“Cit is always the same.
Nirodha always refers to Citta.
Thus Cit is a witness.
What changes is only Citta.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2

“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

“When we say our name we relate to our mind and not Cit.
However, we are not able to separate mind from Cit.
They are so close – mind and not mind.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2

“To experience the spaciousness of Cit,
Yoga says practice enclosing the Citta.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verses 2-3

“During such a moment, without distractions,
the power of the source of perception,
full of clarity and completeness, shines forth.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 3

“Yoga is about refining the skill
to rest in the awareness of the Cit,
rather than nest in the nature of the Citta.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verses 3-4

“The less we act from within the field of the present moment,
the more we re-act from within the field of past memories.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verses 3-4

“It is difficult to realise the wonders of Cit
within the wanderings of the Citta.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verses 30-31

“One of the artful illusions presented by the Citta,
is its ability to as if dress in disguise,
so as to appear as if the Cit.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

“A necessary step in Yoga is to experience a state of complete and utter disillusionment.
Arising from that is a state of Citta prepared to give up its conviction of being the Cit.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5

“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

“We experience the world via the conjunction
of the ‘eye’ of the Cit with the ‘I’ of the Citta.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 17

“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

“Awareness doesn’t change,
however our awareness of our
experience of awareness does.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 20

“An awareness of an
absence of awareness
is in itself an awakening
in awareness of awareness.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 20

“The ten senses or Das Indriya are the gateways
between our inner and the outer experiences,
in the twin roads of the worldly phenomena
that we call sensory knowing or bodily action.
The five senses that transport knowing from
the outer to the inner are called the Jñāna Indriya,
or the senses through which we perceive the world.
The five senses that transport action from
the inner to the outer are called the Karma Indriya,
or the senses through which we act out into the world.
The coordinator of this remarkable interface is Manas,
often referred to as the eleventh sense or internal organ.
The identifier in this remarkable process is Ahaṃkāra.
The discerner in this remarkable trinity is Buddhi.
The source of perception within this remarkable play
of knowing and action is known as Cit or Puruṣa.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 54

“Dhāraṇā has three distinct, cyclical phases,
from a placing of awareness on the focus,
to an awareness of observation wandering,
to a re-placing of awareness on the focus.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 1

“The Yoga Sūtra is about reflecting on that which reflects,
in order to reflect from that which is the source of attention,
rather than from that which is the scene of intention.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 49

“Kaivalya is the outcome of the
equality of Sattva and Puruṣa.
The clarity of Sattva acquired
through our efforts with Citta,
coexisting with the eternal
abiding awareness of Puruṣa.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 55

“The witness cannot be witnessed.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 18

“Awareness is a quality not a quantity.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 34

“Yoga is when the mind is completely absorbed in the great force within.”
– TKV Desikachar France August 1983

“Yoga is awareness,
a type of knowing.”
– T Krishnamacharya 1988

“Whatever is the source of life is surely the source of freedom,
a source which knows us and cares for us.
It is everybody’s right, and is not beyond us, but within us.”
– TKV Desikachar from unedited manuscript for ‘What are We Seeking?’

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

“Yoga is the pursuit of the unpursuable.”
– TKV Desikachar

Bhāvana on Śavāsana within a Śikṣaṇa Āsana practice.
“Inherent within the application of Śavāsana
as an Āsana within a Śikṣaṇa Krama practice,
is the active cultivation of a quality of Nirodha,
or what can be described as ‘witness awareness’.
As in the notion of the Cit observing the Citta.
Thus, a key to directing the attention in
Śavāsana, is to intentionally cultivate
a quality of passive observation.”
– 108 Postural Practice Pointers

A third factor, that of Respect for Responses
“Āsana are not automatic but can become so.
The inevitability of voluntary actions is that we
get used to them and they become involuntary.
With this, the risk factor is increased as well.
So what is voluntary and what is involuntary is
completely different when there is a ‘new’ response.
However, such a response needs to be linked to
something deeper than just merely a ‘tweaking’,
or ‘inventive’ variation within the form of the body.
Given, that in Yoga the breath is that which gives life.
By cultivating a role for, and the purpose of the breath,
we are creating and re-creating a situation for, not just new,
but also more subtle responses to occur and reoccur.
Within this field for enhancing awareness,
through our relationship with the breath,
the risk factor is reduced as well.”
– 108 Yoga Planning Pointers
– The Viniyoga of Planning Principles Guidelines – Collected & Collated

“Āsana is an interface between the body
and the systemic energy processes.
Prāṇāyāma is an interface between the
systemic energy processes and the psyche.
Dhyāna is an interface between the psyche
and the awareness that pervades our sense of being.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Constancy of the body
reveals the inconstancy of the breath.
Constancy of the body and breath
reveals the inconstancy of the mind.
Constancy of the body, breath and mind
reveals the constancy of awareness.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Amongst other roles Ujjāyī
is a breathing technique that
can facilitate the ability to remain
in the doorway of awareness,
neither going in and introverting, when
tempted by the manoeuvring of the mind,
nor going out and extroverting, when
tempted by the shimmering of the senses.”
– 108 Yoga Practice 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 Yoga Study Path Pointers

“When seeking the light better to verify
that it is the power of the light
rather than the light of power.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

Links to Related Posts:

• T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated
• TKV Desikachar Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated
• Paul’s Yoga Mālā – A Thread of Pearls from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra
• Paul’s Yoga Sūtra Study Keywords – Collected & Collated into Chapters
• Paul’s Yoga Sūtra Study Questions – Collected & Collated into Chapters
• Everything is there within Awareness…….
• I do feel that verses 10 and 11 Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two offer……
• Letting go of the desire to hold onto a moment of awareness allows……
• Postscript to yesterdays post around the three Niyama within Kriyā Yoga…… 
• Sound – A Means Beyond Āsana and Prāṇāyāma……
• Trying to hold onto the fleeting presence of awareness can be likened to a bird…
• Yoga can be a mystery to be resolved or a question to be solved……