SRADDHA

SRADDHA

There is a word for faith in Sanskrit that

SRADDHA Patanjali uses in the Yoga Sutra.
That word is sraddha. It is a very beautiful
by Andreja Pisnik word. Its root is dha - ‘ to hold’ or to
‘sustain’ . According to the Yoga Sutra,
when we have faith, we can achieve
anything, even in times of great difficulty
and suffering.
Kausthub Desikachar

SRADDHA
Exploration into Yoga Sutras and Poetry
 SRADDHA
SRADDHA
by Andreja Pisnik

SRADDHA
Exploration into Yoga Sutras and Poetry
 Every one of us has often question herself or
himself who am I, what am I made of, why am
I here, what do I need to do in my life, how
can I solve a problem, is there a better way to
my life, am I a good person, how can I be
better.....endless inquires into the mind and
matter, causing elevations of moods and drops
of enthusiasm resulting in happiness or
despair....some of us love to turmoil in mental
intrigues and running in circles, some seek
wisdom in other places inside and outside,
every one to her and his own content,
sometimes for years, often a life time.
It never ends.
We are always questioning, doubting, proving,
returning to our self and then.....wisdom comes
from the higher places, they say. To find what
we seek, that grain of everlasting happiness,
bliss that will last until our last breath. We
travel the world, learn, listen, practice and
endure with devotion and humility. We reach
out to find compassion and return to ourselves
to find our own heart, loving, tender and
always present. It is in this moment, not in the
past nor future, that we are happy and loved.
1
This book presents my own explorations
through the journey toward myself. It is not
intended to be egotistic or very personal,
though it can not be otherwise either. This are
contemplations and explorations into the
wisdom of sages, through the images caught
through the photo camera, through the poetry
and words of those that inspire my life and
enrich the experience of my travels.
It is a devotion and humble realization of the
profound truth that pervades the universe and
is around us every moment.
As a core source of my focus are the Yoga
Sutras, as presented by the sage Patanjali.
Because I study,practice and teach yoga.
Because I believe in yoga and has become an
inextinguishable part of my life.
With gratitude and respect to all those
teachers of the past and present who speak to
me in words of wisdom through the ether or in
their human presence, I humbly dedicate this
pages to them and to all others who feel and
share my vision.
Andreja
 Atha yoganusasanam.
YS. I.1
In the convention of ancient sanskrit literature,
the first word, atha, caries the connotation of a
prayer, both for an auspicious beginning and a
succesful conclusion to the work that follows.
3
Yoga is the ability to direct the mind
exclusively toward an object and sustain that
direction without any distractions. The object
can be a concrete one either external to
ourselves or part of ourselves. It can be an area
of interest, a concept, or something beyond the
level of the senses, such as God.
YS I.2
 Comprehension, misapprehension,
imagination, deep sleep,memory...are
activities of the mind. YS I.6

4
 Sleep, Dear, Sleep...
Dear one, go to sleep
In peace and quiet,
Let the good dreams
Bless you, in deep sleep,
I know you are worried,
Of the love i dint give you,
It wasnt my mistake,
But your error of taking
The idea wrongly,
Let gentle sleep
Overcome your worries
And untold pains,
Dont break your heart
Over me, it isnt worh it,
The sleep will take you
Away from your troubles
From your mind,
The dreams will kindle
New hopes, which i will
Help you to attain,
So, sleep, dear one, sleep.
Ravikiran Arakkal
5
Memory
You walked in to my life,
But just like that,
You walked back out,
Still you will be a memory,
A memory that I have created in my mind,
Still you will be a memory,
A memory that will always be locked,
Away in my heart and my mind,
I will always have a memory of you in my
heart,
And I will always carry that picture of you in
my mind,
Still you will be a memory,
Aakanksha Pahwa
Then to the rolling Heav’n itself I cried, asking, “What lamp had Destiny to guide her little
children stumbling in the dark?” and - “ A blind understanding!” Heav’n replied.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
6
The mind can reach the state of Yoga through practice and detachment. YS I.12

