SEEING WHO YOU REALLY ARE - SUTRA 1.3

In Samadhi, we have direct experience of our existence beyond the level of ego personality, mind and intellect. We experience directly our essential nature as the witnessing presence which is unaffected by all that occurs. This witnessing presence is the Seer - the eternal Self. The term ‘Seer’ holds no religious or metaphysical meaning, it is not something we have to believe in. Sage Patanjali, instead of going into detail on the nature of the true Self, uses the term ‘Seer’ as a means to reference the state experienced when one adheres to the purifying practices of yoga.

In Samkhya philosophy, Purusha is the principle of pure consciousness. Prakriti is the primordial principle of creative energy, by which material manifestation unfolds. In practical terms, it might be explained that we exist as conscious beings (Purusha) free from definition. As pure, unconditioned conscious beings, we are unchanging, undying. We express through manifested reality (Prakriti). As such we are subject to the forces of nature, from the gross to the most subtle. Over-identification with the processes of nature causes us to forget our essential nature as the Seer (Purusha). Yoga is the practice of discerning between what is Purusha and what is Prakriti, what is Self and what is not Self, so we may abide as the Seer.

Vedanta philosophy defines Antahkarana, the four inner organs as: the perceiving mind (manas), intellectual discernment (buddhi), the individual sense of self (ahamkara) and memory and recollection (chitta). When attention is directed outwards, a person perceives things. The person then uses their intellectual discernment to define those things, recalling memories of them from past experiences. The person relates to the things they perceive as being separate from themselves, reinforcing the person’s sense of individuality or I-ness.

Samkhya philosophy defines chitta as the universal field of conscious expression, the canvas on which all of life is depicted. It includes, the physical, emotional, mental and intellectual aspects of creation. Chitta comes to be, as a result of the coming together of both spirit and nature - Purusha and Prakriti - pure consciousness and material creative energy. In Samkhya, manas is the perceiving mind which is dependent on memory and recollection. The three faculties, buddhi, ahamkara and manas all exist within chitta. The capacity to intellectually discern, the individual sense of self, and memory and recollection are all functions taking place within the individual field of conscious expression (chitta).

It is of value to understand the seeming difference in meaning of chitta, held by the Vedanta and Samkhya schools of philosophy, as it changes how we understand sutra 1.2.

yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

The apparent difference in understanding between these two schools of thought, however, can be reconciled with a little reflection. Vedanta considers the deep mind (chitta), to be the storehouse of all memories, both conscious and unconscious. In formal meditation the practitioner endeavours to allow any thought-waves (vritti) which arise from the deep-mind (chitta) to fall away without becoming engaged, entangled, or identified with them. In order to be able to do this, the practitioner must also be able to neutralise the effect of the range of different movements and fluctuations which are taking place physically and emotionally, not just mentally. Samkhya refers to each of these modes of experience collectively as the field of conscious expression (chitta). In other words, if we are to attempt to bridge what is being proposed by the two schools of thought, yoga is experienced when everything which is taking place (vritti) within the field of conscious expression (chitta) can be allowed to rise and fall without being relied upon as being the totality of one’s existence (nirodha). To this end, the practitioner aims to disengage, disentangle and dis-identify (nirodha) with the range of unregulated movements (vritti) in the mind (chitta) to the point that processes of the mind seem to subside and one abides in pure conscious awareness (yoga).

Yoga is the union of one’s sense of individualised conscious awareness with universal consciousness. It is the dissolution of all thought-waves (vritti) to allow for reality to be known without modifications. In this state, one knows Truth, one abides as the Seer. Honest reflection will reveal to the practitioner whether they have truly liberated themselves from mind, thought, intellect, ego, body sense and world sense.

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