strike a via media where there is a little bit of effort in keeping the body in position,
and yet not as much of an effort as required in walking, for instance.
Āsinah sambhavāt (B.S. IV.1.7) is the relevant sutra in the Brahma Sutras. Quick
success is supposed to follow from a steadiness of the body, which sympathetically
affects the nervous system in a manner which is also fixed. There is complete chaotic
movement of the whole body-mind complex on account of the reasons I mentioned,
so that due to the vehemence of the subconscious, the unconscious, as well as
conscious movements of desires, there is complete anarchy, as it were, prevailing in
the whole body. Anything can happen at any time, and anyone can do anything. Any
thought can occur at any time. It is not possible for one to determine what one will
think after one minute, and this is due to a lack of a governmental system in the
body. There is no rule at all. It is all complete absence of regulation due to having
given a long rope to the whims and fancies born of desires in the mind. The whole
body-mind is made up of desires only, and nothing else is there. These desires are of
various degrees, and so, according to the intensity of their expression, they bring
about a chaotic condition. There is helplessness felt by the individual at every step,
and in every condition, due to an absence of regulated living.
Thus, it becomes practically an impossible task to fulfil the requisition that is made
to bring about order in the system. One is not accustomed to such things. We are
used to living a life of moods and fancies, which is the contrary of what is expected in
yoga. It is not possible for a person to sit in one position for a long time due to this
difficulty—let alone have the concentration or the focusing of the mind. Even sitting
is difficult, because the moment we make a decision to sit—even before sitting—the
agony is felt. We have not started sitting; we have only decided that we have to sit.
That decision itself is enough to cause sufficient sorrow in the mind that some
trouble is coming. It is like an order of execution. Though we have not executed the
person, the order is already there. That has caused sorrow.
The mind and the body do not want any kind of discipline, because every discipline is
a kind of restriction of movement of their ways and usual requirements to which they
are accustomed. So there is, in the beginning, a great sorrow; it is a painful thing. We
will have aches of body and mind at once—even in a single day. But, we are not
expecting milk and honey at the very first step in the practice of yoga; it is all very
intense.
Yat tad agre viṣam iva pariṇame’mṛtopanam (B.G. XVIII.37), says the Bhagavadgita. It is
all like poison coming in front of us, as it were—a very bitter thing indeed, because
every discipline is painful, whatever be the nature of that discipline. Every regulation
is unwanted. Every rule, every system, every law is anathema to the human system
because of one’s being used to a life of abandon and loose activities. This is to be
checked, says yoga, and so we are taking up a task which is most unexpected by the
physical system. But, later on, one gets used to it—like breathing. We do not feel pain
in breathing, though every second we are breathing up and down. We do not feel any
agony on account of the body getting used to this activity right from birth. Due to the
habituation of oneself to a particular way of living, that way of living becomes natural
and ceases to cause pain of any kind.
Every great thing has been achieved by some pain only; it is not a joy right from the
beginning. It follows that a daily habit of sitting has to be formed. Even if we are