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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1206
Patanjali becomes a study of the principles of Raja Yoga as expounded by
Patanjali and his followers, to which subject our consideration now passes.
Patanjali’s principal work was not in the direction of building up new
theories and doctrines concerning the nature of the One, and its relation
to the Many. As we have said, he accepted the Sankhya doctrine almost
without change, and built his own system thereupon—the development of
the Universal Purusha idea following. He devoted his attention principally
to building up a Raja Yoga system of “methods,” “practices,” etc., whereby
man might be able to unfold certain latent forces within himself, and to raise
himself by such unfoldment to a higher perception of universal laws and
principles, to the end that he might escape the thraldom of material life, and
rise to a higher state, and then on to the ultimate “Union with God.”
In his Raja Yoga, Patanjali has much to say regarding the subject of Chitta,
or Mind-Stuff, which both he and Kapila conceived of as being material,
rather than spiritual; holding it as evolved from Prakriti, and being entirely
distinct from the Purusha or Atman, which is considered the Real Self and
which uses Mind as an instrument. Patanjali taught that “Chitta” or Mind-
Stuff was the finer material out of which Mind, as we know it, is created—
the more subtle element which manifests as operating Mind. The Organs
of Sense; the Mind of Thought (manas); the determinative faculty (buddhi);
the Self-consciousness (ahamkara); form a class called the Antakharana, the
“Internal Instruments,” and are considered as but various modifications of
Chitta, or elemental Mind-Stuff. What are called “Vritti,” are “whirlpools” or
“vortexes” in the Chitta. To restrain these whirlpools of Mind, or Vrittis, and
to compel a calmness in the ocean of Mind, or Chitta, is the object of the
Yogin, and forms an important part of the Raja Yoga of Patanjali.
Patanjali in his Raja Yoga taught that there are eight stages of approach—
Eight Steps—leading to Attainment. The Eight Steps are as follows: (1)
Self-control (yama); (2) Religious Duty (niyama); (3) Postures (asana); (4)
Control of the Prana or Vital Forces (pranayama); (5) Control of the Senses
(pratyahara); (6) Control of the Mind (dharana); (7) Meditation (dhyana);