[1.3] tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam
“When that is accomplished, the seer abides in its own true nature.” 1
tadā = then, at that point;
draṣṭuḥ = of the seer, of the soul;
svarūpe = in it sown real essential nature;
avasthānam = abiding, being absorbed in.
The goal of yoga is the state of nirodhah; where activities, flucations and changing forms of the mind-field are restrained or ceased (previous Sutra 1.2). In this Sutra 1.3, Sage Patanjali explains why the state of nirodhah is necessary. Just like how we can see a through a glass of muddy water only when the mud has settled, we can only become the witness (in this case, the seer) of our own nature when there is a cessation of the vritti (vritti is the activities, modifications of the mind-field).
In deep meditation, even as we come to see the thought patterns that are ever changing, ever fluctuating, the awareness itself remains unchanged. When we become the witness of our own true nature, we take a step back from the thoughts and become dis-entangled from the physical world. In the Sankhya philosophy on which the Yoga Philosophy is based, there are two elements which are the basis for the existence of the universe; all matter, inanimate and animate life forms. There is purusha, an autonomous entity that is pure consciousness and awareness; and there is prakriti, an unmanifested primordial matter. These two elements and their conjoining is the reason that the whole of universe exists.
In all of us, prakriti manifests as our mind and body with all the five senses. Yet beyond the mind and body, most of us do not think or are aware that there is a witness or ever constant consciousness that remains unaffected by the fluctuations of the mind and the changes in the body. In the case of a mistaken identity, our identity gets entangled with our mind and body, and with the material world.
Hence, to truly discover and and realise our own true nature - purusha - the yogic path is to dsciriminate between purusha and the false identities of prakriti. To see that we are beyond our body and mind, that our true nature cannot be tainted nor affected by the impermance of prakriti. The Yoga Sutras then set out a systematic method for spiritual seekers of different levels to follow in order to reach deep meditation, where we can realise our true nature.
It is interesting to note here that here Yoga Philosophy does not teach what we need to become. On the contrary, our true nature purusha has always been here, coloured by the modifications of the mind.
How can we apply this to our everyday life?
To know that our true nature is beyond this body gives us a certain detachment to our changing body, with its ailments and limitations, especially in old age. To extricate ourselves from our mind and thoughts is a little more tricky, and that is where meditation and deep silence can be extremely helpful. When we are aware of the distinction between our consciousness and our thoughts, we stop attributing the states of the mind to the self. A sense of liberation, albeit even for a short while, give us the perspective that we do not belong to our thoughts, and with that, a space emerges and separates our self from the mind and its spectacle.
“..Due to the mind’s ignorance and illusion, the soul appears abosrbed in the lights and sounds and emotions of the external objective world and forgetful of its own real nature as pure consciousness, even though it is merely the witness of all these, which are actually taking place in the mind’s vrittis. Yoga is about stilling the vrittis, stopping the film midway so that the mind can realize that the emotions, feaers, happiness, pains, births and deaths, etc., it has been experiencing do not exist in the soul but are the inert flickering and permutations of the material spectacle.” - Edwin F. Bryant, “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”
1 Translated from "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" by Edwin F. Bryant.
