Mark Whitwell | Heart of Yoga

New York City NY

06 January, 2021

4:17 AM

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What does Yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ actually mean? | Mark Whitwell on Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.2Yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ is the most famous sutra in Patanjali Yoga Sutra because it communicates the entire definition of Yoga in the most concise way. The father of modern Yoga Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989) defined Sutra 1.2 as follows: Yoga is to direct consciousness via the mind in a direction of choice with continuity. ∙ Yogaś = Yoga ∙ Cit = consciousness ∙ Citta = mind ∙ Vṛtti = direction ∙ Nirodhaḥ = absorption in a chosen object Typically, this sutra is understood to mean that Yoga was to reduce the mind’s modifications: to restrain or stop the ‘whirlings’ of the mind. Krishnamacharya’s definition differs from the dominant understanding in an important way. Krishnamacharya would say that the reduction of the mind’s fluctuations is not itself what Yoga is. Rather, the mind’s fluctuations reduce as a result of Yoga; as a by-product of the primary process of directing consciousness towards a single point. Mark Whitwell | Heart of YogaTKV Desikachar fleshes out this nuanced understanding nicely: In this process [of speaking to you] my mind has only one interest. It is almost as if my mind is completely enveloped by it. Nothing else bothers me and all my understandings with regard to this concept of nirodha come before me and I am full of it. It follows, therefore, at this moment that nothing other than this subject is before me. This is what the word nirodha means. Rudh represents the envelopment of a particular interest, ni represents the intensity of that envelopment. This is a moment the mind functions with no division of activity. The whole mind functions in one area and nothing else can interfere. The word nirodha also means “restraint.” It is not by restraining the mind that it will move and become involved in a particular direction of choice. It is the other way round; that is, so strongly and intensely the mind has moved toward one area and has become absorbed in one area that there is no “infiltration.” Therefore, nirodha, meaning “restraint,” is just an effect of nirodha meaning “complete absorption.” “Citta vritti nirodha” is how yoga is defined in the Yoga Sutra. It means that the mind has one and only one activity in all its totality and that the other activities which would distract the mind are absent. —TKV Desikachar, Religiousness in Yoga In other words, when we know what we want and when we go in that direction with continuity then the mind calms down. Yoga then is not a restrictive practice of controlling the mind but a positive practice of direction and embrace. Read the full article here: Mark Whitwell About: Mark Whitwell was born in 1949 in Auckland, Aotearoa/ New Zealand. In 1973, he traveled to India and began a life-long study of yoga with Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) and his son, T.K.V. Desikachar (1938–2016). Mark Whitwell’s simple mission is to give people the principles of practice that came through Tirumalai Krishnamacharya to make their Yoga authentic, powerful, and effective. Mark Whitwell is the founder of the Heart of Yoga foundation and the Heart of Yoga Peace Project, an organization dedicated to developing yoga communities in conflict zones around the world. Mark Whitwell lives between New Zealand and Fiji.