“Sleep and Samādhi are the only times when there is no ‘I‘.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2

“Similarly, because of the proximity of Citta and Puruṣa,
what is the quality of one is taken to be of the other.
In our convention they are often taken as one
and not two distinct entities with different natures.
This state is Asmitā.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Asmitā – To confuse memory and wisdom.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“I know something and I am presented with something different.
How I react or choose not to react is Asmitā.
The wrong response brings Duḥkha.
The right response Viveka.
One is a hasty assessment and one is wanting to find out more.
One is ‘assuming I know I proceed’,
the other is ‘wishing to know I proceed’.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Knowledge from the past prevails and influences me to either judge or inquire.
Assuming my knowledge and my memory and I proceed is Asmitā Kleśa.
Assuming that I may be wrong and wishing to find out more is Asmitā Jñāna.
However to hesitate completely or question everything is Asmitā Kleśa.
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Within the sense of “I” Am-ness,
the I-ness is Prakṛti and
the Am-ness is Puruṣa.
The illusion is the sense of as if One–ness.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Where there is the sense of “I am“,
so there is the power of awareness,
or where there is the power of seeing,
so there is the power of the seer.
Such is the essence of our nature.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“How to relate with the inner conundrum that we are
thinking or feeling we are changing every 5 minutes.
Yet, from within that seeming flux we can observe that
we are only appearing to be changing every 5 minutes.
This implies that there is something else, not obvious,
yet constantly abiding within our psychic fluctuations.
Yoga offers a journey towards a direct experience of that
which perceives within our coalesced sense of “I” Am-ness.
In other words, how to be with that we call awareness or
the observer within the seeming seduction of the observed,
given that both mind and senses are part of the observed?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 18

“Hāna is the giving up
of the reliance on Asmitā
being perceived as if
the heart of one’s self.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 25

“Translate and develop Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
Dṛg Darśana Śaktyoḥ Eka Ātmatā Iva Asmitā ”
– To Download or View this Question as a PDF Study Sheet

Links to Related Posts:

• Everything is there within Awareness…….
• Reflections on TKV Desikachar’s Teaching and Svatantra……
• Yoga can be a mystery to be resolved or a question to be solved……