7
Practice is basically the correct effort required to move toward, reach and maintain the state
of Yoga. YS I.13
8
When an individual has achieved complete understanding of his true self, he will no longer
be disturbed by the distracting influences within and around him. YS I.16
9
Through faith, which will give sufficient energy to achieve success against all odds, direction
will be maintained. YS I.20
10
Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who in despite of view is pleased to dote.
Nor are mine cars with thy tongue's tune delighted,
Nor tender feeling to base touches prone,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone;
But my five wits, nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,
Who leaves unswayed the likeness of a man,
Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be.
Only my plague thus far I count my gain,
That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

William Shakespeare

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 "Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words
—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard

—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

Emily Dickinson

12
God is a Supreme Being whose actions are never based on misapprehension. YS I.24

13
He knows everything there is to be known. He is eternal. In fact he is the ultimate teacher.
He is the source of guidance to all teachers: past, present and future. YS. I. 25,26
14
 Paradiso: Canto II
Observe me well, how through this place I
come
Unto the truth thou wishest, that hereafter
Thou mayst alone know how to keep the ford
The power and motion of the holy spheres,
As from the artisan the hammer's craft,
Forth from the blessed motors must proceed.
The heaven, which lights so manifold make
fair,
From the Intelligence profound, which turns
it,
The image takes, and makes of it a seal.
And even as the soul within your dust
Through members different and
accommodated
To faculties diverse expands itself,
15
So likewise this Intelligence diffuses
Its virtue multiplied among the stars.
Itself revolving on its unity.
Virtue diverse doth a diverse alloyage
Make with the precious body that it quickens,
In which, as life in you, it is combined.
From the glad nature whence it is derived,
The mingled virtue through the body shines,
Even as gladness through the living pupil.
From this proceeds whate'er from light to light
Appeareth different, not from dense and rare:
This is the formal principle that produces,
According to its goodness, dark and bright.'
Dante Alighieri
In order to relate to God it is necessary to regularly address him properly and reflect on his
qualities. YS I.28
16
In that book which is my memory....that is the chapter when I first met you appear the
words....here begins a new life. Dante Alighieri, La Vita Nuova
17
 For in and out, above, about, below,
‘Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play’d in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

***

And, strange to tell, among that Earthen Lot

Some could articulate, while others not:
And suddenly one more imaptient cried -
“ Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?”

***

Ah, fill the Cup: - what boots it to repeat

How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn TO-Morrow, and dead YESTERDAY,
Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

18
Interuptions....illness, mental stagnation, doubts, lack of forsight, fatigue, overindulgence,
illusions about one’s true state of mind, lack of perseverence, regression. YS I.30
19
No crooked leg, no bleared eye,
No part deformed out of kind,
Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward suspicious mind.

Queen Elizabeth I

20
If one can select an appropriate means to steady the mind and practice this, whatever the
provocations, the interruptions cannot take place. YS I.32
21
With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with my own hand labour’d it to grow:
And this was all the Harvest that I reape’d - “ I came like Water, and like Wind I go.”
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
23
 Rid your body of its impurities,
let your speech be true and sweet,
feel friendship for the world and,
with humility seek knowledge and wealth.
T. Krishnamacharya

***
In daily life we see people around us who are happier then we are, people who are less happy. Some may
be doing praiseworthy things and others causing problems. Whatever may be our usual attitude toward
such people and their actions, if we can be pleased with others who are happier then ourselves,
compassionate toward those how are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remain
undisturbed by the errors of others, our mind will be very tranquil. YS I.33

***

Though you are wise, be as a fool;

Though you can see, be as one blind;
Though you can hear, be as one deaf;
Patiently bear with all you meet,
and politely talk to everyone.
This practice surely will lead you
to the realisation of the Truth.
Lalla

