YOGA CITTA VRITTI NIRODAH (Yoga Sutras Chap. 1, Verse 2)
A few thousand yeas ago, a great sage by the name of Patanjali thought the yoga teachings and principles were too scattered and needed to be organized, he decided to compile all that was out there in a very comprehensive way, in what became the famous Yoga Sutras. The very first sutra or verse in the book says, we are now going to introduce to you the idea of yoga. The second verse which is our chant this week is perhaps the most important of all 196 verses of the sacred book, for it is the definition of yoga upon which the entire text turns. He will actually carry on for the rest of the book, explaining and elaborating on this one single sutra.
CITTA in sanskrit means “mind stuff” or basically the entire sphere of consciousness as we know it. Citta, as per Patanjali is expressed through the VRITTIS which are continual agitations of the mind stream, both conscious and unconscious. They also happen to cover our true self with the veil of ignorance. Ignorance not as in lack of cultural knowledge but lack of understanding about both who we really are and what reality is.
NIRODAH is sometimes translated as suppression or more yogically put: resolution.
When the fluctuations or agitations of the mind are resolved, then there is yoga.
Now that’s a goal worth attaining.