Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

This idea of ensuring a happy life by means of virtue, apart from the impracti-
cability of iiving a perfectly virtuous life continuously while still bound by illusion, is
based on a delusion about the very nature of what the ordinary man calls happiness and
II-15 explains why this is so. This is perhaps one of the most important Sutras, if not
the most important, bearing on the philosophy of Klesas and a real grasp of the signifi-
cance of the fundamental idea expounded in it is necessary not only for understanding
the philosophy of Klesas but the Yogic philosophy as a whole. Not until the aspirant
has realized to some extent the illusion underlying the so-called ‘happiness’ which he
pursues in the world can he really give up this futile pursuit and devote himself whole-
heartedly to the task of transcending the Great Illusion and finding that Reality in
which alone can one find true Enlightenment and Peace. Let the serious student, there-
fore, ponder carefully over the profound significance of this Sutra.
The Sutra in general means that all experiences are either actively or potentially
full of misery to the wise person whose spiritual perception has become awakened.
This is so because certain conditions like change, anxiety, habituation and conflicts
between the functioning of the Gunas and Vrttis are inherent in life. Let us take up
each of these conditions and see what it means.
Parinama: means change. It should be obvious to the most unintelligent, man
that lifers we know it,is governed by a relentless law of change which is all-pervasive
and applies to all things at all times. Nothing in life abides right from a Solar system
to a grain of dust, and all things are in a state of flux though the change may be very
slow, so slow that we may not be conscious of it. One effect of Maya is to make us
unconscious of the continuous changes which are taking place within and without us.
People are afraid of death but they do not see the fact that death is merely an incident
in the continuous series of changes in and around us. When the realization of this con-
tinuous, relentless change affecting everything in life dawns upon an individual he
begins to realize what illusion means. This realization is a very definite experience and
is one aspect of Viveka, the faculty of discrimination. The ordinary man is so im-
mersed and completely identified with the life in which he is involved that he cannot
separate himself mentally from this fast moving current. Theoretically he may recog-
nize the law of change but he has no realization.
The first result of this realization when Viveka dawns is fear. The very ground
from under our feet seems to have been cut away; We seem to have no foothold, noth-
ing to which we can hold on in this fast-moving current of time and material changes.