A useful way to understand this aspect of the limbs is to think of the limbs as a set of Matryoshka dolls. These Russian nesting dolls are usually painted wooden figures, each of which can be pulled apart to reveal another, smaller figure of the same sort inside. When the outermost doll is opened, we find another doll in it; that second doll opens to reveal another inside it; and so on. If we think of yoga’s eight limbs as similar to these Russian dolls, the outermost doll would be the first limb, yama, and the last, innermost one would be the concluding limb, samadhi. Each successive doll is contained within the dolls outside it, just as each successive limb is supported by the already perfected limbs that lead to it. As you progress in your practice, each new limb brings you further along your path only if you adhere to it within the context of the earlier limbs or stages.
The Importance of Asana
Modern (and particularly modern Western) practitioners of yoga can easily jump to the conclusion that yoga postures are mere gymnastic exercises, without spiritual or philosophical significance. One purpose of this book is to correct this misconception, to make it very clear that the asanas are part of a spiritual culture that aims at nothing short of bringing practitioners to a state of complete and absolute freedom in which they realize their innermost divine potential.
For the majority of modern people, mere sitting in meditation is not sufficient to achieve any lasting spiritual progress or transformation. If you practice only sitting meditation or self-inquiry or the study of scripture, you can easily fool yourself about your state of attainment. True knowledge is not something that occurs in one’s mind alone; it has a physical dimension as well. The Armenian mystic George I. Gurdjieff expressed this in the words, “True knowledge is of a chemical nature.”5 What he meant is that authentic knowledge has a biochemical and bioelectrical component; it has substance. This component is what traditional yogis called siddhi, which is sometimes translated as “supernatural power” or “proof.” Asana lays the groundwork for achieving the biochemical and bioelectrical changes in our bodies that are necessary for gaining true knowledge.
Sitting in meditation is sufficient only for those fit to practice Jnana Yoga. The term Jnana Yoga is more closely investigated in chapter 1, but in a nutshell it refers to gaining freedom by the mere contemplation of the fact that one’s true self is identical with the infinite, pure consciousness, without resorting to any other techniques. Jnana Yoga and the associated seated meditation (that is, sitting upright with the head, neck, and spine in one line) can be practiced only if one’s intelligence is completely freed from the stains of rajas (frenzies) and tamas (dullness).6 If you are not tainted by these states, go right ahead and try to achieve samadhi through sitting. If, however, your intellect oscillates, as mine does, between frenzy and dullness (with some bright moments in between), then the practice of asana will be useful for you.7
Richard Freeman, in his collection of discourses called Yoga Matrix, likened the practice of postures to going through your body with a fine-tooth comb. Thoughts and emotions that are powered by rajas or tamas leave imprints in your bodily tissue that make it more likely that rajasic or tamasic states will be repeated. These imprints are released through posture practice, thus forming the bedrock for higher yogic technique.
Putting Technique in the Proper Context
Those who practice Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (or any of the many other forms of Karma Yoga, a term that is explained in chapter 1) face a certain danger: becoming attached to technique. They can get comfortable with repeating techniques that they have already mastered without ever relating them to the ultimate purpose of the techniques, which is to allow the practitioner to abide in infinite consciousness. The yogic techniques become empty of meaning and an end in themselves. In modern Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioners, this may surface as a one-sided emphasis on asana practice and a refusal to invest any time or energy in the higher limbs. It is unlikely that this is what Patanjali wanted to see in students when he compiled the Yoga Sutra.
Ironically, it is often those yogis who have become very proficient at what they do who are most strongly attached to their techniques. Their breathtakingly athletic skill in practicing postures has become the basis of their self-image, and they are reluctant to progress to stages in which proficiency in asana is no longer the point. Understandably, they don’t want to surrender their abilities and knowledge. But this surrender is necessary if one wishes to progress along the spiritual path. According to Patanjali, one must undergo paravairagya (a complete letting go) to achieve super-cognitive (objectless) samadhi and through it liberation.
In this book I try to counteract the tendency to get caught up in technique, by reminding you that the purpose of asana is to recognize yourself as infinite consciousness (jnana) and as a child of God (bhakti). The purpose of chapter 1 is to convince you that the essence of all modes of Karma Yoga — everything you do to become free and yourself, including asana — is still just jnana and bhakti, which are one. In chapter 4, you will learn that the essence of each posture is its underlying divine form.
An effective way to avoid an attachment to technique is to place yourself right from the beginning in the service of one of the aspects of the Supreme Being. You need to continually remind yourself that the ultimate purpose of the eight limbs is not to become good at their execution. Their purpose is to realize the Brahman. As Shri T. Krishnamacharya expressed it, “The eight limbs are the eight limbs of Bhakti.”
The Intermediate Series of Postures
The Intermediate Series in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga serves as an important part of the discipline that may lead to mastery of the eight limbs and, ultimately, to liberation. Let’s now look briefly at the structure of the Intermediate Series, which I cover in detail in chapter 6 and, of course, in part 3.
The Intermediate Series is constructed of the following elements:
1 An opening consisting of some twisting (Pashasana) and forward bending (Krounchasana)
2 An extensive backbending sequence consisting of eight postures (Shalabhasana, Bhekasana, Dhanurasana, Parshva Dhanurasana, Ushtrasana, Laghu Vajrasana, Kapotasana, and Supta Vajrasana)
3 A forward-curling arm balance (Bakasana) to counteract the backbends, combined with some more twisting (Bharadvajasana and Ardha Matsyendrasana)
4 A leg-behind-head sequence consisting of three postures (Ekapada Shirshasana, Dvipada Shirshasana, and Yoganidrasana)
5 A dynamic forward bend (Tittibhasana) to link the preceding and subsequent postures
6 An arm-balance section consisting of four postures (Pincha Mayurasana, Karandavasana, Mayurasana, and Nakrasana)
7 A wind-down consisting of a hip