The Yoga Concept of Vyuham

Vyuham is the strategy or arrangement that explains the process of human life and guides us through the path of achieving salvation. The strategy lays out the various steps starting with heyam, the symptom (the way we act / feel / behave), hetu, the cause (what makes us act or feel a certain way) and ways to break away from this cycle to attain hanam, the goal (freedom or liberation).

Heyum the symptom is also interpreted as duhkham or sorrow. Everything we do in our life is governed by sorrow and our desire to avoid this sorrow at all costs. This feeling of sorrow is within us and is created by us due to avidya or lack of correct understanding. Avidya is one of the five kleshas (afflictions), and the root cause of the other four kleshas, asmita (ego), raga (excessive desire), dvesa (hatred) and abhinivesa (fear). Buried even deeper than the kleshas are the gunas (primary characters) – rajas (action), tamas (inertia) and satva (pure and illumined), the fluctuations of which also cause duhkham.

Two distinct but related models can be used to understand the role of avidya and gunas in causing duhkham. One model explores the idea that Purusa and Prakriti are separate, and that our inability to understand the link between the two in an appropriate way, due to avidya, leads to duhkham. Purusa (the unchanging self) sees prakriti (the ever changing mind, senses and objects). The mind is dominated by activities. It is constantly dragged outward by the senses towards objects. The mind not only imprints these objects, it also records it as memory and creates patterns. All of this activity makes the mind cloudy, blocking the purusa from seeing what ‘is’ with clarity. Keeping the mind clear like a windshield, allows the purusa to observe and enjoy the beauty of creation without preconceived notions or impressions. With continued practice over time, the mind becomes a mirror, and reflects the inner self. Often times we believe that we are the mind simply because it is easier to understand than the much more subtle energy of purusa. Recognizing the distinction between the purusa and prakriti even in a small way, will help us control our ego, desire, hatred or fear, which govern our daily actions and interactions with others. Acting outside of these afflictions is the only way to eliminate duhkham.

The law of karma model gives a better idea of how gunas impact our actions at a deeper level. All of us are born with a certain svabhava (innate potential), based on our past actions, and governed by the unique combination of the three gunas. Our experiences may be similar but our reaction to the experience may be different due to our svabhava. Although we cannot control the consequences of our past actions and we have to experience the duhkham we have already incurred, we can control the actions we do now in order to prevent future suffering. Memories (smriti) over time become patterns (samskara), get embedded as impressions (vasanas) and are carried by the soul into its next life as svabhava. At some point the soul gets tired of this continuous cycle and wants to break away from this path. The only way a negative samskara can be changed is by creating a much stronger positive samskara. A positive action with a negative intention is much worse than a negative action with a positive intention. It therefore behooves us to change our actions at the intention level.

Both of these models, whether they are about keeping that windshield clear or creating fewer vasanas, are referencing the same goal of freedom or liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The only way to break away from this cycle and move into the path of liberation is by living life within our dharma, following the two main principles - ahimsa and satya. It is easier to follow these principles when we have the ability to distinguish between purusa and prakriti. This ability can be fostered by constant auditing and evaluation of the thought process. In other words, when we have the continuous uninterrupted discriminatory ability, the samskara within us is burned. To be able to do this auditing and evaluation we need a calm and focused mind. Here is where yoga comes in. The consistent practice of the eight limbs of yoga helps us, step by step, in reaching this path, starting with calming the mind, improving our ability to conduct honest self-enquiry, and gradually clearing the clouded misperceptions.