# Focus and Stay **1) Give the name of the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra (in English and in Sanskrit); then explain its position within the other three chapters.**  The third chapter of the Yoga Sutra is called “The Chapter on Practice.”  The Sanskrit for this is Vibhuti Pada.  Here vibhuti corresponds to the Tibetan jorwa, meaning to apply oneself to a spiritual practice.  It can also mean application, and in the third chapter we learn practical applications of the various limbs of the yogic path.  The word pada refers to a leg or a section of a book.  The four chapters function like the four legs of a table, or the four cornerstones of the foundation of a house. Over the course of the four chapters of the Sutra, we pass three times through a description of the path to perfection. The first chapter, or cornerstone, of the Sutra is “The Chapter on Meditation.”  It presents the path to total purity through the five paths or stages of spiritual evolution which all of us will go through.  Advancement from one path to the next can only be accomplished in deep meditation; thus the name of the chapter. The second chapter is “The Chapter on the Way.”  Here we begin some very practical yoga methods to attain the meditation of the first chapter, as well as the wisdom which rides upon it.  Thus the first two chapters together then reflect yoga as a union of inner, mental methods and outer, physical methods or activities. The third chapter is a continuation of the famed ashtanga, or eight parts of the yogic path, which began in the second chapter.  It concentrates on the three “inner” parts.  Thus the second and third chapters considered together are again a complete presentation of the path to total purity.  The fourth chapter, called “The Chapter on Total Purity,” again presents the path to perfection, but from the viewpoint of specific details of the mental processes involved in reaching this state. **2) Name some of the important ideas that we will cover in the third chapter.** We will cover the last three of the eight limbs of yoga. Then we will discuss the many spiritual levels which can be achieved by using the three of these teamed together.  We’ll learn about the role of karmic seeds in meditation, and how reality itself works.  We will see how it’s actually true that we can learn to do miracles, such as speaking in tongues and reading other people’s minds.  We are introduced as well to the inner channels, chakras, and winds.  Finally, the different bodies or forms of an enlightened being are treated. **3) The opening lines of the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra are a continuation of the famed ashtanga: eight parts or limbs of the yogic path.  By way of review, name and describe very briefly the first five limbs of this path, which we covered in Chapter Two.  Include the Sanskrit for each of the five.** The first five of the eight limbs of yoga are: (1) Self-control, or yama.  Five are mentioned in the Sutra: avoiding harm to anyone, always telling the truth, never stealing from another, keeping sexual purity, and overcoming possessiveness. (2) Commitments, or niyama.  The five mentioned in the Sutra are to be clean; to be contented with whatever we have; to embrace hardships for higher goals; to engage in regular study; and to seek our Master’s blessings. (3) The physical poses, or asana.  Originally intended either as meditation poses or as exercises to enable one to stay still in deep meditation for long periods of time; working on the channels from the outside. (4) Control of the breath, or pranayama.  Breathing exercises which take advantage of the connection between the breath and the inner winds, or prana, in order to affect the inner channels and the thoughts which flow through them. (5) Withdrawal of the senses, or pratyahara.  Learning to simplify our lives and our homes, in order to increase our ability to concentrate on objects of high spiritual importance. ==**4) Say a little bit about the logic behind the order of the first five parts of the yogic path: how does each one set you up for the next?** The different forms of self-control prevent us from creating karmic obstacles to our practice.  Once we are clean of these obstacles, we can go ahead and create new and powerful good karma with the various commitments.  If we have this good karma, then we’ll be able to succeed at our physical yoga exercises.  These exercises increase our strength and flexibility, giving us the physical means of controlling the breath, as well as setting up the channels for the effects of breath practice.  Once we have mastered these two gross, outer, and easily measurable physical practices, we are ready to begin the deeper, inside practices.  To do this, we must first learn to withdraw the mind from the objects of the five physical senses, in order to concentrate the sixth sense of the mind. **5) In the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra, we meet the last three of the eight parts or limbs of the yogic path.  Name the first one of these, in both English and Sanskrit.  Also explain the Sanskrit name, give some related English words, and then describe the limb briefly.** The first of the last three limbs is focus, or dharana xar.  It is defined as “locking the mind on an object” during meditation.  This word comes from the Sanskrit root √dhir x& , which means to hold.  We see this root in the Sanskrit word dharma xmR, which means spiritual path and also a thing, meaning anything which holds its own essence.  It is also found in the English words farm and firm (both from a Latin word meaning firm or held strongly); as well as tree (something planted firmly in the ground) and true (firm as a tree). **6) Now name the seventh of the eight limbs; give its Sanskrit name; related English words; and describe the limb briefly.** The seventh of the eight limbs is fixation, or dhyana Xyan.  It is defined as staying on an object of meditation over a stretch of time.  The Sanskrit name here comes from the root √dhi  xI , meaning to think.  This is probably related to the English words think and feel. **7) Which of the limbs that come before these two is traditionally considered particularly important in developing them?** In order to gain this perfect ability to focus and fix the mind on an object in meditation, we must have a clear conscience.  We must be carefully following the yama, or different forms of self-control, perfectly avoiding harming any other living being. **8) Explain the vital role that the sixth and seventh of the eight limbs play in the direct perception of emptiness, or ultimate reality.  Explain why it’s important to see emptiness directly.** These two limbs together represent the ability to concentrate the mind absolutely, with no distraction.  This ability is called shamatha, and is a necessary platform or stillness of mind from which we can then see emptiness directly; that is, we cannot reach this absolutely necessary point without mastery over mental stillness.  Emptiness is such a powerful object that—once we see it directly—it quickly leads us to nirvana (the end of all negative thoughts) and to our final destiny of becoming an enlightened Angel who can help all beings.