A Dialogue on Pratyahara

I had this e-conversation with a friend of mine about Pratyahara which, according to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, is one of the eight limbs of yoga. I hope you enjoy it.

upsidedowncarl@yogascope.com

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Carl: Technically pratyahara isn't actually withdrawal of the senses. That is an oversimplification.

Laura: "Pratyahara: withdrawal of the senses" Glossary p.241 Heart of Yoga

This is actually the line I was looking for....so why does Desikachar define it that way? No wonder so many people seem confused about what it is! But naturally I'd like to make sure I have a firm and correct understanding of them....

Carl: I would say, in the context of trying to explain this process in as few words as possible, saying withdrawal of the senses would be fine. As long as you know that it is an abbreviation rather than a full answer, and as long as you know that in actuality pratyahara really is the senses fully following the direction of the mind as a result of the mind being so fully focused in one direction. When this is not the case the senses cause the mind to go from one thing to another over and over. So in a sense they withdraw from that kind of activity and fully follow the direction of focus that the mind has taken. In the end this can cause an experience that feels like a state of "no mind" or full unadulterated awareness which is the state of Yoga referred to in Sutra 1.2 and described in Sutra 1.51.

Laura: So can you give a full complete definition of pratyahara that has not been dumbed down for the sake of simplicity?

Carl: pratyahara: You can refer to Desikachar's translation of Sutra 2.54, which is the definition of pratyahara:

"svavsayasamprayoge cittasya svarupanukara ivendriyanam pratyaharah

The restraint of the senses, pratyahara, which is the fifth aspect of yoga (see 2.29), is now defined.

The restraint of the senses occurs when the mind is able to remain in its chosen direction and the senses disregard the different objects around them and faithfully follow the direction of the mind."

So how I would explain it is that when all the senses and the mind are fully focused in one direction, on the same thing. In the context of a seated meditation, if you were focused internally, this would be the senses turning internally. But if you were focusing on an external object, like, in the practice of Hatha Yoga, the physical body, the senses might all be focused entirely on the posture and the work in the posture and this might create the circumstance for pratyahara to occur.

The way I was taught, pratyahara is not something you actually practice. You can merely try and create the circumstances for it to happen. And by appropriate practice the senses sometimes begin to become fully focused on what ever your intended object of observation is.

That is how I was taught to understand this, the fifth limb of the ashtanga yoga of Patanjali.

Laura: Hey, o.k. not to be a little nit picker but......."In Pratyahara we sever this link between mind and senses, and the senses WITHDRAW." "The senses are quite capable of responding, but they do not because they have WITHDRAWN." (Heart of Yoga P. 108)...could be misconstrued....no?

Carl: I think the key here is this line:

"But there is also the possibility that the most beautiful sunset on earth will not attract our attention, will not engage our senses, because we are deeply immersed in something else." Heart of Yoga (in my edition that is on p. 107).

The statement, they are "immersed in something" else, is central. What else are they immersed in? The direction of the activity of the mind is my understanding of what the answer would be. Desikachar uses the example of focusing the mind on the breath in a pranayama exercise. The reason the senses are not drawn by something else is because they are absorbed, with the mind, in what is being done. I will give another example so you can know what is being talked about because it is a state that occurs naturally to people.

If you are reading a book, sometimes, certain people get so involved that they do not notice things around them. I have asked my mother questions while she is reading and had her not even hear me. I thought she was ignoring me but then, I have been reading and had someone walk into the room and ask me a question and I found out later that I did not hear them or notice that they walked into the room because I was so fully focused on what I was doing.

Desikachar gives another description of trying to explain the answer to a question and getting engrossed in the response and his interaction with the student to the point at which he forgets where he is.

"Although I stand in front of the audience with open eyes, I am so absorbed in the content of the discussion that my senses no longer react to other stimuli."

The important words here are "my senses no longer react to other stimuli". The reason this occurs is because the senses are fully focused, with the mind on the subject at hand. They are so withdrawn from all other things that other things do not register, but they are not withdrawn from the subject at hand. The idea is a fully undistracted state; the idea can be expressed in the positive as a fully focused state. When you are fully focused you are undistracted and pratyahara is not actually separate from dharana (concentration) and dhyana (effortless sustained concentration referred to as a meditative state). It is something that happens as a natural result of moving towards dhyana.

