PATANJALI
                     "The Book of the Spiritual Man" 

                                 An Interpretation By 

                                    Charles Johnston


Bengal Civil Service, Retired; Indian Civil Service, Sanskrit Prizeman;
Dublin University, Sanskrit Prizeman 

INTRODUCTION TO BOOK I 

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are in themselves exceedingly brief, less
than ten pages of large type in the original. Yet they contain the
essence of practical wisdom, set forth in admirable order and detail.
The theme, if the present interpreter be right, is the great regeneration,
the birth of the spiritual from the psychical man: the same theme
which Paul so wisely and eloquently set forth in writing to his disciples
in Corinth, the theme of all mystics in all lands. 

We think of ourselves as living a purely physical life, in these material
bodies of ours. In reality, we have gone far indeed from pure physical
life; for ages, our life has been psychical, we have been centred and
immersed in the psychic nature. Some of the schools of India say that
the psychic nature is, as it were, a looking-glass, wherein are mirrored
the things seen by the physical eyes, and heard by the physical ears.
But this is a magic mirror; the images remain, and take a certain life
of their own. Thus within the psychic realm of our life there grows up
an imaged world wherein we dwell; a world of the images of things
seen and heard, and therefore a world of memories; a world also of
hopes and desires, of fears and regrets. Mental life grows up among
these images, built on a measuring and comparing, on the massing of
images together into general ideas; on the abstraction of new notions
and images from these; till a new world is built up within, full of
desires and hates, ambition, envy, longing, speculation, curiosity,
self-will, self-interest. 

The teaching of the East is, that all these are true powers overlaid by
false desires; that though in manifestation psychical, they are in
essence spiritual; that the psychical man is the veil and prophecy of the
spiritual man. 

The purpose of life, therefore, is the realizing of that prophecy; the
unveiling of the immortal man; the birth of the spiritual from the
psychical, whereby we enter our divine inheritance and come to
inhabit Eternity. This is, indeed, salvation, the purpose of all true
religion, in all times. 

Patanjali has in mind the spiritual man, to be born from the psychical.
His purpose is, to set in order the practical means for the unveiling
and regeneration, and to indicate the fruit, the glory and the power, of
that new birth. 

Through the Sutras of the first book, Patanjali is concerned with the
first great problem, the emergence of the spiritual man from the veils
and meshes of the psychic nature, the moods and vestures of the
mental and emotional man. Later will come the consideration of the
nature and powers of the spiritual man, once he stands clear of the
psychic veils and trammels, and a view of the realms in which these
new spiritual powers are to be revealed. 

At this point may come a word of explanation. I have been asked why
I use the word Sutras, for these rules of Patanjali's system, when the
word Aphorism has been connected with them in our minds fora
generation. The reason is this: the name Aphorism suggests, to me at
least, a pithy sentence of very general application; a piece of
proverbial wisdom that may be quoted in a good many sets of
circumstance, and which will almost bear on its face the evidence of
its truth. But with a Sutra the case is different. It comes from the same
root as the word "sew," and means, indeed, a thread, suggesting,
therefore, a close knit, consecutive chain of argument. Not only has
each Sutra a definite place in the system, but further, taken out of this
place, it will be almost meaningless, and will by no means be
self-evident. So I have thought best to adhere to the original word.
The Sutras of Patanjali are as closely knit together, as dependent on
each other, as the propositions of Euclid, and can no more be taken
out of their proper setting. 

In the second part of the first book, the problem of the emergence of
the spiritual man is further dealt with. We are led to the consideration
of the barriers to his emergence, of the overcoming of the barriers,
and of certain steps and stages in the ascent from the ordinary
consciousness of practical life, to the finer, deeper, radiant
consciousness of the spiritual man. 

BOOK I

1. OM: Here follows Instruction in Union. 

Union, here as always in the Scriptures of India, means union of the
individual soul with the Oversoul; of the personal consciousness with
the Divine Consciousness, whereby the mortal becomes immortal, and
enters the Eternal. Therefore, salvation is, first, freedom from sin and
the sorrow which comes from sin, and then a divine and eternal
well-being, wherein the soul partakes of the being, the wisdom and
glory of God. 

