Patanjali's yoga sutras

विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वःसंस्कारशेषोऽन्यः

virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṁskāra-śeṣo-‘nyaḥ

virama = cessation 

pratyaya = experience

abhyaasa = consistent practice

poorvah= past

samskaara = purification 

sesa = residues

anyah = other

In past classes, we’ve learned about Saṁprajñātaḥ, the four doors of perception that lead to oneness. Seeing with the eyes of God to be a witness to the miracle of creation. Thinking with the mind of God to contemplate: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is our purpose?Feeling with the love of God to experience the bliss of being alive in a divine universe. Knowing with the faith of God that we are inherently and eternally one with the divinity that animates & organizes the universe. So, we are constantly keeping ourselves in one of these mindful states where we are witnessing, contemplating, feeling and knowing our oneness with the loving awareness that animates and organizes the universe.

I’m happy to stop there. I think that’s a good recipe for a happy life and it’s certainly enough to keep me busy, but some people might ask, Then what happens?

Pantanjali says that constant practice creates Virāma (विराम) Pratyaya (प्रत्यय) which can be translated as “the experience of cessation.”

Patanjali describes Virāma Pratyaya using the term Saṃskāra (संस्कार), which in Ayurveda is the pharmaceutical process by which impurities, toxicities are removed, and it has become the term used to describe religious rituals of purification.

pūrvaḥ saṁskāra-śeṣo-‘nyaḥ

The process of identifying more with oneness and the cessation of identifying with the whirlpools of experience is a purifying ritual. We are beginning to shed the residues of past experience. We are sloughing off guilt, shame, anger and bitterness as we experience awe, bliss, love and faith.

So keep practicing. See through the eyes of God. Be a witness to the miracle of creation. Think with the mind of God. Contemplate: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is our purpose? Feel with the love of God. Experience the bliss of being alive. Know with the faith of God that we are inherently and eternally one with the divinity that animates & organizes the universe.