|
Making Real = “Be what you will” Patañjali’s
Algorithm for Becoming by The Druid Finn Introduction: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as Self-Help
guide. Two
thousand years ago, Patañjali distilled the secret
of self-transformation into an initial abstract of just four lines (or
threads). For centuries these have been read as mystical instructions for
meditation. But what if we reframe them as a practical algorithm—a
universal survival function—for anyone who wants to become a different
reality, who wants to turn (i.e. yoke) a dream into reality (to
identifiable realness)? Think of the
sutras set not as abstract metaphysics but as a basic step-by-step
self-help (actually self-completion) program, as relevant
in the twenty-first century as in the forests of India. Step 1: Start the Procedure (atha
yoga-anuśāsanam) Every
change begins with a decisive “Now.” Step 2: Enable Coherence (yogaḥ
citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ) Our
normal mind scatters attention in a thousand directions. Patañjali
defines yoga as the stilling of fluctuations (= scattering). In
practice: ·
Turn off distractions. ·
Breathe into one-pointed presence. ·
Aspire to: “One without a second.” Step 3: Apply Coherent Processing (tadā
draṣṭuḥ svarūpe
avasthānam) With
distractions cleared, the “seer” functions (now single-mindedly) at full
potential. This is the moment of maximum adaptability and creative power—like
the newborn, fresh, uncluttered, free. For
self-help: ·
Harness clarity to act. ·
Channel coherent attention into the chosen goal. ·
Every act now becomes a direct investment in real-making. Step 4: Become the Identified Real Unit (vṛtti-sārūpyam itaratra) Here lies
the art of self-transformation: not merely observing but actually
becoming the reality you have selected and stabilized. Focused
energy become identity. ·
If coherence holds → you become (complete,
indeed true as) the dream because you embody it, make it real. ·
If coherence falters → you drift in random
fluctuations, dissipated, unrealized, incomplete, untrue. This is
the razor’s edge of self-help: focus enough to embody your chosen self. The Missing Fifth Step: Make It Real Patañjali, existing in an analogue
world, stops short of naming the decisive act: the quantum leap from (digital)
possibility into (analogue) actuality. Realness
requires actual contact. Send the message, build the prototype, speak the
vow, step into the arena. Without striking nothing becomes real. Implications for the Self-Help Seeker ·
Universal survival algorithm: Any
system—human, cell, or dream—survives by initializing, cohering, contacting,
becoming. ·
Quantum mirror: Potential collapses into
actual when coherent energy quantum meets a surface (as alternate energy
quantum). ·
Evolutionary law: Survival
is not wishful thinking; it is disciplined coherence plus real contact. ·
Bridge to modern life: Patañjali’s ancient sūtras
foreshadow today’s productivity and manifestation methods—but with deeper
roots. Conclusion: From Fluctuation to Fulfilment The Yoga Sūtras 1–4 set as abstract (from the rest of the
sutras suggesting specific applications), reframed as a self-help manual, are
not about escaping life but making it real. They outline the minimal
algorithm for turning noise into form, possibility into embodiment, dream
into fact. Patañjali’s wisdom is not esoteric but
pragmatic: focus, process, strike, become. Addendum: The Long Tradition of Self-Help Far from
being uniquely yogic, these steps echo more ancient cultural self-help
strategies emerging across India around 500 BCE—Sāṃkhya,
Buddhism, Jainism—all designed as selected artificial survival upgrades
for the human condition. Patañjali’s text is a
late, systematic compilation, not an invention. The basic survival, meaning
adaptation algorithm,
of which the sutra set serves as artificial, hence more efficient local
adaptation procedure, is natural, hence universal, written into the equipment
of life itself. |