Pratyāhāra, the fifth limb of Patanjali’s eight limbs, is commonly described as ‘withdrawal’—to be able to withdraw your mind and senses from the external world. For many this has been interpreted as avoiding, ignoring or denying the senses. This interpretation has contributed to viewing the world in a negative way, as if it was the enemy of spirituality. I think this perspective has limited our consciousness, isolated us from nature, inhibiting spiritual evolution by reinforcing the schism that divides the world into good and bad and separates us from nature. Pratyāhāra, at least from a bhakti yoga perspective, is more inclusive than exclusive. “Bhakti loves senses,” as Shyamdas would say. So, what is pratyāhāra, and how do we practice it and what does it have to do with Yoga—with God realization, and healing our disconnection from nature?
God and the creation are not separate. It is us who have disconnected ourselves from God and from the world. If we can work on changing our perception of what we think of and see as mundane and what we think of and see as spiritual, we may have a chance at yoga. When we can offer all our activities to God, the higher Self, that which is beyond our own ego, when we bring bhakti, love for God, into our daily life then our life becomes sparkly and magical—certainly not mundane.
Patanjali speaks of this in several ways: For example, in the first chapter, when he talks about Īśvara —offering your prāṇa —your life (PYS I.23), to God as the most direct means to yoga. Another place in the sutra is in the second chapter when he speaks about pratyāhāra as one of the practices that can bring you closer to yoga. PYS II.54, and – PYS II.55. When the senses reflect the mind and the mind is filled with love for God, then your senses will perceive God internally as well as externally.
In the fourth chapter, Patanjali reminds us that everything we see is coming from inside of us, it is a projection of our minds (PYS IV.15). This sutra tells us that there really is no ‘out there,’ out there. The source of all we see is within us. The bhakti master, Shyamdas would speak a lot about nirodhaḥ as being a form of renunciation. Pratyahara is akin to nirodhaḥ. Nirodhaḥ happens naturally when one develops bhakti. Bhakti transforms the person so that they cease to identify with the citta vṛttis of the mind and begin to see, to realize, God’s presence in the world as well as in their hearts. They begin to understand what yoga means, what Patanjali was talking about when he described yoga in PYS I.2. Yoga, the remembrance of your connection to the eternal, happens when you go beyond thoughts because your true nature is beyond thoughts, beyond the body and mind. Pratyāhāra means seeing God everywhere—Sarvātmabhāv.
When I asked my teacher, Pattabhi Jois, to explain to me what pratyāhāra was, he pointed to a wall and asked:
- “What is this? What do you see?”
- “A wall?”
- “Then you must practice pratyāhāra until you can see not just a wall, but God.”
Yeah, but how do you practice it? Chanting God’s name, chanting a mantra like śrī kṛṣṇaḥ śaraṇaṁ mama is a good way to practice pratyahara and transcend the mundane thoughts and attitudes that the chitta vṛttis exemplify. Mantras have the power to cut through the discursive mind stuff, allowing the light of reality to shine through. Pratyāhāra purifies your perception of reality and helps you to experience the presence of God everywhere and in everyone. The true crisis in our world today is not social, political or economic. Our human crisis is a crisis of consciousness, an inability to directly experience our true eternal divine blissful nature within us, and an inability to recognize this nature in everyone, including other animals, trees, rivers—as well as in all things. The practice of pratyāhāra provides a practical means to remove avidyā , the ignorance within us that deceives us into thinking that we are a supreme species and the world, and all Earthlings must either be conquered, enslaved or made to bend to our will or whim, or it is a place to be avoided all together if we want to awaken spiritually.
Pratyāhāra ultimately awakens us to the direct experience of reality by refining our perception of it. It is a daily practice that can be done while you are awake, dreaming or sleeping. It is a powerful transformational practice of giving and remembering. Awakening to the remembrance of the divine through mantra is a pratyahara practice. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gīta gives us a few more practical suggestions that involve seva, lovingly offering all our actions to God first before we partake. The yogi doesn’t go anywhere without God, doesn’t enjoy anything without God. The yogi invites God to come with them everywhere they go, whether it’s to dinner or to a show. They walk with God, they talk with God, they cook for God, they eat and drink with God, they sing and dance for and with God, they enjoy life with God. Because every smell, taste, sight, touch and sound they experience is shared with God, those senses become elevated.
To engage in seva, in this way, offering your sense organs to the Lord’s service will help you to feel God’s presence in your mind, your heart, and your life—then Māyā’s veil of mundanity is lifted to reveal the truth—that this is all God’s Leela. This is what pratyāhāra is about. When you redirect your senses, shifting your attention to the divine and are filled with His presence—that is true renunciation. When your senses withdraw away from the mundane and are given, as an offering, to the divine, then to the bhakta, what was mundane before becomes divine now!
