Cultivating freedom from suffering through Pratikpaksa Bhavana

"Yoga starts not only with the analysis of sorrow  

but also helps trace the root cause of sorrow."  

- BKS Iyengar, Astadala Yogamala, Vol.1

According to Yoga Philosophy, there are five klesas or afflictions that cause suffering that is either seen or unseen. First is avidya, ignorance, followed by asmita, egoism, raga, attachment, devesa, aversion and abhinivesa, clinging to life. BKS Iyengar states the afflictions as 1. nescience 2. egoism 3.attachment to lust or greed 4. aversion, hatred or malice; and 5. selfishness or fear of losing the joys of life.

I am going to focus on the third affliction Raga or attachment. It's all about what we want to have or hold.  It's about desire or expectation and the afflicted thinking that results. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 2.33 Vitarkabadhane pratipaksa bhavanam, when we have what BKS Iyengar describes as an "arousal of thoughts" or Vitarka Badhane, we have to Pratipaksa Bhavanam. We have to counter that brain activity by contemplating what the heck is going on in there and doing the opposite.

Oscillating ruminations from lusting after or afraid of losing something or someone, expecting a raise to just being attached to a particular outcome in your yoga practice all cause endless suffering. They can only be countered by stepping away and getting a different perspective. As systematically stated in Patanjali's next Sutra 2.34. Vitarka Himsadayah Krta Daritanumodita Lobha Drodha Moha Purvaka Mrdu Madhyadhimatra Duhkhajnanananta Phala Iti Pratipaksa Bhavanam.  Iyengar explains this as "Pain are of three degrees - mild, medium and intense, caused by three types of behavior - direct indulgence, provoked and abetted. They are motivated by greed, anger, and delusion, and they have to be countered and corrected with right knowledge and behavior."

Jaganath Carrera's Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study & Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras explains that the path of yoga isn't for "passive bystanders on the sidelines of life." If we are striving to be free from the destructive tendencies (read afflictions) of the human condition to gain any semblance of a state of peace and tranquility, then we have to work hard to counter our 'unbridled' thoughts. 

Destructive thinking can become like an endless tornado. It spirals downward and takes us and everything else in its path with it. Therefore, we must understand the imperative to stop it. To stop it, we must make a habit of Pratipaksa Bhavanam, cultivate the opposite of harmful or destructive thinking.   

It's mentioned twice in Patanjali's pithy 196 sutras. Perhaps that's because it plays an important role in the what he deems the ultimate goal of Yoga: Citta Vrtti Nirodha, the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.  BKS Iyengar describes as "the cessation of all forms of thinking, whether internal or external, that sprout with or without volition."  

Our thoughts have the power to create or destroy. We want to counter negative thinking with positive thoughts. Ultimately, we don't want to allow a tornado of thoughts to begin at all so we can be free of them and create peace. First, we have to be a witness to our thoughts and actions. We have to begin to recognize how they are affecting us and those around us. From there, we can begin to cultivate right thoughts and actions. Yes, it's a lot easier said than done. But my teachers and mentors continue to stress Sutra 2.21 Tivrasamveganam Asannah, which Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."

I may be an idealist, but I believe we can change. However, I'm smart enough to know change takes a lot of effort. Oddly enough, most of us will avoid that effort and choose to endure unbelievable amounts of suffering instead. Some of us don't see the problem has anything to do with us (it's something or someone out there causing all my suffering). Transformation can't happen without first acknowledging our thoughts and actions have something to do with it.

Chip Hartranft in his book The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, A New Translation and Commentary says we've all developed bad habits in our thoughts and actions that we cling to because they are what seem to define us somehow. Therefore, we need a systematic way to purify our thoughts so that we can be free from suffering. He says, "The central human wisdom Patanjali teaches us, is that a pure awareness resides, impervious, at the core of each and every kind of sensation, thought, and feeling, whether we see it (vidya) or not (avidya). And the route to knowing this wisdom fully is yoga." I just wonder how much suffering do we all have to endure and cause others before we recognize it and decide it's time to learn how to stop it?