our bodies around, so are working with gesture, tone, and posture, to embed in the bones the understanding that we are one with the underlying principle of Universal Being – Consciousness, (Sat-Chit-Ananda), which yogic sages sometimes call the deathless Self.

Avidya—ignorance—is a deep habit of consciousness, but its one we can shift with intention, practice, and a lot of help from the universe.

Out of Śiva’s Self-awareness and His joy in that experience, manifestation is created—including us as individuals. The power that Śiva uses to do so, kuṇḍalinī śakti, is the descent of the highest pure Consciousness into form. The practice of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana is our pathway back to that primordial experience of non-separation. In Tantric practice and tradition, the liberation of kuṇḍalinī is the pathway not only to knowing God but to recognizing that we are God. There are three phases of that realization. The progression of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana entails the arousal, awakening, and liberating of kuṇḍalinī śakti from our limited capacity and identity in order to realize our highest Self.