PART 18 – Chapter 1: Verse 30 continued: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Prompted by verse 30, ch.1 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Ryan sets out to both shed light on how one can authentically develop in their spiritual practice, as well as on some common trappings throughout the process. Here is a dot-pointed summary of the key ideas, themes and discussion points:

• Attachment or addiction to how you think life is supposed to be is an obstacle to Self-realization. That which repeats in your life is caused by the fact that on some level you like things going that way, even if it is painful or destructive. Even though Yoga allows you to truly be free of all problems, pains & sufferings, very few people are genuinely committed to it. This is because people are attached or addicted to the entertaining illusion of drama, problems and conflict. They are addicted to it because it makes their ego feel as if it is real.

• Yoga allows you to truly be free of all problems, pains, attachments, addictions & sufferings, allowing you to play the game of life with joy. Here you play differing roles in life because you want to, rather than out of a hypnotic, ego fueling attachment.

• That which you are interested in that gets in the way of your commitment to the required level of practice that maximizes your Self-realization is considered distractions of attention. You must truly commit to the enlightenment path with relentless consistency and honesty. Going overboard with entertainment is fundamentally a disservice to the progression of your spiritual development.

• It is worth noting that one can also go overboard in what they may consider to be spiritual practices too. This is usually because the quality of their commitment is tainted by an empty craving.

• How committed you are to practicing that which supports your awakening determines how quickly you achieve liberation.

• Consistently paying attention to all expressions of creation as if they are floating within you is what brings one closer to realization. You start to realize it is actually your true or natural state. You are always the space within which everything occurs, the totality of experience itself.

• No matter what you are doing, you can still wake up to your true Eternal nature.

• Patterning your life upon the example of realized teachers and sages is particularly useful and effective.

This discussion is by Ryan Kurczak during the ‘Yogic Scriptures and Meditation Group’ at ‘Asheville Yoga Center’. Ryan is Kriya Yoga Teacher in the lineage of Roy Eugene Davis and Paramahansa Yogananda.

For a complete discussion on the Yoga Sutras in the light of Kriya Yoga, please see:

26-Hour Downloadable Yoga Sutras Course

and the book: Kriya Yoga: Continuing the Lineage of Enlightenment.

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