2. Union, spiritual consciousness, is gained through control of the
versatile psychic nature. 

The goal is the full consciousness of the spiritual man, illumined by the
Divine Light. Nothing except the obdurate resistance of the psychic
nature keeps us back from the goal. The psychical powers are spiritual
powers run wild, perverted, drawn from their proper channel.
Therefore our first task is, to regain control of this perverted nature,
to chasten, purify and restore the misplaced powers.

3. Then the Seer comes to consciousness in his proper nature.

Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being. Ambition is the
inversion of spiritual power. Passion is the distortion of love. The
mortal is the limitation of the immortal. When these false images give
place to true, then the spiritual man stands forth luminous, as the sun,
when the clouds disperse. 

4. Heretofore the Seer has been enmeshed in the activities of the
psychic nature.

The power and life which are the heritage of the spiritual man have
been caught and enmeshed in psychical activities. Instead of pure
being in the Divine, there has been fretful, combative. egotism, its
hand against every man. Instead of the light of pure vision, there have
been restless senses nave been re and imaginings. Instead of spiritual
joy, the undivided joy of pure being, there has been self-indulgence of
body and mind. These are all real forces, but distorted from their true
nature and goal. They must be extricated, like gems from the matrix,
like the pith from the reed, steadily, without destructive violence.
Spiritual powers are to be drawn forth from the }'sychic meshes.

5. The psychic activities are five; they are either subject or not subject
to the five hindrances (Book II, 3).

The psychic nature is built up through the image-making power, the
power which lies behind and dwells in mind- pictures. These pictures
do not remain quiescent in the mind; they are kinetic, restless,
stimulating to new acts. Thus the mind-image of an indulgence
suggests and invites to a new indulgence; the picture of past joy is
framed in regrets or hopes. And there is the ceaseless play of the
desire to know, to penetrate to the essence of things, to classify. This,
too, busies itself ceaselessly with the mind-images. So that we may
classify the activities of the psychic nature thus:

6. These activities are: Sound intellection, unsound intellection,
predication, sleep, memory.

We have here a list of mental and emotional powers; of powers that
picture and observe, and of powers that picture and feel. But the
power to know and feel is spiritual and immortal. What is needed is,
not to destroy it, but to raise it from the psychical to the spiritual
realm.

7. The elements of sound intellection are: direct observation, inductive
reason, and trustworthy testimony.

Each of these is a spiritual power, thinly veiled. Direct observation is
the outermost form of the Soul's pure vision. Inductive reason rests on
the great principles of continuity and correspondence; and these, on
the supreme truth that all life is of the One. Trustworthy testimony,
the sharing of one soul in the wisdom of another, rests on the ultimate
oneness of all souls.

8. Unsound intellection is false understanding, not resting on a
perception of the true nature of things.

When the object is not truly perceived, when the observation is
inaccurate and faulty. thought or reasoning based on that mistaken
perception is of necessity false and unsound.

9. Predication is carried on through words or thoughts not resting on
an object perceived.

The purpose of this Sutra is, to distinguish between the mental process
of predication, and observation, induction or testimony. Predication
is the attribution of a quality or action to a subject, by adding to it a
predicate. In the sentence, "the man is wise," "the man" is the subject;
"is wise" is the predicate. This may be simply an interplay of thoughts,
without the presence of the object thought of; or the things thought
of may be imaginary or unreal; while observation, induction and
testimony always go back to an object.

10. Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states, all
material things being absent.

In waking life, we have two currents of perception; an outer current
of physical things seen and heard and perceived; an inner current of
mind-images and thoughts. The outer current ceases in sleep; the inner
current continues, and watching the mind-images float before the field
of consciousness, we "dream Even when there are no dreams, there is
still a certain consciousness in sleep, so that, on waking, one says, "I
have slept well," or "I have slept badly."

11. Memory is holding to mind-images of things perceived, without
modifying them.

Here, as before, the mental power is explained in terms of
mind-images, which are the material of which the psychic world is
built, Therefore the sages teach that the world of our perception,
which is indeed a world of mind-images, is but the wraith or shadow
of the real and everlasting world. In this sense, memory is but the
psychical inversion of the spiritual, ever-present vision. That which is
ever before the spiritual eye of the Seer needs not to be remembered.

