Lesson 149 - The eight limbs of yoga, and samyama – Melting the darkness

From: Yogani
Date: Thu Mar 25, 2004 5:34pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web
archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first
lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"


It is time to move on to samyama, which involves moving outward with
our attention in pure bliss consciousness, resulting in the
cultivation of so-called yogic powers as a side effect. Before we
discuss samyama, let's talk about the eight limbs of Patanjali's Yoga
Sutras, which we have not done yet. Samyama is a combined application
of the last three of these eight limbs, and ties in with the other
five limbs as well, so this is a good time to cover them. All of yoga
is connected, you know. It all connects through the human nervous
system. In fact, all of yoga is a product of the human nervous
system. Not the other way around, as we sometimes tend to think.

It took a while for people to believe that the world is round instead
of flat, and that the sun is the center of the solar system instead
of the earth. It took some proof. Then almost everyone believed, and
the rush was on to find all the benefits in the new knowledge, the
new paradigm.

Now it is time for us to come to grips with the fact that the human
nervous system is the center of all spiritual experience and all
divine bliss. That is your nervous system, the one you are sitting in
right now. The sooner we get used to the idea that each of us is a
direct gateway to the divine, the better it will be for everyone. As
with the acceptance of any knowledge, it takes some proof. In this
case, the proof is in you. Open a few doors here and there by doing
some effective yoga practices and you will see what you are. Then the
rush will be on to open it all up. A new paradigm is born!

Nothing is new, you know. Our ancient ancestors knew of these things.
Much of it was written down. But communications were poor, and people
lived so much in superstition. It is different now. We can find any
information we want. There are so many doors of knowledge opening to
everyone. The old wisdom is becoming new again. The human nervous
system hasn't changed over all this time. It has been waiting
patiently, like a treasure chest longing to be opened. It is time.

Patanjali's book of yoga sutras is one of the greatest scriptures of
all time. Not only does it tell us what we are, but also it tells us
how the doors of the nervous system can be opened. It lays out the
relationships between the natural principles of opening that exist in
us. This is done with the famous eight limbs of yoga.

We have been traveling through the eight limbs ever since we started
the lessons of AdvancedYogaPractices. We have not gone in order, and
some would call this non-conventional. We have gone in a way that is
effective and makes sense, so there will be no apologies. We'll talk
about that some more, but first let's review the eight limbs:

1. Yama – It means "restraint," and includes ahimsa (non-violence),
satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya
(preservation of sexual energy and cultivation of it), and aparigraha
(non-covetousness).

2. Niyama – It means "observance," and includes saucha (purity and
cleanliness), samtosa (contentment), tapas (heat/focus/austerity),
svadhyaya (study of scriptures and self), and isvara pranidhana
(surrender to the divine).

3. Asana – It means "posture," and includes all those asanas we have
come to know and love. In the lessons, asanas are used as a
preparation for pranayama and meditation. Certain asanas stimulate
the rise of kundalini.

4. Pranayama – It means "restraint of life force/breath," and
includes the pranayama methods we have discussed, plus some we are
yet to discuss. Pranayama cultivates the soil of the nervous system,
preparing it for deep meditation and divine experience. Particular
kinds of pranayama raise kundalini.

5. Pratyahara – It means "introversion of senses." In the lessons,
pratyahara is both effect and cause, occurring as kundalini rises and
ecstatic experiences draw our attention naturally inward. Then,
through pratyahara, we come to know our sensory experience as a
continuum spanning the full range of manifestation from the first
inner vibrations of pure bliss consciousness (OM) all the way out
into the physical world.

6. Dharana – It means "concentration or focus of attention," and is
the first step in taking the mind inward through meditation. In the
lessons, we don't hold the attention on anything for long. We just
bring attention easily to an object (the mantra), and then let it go
how it will. This brings attention almost immediately beyond the
beginning perception for the object, which is what we want. The mind
will take us inward if we give it the opportunity.

