1.12 · The Floodgate

They are stilled by practice and non-attachment.

Word by word

abhyāsa

practice, repeated effort

vairāgyābhyām

and by non-attachment (by the two together)

tat

of them

nirodhaḥ

stilling

Where it fits

Vyāsa opens with the question the definition has raised: what is the means of stilling the movements? (Woods p. 34). Two are named. The next four sūtras define them (1.13–1.16), and later the obstacles of 1.30 are met by these same two (1.32).

Reading

How are the movements stilled? By two means, practice and non-attachment. Vyāsa pictures the mind as a river that can flow two ways, toward good and toward harm. Non-attachment dams the stream that runs toward objects; practice opens the floodgate toward discernment. Each needs the other. Practice without letting go turns into ambition, and letting go without practice drifts. This sūtra repeats the nirodha of 1.2 and names its method. The next four sūtras define each means in turn.

Vyāsa

“The river called the mind flows both ways: it flows towards good and it flows towards evil. … Here non-attachment dams the stream towards objects, and practice in seeing with discernment opens up the stream towards discernment.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 34.

Practice

Draw a line down a page. On the left write one thing you will practise today, with a number of minutes. On the right write one thing you will let go of today, and for how long. Do both, and tick them off tonight.

A question to sit with

Which gate needs opening, and which closing?

Key ideas

abhyāsa (practice), vairāgya (non-attachment), nirodha (stilling)