Finding Santosha in an Unexpected Place

Contentment through acceptance

- Ms. Simone Preuss

In June last year, I joined a class on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the third chapter in particular, Vibhuti Pada.

It talks about the last three steps of Ashtanga Yoga, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, which constitute Antaranga or external Yoga. Upon mastery of those three steps, Siddhis will follow - achievements that seem supernatural to the uninitiated. Among them levitation, knowledge of the past and future and even past lives, disappearance of the body and more.

As we were progressing about one Sutra a week and the chapter has 55 Sutras, it took us more than a year to finish. Each week, I was looking forward to this Sutra class, missing it only if I absolutely had to due to travel or work commitments. I also took diligent notes and often watched the recording that the teacher kindly provided.

Soon, I had a document that was growing by pages and pages every week, filled with new Sanskrit words and fantastical concepts. I learned that it is possible to read the mind of another, (only the general area though, not the contents). Or that through Samyama (doing Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi on the same object, subsequently) on portents, one could know one's own time of death.

Before that, we learned about the three stages of the evolved mind - Nirodha Parinama, Samadhi Parinama and Ekagrata Parinama. Such a mind sheds Vrittis (thoughts) and mutates its