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Hinduism
The Seer and the Self
Aphorism 1.3
Tadà Draùñuþ Svaråpe Avasthànam
tadà = then; draùñuþ = the Seer (Self); svaråpe = in His own nature;
avasthànam = abides
 There are times when a curious sense of detachment is felt. This feeling
is almost like being out of your body, of looking at yourself from
outside, of being aware of your actions without actually being involved in
them. It is a curious feeling and is, for most of us, unconscious. We
recognize that it comes, but it is not possible to say what causes it.
This is the manifestation, however brief, of this sutra which Georg
Feuerstein translates as : “Then the Seer abides in Itself”.
The Seer here literally means “The One that Sees” and is a referral to the
Seer of Samkhya philosophy where the atman or spirit is different from the
body, residing in it but not destroyed or affected by its aging or
destruction. In a perfect yogic state, the Seer understands perfectly the
difference between him and the instrument, i.e. the body which he resides
in. The body has a mind and senses by which the Seer interacts with the
outside world, but are temporary. The mind and the senses reflect the
world for the Seer, but it is only when they are still that an accurate
image is formed.
How do we interpret this today? Is it possible to experience and produce
this feeling of clear difference between Seer and Body – an almost
out-of-body experience? Long sessions of physical exercise – yogic asanas
being among them – often produce this sensation – a sensation of supreme
well-being and health, and at the same time that curiously detached
feeling. Any athlete or sportsman will testify to this.
So physical exercise will temporarily at least tire the body, or refresh
it so that every muscle and nerve can be felt anew, and it is
paradoxically then that this realization – of being separate from the body
– is generated. The problem, or the practical limit of this, is that this
feeling of well-being subsides soon after the exercise is over. The
athlete, sportsman, or even yogi, is driven to greater and greater efforts
to duplicate the feeling, and for a time succeeds. The problem is that the
body has its limits, even though these limits are very high for
professional sportsmen.
The point being that it is not possible to acquire and maintain a state of
detachment by physical efforts alone. Both body and mind have to be
trained, at a high state of development, else moment of realization will
be infrequent and unpredictable.
Aphorism 1.4
vçtti sàråpyamitaratra
vçtti = mental activity, mental modifications; sàråpyam = identification;
itaratra = otherwise, elsewhere, at other times
This is translated by Feuerstein as “At other times, there is conformity
of the Self with the fluctuations”.
Which simply means that we tend to identify ourselves with our body, and
our perception of self as generated by society. Just as an example, we
think of aging as when our body grows old and wrinkles, hair turns white
or starts to fall out, eyesight and hearing start to falter, etc. Or we
are influenced by the society in which we live in which assigns to us
labels of ‘smart’, ‘stupid’, ‘beautiful’, ‘ugly’, ‘slow’, ‘clumsy’,
‘graceful’…
To accept and to live by these standards is characterized as “conformity
of the Self with the fluctuations”, and most of us would accept that we do
this at one level or another. It does not seem possible to do away with
this altogether without accepting the life of a complete hermit, who
retires from society.
The challenge is to practice Yoga and still live in society. This would be
reflected in the Hinayana and Mahayana schools of Buddhism,
the first of which preached salvation for the self alone, and the second
which denounced this as fundamentally selfish, and espoused delaying your
self-liberation and working for the people around you, to give back and
pass on some of your good fortune.
–
Ashish Nangia
July 18, 2004
Yoga-Sutra
Yoga – An Introduction
Questions of Self & Consciousness
The Seer and the Self
Another Perception of Reality
The Question of Truth and Yogic Practice
Pramana-Viparyaya-Vikalpa-Nidra-Smrtayah
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