Patanjali Meditation for Holistic Stress-Free Living
Harish Chandra, Ph.D., Religious Medicine, Arya Samaj Greater Houston
Vedic spirituality describes a human being as a composite of body, mind and soul – the soul, a point-like singularity being ultimate seat of consciousness somewhere in our head region. Body and mind are its instruments; the former is a gross domain whereas the latter is subtle one consisting of sub-atomic particles. Brain is treated as a part of the gross body. Current medical science is beginning to recognize the inter-connectivity between body and mind. Stress is said to be the leading cause of 60-90% visits to physicians that essentially resides in mind. However, there is a wide gulf in Vedic and modern understanding of mind – mind is a subtle domain in the former whereas it is a gross brain in the latter. Nevertheless, the present paper pursues the Vedic approach for the reason that it has delivered exceedingly good results for holistic health.
Pataňjali is the first author in the Vedic tradition to write the treatise exclusively devoted to Yoga. He defines Yoga as cessation of all mind functions and prescribes a simplified 8-fold approach for the layperson, called Aṣṭānga Yoga. Its eight steps are:
1. Yama – abstentions, duties towards others
2. Niyama – injunctions, duties to self
3. Āsana – a comfortable sitting posture that will remain unwavering during the time interval of meditation
4. Prāņāyāma – deep regulated breathing as a precursor to being in meditation
5. Pratyāhāra – instructing mind to disconnect from the external world
6. Dhāraņā – concentration or focusing mind on an object, usually within the body frame, corresponds to mindfulness as taught by some meditation teachers
7. Dhyāna – cessation of all mind functions, called meditation, that is, disconnect from all that transpires in body, breathing and mind domains
8. Samādhi – self-realization
Significant amount of literature reports positive health benefits from partial practices of Yoga described in Steps 3, 4 and 6, namely, 3) body postures, 4) deep regulated breathing, and 6) mindfulness. Arya Samaj Greater Houston has recently taken initiative to teach full scale Pataňjali Yoga Meditation consisting of all the 8 steps. It is expected that the consequent benefits among the practitioners of Pataňjali Yoga Meditation will surpass what has been reported hitherto. Some preliminary results of its effects on anxiety and depression will be presented.
Theoretical framework of human mind will be presented as described by Pataňjali and his predecessor Kapila, author of Sāṁkhya that is on the lines of YajurVeda 34.1-6. Mind will be described as a shell enveloping the soul – the shell consisting of three layers of Citta, Ahaṁkāra and Manas, as one moves outward – loosely translated as, mind screen, memory and linkage, respectively. It will be pointed out that according to Pataňjali, meditation (Step 7) can lead to transformation in mind that can have profound consequences in medicine and sociology such as de-stressing, de-addiction, and even de-criminalization. A long term research study will be planned in due course.
Vedic spirituality describes a human being as a composite of body, mind and soul – the soul, a point-like singularity being ultimate seat of consciousness somewhere in our head region. Body and mind are its instruments; the former is a gross domain whereas the latter is subtle one consisting of sub-atomic particles. Brain is treated as a part of the gross body. Current medical science is beginning to recognize the inter-connectivity between body and mind. Stress is said to be the leading cause of 60-90% visits to physicians that essentially resides in mind. However, there is a wide gulf in Vedic and modern understanding of mind – mind is a subtle domain in the former whereas it is a gross brain in the latter. Nevertheless, the present paper pursues the Vedic approach for the reason that it has delivered exceedingly good results for holistic health.
Pataňjali is the first author in the Vedic tradition to write the treatise exclusively devoted to Yoga. He defines Yoga as cessation of all mind functions and prescribes a simplified 8-fold approach for the layperson, called Aṣṭānga Yoga. Its eight steps are:
1. Yama – abstentions, duties towards others
2. Niyama – injunctions, duties to self
3. Āsana – a comfortable sitting posture that will remain unwavering during the time interval of meditation
4. Prāņāyāma – deep regulated breathing as a precursor to being in meditation
5. Pratyāhāra – instructing mind to disconnect from the external world
6. Dhāraņā – concentration or focusing mind on an object, usually within the body frame, corresponds to mindfulness as taught by some meditation teachers
7. Dhyāna – cessation of all mind functions, called meditation, that is, disconnect from all that transpires in body, breathing and mind domains
8. Samādhi – self-realization
Significant amount of literature reports positive health benefits from partial practices of Yoga described in Steps 3, 4 and 6, namely, 3) body postures, 4) deep regulated breathing, and 6) mindfulness. Arya Samaj Greater Houston has recently taken initiative to teach full scale Pataňjali Yoga Meditation consisting of all the 8 steps. It is expected that the consequent benefits among the practitioners of Pataňjali Yoga Meditation will surpass what has been reported hitherto. Some preliminary results of its effects on anxiety and depression will be presented.
Theoretical framework of human mind will be presented as described by Pataňjali and his predecessor Kapila, author of Sāṁkhya that is on the lines of YajurVeda 34.1-6. Mind will be described as a shell enveloping the soul – the shell consisting of three layers of Citta, Ahaṁkāra and Manas, as one moves outward – loosely translated as, mind screen, memory and linkage, respectively. It will be pointed out that according to Pataňjali, meditation (Step 7) can lead to transformation in mind that can have profound consequences in medicine and sociology such as de-stressing, de-addiction, and even de-criminalization. A long term research study will be planned in due course.