Let’s do a little review to ground ourselves in the essential foundation of yoga philosophy. The entire project of yoga is based on Yoga Sūtra 1.2:
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Translation:
Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.
In other words, yoga is the channeling, calming, or complete stoppage of all the citta vṛttis—the endless ripples and disturbances in the mind. These vṛttis include all the chirping thoughts, the conditioning from culture, the familial imprints we unconsciously carry, and every pattern that stands between us and clear, direct perception of reality. Our real work is to quiet these distractions, to clear the inner mirror so that it may reflect the true Self without distortion.
This is why we practice—not just āsana (postures), but also and especially dhyāna (meditation). Physical practice strengthens the body and nervous system, but the deeper aim is stillness. This aligns beautifully with the definition of yoga found in the Bhagavad Gītā:
samatvaṁ yoga ucyate
Translation:
Yoga is equanimity of mind.
The most important part of our path is to cultivate inner steadiness, to remain anchored and undisturbed, so that viveka (discriminative wisdom) can arise naturally from within. Through our ongoing study of Patañjali’s sūtras, we have seen that abhyāsa (sustained practice) and vairāgya (non-attachment) are twin disciplines that support this journey. They are complemented by kriyā yoga, which Patañjali introduces early in the second pāda.
Kriyā yoga is defined as:
tapaḥ svādhyāya īśvara-praṇidhānāni kriyā-yogaḥ (YS 2.1)
Translation:
Discipline (tapas), self-study (svādhyāya), and surrender to God (īśvara-praṇidhāna) constitute kriyā yoga.
Each component plays a vital role. Tapas is the inner fire and disciplined effort we bring to practice. Svādhyāya is the continual study of sacred texts and self-observation. Īśvara-praṇidhāna is the act of surrendering to a higher reality—an ultimate intelligence beyond our limited ego-mind.
For īśvara-praṇidhāna, I love Byron Katie’s definition of God:
"God is reality. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient."
When we resist reality, we create suffering. When we flow with it, even through difficulty, we find freedom.
Ultimately, we take on all these practices—kriyā yoga, abhyāsa, vairāgya—to cultivate that beautiful state of unshakable discriminative wisdom (viveka-khyātiḥ). In that spirit, I am reminded of Viktor Frankl’s powerful words in Man’s Search for Meaning:
"The last of human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
This choice, this clarity, this sovereignty of inner being, is the heart of real yoga.
