Learning to swim in the ocean of Samsara

“A yogi should always show compassion towards those who are suffering.”

Mans Broo

There is a natural tendency for the mind to understand things through dualism. To see that things are either good or bad, beautiful or ugly, light or dark. In fact, it is only our mind that creates the concepts of dualism. This applies also to the concepts of happiness and suffering.

It sounds simple, but as we know life is more complex. We have our samskaras (habits or psychological imprints deep in the mind): past life experiences and past actions that have directed our life to one or another direction. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have many philosophical explanations for why do we still suffer and what the causes are .

Sutra 14 Chapter II: The karmas bear fruits of pleasure and pain caused by merit and demerit

Swami Satyananda Saraswati comments on this sutra: “We enjoy two kind of fruits of the past karma according to whether it involved merit or demerit. Merit gives rise to joy and happiness; demerit gives rise to suffering. Happiness and suffering not only depend upon financial and social conditions. Happiness and suffering depend upon the kind of acts which were done in the past. If it was an act of merit, it will give rise to happiness, otherwise it will cause misery.”

How do we know if our actions are good and bringing us merit? Read this article Doron wrote about Karma for a better idea.

Sutra 15 Chapter II: Pleasure and pain are both painful

How is that possible that pleasure causes pain? One factor for suffering are the samskaras (habits or psychological imprints). We might get attached to the wrong things if trying to have constant happiness and luxury in our lives. Property and wealth can cause anxiety because one is afraid of losing them. Anxiety can be removed only when the root is found for them. As long we have the tendency to cling to our senses, we will get impermanent happiness and pleasure. Sooner or later these temporary pleasures disappear or change into suffering. All experiences of pleasure also causes samskaras and these habits keeps the samsara (the material world) circulating.

The suffering cycle of samsara is the cycle of life and death. We cannot do anything for the past and present suffering but the future we are able to affect by paying attention to our actions and words.

Sutra 16 chapter II: Future pain is avoidable

Swami Satyananda Saraswati comments on this: “Suffering should be avoided, and we can avoid what has yet to come. The present suffering has to be undergone and finished with. According to the law of karma, the present suffering which has become ripe cannot be set aside. It must be finished with through experiencing it, but future pain and misery must be avoided. The fruits of karma can be modified if you do your present karma (the actions of your present life) accordingly.”

As Sri Swami Satchidananda says; “In reality, nothing is bad in this world.” It is only our capability to encounter ourselves. He continues, “We can run away from our lives and families, but wherever we go, the world still follows us. Whoever we meet, whatever communities we live in, the unsolved problems will follow. We have to learn to handle things properly. The world is a training place where we learn to use the world without attachment to things. Pleasure and pain are nothing but the outcome of your approach. The same world can be a heaven or a hell.”

Act from the heart, act from a place of compassion

Yoga is the practice for the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. That means that through the disciplined practice of yoga, we help ourselves become aware of our own mental impressions. That starts the path to cleaning the old mental imprints and actions to prevent future suffering.

As yogis, we should live compassionately towards others. First we need to find the connection to ourselves to understand our own impermanent Prakriti (material world) nature. The way to reach Purusha, state of pure, eternal consciousness, starts from understanding that there is no dualistic world with concepts like happiness and suffering.

Yoga Philosophy series by Anni Rainio

1. 1. Is there afterlife?
   2. What makes life suffering
   3. Reincarnation vs. Rebirth
   4. Do our present actions affect our future life?
   5. Transcending the fear of death
   6. How to find life purpose
   7. Acting from compassion
   8. Process of dying according to Tibetan Buddhism
   9. Process of dying – Perspectives from Hindu philosophies
   10. Breaking the cycle of samsara
   11. Enlightenment

Recommended readings on life, death, and the afterlife

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Four Chapters on Freedom

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About the Author

This blog post is written by Anni Rainio, Doron Yoga Teacher -alumni, who is doing her 300h yoga teacher studies at Doron Yoga & Zen Center. She wrote a thesis about process of dying and rebirth from the yogic and Buddhist perspectives. This series of Yoga Philosophy blog texts are giving tastes of her theoretical studies. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts either here or to annirainio@gmail.com.

Check out Anni’s website: www.annirainio.com