The Eight Limbs of Yoga, or Asta-anga (ashtanga) yoga
Yama | Niyama
| Asana | Pranayama
| Pratyahara | Dharana
| Dhyana | Samadhi
Pratyahara:
II.54 Withdrawing the senses, mind and consciousness from contact
with external objects, and then drawing them inwards towards the
seer, is pratyahara. - Iyengar.
While this is sometimes translated as "restraining"
the senses, it is more a channeling, or turning inward of the
senses. Truthfully, "restraining" the senses and the
mind's response to sensory input is like telling a river to stop
running.
But you can build up the banks and teach it a new path. So through
the focus of asana and pranayama, and the self-study and surrender,
the sense organs, or organs of perception, turn in on themselves
(sva: own, their own) not focusing on external objects.
The mind is given something with which to busy itself.
II.54 svavisaya asamprayoge cittasya svarupanukarah iva indriyanam
pratyahara
|
