Wednesday24 Jan 12:09 PM
Yoga + Science In The Daydream Field We Call Citta
Neuroscientists released a study last week confirming that the mind naturally wanders and that certain parts of the brain are entirely devoted to it.
Those of us already involved (to whatever degree) in the struggle to tame that monkey mind can now sleep more soundly knowing that our officially sanctioned arbiters of reality have confirmed our suspicions. Sasquatch is real and our hunt may not be entirely vain.
Oom by Amanda Crichton. (Beautiful prints are available.)
Yoga disagrees with science somewhat however. At least insofar as defining what is really "natural." Yoga (as outlined in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras) would, however, agree with science that our minds wander, hence the aim of Yoga.
Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah
Yoga is the process of ending (nirodhah) the definitions/fluctuations (vrtti) of the fields of consciousness (citta).
Patanjali Yoga Sutras, I.2
The next verse brings us back to the question of what is "natural."
Tada drastuh svarupe 'vasthanam The the seer (drastuh) abides in (avasthanam) its own nature (svarupe).
Patanjali Yoga Sutras, I.3
What science is calling daydreaming, Patanjali calls citta. He then classifies citta into five categories: valid cognition (pramana), misperception (viparyaya), conceptualization (vikalpa), sleep (nidra), and memory (smrtayah).
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the daydreaming study is that when the particpants were asked to focus on a task or an object, the brain imaging stopped bouncing around. Well, there ya go...
Link to LiveScience's article.
Link to iOL.
Interested in more Yoga Sutra's? Try Vyaas Houston's superb Yoga Sutras Workbook: The Certainty of Freedom.
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