BarefootAndUpsideDown

Sutra.1.12 (Sanskrit:abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tad-nirodhah) says”Control over the mind’s fluctuations comes from persevering practice and nonattachment”

According to Bernard Bouanchaud, a French translator of Patanjali’s sutras, quoted here, nonattachment is inextricably linked to persevering practice if one wishes to control those pesky mental fluctuations.

Whew. Do I need to work on both of these.

Persevering practice is my weak link during long days of work that feed me on a real and intellectual level, but also drain me.  I need the practice to keep me on an even keel, refreshed and with an evenness of energy available.  This doesn’t happen inevitably.  It doesn’t happen at all in fact, if I don’t put some energy into my practice.

And guess how that happens?  I have to begin my nonattachment practice.  The things of this world are ephemeral: work will always be there, but another day without practice will keep me from living fully in the moment, enjoying sthira, stability, and sukha, bliss.

The mat is calling; do I have the courage to heed its message?

Tags: Home Practice, mental fluctuations, nonattachment, Patanjali, sthira, Sukha, Yoga Sutra

This entry was posted by carolyn aka LaughingYogini on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Home Practice, Sutra. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.