About Kriya Yoga
In previous posts, I wrote about Kriya Yoga more lengthy and shared some quotes about it. Here I add some more comments on this important subject.
Chapter 2 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins with Kriya Yoga:
2.1 tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah
This is translated by B.K.S. Iyengar as:
“Burning zeal in practice, self–study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of yoga”.
What are Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishvara Pranidhana?
Swami Hariharananda Aranya’s commentary is interesting:
- Tapas – Renunciation of sensuous pleasures, i.e., attempt to desist from actions that might bring momentary pleasures and putting up with the resulting hardship.
In: Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali
B.K.S. Iyengar clarifies his understanding of Tapas:
- Tapas is usually translated as austerities, but its meaning is better expressed as a burning desire. It is a burning desire to clean every cell of our body and every cell of our senses, so that the senses and the body may be permanently pure and healthy and leave no room for impurities to enter into our system.
In: The Tree of Yoga, The Trunk
Vyasa’s commentary on Svadhyaya and Ishvara-Pranidhana:
- Svadhyaya – Repetition of a sacred Mantra, e.g., the sacred syllable OM, or study of scriptures relating to Moksha or freedom from bondage.
- Ishvara-Pranidhana – Surrender of all actions to the great Master God, i.e., abandonment of all hankering after the fruits of actions.
- Kriya Yoga is said to “reduce afflictions and to lead to samadhi” – this is another, more positive, definition of yoga.
- Patanjali doesn’t give detailed instructions about how to practice Kriya Yoga. In fact, any practice that includes the three mentioned components is Kriya Yoga.
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Dukkha and the Kleshas
- Dukkha which translates often to ‘suffering’, is a much wider term that includes any kind of unpleasant experience: frustration, disappointment, anger, dissatisfaction, insult, sadness, grief, physical pain, and so on.
- Living in the world is bound with Dukkha, even only because of the existential suffering that stems from knowing that we will get old, become weak, probably be sick, and die.
- Samsara is the infinite cycle of birth and death which is considered by Eastern traditions to be like a prison that man is doomed to be in.
Why do we experience Dukkha? According to Patanjali, it is because of five basic afflictions – Kleshas.
The Five Kleshas (Afflictions) are listed in Sutra II.3:
II.3 avidya asmita raga dvesha abhinivesha klesha
This is translated by B.K.S. Iyengar as:
“The five afflictions which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I’, attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life”.
- Avidya is usually translated as ‘ignorance’; but it refers to spiritual ignorance or delusion; not knowing what we really are; what our real essence (which is according to yoga pure awareness, or Purusha). Delusion because we think we know, while in reality, we don’t.
- Asmita is the narrative of our life; the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and the world; our views, opinions, thought patterns, habits, and so on. We identify with the story about ourselves and don’t see our true Self
- Raga is clinging to pleasant experiences
- Dvesha is an aversion to unpleasant experiences. Both of these are born from Asmita.
- Abhinivesha is the fear of the ego from its extinction; inertia – wanting to continue the status quo (which is impossible).
Iyengar divides the Kleshas into three groups: the first two are intellectual; Raga and Dvesha are emotional and Abhinivesha is instinctive.
Observing the Kleshas
In our practice, we can observe our likes and dislikes (Raga and Dvesha). Sometimes we are attached to suffering more than to pleasures. Moments of humiliation or situations in which we were ridiculed or made to feel small come back to us much more frequently and with more emotional force, than when we were admired or looked up to.
These gravitations and attachments limit our freedom. Yoga calls us to go beyond our likes and dislikes. In fact, according to Patanjali, the effect of asana practice is to be immune to dualities and to clinging and aversions.
The Third Zen Patriarch said in his Verses on the Faith Mind:
The Great Way is not difficult
For those who have no preferences
When love and hate are both absent
Everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
And heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
Here are the first 9 Sutras of Sadhana Pada (from Chapter 2 of the Yoga Sutras):
| Sanskrit text | BKS Iyengar Translation |
| tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah | Burning zeal in practice, self –study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of yoga |
| samadhi bhavana arthah klesha tanu karanarthah cha | The practice of yoga reduces afflictions and leads to samadhi |
| avidya asmita raga dvesha abhinivesha klesha | The five afflictions which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I’, attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life |
| avidya kshetram uttaresham prasupta tanu vicchinna udaranam | Lack of true knowledge is the source of all pains and sorrows whether dormant, attenuated, interrupted or fully active |
| antiya ashuchi duhkha anatmasu nitya shuchi sukha atman khyatih avidya | Mistaking the transient for the permanent, the impure for the pure, pain for pleasure, and that which is not self for the self: all this is called lack of spiritual knowledge, avidya |
| drig darshana shaktyoh ekatmata iva asmita | Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrumental power of seeing |
| sukha anushayi ragah | Pleasure leads to desire and emotional attachment |
| dukha anushayi dvesha | Unhappiness leads to hatred |
| sva-rasa-vahi vidushah api tatha rudhah abhiniveshah | Self-preservation or attachment to life is the subtlest of all afflictions. It is found even in wise men |
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