Day 7

Patanjali describes several ways for evaluating Pramāṇa, right knowledge. The first of these is pratyakṣa, direct knowledge, understood as our own contact with something through one or more of our senses (seeing, smelling, touching, hearing, and tasting). When you experience something, then you have no doubt about it.  In Sāṃkhya, sense perception is considered the highest form of right knowledge, and all other forms of knowledge depend upon it. Another way to think of this is to consider direct knowledge as the most refined way to evaluate our own experience. The next form of evaluation is anumāna, inference or indirect knowledge. If you see smoke then you assume there is a fire. This type of evaluation requires us to use logic, we have to rely on our citta, the heart-mind field of consciousness, to interpret what we are experiencing. When citta is involved sometimes our knowledge is skewed. citta includes our individual constructs that are influenced by where we live, what time in history we live, our social class and race, our parents and our communities. The final form of evolution described by Patanjali is āgama, verbal testimony. Testimony is often referred to as sacred text because they are assumed to be the words of sages and saints. I think that we can include science and other sources of knowledge in this category as long as they are the testimony of reliable sources. 

When we are young we must rely on the testimony of our parent and our teachers. As we grow we start to use our own logic to make inferences about our experience. At some point, we develop enough confidence to start relying on our own wisdom. 

What is true? Is the truth always the same, is there a Divine truth. Some think that the truth is always the same. That the vehicle, the means of delivery, is the only thing that changes. That religions, lineages, rituals, and language change like a person changes clothes, but that like the person remains the same so does the truth. Does this reduce religion and spirituality in a disrespectful way or can there be only one Divine Truth?

To Patanjali Yoga is the nirodha, cessation, of the vṛttis, activity in the mind, so eventually, we have to let go of all knowledge to experience Yoga. If we try to restrain the mind before it is ready it becomes even more elusive and hard to tame. However, as we start to sort through our thoughts, discriminating between the ones that are kliṣṭa, harmful and akliṣṭa, hurtful, we have the opportunity to let go of a few a time. Slowly reducing the amount of activity that our manas, mind, is comfortable with.

Whether knowledge is valid or not ultimately we have to find our own peace. Our Yoga practice requires that we evaluate our thoughts, we determine if they harmful or helpful and then expects us to weed out the harmful ones through steady diligent practice. If what you are thinking or believing doesn’t make you feel good, maybe you should discard that thought for one that makes you feel better. This doesn’t mean that we bypass our thoughts in a delusional way, but that we become intimately familiar with them. The process of forming a relationship with your thoughts makes you more pliable. Just like when making your body more flexible, it is not always comfortable, but it still makes you feel better, in the end, so does this inner work make the mind uncomfortable but happier in the end.