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

“Insight follows the aggregate
of deliberation on the gross,
to reflection on the subtle,
resulting in a feeling of happiness,
culminating in a sense of oneness.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 17

“Anguish arises from the illusion feeding
the conflation of I-ness and Am-ness,
the consequences of pleasure and suffering,
and underpins the fear of not feeling alive.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 3

“Still subtler layers of meditative reflection
as in Samādhi, can reveal the source of this
confused sense of “I” Am-ness, as in leading us
to the roots from which the tree trunk, and then
the branches grew, namely the ultimate illusion.
These hidden roots sustain this existential illusion
where, what in reality is transient, adulterated,
infused with suffering and non-Spiritual,
is personally lived and experienced as if
everlasting, unadulterated, infused
with pleasant feelings and Spiritual.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

“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

“Egoity is when the
power of the Seer
and power of Seeing
are as if one essence.”
– Paul Harvey 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

“Deeper layers of meditative reflection,
as in Dhyānam, can reveal a source for the
symptoms, which we might compare to the
trunk from which these three branches grow.
Revealed is a confused sense of “I” Am-ness
in terms of what we believe to be as if one
inner essence which empowers us to perceive.”
– 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

“The First and Second Chapters of the Yoga Sūtra
can be linked to the teaching concepts of
Śikṣaṇa, Rakṣaṇa and Cikitsā Krama.
In that the Samādhi Yoga in Chapter One
can be seen as apt for a Śikṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is discernment, as in
exploring what lies within the sense of I-Am.
Whereas in Chapter Two, the Kriya Yoga section
can be seen as being apt for a Cikitsā situation,
whereby the primary aim is recovering, as in
reducing agitation through lifestyle changes.
and the Bāhya Aṅga section of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
can be seen as being apt for a Rakṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is establishing stability,
through a formal practice within a Yoga Sādhana.”
– 108 Teaching Path Pointers

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……