25
 From Love to Friendship
If you would have me love once more,
The blissful age of love restore;
From wine's free joys, and lovers' cares,
Relentless time, who no man spares,
Urges me quickly to retire,
And no more to such bliss aspire.
From such austerity exact,
Let's, if we can, some good extract;
Whose way of thinking with this age
Suits not, can ne'er be deemed a sage.
Let sprightly youth its follies gay,
Its follies amiable display;
Life to two moments is confined,
Let one to wisdom be consigned.
You sweet delusions of my mind,
Still to my ruling passion kind,
Which always brought a sure relief
To life's accurst companion, grief.
Will you forever from me fly,
And must I joyless, friendless die?
No mortal e'er resigns his breath
I see, without a double death;
26
Who loves, and is beloved no more,
His hapless fate may well deplore;
Life's loss may easily be borne,
Of love bereft man is forlorn.
'Twas thus those pleasures I lamented,
Which I so oft in youth repented;
My soul replete with soft desire,
Vainly regretted youthful fire.
But friendship then, celestial maid,
From heaven descended to my aid;
Less lively than the amorous flame,
Although her tenderness the same.
The charms of friendship I admired,
My soul was with new beauty fired;
I then made one in friendship's train,
But destitute of love, complain.
Voltaire
 When we are confronted with
problems, the counsel of someone who
mastered similar problems can be a
great help. YS I.37

27
Enquiry into dreams and sleep and our experiences during or around these states can help
to clarify some of our problems. YS 1.38
28
To sleep:perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may
come... Hamlet,W.Shakespeare

29
Any inquiry of interest can calm the mind. YS I.39

31
Haiku: “ I am one Who eats his breakfast gazing at the morning-glories.” Basho

32
Looking for your own face

Your face is neither infinite nor ephemeral.

You can never see your own face,
only a reflection, not the face itself.

So you sigh in front of mirrors

and cloud the surface.

It's better to keep your breath cold.

Hold it, like a diver does in the ocean.
One slight movement, the mirror-image goes.

Don't be dead or asleep or awake.

Don't be anything.

What you most want,

what you travel around wishing to find,
lose yourself as lovers lose themselves,
and you'll be that.

Attar

33
When one reaches the state of yoga, nothing is beyond comprehension. YS I.40

35
There is a Candle in Your Heart

There is a candle in your heart,

ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?
You feel the separation
from the Beloved.
Invite Him to fill you up,
embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love
comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.

Rumi

36
37
When the mind is free from distraction.....then, like a flawless diamond, reflects only the
features of the object and nothing else. YS I.41
39
40
41
 The Absolute

No mind, no form, I only exist;

Now ceased all will and thought;

The final end of Nature's dance,
I am it whom I have sought.

A realm of Bliss bare, ultimate;

Beyond both knower and known;
A rest immense I enjoy at last;
I face the One alone.

I have crossed the secret ways of life,

I have become the Goal.
The Truth immutable is revealed;
I am the way, the God-Soul.

My spirit aware of all the heights,

I am mute in the core of the Sun.
I barter nothing with time and deeds;
My cosmic play is done.

Sri Chinmoy

42
Everything that has been heard, read or felt may interfere with our perception. YS I.42

43
 Sloka 20

To Meditate on Lord Krsna,

begin from His feet,
then move up towards the trunk and the heart,
now meditate on His beautiful arms,
then stay with the beauty of His form.

***

Sloka 25

Ensure to exhale and inhale slowly,

smoothly, and then
focus the mind towards the focus.

T. Krishnamacharya

45
46
 We here and that man, this man,
and that other in-between,
and that woman, this woman,
and that other, whoever,

those people, and these,

and these others in-between,
this thing, that thing,
and this other in-between, whichever,

all things dying, this things,

those things, those others in-between,
good things, bad things,
things that were, that will be,

being all of them,

he stands there.

Nammalvar

47
Except that the mind cannot comprehend the very source of perception within us, its
objects can be unlimited. YS I.45
48
Then, what one sees and shares with others is free from error. YS I.48

49
 Finally, if ever....
The mind reaches a state when it has no impressions of any sort. It is open, clear, simply
transparent. YS I.51
51
 Acknowledgements Photography

In this book presentation were used the The images presented were made during the
following sources: travel through South India in past two years.

The Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali / first chapter in All photos in this book are copyright to
translation by TKV Desikachar, son and Andreja Pisnik.
student of legendary T. Krishnamacharya.
Published by Krishnamacharya Yoga
Mandiram, Chennai-India. For more info on publication mail:
andrejapisnik@me.com
Poetry is from various historical and modern-
day poets, chosen from their publications on
web and books.

Many thanks to all authors for inspirational

thoughts, teachings and wisdom.With
appreciation and my deep gratitude to you.
May your thoughts and words inspire many
more, always.
Thank you.

Amsterdam, 2010

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