Sutra's 11-14 and Bible Study

Sutra 11

The fluctuation of consciousness created by gross and subtle afflictions are to be silenced by meditation. (Patanjali Sutras by Iyengar)

There are many passages to quote from the Bible that tell us to focus only on God, His great works, His grace, His Spirit, and worry about nothing else. In Christian contemplative meditation, the student sits in silence clearing all thoughts from the mind and emptying his thoughts to the space that separates us from God. We are also warned in the Bible not to be boastful or proud of our knowledge, but to be humble and loving to everyone who comes close to us even prisoners and the poor. Our conscious and unconscious thoughts truly get in the way of being in love, which is what God wants. To read more about meditation, Psalm 119 is full of wisdom that explains the challenges and grace that come when meditation on God. Training our mind to focus on God and His commands is a full time job; we are prone to sin by nature. Yet, this is not an excuse to sin, but a challenge to train and will our minds through meditation and study to follow God’s commands with all our heart and walk in his light. I believe meditation is a great way to train the mind away from it’s fluctuations and toward God. I think the Bible and this sutra are in agreement.

Sutra 12

The accumulated imprints of past lives, rooted in afflictions, will be experienced in present and future lives

As Christians, we do not believe in past lives or future lives. So this sutra does not align with Christian beliefs. However, when reading into what Iyengar states in his description of what Patanjali is stating, he focuses more on the universal law of karma. The Bible does talk about cause and effect. One example is our commandment, ‘Do unto your neighbor as you would have done unto yourself.’ In Ezekiel 33: 9 “But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so , he will die for his sin, but you will be saved yourself” Here we are saved for our good acts, and also punished for our wicked acts, cause and effect, or karma.

The life after death we do believe in is the eternal life with Christ in heaven when we are raised upon His returning. John 5:25-30 expresses this belief and the effects of leading a sinful life. Jesus says:

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Now who can say it better than Jesus himself? Yes, our actions now affect our future.

As Christians, we believe a person has only one life. Many prayers and consequences given by God in the Bible are on behalf of generations past and generations yet to come. This is a clue to me that we are all tied together through time. When we act, it affects ourselves personally as well as the Church as a whole-past, present, and future.

The Bible both agrees and disagrees with this sutra.

Sutra 13

As long as the root of actions exists, it will give rise to class of birth, span of life and experiences.

This sutra too relates to Karma. Again, we do not believe in past lives, so our actions today will not affect our class of birth. Only God knows that. I believe our span of life is a mixture of human will and God’s divine plan. No one knows when they are going to pass, but we all know it will happen eventually. In Sutra 11, the Bible only agrees that our actions today do have cause and effect on our experiences in this life and in the life to come. Other than that this sutra goes against what God teaches.

Sutra 14

According to our good, bad or mixed actions, the quality of our life, its span, and the nature of birth experienced as being pleasant or painful.

Again, Patanjali is focusing on Karma yoga and actions that cause pain or pleasure in one’s lifetime. Since he pressed this point three times, I have had time to contemplate and study about good and evil actions, and the importance of following God’s commands. In the gospels of Luke, John, and Mark, as well as many of Peters letters, neither they nor Jesus state (that I can find) that we can live a life of evil and sin and not be punished/judged for it. They all say to follow God’s commands, to love each other and serve God with all our hearts. They all say that the Holy Spirit lives within each of us (as believers of Jesus Christ) and we have free will to live by his commandments or ignore them. In Matthew 4 Jesus himself was tempted by Satan, Jesus had to choose good from bad, his own actions, his quality of life. He knew that choosing the father God would end up with him being rejected by the people crucified, yet he told Satan 4:10 “Away from me, Satan! For it is written Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

In Luke 14:25-35, the Bible tells us to weigh our actions (choices) even when choosing to be a disciple of Jesus. Everything has a cost and we all have free will. Read Luke 14:25-35 to sum it up. We must be willing to drop everything including all human comforts, our families, and our own lives to be true disciples of God. This poses the question: If we do less than this, do we deserve nothing for our good works? God gives us the free will to choose our own actions and to choose Him over our own lives. Like the great servant Job, at any moment you maybe used for a greater purpose in God’s great plan. Sometimes that is very difficult, painful, or even deadly. But as Christians, we have the promise that all who serve God with a whole heart will be rewarded in heaven.

So no matter how perfect you think you are as a Christian, we all sin. No matter how much you think you deserve for your good behavior, you may suffer greatly for your faith in Jesus. Yet, we are all to strive to be in control of our human frailties and live in Jesus’ light following Gods commands with a joyous heart, no matter what is going on in our mortal lives. This is faith, this is yoga, and this is being a servant of God.

The Bible agrees and disagrees with Sutra’s 11-14 because there is cause and effect. How much pain or pleasure we experience as servants in God’s greater plan is not determined by how good we behave, but by how well we hold onto our faith and connect with his Holy Spirit.