The Yoga Sutras, 196 short threads of wisdom compiled by Patanjali over two thousand years, offer guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life. In Sanskrit, the word "sutra" literally means "a thread or string that holds things together." I find these small nuggets of wisdom helpful in navigating life and finding meaning and purpose.
In the Yoga Sutras 1.5 and 1.6 there are five kinds of thoughts, or movements of the mind field. Most of the thoughts in our mind can be categorized into one or all these categories at the same time. The thought patterns are these: knowing correctly (pramama); incorrect knowing (viparyaya); fantasy or imagination (vikalpa); deep sleep (nidra); and recollection or memory (smriti).
Recently, I have given a great deal of thought to viparyaya (incorrect knowledge) and vikalpa (imagination) mostly because of someone's interpretation of my recent actions or what they considered lack of action. The conversation surprised me, caught me off guard, and led me to question my decision.
Pramana are movements in the mind that are "right knowledge" based on at least one of these three principles: direct experience, knowledge from testimony, and inference. Viparyaya are movements of the mind that are "incorrect knowledge or incorrect perceptions." Basically, incorrect assessments are based on misinterpretation of reality. It should be our aim to discover and reduce the causes of misinterpretation of reality.
Vikalpa refers to imagination or fantasy, where thoughts and images are created without corresponding reality. While imagination can be a source of creativity, in the yogic context, it is another form of mental distraction that can pull the mind away from present reality and the pursuit of spiritual goals.
One exercise to try is to understand the meaning of pramana, but not merely by knowing its definition. We want to be able to observe it in our daily life. Choose for a day or a week to be aware of this movement of mind, called pramana, as you go through activities, situations, and conversations. Observe how pramana relates to actions, thoughts, and speech. Try to find your own examples of pramana so that you have direct knowledge of the concept of pramana.
It is important for me to acknowledge my friend's perceptions and try to understand her viewpoint, but I can only observe my own mind and perceptions.
I have spent much too time and energy turning her conversation over in my mind, therefore I chose to embrace Yoga Sutra 1.33: The mind becomes purified by the cultivation of feelings of amity, compassion, goodwill, and indifference, respectively towards happy, miserable, virtuous, and sinful creatures. I love one barometer my cowboy friend uses when I am worrying about whether I made the correct decision about something. He asks, "Can you go to sleep at night knowing you did the best you could?"
Feel free to share your thoughts with me: [email protected].
Ashton Graham is an educator, book publisher, photographer, cowgirl and yoga teacher. She is currently studying to become a yoga therapist and lives on a ranch in West Texas. Subscribe to her newsletter "Maintaining Balance" www.ashtoncannon.com.