Posts archive: Krishnamacharya and Desikachar Dhāraṇā & Dhyānam Practice Posts

Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Three Theory

Posted on by Paul Harvey

TKV Desikachar teaching at Gaunts House

‘Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice’ by the University Press of America,
a transcript of recordings of a one month Yoga Programme in Colgate University in 1976, published in 1980.

Unlike the later redacted edition, re-published in 1995 as the ‘Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice’, it captures the evolution of the retreat with the days lectures and Q & A dialogues as they alternated between ‘lectures on the principles and purposes of Yoga and discussions related to the practice of Yoga with special reference to the postures and the breathing techniques’.

TKV Desikachar, in his forward to the original version wrote:

“These lectures and discussions, printed words put before persons I might never meet,
are but reflections of that deeper result that grew out of a living face-to-face encounter.
Coming to learn of Yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired.
Yet, something worthwhile about Yoga might be shared through the medium of the printed word.”

A chapter by chapter Study guide is offered below with added Yoga Sūtra verse and word cross-references to support a a deeper linking with the teachings within these lectures and Q & A sessions.

Chapter Three Theory: The Concepts of Avidyā and Duḥkha – Pages 31-44

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The greater the Śraddhā, the more meaning there is in the techniques such……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

sraddha

“The greater the Śraddhā, the more meaning there is in the techniques such as Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Dhyānam, Bhāvana and all the others. Without Śraddhā, these techniques have little effect on the state of the mind and the progress to Citta Vṛtti Nirodha.

However, sometimes some minor benefits that we get through Āsana or Prāṇāyāma practice, open up the Śraddhā within us. Śraddhā is within each of us but is covered. It could be any experience that uncovers it.”

– TKV Desikachar on Śraddhā in the Yoga Sūtra

Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter One Theory

Posted on by Paul Harvey

TKV Desikachar teaching at Gaunts House
‘Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice’ by the University Press of America,
a transcript of recordings of a one month Yoga Programme in Colgate University in 1976, published in 1980.

Unlike the later redacted edition, re-published in 1995 as the ‘Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice’, it captures the evolution of the retreat with the days lectures and Q & A dialogues as they alternated between ‘lectures on the principles and purposes of Yoga and discussions related to the practice of Yoga with special reference to the postures and the breathing techniques’.

TKV Desikachar, in his forward to the original version wrote:

“These lectures and discussions, printed words
put before persons I might never meet,
are but reflections of that deeper result that
grew out of a living face-to-face encounter.
Coming to learn of Yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired.
Yet, something worthwhile about Yoga might be shared
through the medium of the printed word.”

A chapter by chapter Study guide is offered below with added Yoga Sūtra verse and word cross-references to support a a deeper linking with the teachings within these lectures and Q & A sessions.

read more

We make sure of that in our School that there is a strong internship……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

desikachar_ph

Question from Paul Harvey

So we as students come to Yoga. How do teachers evaluate, if from what you are saying it could be that the same symptom. If we take stress for example, similar stress could produce five different responses. One person gets blood pressure, one person will get digestive problems, another person will have headaches, and another person will get sleep problems and another person it will effect their relationship.

How do you evaluate? What are the principles on which we can evaluate in order to decide what could be helpful for a problem when there are so many variables based on the same, even on the same symptoms such as in particular stress which can produce some of the results.

Response from TKV Desikachar

First I must have the training, anybody can have good training. I can work on the computer but I must have training. I know nothing I must have training. Training includes certain knowledge of the basics of Yoga, knowledge of the human system, personal pride so that you have some conviction of what you are talking about which means personal experience, internship where we see how the more experienced teacher is doing that work she is doing. We make sure of that in our School that there is a strong internship.

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That is why in Yoga the word for earning confidence is ‘Atha’……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

atha

Question from Paul Harvey

Would you say that this response is true for the West, because I know in India the role of relationship, especially with the teacher, is much more pronounced, much more prominent, much more an accepted part of society, whereas in the West we tend to live in a more remote way and therefore using books, using videos is much more acceptable for us in terms of relationships.

Do you feel that your words, which have come out of another culture in our society, can have the same impact for us in the West where we are much more used to going to the bookshop, much more used to being able to do it ourselves.

Also, it is almost for us in the West to be seen as a failure if I have to go to somebody. Sometimes when people go into therapy they regard it as a failure that they have to go to a therapist and talk to someone because I am not able to do it myself.

Response from TKV Desikachar

You know Paul I am not just of India, I am also of South India and there people like you come to see me in India. Once there is some confidence I do not see much difference between East and West, it is a question earning the confidence.

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A positive approach has a positive effect on the immune system……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

desikachar_ph

Question to TKV Desikachar:
So we can consider then that the effect of Yoga is not seen to be directly on the symptom as in modern medicine, it appears from what you are saying it is more to do with the relationship with that problem.

At what level is the human system changing? Because there must be some change in order for that change to reach to the level of the symptom or to my relationship with the symptom. At what level of the human system do you think these changes are occurring at?

Response from TKV Desikachar:
I have asked this question to experts because one of my jobs is also to write about these things. I have asked people how does it happen. Positive attitudes they say produce positive things in your immune system. There are a lot of technical terms for that. Negative attitudes produces negative immune system. Attitudes influence how the immune system functions.