"Pratyahara does not mean I say to myself: 'I'm not going to look at that!' What is meant by pratyahara is that I create a situation in which my mind is so absorbed in something that the senses no longer respond to other objects." Heart of Yoga, (p. 108 in my copy).

"Precisely because the mind is so focused, the senses follow it: It is not happening the other way around." Heart of Yoga (p. 108 in my copy).

Here Desikachar explicitly states that the senses are following the mind.

"Pratyahara is rather a state that occurs spontaneously. Many people say that inner gazing is a pratyahara technique, and in many texts this is suggested. But pratyahara happens by itself--we cannot make it happen, we can only practice the means by which it might happen." Heart of Yoga (my copy p. 109).

I think that covers all the bases pretty thoroughly.

I think what Desikachar is trying to get at when he says the senses are withdrawn or that they withdraw is that the senses do not take the mind away from what the mind is focusing on because of the level of focus. So when you are so absorbed in reading that book, you don't even notice when someone is asking you a question. It is a hard thing for someone like me, who is dyslexic to have this happen when I am reading but I have had it happen. There are other places where it happens. When I am having a heated discussion about something I am passionate about, I often get so focused on the discussion that I don't notice anything else around me.

Hope this helps.

Laura: You said, "When you are fully focused you are undistracted and pratyahara is not actually separate from dharana (concentration) and dhyana (effortless sustained concentration referred to as a meditative state). It is something that happens as a natural result of moving towards dhyana."

And we were just taught that pratyahara is separate from dhyana. Like they move in a 1.2.3. domino routine. When in fact it seems they're more like... three points of a triangle "relationship"? But you seriously gave a much more full bodied description of it then these books do...they leave some room for manipulating the meaning. And when your dealing with such a complex subject a 90% full description/explanation is not acceptable! Or responsible. No wonder there is so much confusion and misinformation about things like this!

It is pretty annoying.

Carl: This is why this stuff is supposed to be taught one on one by a teacher who is competent and actually understands what they are teaching. Teaching is not merely presenting information. This is why a book usually is not sufficient for learning this kind of subject. The book cannot tell if you have fully understood the subject. A dialogue between a living teacher who is competent and a student should continue until the student actually understands the subject for him/herself. Teaching is interactive. You cannot simply present a block of information regardless of context and without consideration of the students preexisting background and assume that the block of information will help the student understand the subject accurately. If you could do this there would be no need for a living teacher. We could simply learn yoga or any other subject without external aid.

A lot of people present the information about the limbs of yoga as though they are sequential. My understanding is that they actually are not. The idea that they are sequential seems to me to be an oversimplification. I will try and explain briefly. My understanding of this subject is that all the limbs are actually happening to some extent at all times.

When you are focusing the mind you are in your body which means, regardless of what posture, you are in a posture (asana). Regardless of what posture and whether you are breathing consciously or not, energy movement (pranayama) is possible. Right relationships to the outside world (yama), to the inside world (niyama), happen while those other two happen. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika it says that it is easiest and most intelligent to start with asana because you cannot control any of the other limbs and breathing exercises are simply something to try and get movement of energy (pranayama) to happen in a controlled way. This is a very effective method but it is only one method of moving energy. From focus in postures the senses can draw towards what the mind is doing (pratyahara) instead of dragging the mind away from its focus (the mind's normal distracted state). As a result of practicing the postures the mind can begin concentrating
(dharana). From this, a sustained state of focused concentration (dhyana) can occur and from this, complete connection to the object of concentration (samadhi) might eventually occur. In asana the body, and the way in which the asana is affecting the body would usually be the object of concentration.

So all the eight limbs happen simultaneously; even if you are sitting for “meditation” you are sitting in an asana. It is only the mind's attempt to draw distinctions (viveka) that causes there to be different terms for different aspects of merging with your experience. And if you change the circumstances of your movement towards awareness you change the kind and quality of the experience. So a seated posture with the eyes closed gives different results than a standing posture where you may need your eyes open to stay balanced. And a seated posture where your eyes are closed and you are so comfortable that you could pay attention to almost anything, you do not have to focus your attention on the body but could instead direct your attention to what ever it seems will be most useful. Often, the subject that the ancient texts are talking about as the direction the mind takes is the Self; the texts are referring to the mind focusing on the Self. Often what is being referred to in the ancient texts as Self, in this context, is equated with what we in the west sometimes refer to as God. But that is not the only thing that you might be focusing on in meditation.

Addios. :o)

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