This comes from the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjaili, which is translated by Chip Hartanft. Patanjali describes yoga as a system of self-refinement through which consciousness, experienced as mind and body can come to recognize itself as a material entity, observed by an immaterial pure awareness, but not awareness itself.
Pure awareness is not part of ever changing nature; it is immaterial, unchanging, and incorruptible. Pure awareness is the knower of all sights, sounds, smells, tastes, contacts and thoughts, yet is not of them. Consciousness arises from nature, dependent on the conditions that created and maintain it. Page 27 indicates that consciousness is a product of pure awareness. Conscious experience consists of indistinct properties such as the sense of “I” and distinct phenomena such as perception and thought.
The eight components of yoga are:
-External discipline (yamas) - this helps to guide actions towards the benefit of all life
The five external disciplines are not harming, truthfulness, not stealing, celibacy, not being acquisitive.
-Internal discipline (niyamas)- each of these yokes an aspect of one’s personal sphere to the process of realization.
The five internal disciplines are bodily purification, contentment, intense discipline, self-study , dedication to the ideal of yoga
-Posture (asana)- refers to the seat or cushion used to support the body in order for relaxation. Asana must embody steadiness and ease in order for it to be a limb of Patanjali’s yoga.
-Breath regulation (pranayama)- this allows for the deepest levels of focus and body mind stilling (nirodha)
-Concentration (dharana)- concentration and withdrawal of the sense (pratyahara) are interdependent each arising with and supporting the other
-Meditative absorption (dhyana)- the eventual effect of locking attention on an object after the practice of observing the sensations of sitting and breathing
-Integration (Samadhi) – the final limb in which consciousnesses settles to a mirror like reflectivity. (pg 46).
“Concentration, absorption and integration regarding a single object make the prefect discipline of consciousness and this leads to wisdom” (pg 47)
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