Somebody who is asthmatic who is so miserable who thinks she cannot do anything, when she starts she can do something, she is not so unfit, she can raise the arms, she can breath a little more than she thinks she can. When she gets confidence in herself she becomes more positive about herself, even the medicine she takes has a more positive effect as we have seen sometimes when people do Yoga with this affection, with this love, the need for medicine is reduced.

So I think from the scientific point of view a positive approach has a positive effect on the immune system and the rest is a question of time.

– Extract from Interview with TKV Desikachar by Paul Harvey in 2000
on ‘Science, Medical Conditions and Yoga as a Therapy’.

We do not have a specific solution for a specific problem……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

Question by Paul Harvey

“And yet in many places around the world there are attempts being made to link Yoga to specific diseases, can you talk more about this and what is happening in your own Institute in this area.”

Response from TKV Desikachar

“Even if you take a particular illness, which is known as an illness according to medical parlance like asthma or blood pressure, what we offer to these people is not the same thing. We do not have a specific solution for a specific problem.

For example, somebody may have blood pressure because of some family history, somebody else may have blood pressure because of some stress, somebody may have blood pressure because of anxiety, somebody may have blood pressure because of that period in their life, somebody may have blood pressure, high blood pressure suddenly because of a broken relationship.

We need to take into account all these factors to exactly form a programme of Yoga. It could be relaxation for somebody, it could be some breathing exercises for somebody, it could be some Āsana for somebody, it could be some meditation for somebody, and for somebody it could be just talking to the person, just to establish a friendly relationship and console them.

The condition is the same and these are all Yoga. As far as the doctor is concerned it is blood pressure. For somebody else maybe none of these things work but maybe we have to talk to them about their diet or their lifestyle.”

– Extract from Interview with TKV Desikachar by Paul Harvey in 2000
on ‘Science, Medical Conditions and Yoga as a Therapy’.

Meditation also depends on the meditator.

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyata

“Meditation also depends on the meditator.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

Dhyāna, the Saṃskṛta word for Meditation, means the link between “I” and……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“Dhyāna, the Saṃskṛta word for Meditation,
means the link between “I” and a particular question,
and the absence of links in other directions.
It pre-supposes that the “I” is equipped to be linked,
is conscious enough that a link is possible.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

What happens to the “I” in Dhyāna?

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“What happens to the “I” in Dhyāna?”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

I do not believe it is possible to teach meditation in a group situation……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“I do not believe it is possible to teach meditation in a group situation,
but I hope I am wrong.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

Does the object of meditation affect the ‘I’?

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyeya

Question: Does the object of meditation affect the ‘I’?
“The characteristics of the object go into the meditator.
The Dhyeya (object or question) is very important,
it influences the meditator,
for whatever one is linked to,
its through the mind.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras 1988

I do not reject the concept of meditation without a question for inquiry……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyeya

“I do not reject the concept of meditation without a question for inquiry or an object for meditation,
but how, given the previous definition of meditation,
could we explain the absence of a question or an object in this scheme?
Certainly, if the ‘I’ is not there, there can be no meditation.
Many heads have rolled on this question of objectless meditation and I want to save my head.
It may be possible to meditate without an object but,
personally, I am skeptical that one can.”
–TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

When an object is invisible, it is not invisible because it is not there……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

visaya

“When an object is invisible,
it is not invisible because it is not there,
but because something hides it.
What you seek may be next door,
but you won’t find it precisely because it is next door.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

According to Patañjali, comprehension is dependent opon two things……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

apeksa

“According to Patañjali (Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 17),
comprehension is dependent upon two things:
1. Your interest
and
2. The proximity of the object.
Apekṣā is the interest of the Puruṣa for the object.
The success of Dhyāna depends on the force (Śakti) of the Puruṣa
that pushes the mind to direct itself towards an object.
Without interest, there is no question and no answer.
If you have the interest, you will discover the proximity.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

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How does the ‘I’ influence Dhyāna?

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

Question: How does the ‘I’ influence Dhyāna?
“Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, which describes
every aspect of mental activity,
provides an answer to this question…….”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

Once again, let me remind you that Dhyāna is……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“Once again, let me remind you that Dhyāna is:
1. The ability to establish a contact with an object.
2. The ability to prolong this contact so as to create a link both ways.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

Since Dhyāna cannot occur without an object of concentration……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“Since Dhyāna cannot occur without an object of concentration,
there must be an area where you fix your mind.
So, first you have to fix or bind your mind
on a particular place, a chosen object;
this is known as Deśa Bandha.
And second, the mind should establish a relationship with
this object which should last, at least, for a moment.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

Perhaps the best explanation of Dhyāna is given by Patañjali in……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“Perhaps the best explanation of Dhyāna is given by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verses One and Two, where he states that one must first fix the question (Dhāraṇā) and then link to it (Dhyāna).
One who is not able to fix the question is not able to succeed in Dhyāna.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

We need to begin with a definition of Dhyāna……

Posted on by Paul Harvey

dhyana

“We need to begin with a definition of Dhyāna.
Dhyāna involves an individual and a question or object.
On a simplest level, what happens between the individual and that question or object is the beginning of Dhyāna.
It can be any question, but it must be one question.
There must only be one channel between the “I” and the question, not multi-channels.
The “I” must temporarily drop the other interests and there must be a question.
There is no Dhyāna if there is no question or object.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988