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The Art of Personal Sādhana

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    ātman

    Devanāgarī: आत्मन् Translation: essence; the highest personal principle of life; the individual soul, self Similar words:cetanā, cit, dṛś, puruṣa, draṣṭṛ, ātmatā Opposite words:anātman, citta, dṛśya, buddhi Related concepts:īśvara, vidyā, jīva, parama, jīvātman, brahman

    Appears in

    Yoga Sūtra:

    Chapter 2: 5 , 21 , 41
    Chapter 4: 13 , 25

    Sāṃkhya Kārikā:

    59 , 63 , 27

    Bhagavad Gītā:

    Chapter 2: 45
    Chapter 4: 21 , 40 , 41 , 42
    Chapter 5: 7 , 11 , 17
    Chapter 6: 6 , 20
    Chapter 7: 19
    Chapter 10: 20
    Chapter 13: 28

    Gītārtha Saṃgraha:

    2


    Click here for complete Saṃskṛta Index

    Commentaries around

    “The Saṃskāra of Yoga prepares one for Ātma Vidyā and is open to everyone.”
    – T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 1

    “The mind depends on Cit.
    It is like a stone,
    it depends on Ātman or Cit to give it life.”
    – TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2

    “If Śarīra leads Ātma, there is Kleśa.
    The cause of this is Karma Vāsana and Mithyā Indriya.”
    – T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2

    “When something is understood differently from what it truly is, it is called Avidyā.
    What is changing is taken to be non-changing. For example the mind.
    What is subjected to decay is assumed to be pure. For example the body.
    What is leading to suffering is taken to be the source of pleasure.
    What is not conscious is assumed to be conscious.
    All these errors in perceptions have many possibilities.
    But the ultimate stage of Avidyā is to assume that we are the Masters, not Īśvara.”
    T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

    “Patañjali reminds us of
    the pitfalls of the illusion of
    recognising psyche as awareness.”
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

    “What keeps you away from your self?”
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

    “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

    “Yoga is about remaining true to the Self
    within the wiles of Myself.”
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 21

    Ātma is the source of the sunlight in the Psyche.
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 21

    “Serve Yoga and Yoga will serve you.
    That purpose of the seen is indeed for our essence.”
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 21

    “Are our impulses to act self serving,
    as in arising from a place of Karma?
    Or, are our impulses to act serving the self,
    as in arising from a place of Dharma?
    Furthermore, how to discern the difference
    betwixt my and thy, given the facility of
    Karma to proclaim itself as being Dharma?”
    – Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 21

    “Dhyānam is an activity of a mind
    dominated by Sattva linked to Ātma.
    So Ātma and Sattva required for Dhyānam to occur.”
    – T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 2

    “In the Bhagavad Gītā, Karma is defined as a Śodhana Kriyā where,
    as actions are performed, they also offer a chance to refine oneself.
    Thus, whatever I do and whatever happens is a chance to refine myself.
    The Bhāvana here is Ātma Śuddha where all actions are an opportunity
    for purification of that which inhibits the expression of our essence.”
    – Paul Harvey on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Five verse 11

    “Ātma – That which nourishes.”
    – T Krishnamacharya on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Ten verse 20

    “In each one of us there is something that experiences.”
    – TKV Desikachar introducing the Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2001

    “Union of Jīva Ātman and Parama Ātman is a Siddhi not a Sādhana when it is felt or realised.
    If this is clear then Rāja Yoga is a Siddhi.
    However one has to work for it in Sādhana.
    Anything that takes you in this direction is a Sādhana.”
    – TKV Desikachar France 1983

    “The Yoga Sūtra says so much about the mind,
    but little about the self.
    What can be shared can be expressed,
    what cannot be shared cannot be expressed.”
    – TKV Desikachar

    “The self born creator bored the sense openings outwards,
    so the self looks out at the world rather than inwards.
    A wise person, wanting to taste the state of immortality,
    stops the senses from moving outwards and turns within to the essence.”
    – Kaṭha Upaniṣaṭ 2.1.1.

    “Yoga Sūtra Chanting for the Mind.
    Veda Mantra Chanting for the Soul.”
    – 108 Chanting Practice Pointers

    “Is our Yoga Practice,
    an offering to the Ātma–Buddhi Dynamic or,
    a gratification for our Manas–Indriya expectations?”
    – 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

    “The irony of seeking well being,
    is that our being is always well.”
    – 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

    “Is the direction of our practice
    more concerned with self-interest or is
    it more concerned with an interest in the Self?”
    – 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

    “It’s not until I understand how to
    cultivate a space within my self
    can I begin to experience that
    which is the essence of the Self.”
    – 108 Study Path Pointers

    Links to to Related Posts:

    • Yoga can be a mystery to be resolved or a question to be solved……
    • Yoga Sūtra on Stress – An interview with TKV Desikachar

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    This glossary with its similar, opposite and related concepts categories, supplemented by textual references and additional commentaries around the key word, is a both work in progress and constantly ever-expanding in terms of further cross-references, textual cross links and commentaries.
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