Quiet - A Puzzle

Prashant Iyengar said that every spiritual practice must include a movement toward oneself/the divine quality of oneself (Adhyatma). This practice of yoga (quieting the mind) must include that movement toward oneself. We must include our self - mind, body, and spirit; as we cannot know what is inside without seeing the outer layers that contain it. We must be careful not to push away feeling, sensation, or self observation in order to find quiet. This quiet is found within.

Because of these multiple layers of self, this state of being is like looking at a 5000 piece puzzle. There is so much to take in: body, mind, emotions, energetics, etc. At any one time we may simultaneously feel the feet, sad, excited, happy, afraid, soft, tight, challenged. 

Where does one start? BKS Iyengar created a system in which we work from the outside in. We begin with the structure and venture toward subtlety. Like that puzzle we build the surround first - finding and piecing together all the flat edges and corners, creating a framework. So we begin with the body. We see evidence of this idea in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:

2.46 Posture should be steady and comfortable

2.47 Such posture should be attained by relaxation of effort and absorption in the infinite

2.48 From this, one is not afflicted by the dualities of the opposites

2.49 When that asana is accomplished, pranayama, breath control follows. This consists of the regulation of the incoming and outgoing breaths. 

(Translations from Edwin Bryant)

We see in the above sutras that Patanjali has created a progression. We first work to make the posture steady and comfortable. Then, we release effort so we can move attention inward. This beautiful accomplishment prepares us for the gift of attention that is beyond the dualities of opposites - a relaxation of the mind that allows us to focus on pranayama. Like that puzzle, we create the physical outer border, then, we might choose one item; the main centerpiece of the puzzle. The grounding force that allows us to focus our attention and observe the bigger picture. 

Through full observation, our mind naturally moves from an all-pointed, uncultured, attention to a one pointed attention. This focus is what allows us to see both the fullness of the picture and the greater center without being affected by the many layers of the image (dualities/opposites in Patanjali’s language).  

We have the ability to observe ourselves in that same way off the mat. Not closing everything out, but observing with focus and structure. With methodology. Not closing one self out, not shutting oneself off, but welcoming the layers of being with a sophisticated eye. This requires us to look at the body not as a lower form, but the image in which the larger picture is contained. As BKS Iyengar reminded us, asana does not exist uniquely to work and firm the body, but to culture the mind. This existence in not one to block out but to fully take in for the deeper lesson inside.

So as we sit and move toward quiet, perhaps we recognize first the full image it lives inside of.