Thoughts on the Yoga Sutras: Sutra 1.3

1.3 tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam

Then, the seer dwells in his own true splendor.

“Once the seer is isolated from the turnings of thought” (Miller) “they can no longer distort the true expression of the soul. revealed in his own nature, the radiant seer abides in his own grandeur (BKS Iyengar).”

I often see this reflected in day-to-day life. When I can move beyond my own brain, my own insecurities, my own desires, I can feel a glimmer of a shining experience. It is in this moment that I feel like I am my own true self, or perhaps the best version of myself. This experience, I can only believe, is on the micro level - one short moment in time. The first step in Imagining what it would be like to live in the glory of freedom from our own insecurities and fears.

Think of a moment in time when you were “in the zone.” You were focused and clear. You did not worry about the outcome, you did not worry about what others were thinking, and you were absorbed in the moment. You may have been looking at something beautiful, you may have found a moment of complete quiet, you may have just opened your eyes in the morning. What did it feel like? How did you feel? Did it feel free? Spacious?

Really operating from our true nature - without the suffering of the mind. It is practically impossible to truly imagine. I think it is important to have something to remember, a moment when we are operating without the restrictions, complications, or influence of thought. This thought could potentially be our first step toward understanding.

Desikachar says of this sutra that when we are in our true nature, “The tendency not to be open to a fresh comprehension or the inability to comprehend are overcome.”

The above post is a self-unpacking of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I am not a professional historian, I am only sharing my thoughts on the topic. The Thoughts on the Yoga Sutras postings came about as preparation for a weekly study group that I attend at Karuna Center for Yoga and Healing Arts (www.karunayoga.com). Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.