7. Dhyana – It means "meditation," and is the flow of attention
inward. It can also be described as the expansion of attention beyond
any object. In the lessons, the mantra is used as the vehicle for
this. We come easily to the mantra, and then the mantra changes and
disappears. Our attention expands, arriving in its natural unattached
state - stillness.

8. Samadhi – It means "absorption/transcendence," and it is what we
experience in daily meditation. It expands over time, eventually
becoming our natural state of being in daily activity. It is pure
bliss consciousness, the inner silent witness. Samadhi in its various
stages of unfoldment is the experience of our immortal universal
Self. That is what we are.

You may have noticed that after yama and niyama, which were presented
pretty much with the classical definitions (except for brahmacharya),
all the rest of the limbs were given a twist according to the way
these lessons have been presenting the knowledge of advanced yoga
practices. This is a normal thing. In fact, every yoga teaching has
its own way of presenting the eight limbs of yoga.

The eight limbs of yoga are so logical and easy to understand that
virtually every teacher of yoga claims to be teaching them, which is
true to one degree or another, because the eight limbs cover
everything one can do in yoga. In this sense, they represent a
complete road map, a blueprint and spiritual checklist of the various
ways to open the human nervous system to divine experience.

Taken together as an overall system, the eight limbs have been
referred to as "ashtanga yoga" and "raja (royal) yoga." But what is in a
name? AdvancedYogaPractices are the eight limbs too. So is any
approach to human spiritual transformation, in part or whole,
including what we find in all the world's mainstream religions. If it
has to do with human spiritual transformation, it is going to be
found somewhere in the eight limbs. That is the beauty of the eight
limbs. When you look at any spiritual teaching or religious tradition
using the eight limbs as a measuring rod, you will see right away
what is there, and what is not. The more enlightened traditions will
have more of the limbs covered, and the less enlightened ones will
have fewer limbs covered.

Traditionally, the eight limbs have been taken in sequence. The
rationale has been that people have to learn to behave themselves and
prepare through strict codes of conduct before they can begin doing
more direct spiritual practices. Once they know how to behave
rightly, they can begin with the body (asanas), and, later, work
their way in through the breath (pranayama), and, finally, be ready
for concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and pure bliss
consciousness (samadhi). With a traditional approach like this it can
be a long road to hoe, especially if a guru (in the flesh) holds his
disciples to the highest standards of performance each step along the
way. Even Patanjali had this sequence of practice in mind when he
wrote the yoga sutras.

That part of it (going through the eight limbs in sequence over a
long period of time) doesn't work very well. This has become widely
recognized in the yoga community, and Patanjali must have known it
too. Maybe in his time it wasn't so easy to be jump-starting people
with advanced yoga practices like deep meditation and spinal
breathing the way we can do it today.

Over the years different teachers have jumped directly into the eight
limbs in different places. Some start with asanas and others with
pranayama. Some focus first on devotion and then jump to meditation,
or something else. Some jump straight into meditation, and then work
their way back through the limbs. As you know, these lessons are of
the latter approach. We start with deep meditation, and then head
into pranayama, physical techniques, and so on, keeping a good
awareness of the role of bhakti/desire all the way through.

One thing everyone who does yoga has found is that the limbs of yoga
are connected, meaning, if we start in one limb, the others will be
affected, and, as we purify and open, we will eventually be drawn
into all of the limbs. It is common for new meditators to become
voracious spiritual readers (svadhyaya), lean toward a purer diet
(saucha), and feel more sensitive about the wellbeing of others
(ahimsa). In fact the best way to achieve progress in yama and niyama
is by going straight to samadhi with deep meditation. Then harmonious
behavior comes naturally from inside, rather than having to be
enforced from outside. These things are indicators of the
connectedness of yoga. It occurs on all levels of practice. Sometimes
it is called "Grace," because spiritual blessings seem to come out of
nowhere. In truth, such blessing are being telegraphed through us via
spiritual conductivity rising in our nervous system from something we
did somewhere on the eight-limbed tree of yoga. Even the sincere
thought, "Is there something more than this?" is a powerful yoga
practice, and it is found in the niyama limb – it is surrender,
bhakti. As you know from the lessons, this conductivity in the
nervous system becomes "ecstatic" when kundalini begins to move. When
that happens we are really getting connected through the limbs of
yoga - here, there, and everywhere.

