Surya,
“Of course Yoga is about control”
Effort is certainly needed, but effort in itself is not enough. Does a mirror reflect by it’s own nature, or does a lotus chase after it’s own fragrance ? Your own true nature is not something that can be done as an effort of the mind, much less living in communion with it. And along the path, there comes a point where if you continue pedaling the wheels of your effort, you will simply stagnate. Because beyond the second dhyana, it is impossible to progress forward through either concentration, contemplation, or any conscious effort of the mind. That would be like trying to still the lake by throwing stones in it.
““The very definition of Yoga is to still the modifications of the field of mind””
To do so through your own will is like trying to grasp the vastness of space into your fist.
“When you are not doing Yoga, you are allowing your mind to run by its own tendencies”
Yoga is enlightenment itself. It simply means union. If you are living in a direct communion with your true nature, then you are in a state of yoga. Neither is it a problem if the mind functions according to it’s own tendencies. The problem is that you have made such a thing into a problem because one is unable to have an experience of mind without clinging to whatever arises in the field of the senses. The moment the mind becomes identified with anything at all, one loses all clarity of perception, one has become the slave rather than remain centered as the master.
All that is needed is just a certain gap of space in your experience between the Witness within oneself and that which is witnessed. Once you can remain a witnessing consciousness from moment to moment without identifying with anything whatsoever, then you have come to a certain freedom beyond measure. Then you can remain in the mind but not of the mind, with a consciousness which is just like a mirror reflecting. And that is what has been called as sahaja samadhi in the yogic sciences, when your samadhi becomes as natural and spontaneous as your own breath. The mind is not something that one necessarily needs to control, the purpose is to liberate the mind.
“the purpose of Yoga is to gain mastery of the mind. If you become a master of your mind, then you will become a master of matter as well. Hence a master of the universe.”
Once, Matsu went to master Nanyue. Nanyue asked, “What do you intend by doing sitting meditation?”
Matsu said, “I am intending to be a Buddha.”
Nanyue picked up a brick and started polishing it.
Mazu said, “What are you doing?”
Nanyue said, “I am trying to make a mirror.”
Mazu said, “How can you make a mirror by polishing a brick?”
Nanyue said, “How can you become a Buddha by doing sitting meditation?”
Mazu said, “What do you mean by that?”
Nanyue said, “Think about driving a cart. When it stops moving, do you whip the cart or the horse?”
Mazu said nothing.
Nanyue said, “Do you want to practicing sitting meditation or sitting Buddha? If you understanding sitting meditation, you will know that it is not about sitting or lying down. If you want to learn sitting Buddha, know that sitting Buddha is without any fixed form. Do not use discrimination in the non-abiding Truth. If you practice sitting as a Buddha, you must first kill the Buddha. If you are attached to the sitting form, you are not yet mastering the essential principle.”