**1) Name what Master Patanjali calls “the one and only crucial practice” for stopping the various spiritual obstacles he lists in the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra.** This one crucial practice is to master the Four Infinite Thoughts: infinite love, infinite compassion, infinite joy, and infinite equanimity. **2) Why are the Infinite Four called “infinite”? Give also the Sanskrit for the name of this group—the Infinite Four—and some English cognates.** The Infinite Four are called “infinite” because they are thoughts that we feel towards an infinite number of beings—beings living upon infinite worlds. They also produce a result which is infinite, or never-ending: a self-perpetuating, upward cycle of goodness. The Sanskrit term for Infinite Four is *chatur apramana* cturàma\[*. Chatur* means “four,” and is found in the English words “quarter” and “square.” *A* is the initial negative, found in “atheist” and “amoral.” *Pra* means “ahead” or “really,” and comes in “proud,” “prow,” or “super.” *Mana* comes from the root √*ma* ma*,* “to measure,” and is found in “meter,” “measure,” and ultimately in “mind.” The whole combination together then means “not measurable.” **3) Describe the first of the Infinite Four as listed by Master Patanjali; then give the Sanskrit word for it, its root, and some cognates.** The first of the Infinite Four here in the Yoga Sutra is infinite love. It is described as the wish and decision to see that all beings in all worlds achieve happiness. The Sanskrit word here is *maitri* mEÇI*,* which ultimately comes from the root √*mih* imhœ*,* to “mix” or “mingle.” Some cognates are “mix” and “match”; the name “Maitreya” also comes from this root. **4) Now describe the second of the Infinite Four; the Sanskrit word for it; the root, and cognates.** The second of the Infinite Four is infinite compassion. This means the wish and decision to see that all beings in all worlds attain freedom from pain. The Sanskrit word is *karuna* ké\[a*,* which comes from an old root √*kirr* k© *,* meaning “to cover” (in the sense of “protect”). Some cognates are “crypt” and “grotto.” **5) Describe the third of the Infinite Four; the Sanskrit, its root, and cognates.** The third of the Infinite Four is infinite joy. This is not defined in the way that the name might normally suggest; rather, it consists of the wish and decision to see that all beings attain ultimate happiness: the freedom from all forms of negative emotions, and the transformation into an angel of light. The Sanskrit word here is *mudita* muidt*,* which ultimately comes from a root *√mad* mdœ*,* “to be exhilarated.” This is found in the English “mad,” “mead” (an intoxicating drink); the French, Spanish, and Russian words for “honey” (“meil” or “myod,” meaning the honey which was fermented to make mead); and “amethyst” (“a-methyl,” or “not-drunk” from alcohol, because the ancients believed that keeping a small piece of amethyst under your tongue at a drinking party would prevent you from becoming intoxicated, regardless of how much liquor you consumed). **6) Describe finally the last of the Infinite Four, along with the Sanskrit word, its root, and cognates.** The last of the Infinite Four is infinite equanimity, referring to a wish and decision to see that all living beings on all worlds reach a state where they no longer possess the bias of wishing well to relatives and friends and others that they feel close to, while ignoring those that they don’t feel so close to. The Sanskrit word here is *upeksha* %pe\]a*,* composed of *upa* and *iksha.* *Upa* here means “over,” and is found in the word “up.” *Iksha* comes from a root √*aksh* A\]\! *,* meaning “to attain,” that later took on the connotation of “seeing,” since it was believed that the power of vision reached out and grabbed its objects. This root is found in the English words “ocular” and “eye” (coming as it does from the German *auge*). **7) Master Patanjali goes on at this point to briefly clarify the meaning of “equanimity.” Comment on two things he *doesn’t* have in mind here.** First of all, the point of “equanimity” is not at all to suggest that we simply strive to reach a point where we *don’t care about anything.* The point is not to reach a point where we don’t feel anything towards anyone—but rather a point where we *love all beings equally.