Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Yogi Kalinath - Chapter 1, Verse 13

Pada 1, Sutra 13

Sanskrit Verse

Tatra sthitau yatno ‘bhyasah

Translation

Practice is the effort for being firmly established in that state (of the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff).

Interpretation

Everything in life takes practice and experiencing and becoming established in the state of Yoga or the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff is no different.

Yoga is both an art and a science. It is an art in the sense that it requires skillful application (Yogah karmasu kaushalam -’Yoga is skill in action’ Chapter 2, Verse 50 Bhagavad Gita) and hence the need for a Spiritual Mentor known as Guru (‘one who is heavy with knowledge’ and ‘one who brings the light of understanding’); and it is a science, a living experimental and experiential science where awakened individuals share and transmit their realization through teachings and techniques in order for others to discover Truth within themselves through applying the teachings and practicing the techniques. Both the soma and the psyche are the Yogi’s laboratory where the alchemy of self-transformation occur.

To become firmly established in Yoga, one requires constant patience and constant perseverance. Patience with oneself can be attained through understanding human nature (and how frail it is!) and having compassion for one’s self (as there can be no compassion without understanding leading to genuine humility). One must persevere in the face of adversity, in spite of the vagrancy of the mind and the ego’s constant demands for attention towards either self-aggrandizement or self-belittling. This is the true meaning of the Greater Jihad in Islam: to conquer the ‘devilishness’ of one’s own mind.