Realising the Self

	Book review on The Wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras by Ravi Ravindra Reviewed by David Lorimer, 2009 published in Network Review No 100
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This new edition of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras will surely become a classic, and establishes Ravi Ravindra as a translator and editor of the stature of Radhakrishnan, a number of whose editions I have on my shelves. The book contains an introduction, translation with commentary, a sequential translation without any intervening commentary, suggestions for practical exploration and an excellent glossary of technical terms. It draws widely on other spiritual sources, especially those closest to Ravi: Krishnamurti and Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, Gurdjieff's successor about whom Ravi wrote the book Heart without Measure.

He begins by putting the text within the central concern of all spiritual seekers: 'how can our whole being be in harmony with universal Truth?' and how can we become a suitable instrument for the Truth to be expressed? Within the Indian tradition, this search is based on the assertion that Brahman is Atman, the 'Wholly Other is Intimately Myself'; the self needs to fuse with the Self. The Real is not to be identified with the sensory world and the body, but rather with a more subtle level of expression. In order to perceive this, a disciplined attention is required that overcomes the natural distraction of the mind and the inertia of the body.

As Ravi points out, 'the real obstacle on any spiritual path is the passivity of attention, in our own lives and towards our lives.' We need active attention in order to take responsibility for our lives and wake up from the mechanical nature of everyday life. Then we realise that we are not what we might be and that there is a gap between what we know and what we are. Madame de Salzmann explains that human beings are energetic links between two levels of reality, and that our work in the physical body is to be a means whereby the energy of life evolves, so that it can advance to a higher level at death. She speaks about deep passivity and the need to struggle against it, making the body are available in service to a higher energy. This is the real meaning of work.

At a metaphysical level, as Hermann Hesse also observed, we are a meeting point between Prakriti - nature and matter - and Purusha, the transcendent person. The former principle is the externalising force of creation and manifestation; while the counterforce, nivritti, seeks the centre, the Source of Life. This mirrors the relationship between the seen and the seer, between time and eternity, form and essence. Yoga reverses the outward flow of nature with the inward orientation of attention, moving from dispersion and distraction towards concentration and focus. Thus Ravi is able to state that everything in Prakriti ultimately wishes to serve the purposes of Purusha. This entails preparing the body mind 'so that a window of consciousness can be opened.' And then the human being wakes up, sees through the illusion and beyond the mind with a form of intelligence that goes beyond thought.

The development of wisdom is always accompanied by a corresponding awakening of compassion: 'Enlightenment has no meaning unless it is accompanied by compassion.' Likewise, the development of consciousness implies a matching development of conscience. A sublime expression of this truth is quoted from Vivekananda: ' All expansion is life, all contraction is death. All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live. This is the secret of selfless love, selfless action, and the rest.' This is a book for contemplative reading, for savouring a few pages at a time, since it deals with the most profound aspects of human consciousness inherent in the human condition in every generation.

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