Pratyahara leaves the ego no place to hide in the center of the body?

[tamasaburo (Casey Schoenberger)]

I’ve been noticing a phenomenon lately as I have developed a bit more pratyahara (introversion of sense awareness):

For me, at least, pratyahara seems to involve becoming more aware of, and more able to consciously control, the center of the body. By “center of the body,” I mean the parts that are connected by furrowing the brow in sambhavi, the nasal pharynx area, the tongue, the esophagus and throat area, the heart area, the intestines (stimulated by uddiyana, nauli, navi kriya), and the pelvic floor area (stimulated by mulabandha, etc.). These areas feel more connected, ecstatic, and perceptible as practice progresses. I’m not sure to what extent they correspond with the sushumna–if they are the sushumna, are the frontal aspect of the sushumna, etc.

What I am finding about becoming more aware of this part of the body is that, it seems to me as if the ego or concept of a separate self apart from the world and other people, tends to manifest as a kind of tightness or “blindness” in the center of the body, maybe especially in the head and throat area, maybe also in the heart. The way I have tended to experience life (and would guess there is a similar experience for many) that “I” am located somewhere in the middle of the body, and “I” am controlling the limbs, which are perceived as “more separate” from “I” and easier to perceive as objects compared with the center of the body.

But we eventually find that we can be aware of the center of the body, too–that is, we can perceive it as an object even as we can bring much of it under conscious control. At this point, self inquiry looks for a self in the center of the body but finds none there. The “I” who seems to be doing things in the world is not any more located in the center of the body than it is in the arms or legs.

That is, although I should not be surprised because it seems like all aspects of yoga are connected to one another in various ways, I guess what I am finding is an unexpected connection between pratyahara and self inquiry. Have others noticed something like this? Thanks!

[yogani]

Hi tamasaburo,

Thanks for your insightful post on pratyahara and the ego.

Pratyahara is one of the least understood branches on the eight-limbed tree of yoga. The classical translation from the Yoga Sutras is “withdrawal of the senses,” which has often been interpreted to mean denial of the senses, a kind of mortification of our connection with the outer world. The ego gets the same sort of treatment from the less informed, the idea of killing it off, leading to nihilism and a denial of human life itself. Such approaches are false, and hazardous to the mental and physical health of well-meaning seekers.

What pratyahara really is, as you have pointed out, is an “introversion of the senses,” meaning the rise of the inner sensuality in the realm of ecstatic bliss, resulting from daily deep meditation, spinal breathing pranayama and related practices, as we continue to integrate the results in our normal daily activity.

Pratyahara is actually an expansion of the senses inward to a level of experience that is more pleasant than most external sensory experiences may be. So there can be a natural tendency to favor the inner experience, which could be interpreted as a “withdrawal” from external sensuality. But this is only the beginning of pratyahara, Gradually, external sensuality becomes enlivened by inner sensuality, with ecstatic bliss increasingly being found in the outer environment as well.

This is how we experience an outpouring of divine love into the environment. We are drawn to it via the refinement of sensory perception both inside and outside. Who could not fall in love with the direct perception of ecstatic bliss, the divine, coming up everywhere? So then what are we withdrawing from? Only the identification/attachment, which is the rise of the silent witness as we become the underlying spectator to the glory of it all.

And where is the ego in this? Everywhere and nowhere. It is just a stubborn idea of self-ness giving way to the universal Self-ness of abiding inner silence, the witness.

The entire process could be viewed as the advent of a kind of wealth, spiritual wealth. Not the kind of wealth that thieves could ever break in and steal. I bring this up because even the wealthiest person has to get up in the morning, put on their clothes, and go out and do what they do in the world. In other words, we continue to function as we always have through body, mind and senses, chopping wood and carrying water, as the Zen Buddhists say. With something important added - an unending flow of stillness in action and outpouring divine love, which is freedom. That is why we practice.

The guru is in you.

[Parallax (Matt)]

Excellent post…thank you Yogani