Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

Author(s): Prabhavnanda Swami, Christopher Isherwood
Publisher: Ramkrishna Math Madras

Page 15

YOGA AND ITS AIMS
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anger, desire and delusion we must oppose thoughts of love, generosity and truth. Only much later, when the "painful” thought-waves have been completely stilled, can we proceed to the second stage of discipline; the stilling of the “not painful" waves which we have deliberately created.
The idea that we should ultimately have to overcome even those thought-waves which are “good," "pure” and “truthful” may at first seem shocking to a student who has been trained in the Western approach to morality. But a little reflection will show him that this must be so. The external world, even in its most beautiful appearances and noblest manifestations, is still superficial and transient. It is not the basic Reality. We must look through it, not at it, in order to see the Atman. Certainly, it is better to love than to hate, better to share than to hoard, better to tell the truth than to lie. But the thought-waves which motivate the practice of these virtues are nevertheless disturbances in the mind. We all know instances of admirable, earnest men who become so deeply involved in the cares of a great reform movement or social relief project that they cannot think of anything beyond the practical problems of their daily work. Their minds are not calm. They are full of anxiety and restlessness. The mind of the truly illumined man is calm-not because he is selfishly indifferent to the needs of others, but because he knows the peace of the Atman within all things, even within the appearance of misery, disease, strife and want.
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STATOT-fauce-fach -fast-FGUT: 11€ 11 These five kinds of thought-waves are: right knowledge, wrong knowledge, verbal delusion, sleep and memory. प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥७॥ The right kinds of knowledge are: direct perception, inference and scriptural testimony.
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