Sutra 1.4: The Results of No Yoga

Sutra 1.4: Vritti sarupyam itaratra

When the seer is not in a state of yoga, he/she believes he/she is the fluctuations of the mind.

While the entire yoga sutras can be summed up in the first three versus, the fourth, is like the yellow warning tape at the scene of an accident. 1.1 introduces us to yoga as a state of being and a practice. 1.2 defines yoga as the presence that ensues stilling all of the movements in the mind space. 1.3 grants us the extraordinary gift that is attained through the practice of yoga which is the real you beyond all beliefs, thoughts, and ideas. 1.4 sternly advises us of what will happen when we allow our thoughts to run amuck, we will become that muck! Or at least believe we are that muck!

Identity theft is one of the biggest issues we, as humans, on planet Earth are faced with. And while we can certainly point our fingers at the internets and faceless men behind computer screens for the uprise in these attacks, they pale in comparison to the real real thief, who is in fact, you. Not the unchanging pure you that we spoke of in sutra 1.3, but the version of you that is passive aggressive with your partner when they don’t meet your expectations, or the you that snaps at your child because you are hangry, or the you that believes those extra ten lbs make you not sexy and unlovable.

When we spend all day every day consumed in liking, disliking, judging, comparing, analyzing, remembering, or future tripping, we are wrapped up in one big identify theft scandal. It is our constant participation with our own thought stream that steals our life away from us and the computer that’s behind it all is the computer of our mind. Our mind is the computer or the tool that has been gifted to us to witness our own consciousness through, but the trouble is, rather than using our tool, our tool is using us. Our tool went rogue, disguised itself as a vegan or a democrat or a spiritual healer, or a junkie, or a gamer, or a pronoun, or a sexual orientation, and convinced our thoughts to spend every waking moment proving itself to this idealized version of ourself and to the people around us. So now that our thoughts are on board, guess who they convince to be a Trump supporter or non trump supporter, that’s right, our words. So now with our words locked and loaded, guess what they do? They rally in the troops of our actions.

We spend the majority of our life time reacting to either external stimuli or a thought we have about that stimuli all the while forgetting that this is not the primary job of our mind/computer/tool. We are not actually having that thought, it is having us, putting dinner, drinks, and dessert on the credit card it stole from us.

It is up to us, with each conscious breath we take, to bring this identity theft crisis to a halt. Every single time you choose to watch the wonder of your breath instead of the soap opera of your thoughts you stop all the thinking and start all the thriving.

Muchas Muchas Gracias,

My understanding is always a work in progress and I am continually grateful that you appreciate my perspective. It is so important that you gather many sources and then refer to yourself and your inner knowing to establish your truth.

Blessings,

Andrea Dawn