A Yogic Journey from Chitta to Clarity

Are You Living in Reality… or Just in Your Head?- Rishiputra Balayogi Dr. Anandaji

Namaste!

Whenever we hear the term Yogic Psychology, one question immediately arises: What exactly is the mind? Interestingly, the more we try to define it, the more mysterious it becomes.

There is an old saying that always makes me smile:

"What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind!"

It sounds like a clever joke, but hidden within it is an extraordinary truth. Yoga is not merely interested in understanding the mind. It is interested in helping us discover that which lies beyond the mind, for that is where real freedom begins.

The Blind Giant and the Wise Guide

Sankhya philosophy presents one of the most beautiful descriptions of creation. It tells us that existence rests upon two eternal principles—Purusha and Prakriti.

Purusha is pure consciousness. It sees everything but does nothing. Prakriti, on the other hand, is dynamic nature itself. She can create, transform and accomplish everything, but she cannot see the larger picture.

Imagine a blind giant carrying on his shoulders a wise sage who cannot walk. The sage can see the road but cannot move, while the giant can move but cannot see. Together they travel effortlessly.

That is the relationship between Purusha and Prakriti. Consciousness provides vision, while Nature provides action. As Maharishi Patanjali explains, they come together for two purposes—to experience life fully and ultimately to transcend it.

We Are the CCTV Cameras of Purusha

The Purusha Sukta describes Purusha as having thousands of heads, thousands of eyes and thousands of feet. Taken literally, it sounds more like a science-fiction monster than a divine reality!

Obviously that is not what the Veda intends. It is reminding us that our heads, our eyes, our hands and our feet are all instruments through which the Divine experiences creation.

• How does consciousness walk? Through our feet.

• How does it see? Through our eyes.

• How does it breathe? Through our breath.

I often tell students with a smile, "We are the CCTV cameras of Purusha!"

Once we understand this, life changes. Instead of believing that everything revolves around "me," we begin to appreciate that we are simply Nimitta—instruments through which the Divine expresses itself.

Chit and Chitta—The Difference Between Freedom and Bondage

Yoga distinguishes between Chit and Chitta.

Chit is pure consciousness—timeless, beginningless and endless. It simply is. Chitta is that same consciousness after it becomes manifest in the world.

The moment consciousness manifests, however, it becomes trapped within the cage called time. It suddenly has a past, a present and a future. Along with time comes memory, identity and anxiety.

"I was..."

"I am..."

"What will happen tomorrow?"

These are all the language of Chitta.

Meanwhile, Chit quietly smiles because it knows that everything is exactly as it should be. The challenge is that most of us spend our lives listening to the restless chatter of Chitta rather than the silent wisdom of Chit.

Clean the Lens, Not the World

Have you ever joined a Zoom meeting where everyone's image appears blurry? Usually there is nothing wrong with the people on the screen. The problem is simply that the camera lens is dirty. One quick wipe, and everything becomes clear.

Patanjali uses exactly the same principle.

The problem is rarely reality itself. More often, it is the lens through which we perceive reality.

If I place a red filter over the camera, everything appears red. A blue filter makes everything appear blue. The world has not changed; only the lens has.

Most people spend their lives trying to repaint the world. Yoga suggests something much simpler: clean your own lens first.

The Rope, the Snake and Our Imagination

Patanjali explains that our mind constantly goes through different modifications. Sometimes we perceive correctly. Sometimes we make mistakes.

The classical example is seeing a rope and mistaking it for a snake. It certainly frightens us, but at least there is no snake waiting to bite us.

Now imagine the opposite. You see a snake and confidently decide it is only a rope. That mistake could prove rather costly!

Yet Patanjali warns us about something even more dangerous—Vikalpa. Here there is neither rope nor snake. Everything exists only in our imagination.

Sadly, much of modern life is lived in Vikalpa. We create imaginary fears, imaginary enemies and imaginary catastrophes, and then spend enormous amounts of energy trying to solve problems that never actually existed.

"Keep Your Bloody Jack!"

One of my favourite stories illustrates this perfectly.

A traveller suffers a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere. Discovering he has no jack, he spots a farmhouse in the distance and walks towards it. Along the way his imagination takes over.

"What if the owner is unfriendly? What if he refuses? What if he insults me? What if he points a gun at me?"

By the time he reaches the door, he has already fought an entire imaginary battle.

A smiling gentleman opens the door and politely asks, "How may I help you?"

The traveller immediately shouts, "I don't want your bloody jack!" before storming away.

How often do we do exactly the same thing? We rehearse conversations that never happen, become angry about situations that never arise and react to people who have done absolutely nothing.

That is Vikalpa in action. We create hell while living in heaven.

Decluttering the Mind

Today, decluttering has become fashionable. We clean our wardrobes, organise our cupboards and recycle unwanted possessions. Yet very few people think about decluttering their minds.

Many continue to carry emotional baggage from decades ago. Someone served only one idli instead of two at a family gathering twenty years ago—and they are still upset!

The event lasted only a few seconds. The suffering has continued for decades.

Yoga gently reminds us that memory should become a teacher, not a prison. We need to learn from experience without allowing experience to imprison us.

As I often say, you can wear the chain around your neck, or you can use it to climb the mountain. The choice is yours.

Simplicity Is the Hallmark of Wisdom

Many seekers imagine that spirituality must be mysterious and complicated. They become fascinated by extraordinary experiences, mystical visions and exotic terminology.

There is nothing wrong with these experiences, but Yoga insists on one important quality—remain grounded.

In my experience, those who are genuinely evolving spiritually become remarkably simple. On the other hand, if someone keeps telling you how spiritually advanced they are while becoming increasingly complicated, it is wise to be cautious.

True wisdom simplifies life. It never complicates it.

Buddhi—Our Inner Compass

While Manas helps us interact with the world, Yoga places its greatest emphasis on Buddhi, the faculty of discernment.

Buddhi enables us to distinguish between the permanent and the temporary, truth and illusion, reality and imagination. Krishna therefore encourages us to become Buddhiman—human beings endowed with wisdom rather than merely information.

Knowledge fills the mind.

Wisdom illuminates life.

It is this awakened Buddhi that gradually dissolves Avidya, the confused knowing that lies at the root of human suffering.

Choosing Between Preyas and Shreyas

The Katha Upanishad beautifully teaches that every moment presents us with two paths—Preyas, the pleasant, and Shreyas, the beneficial.

The alarm rings.

Do we press the snooze button or begin our sadhana?

We enter a restaurant.

Do we choose what merely tastes good or what truly nourishes us?

Life is built upon thousands of such choices. Yoga is not practised only during meditation. It is practised every time we consciously choose Shreyas over Preyas.

Returning to Our True Nature

Ultimately, Yogic Psychology is not about endlessly analysing the mind. It is about seeing through it. It is about cleaning the lens, questioning our assumptions, decluttering our memories and refining our Buddhi until clarity naturally dawns.

Behind all the activity of Chitta lies the silent radiance of Chit. The light has never disappeared; it has merely been hidden behind layers of conditioning.

As these layers fall away, the inner light begins to shine of its own accord. Perhaps that is why the Gayatri Mantra is a prayer not simply for intelligence but for the illumination of our Buddhi.

May we cultivate the wisdom to clean the lens, the courage to question our own imagination and the humility to remember that we are not separate from life. We are the very instruments through which Life itself experiences its infinite possibilities.

Hari Om Tat Sat.