“Given the at all other times in this verse,
we need to thwart the ploys of the mind to
conform to its unhelpful fluctuations by reducing:
1. The tendency of the mind to perceive in too many ways.
2. The tendency of the mind to distort what we see.
3. The tendency of the mind to fantasize.
4. The tendency of the mind to go to sleep at inappropriate moments.
5. The tendency of the mind to get lost in memory or impose memory on reality.
When these old or other tendencies take over you are not there.
So if you are not consistent with your efforts,
you will not change your state of mind.
Plus, the unhelpful aspects of the fluctuations reduce
the tendency of the mind to experience a clarity of being.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 4

“In this Sūtra, Patañjali lists the five types of mental activities:
Pramāṇa Vṛtti, Viparyaya Vṛtti, Vikalpa Vṛtti, Nidrā Vṛtti, and Smṛti Vṛtti.
Vṛtti and Pariṇāma are synonymous, meaning “change of form”.
These five Vṛtti represent changes in the characteristics and functions of the mind.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 6

“Although the activities of the mind are countless,
Patañjali categorizes all of them in one of five groups:
Pramāṇa, Viparyaya, Vikalpa, Nidrā, and Smṛti.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 6

“The five groups are
right perception,
wrong perception,
imagination,
deep sleep and
remembrance.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 6

“A particular Dharma is not there,
but somewhere we feel it is there.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“Even when our understanding is consistent with our perception or repeated experience,
it does not necessarily indicate a fact.
For instance,
if we assume that a person is a woman simply because that person is dressed in a woman’s clothes,
this is called Viparyaya or mental activity that is based on something other than fact.
Viparyaya, then, is comprehension based on a perceived characteristic in the observer,
which leads to false assumptions.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“These problems in our observation are related to the mixing of:
– Vikalpa: Imagination is already there operating when we begin to observe. All the more that we are better and better informed about what we should see, etc.
– Viparyaya: Because of the past Saṃskāra, there is a sort of perversion in observation.
– Smṛti: Memory is, unfortunately, never factual.
Finally, we should never forget that all conclusions are wrong, because things change.
Hence the importance of private lessons, which allow for more flexibility.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“Viparyaya is seeing what we want to see,
or not seeing what we need to see.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“Viparyaya is merely an opinion,
convincing in its rightness to exist.
A flight of fancy, posing, as if a truth.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“In Sūtra 1.8 Patañjali defines Viparyaya as a false knowing.
How can we discern a right perception from a wrong perception
and can a false knowing be both Kliṣṭa and Akliṣṭa?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8

“In Sūtra 1.11 Patañjali defines Smṛti as
the retention of the experience of an object.
How do we know whether Smṛti is Pramāṇa,
given the presence of Viparyaya and Vikalpa
within our parti pris shaping of an experience?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 11

“Even though Yoga talks about the possibility of
a state of being expressing motiveless action,
for the rest of us there is always an ulterior motive.
The issue is what it truly is, rather than just whether it
had what we believed as a white, grey or black intention.
Also, whether this intention is what we wanted to believe,
or is there another truth lurking within our sense of right?
Thus, the outcome may well differ from what we believed.
However, as many of our motives fall within the grey spectrum,
a deeper introspection into the reality of intention is important.
To at least minimise Viparyaya, existing as a flight of fancy, or
posing as if a truth convincing in its rightness to exist, when in
reality, merely an opinion, even if not its deeper partner Avidyā.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 7

“The way to Yoga is experienced
through the art of living skilfully
within the defects of translation,
rather than aspiring romantically
after the effects of transcendence.”
– Paul Harvey on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 50

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