The year was 2009 when I first heard the discourse on Yoga Sutra of Patanjali as interpreted by a living incarnation, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). Patanjali, the great sage declares that the state of Yoga is the cessation of mental patterns where one lives in a different zone of existence of limitlessness and total understanding. To me, it felt something beyond my limited logic and far-flung at that time since I was not able to fathom this truth, let alone experiencing it.
Fast forward to January 2016, as I read the 3rd verse of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali again, suddenly it just clicked within me – “Hey! This is the zone I am living now!” I was too ecstatic with this revelation!
The 3rd Yoga Sutra states ‘Tada drau swarupe vasthanum’, it means “This results in relaxation into one’s true nature of limitlessness and total understanding.”
The first insight we need to know is that anything we can experience again and again is a pattern. Any experience we can enter into and come out of it is just a mental pattern. By this definition, even our sleep is a pattern since we go in and come out every night. It is a pattern.
Here is the truth – whatever you see and experience in the outer world is because of your thought patterns. Your thought patterns create the life that you experience. You could be experiencing the same situation but a different comment by different person could trigger a feeling of deep suffering or a feeling of joy and relaxation. Just see how your thought patterns can influence your response in situations and even life crisis. Without even your knowledge, your life is being run by thought patterns. It is the thought patterns which keep the mind alive!
The second insight is the way to stop the mental patterns is to take the responsibility to complete whatever hangovers you created as mental patterns and relax from everything in complete completion – the consciousness. Yoga Sutra teaches us that only when we really relax from everything, we are established in our own true self. The moment the thoughts disappear, when the cessation of mental patterns happens, when the chitta-vrittis (mental patterns) are no more, it results in relaxation into one’s own true nature. When you are able to have your mind under your control, that freedom is what Patanjali called being established in your true nature.
How to stop the mental patterns? You may ask!
From my experience, the quickest way is to find a living master who is already radiating the state of Yoga. This is what I did. In last December, I attended a 21-day yoga spiritual inner awakening retreat in Phuket called Nithyanandoham 1008 conducted by Swamiji. In this mystical process, he purified the muscles memory and bio memory by removing all patterns I created in these 2 layers and he awakened the bio energy in me. The bio energy is the God particle that exists in all of us.
Now it has been almost 3 weeks since I came back from this program. Like many others who are experiencing the powers and miracles, I am also seeing many changes at different aspects of my existence. At the physical body level, the body feels totally new and young with great flexibility and possibility. There is no sign of tiredness as the body is constantly radiating such high energy, frankly I even forget how tiredness feels like because the tiredness pattern has been totally erased from the muscles memory. The mind feels so clear and it falls into silence, the thoughtless zone whenever I bring restful awareness or whenever the mind is needed for planning, I can just switch it on. It is such a great freedom to be able to relax into my true nature. Another extraordinary thing I discovered is that whenever I am in the zone of Yoga, I can direct my awareness into anything I want clarity or answers. For example, I have just started writing my next book, just by focusing my awareness on the book, the space is intelligent enough to show me the key points I should write in my inner space. The understanding happens in the space of complete completion. I am just too thrilled to discover this fascinating conscious playground called Yoga.
I remembered Swamiji explained further that “In whichever areas you turn your consciousness, you will have complete clarity in that dimension about that truth. It will be waiting to reveal all its mysteries to you. All you need to do is just look into it. You will be able to connect with it and receive all the information and secrets and mysteries. You can download all the information you need from Cosmos. This is what Patanjali means when he says – limitlessness and total understanding.” This is such an amazing truth which is now becoming an experience itself for me after coming back from Nithyanandoham retreat!
In essence, if you are a Yogi living in a thoughtless zone, you literally live in a different zone of existence because you are experiencing oneness with consciousness, Existence. Your life will be filled with constant excitement, powers and miracles. Namaste 😀
- Source – 108 truths of the Yoga of Enlightenment by Paramahamsa Nithyananda.