If we engage in effective practices in a coordinated way in multiple
limbs from early on, then our nervous system will be purifying and
opening most rapidly. This is an important principle that is
recognized in the core strategy of these lessons – using an
integrated system of practices, having the option of working through
as many limbs as possible.

Samyama is a jumping off point from the eight limbs. It is something
different from any one limb that can be used to purify and open the
nervous system. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras it gets a whole chapter
called, "supernormal powers."

Samyama is defined as the combination of the last three limbs of yoga
used with an object. So, using focused attention (dharana),
meditation (dhyana), and deep inner silence (samadhi) with an object,
or objects, in a particular way we are able to develop supernormal
powers, also called siddhis. Patanjali tells us that samyama is a
more intimate practice and that it leads to "the light of knowledge."
He also tells us to avoid getting distracted by the experiences that
come up when doing samyama. We have been dealing with this in the
lessons already. We see lights or have some ecstatic experiences, and
we have to remind ourselves to easily go back to the practice we are
doing. This is because experiences do not advance our spiritual
progress. Only practices do. The same goes for siddhis when they
manifest themselves. As was mentioned way back in lesson #76, we do
samyama to expand pure bliss consciousness and ecstasy in the nervous
system, and beyond.

If we come to samyama expecting to get some powers for our personal
use, we will not get much. This is the beauty of samyama. Morally,
it is a self-regulating practice. It depends on the presence of inner
silence. No inner silence, no pure bliss consciousness - no samyama.
It is not possible to do this practice without at least some inner
silence in the nervous system. If we have some samadhi, then
automatically we will also have some yama and niyama. The more
samadhi we have, the more the yama and niyama, and also the more
success there will be in samyama. If there is a lot of samadhi (first
stage of enlightenment), there will be a lot of yama and niyama, and
a lot of progress in samyama. The limbs of yoga are always hanging
together like that.

Samyama is working on the deepest level of consciousness within us,
and coaxing it into full manifestation by giving it a series of
channels to move through in our nervous system. With samyama we are
moving inner silence. We are moving the immovable, moving the rock of
pure consciousness. Actually, we are expanding the rock. We are
expanding it out through our nervous system. With most practices we
are working from the outside inward. With samyama, we are going the
other way. We are working from the inside outward. With most
practices we begin with our limited ego-self and go in. With samyama,
we begin with our universal divine-Self and come out. That is the
difference between samyama and the other practices.

As consciousness moves outward with samyama, we experience more
opening, and all of our practices move to a higher level. This is the
advantage of integration of practices. Everything we do in yoga helps
everything else we are doing in yoga. In this way yoga practices
become like a spiral of ecstatic bliss going higher and higher.

So, as we continue to do the practices we have learned so far, we
will also have the option to add samyama practice, which is opening
our nervous system in yet another way. The prerequisites for doing
samyama are not so many. It is a mental procedure, so there are no
physical prerequisites. Unless, of course, you start flying willy-
nilly through the air, and then the appropriate physical precautions
should be taken. :-)

Anyone who is meditating for a few months and is experiencing some
inner silence can do samyama, with effects in proportion to the
amount of inner silence established in the nervous system. Samyama
expands and stabilizes our inner silence, so it is an excellent
complement to meditation. In the next lesson, we will cover the
particulars of samyama practice.

With the eight limbs of yoga, and samyama, we will be melting the
darkness everywhere. Let's do it.

The guru is in you.

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