* Another misconception at this point arises because Master Patanjali mentions “pleasure and pain” and then “good deeds and bad deeds.” Some people have said that this implies that—just as at a preliminary stage we learn not to be swayed by good or bad feelings—we should come to see that there is no difference between good and bad in a moral sense: between good deeds and bad deeds. Or, they say, we should learn not to be attached to the outcome or fruits of our actions—try to do good things, and don’t expect them to produce anything good. But the whole point here is that Master Patanjali is saying that *good deeds do produce pleasure or happiness, and bad deeds do produce pain,* and that we can certainly expect or count on this kind of fruit from our deeds: this is the very principle that makes enlightenment possible in the first place. Knowing how good and bad results come from good and bad deeds, we can thus maintain equanimity, where we can see past the apparent, immediate results of our actions, and feel a calm certainty and equanimity that the good which we do can never lead to anything less than good, and ultimate good. **8) Describe the four stages in the progression that our feelings for others go through as we get better and better at practicing the Infinite Four.** This progression is described in the Tibetan texts very sweetly. With each of the Infinite Four, we say to ourselves first “How wonderful it would be if…” and then add the infinite thought that we are working on. With the first one, infinite love, it would be “How wonderful it would be if every living being on every world had every happiness they ever wished for.” Then we bring on this feeling even stronger, and make a prayer for this to happen: “I pray that this will happen: that every being on every world gets every happiness they ever wish for.” Next we crank the feeling up to a strong decision or resolution, a sense of personal responsibility that I will see to it that this happens, even if no one else ever helps me or even thinks it’s a good thing to do: “I will see to it that every being in every world gets everything they ever wished for.” Then finally we make a prayer for our Teachers and all the holy beings in history and throughout the universe to help us: “And I ask my Teacher and every holy being who ever lived, throughout the universe, to grant me the power to make this happen.” **9) The Infinite Four are by tradition a means to reach the direct realization of an ultimate form of love possessed by bodhisattvas (which can be translated as “warrior saint”). Name and speak a bit about this ultimate form of love. Then give the Sanskrit word, its roots, and English cognates both for the love and for the warrior saints who possess it.** This ultimate form of love is known as “the wish for enlightenment,” or *bodhichitta* baeixicÄ in Sanskrit: the love of a bodhisattva. This is simply the wish to become a being of light who can go to all worlds at the same moment and serve every living being on each of these worlds. Yoga as we know it in the West is a very powerful means of becoming this being, since it directly affects the inner channels and can thus eventually trigger a body of light and an all-knowing mind. A very important point to remember here is that *the best we can serve others is to practice regularly and correctly, so that we can first become this high type of being*—and then be in a position to truly teach others how to become this being. Ultimate love then has a strong component of reaching ultimate happiness ourselves, so that we can then truly guide others to it. There is nothing of this idea that we can’t or shouldn’t achieve ultimate happiness instead of others; rather, we achieve ultimate happiness ourselves, for the sake of others: so we can take others there. The Sanskrit word for this ultimate love—*bodhichitta*—comes from the two words *bodhi* baeix*,* meaning “awakening” or “enlightenment,” and *chitta* icÄ*,* meaning “wish” or “mind” or “attitude*.*” (By the way, it does *not* mean “mind of enlightenment” or “enlightenment mind” in the sense of a mind which is *already* enlightened, but rather the wish to become enlightened, or reach a body of light for all living beings.) The root for *bodhi* is √*budh* bux\! *,* meaning “to awaken”; English cognates are “bid” or “forbid,” from an old root meaning “to announce” or “make people aware of something.” And of course the word *Buddha* comes from this root. The root for *chitta* is √*chit* ict\! *,* meaning “to know or perceive.” The old Indo-European root here is √*kweit,* meaning “to shine,” here in the sense of the light of our mental awareness. The “k” drops off to form the English words “white” and “wheat” (a grain which, when milled into flour, becomes bright white). Finally, the *sattva* in *bodhisattva* comes from the root √*as* As\!*,* meaning “to be” and thus “to be true.” It is found in the English words “is” and “was” and “essence,” and as *sattva* came to mean a warrior, or a “real” man or woman.