Introduction to the Sutras

Step, for a moment, into your Imagination...
...bring to your minds eye the image of the beautiful, still waters of a lake snuggled amid a mountainous valley. 

You approach the waters edge and looking beyond the surface you’re able to glimpse the bottom of the lake.

Imagine now, as you stand at the bank of the lake, that a thought comes to mind. That thought creates a ripple upon the water. Then, as the mind tends to do, another thought comes, another and another until the still waters are in motion, each wave disturbing the silt at the bottom of the lake so that you can no longer see down to the bottom.

After a while of standing here, watching the waves you realise that you no longer remember what the bottom of the lake looks like, or if it even exists.

In this beautiful metaphor, famous in the Yoga Tradition, the waves are our thoughts, the water is our mind and the bottom of the lake is our true self.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we want the lake (our mind) to constantly be quiet, calm and still - waves (thoughts) are a natural part of our human experience and observing thought, action and behaviour are valuable in understanding how we perceive and interact with the world around us.

However, if we have no control over the waves then before long we will have been in such choppy waters that we no longer see the bottom of the lake, or remember that it exists; we might think that the waters are destined to be turbulent for as long we stand and observe.

So we use the tools of meditation, Pranayama (Regulation of Breath), Asana (Postural Practises) & Svadhyaya (Self-Study) to learn to choose where we direct our attention; we practise making space for one thought at a time; not constraining or controlling the water, but allowing one wave to travel across the surface so that we can, time after time, glimpse the bottom; glimpse our true self.

When you come to your yoga mat or meditation cushion it can be easy to forget why you're here and what you're actually working towards. The journey is complex and the possible turns to make endless. This metaphor reminds us that beneath the fancy poses and creative sequences, beyond cultivating different perspectives and nurturing certain behaviours ultimately we are trying to connect back to our true selves; we just trying to glimpse the bottom of our lakes.

I hope this can serve as a worthwhile reminder if you ever find yourself confused as what it's really all about.