12. The control of these psychic activities comes through the right use
of the will, and through ceasing from self- indulgence.

If these psychical powers and energies, even such evil things as
passion and hate and fear, are but spiritual powers fallen and
perverted, how are we to bring about their release and restoration ?
Two means are presented to us: the awakening of the spiritual will,
and the purification of mind and thought.

13. The right use of the will is the steady, effort to stand in spiritual
being.

We have thought of ourselves, perhaps, as creatures moving upon this
earth, rather helpless, at the mercy of storm and hunger and our
enemies. We are to think of ourselves as immortals, dwelling in the
Light, encompassed and sustained by spiritual powers. The steady
effort to hold this thought will awaken dormant and unrealized
powers, which will unveil to us the nearness of the Eternal.

14. This becomes a firm resting-place, when followed long,
persistently, with earnestness.

We must seek spiritual life in conformity with the laws of spiritual life,
with earnestness, humility, gentle charity, which is an acknowledgment
of the One Soul within us all. Only through obedience to that shared
Life, through perpetual remembrance of our oneness with all Divine
Being, our nothingness apart from Divine Being, can we enter our
inheritance.

15. Ceasing from self-indulgence is con- scious mastery over the thirst
for sensuous pleasure here or hereafter.

Rightly understood, the desire for sensation is the desire of being, the
distortion of the soul's eternal life. The lust of sensual stimulus and
excitation rests on the longing to feel one's life keenly, to gain the
sense of being really alive. This sense of true life comes only with the
coming of the soul, and the soul comes only in silence, after
self-indulgence has been courageously and loyally stilled, through
reverence before the coming soul.

16. The consummation of this is freedom from thirst for any mode of
psychical activity, through the establishment of the spiritual man.

In order to gain a true understanding of this teaching, study must be
supplemented by devoted practice, faith by works. The reading of the
words will not avail. There must be a real effort to stand as the Soul,
a real ceasing from self-indulgence. With this awakening of the
spiritual will, and purification, will come at once the growth of the
spiritual man and our awakening consciousness as the spiritual man;
and this, attained in even a small degree, will help us notably in our
contest. To him that hath, shall be given.

17. Meditation with an object follows these stages: first, exterior
examining, then interior judicial action, then joy, then realization of
individual being.

In the practice of meditation, a beginning may be made by fixing the
attention upon some external object, such as a sacred image or
picture, or a part of a book of devotion. In the second stage, one
passes from the outer object to an inner pondering upon its lessons.
The third stage is the inspiration, the heightening of the spiritual will,
which results from this pondering. The fourth stage is the realization
of one's spiritual being, as enkindled by this meditation.

18. After the exercise of the will has stilled the psychic activities,
meditation rests only on the fruit of former meditations.

In virtue of continued practice and effort, the need of an external
object on which to rest the meditation is outgrown. An interior state
of spiritual consciousness is reached, which is called "the cloud of
things knowable" (Book IV, 29).

19. Subjective consciousness arising from a natural cause is possessed
by those who have laid aside their bodies and been absorbed into
subjective nature.

Those who have died, entered the paradise between births, are in a
condition resembling meditation without an external object. But in the
fullness of time, the seeds of desire in them will spring up, and they
will be born again into this world.

20. For the others, there is spiritual consciousness, led up to by faith,
valour right mindfulness, one-pointedness, perception.

It is well to keep in mind these steps on the path to illumination: faith,
velour, right mindfulness, one-pointedness, perception. Not one can
be dispensed with; all must be won. First faith; and then from faith,
velour; from va lour, right mindfulness; from right mindfulness, a
one-pointed aspiration toward the soul; from this, perception; and
finally, full vision as the soul.

21. Spiritual consciousness is nearest to those of keen, intense will.

The image used is the swift impetus of the torrent; the kingdom must
be taken by force. Firm will comes only through effort; effort is
inspired by faith. The great secret is this: it is not enough to have
intuitions; we must act on them; we must live them.

22. The will may be weak, or of middle strength, or intense.

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