4.22 Your fundamental nature is embodied consciousness

4.22 When the ways of being are stilled, individual awareness experiences its fundamental nature as embodied consciousness.

Deepening the exploration of the nature of existence, awareness and their relationship, this sutra indicates the core idea in the Yoga Sutra presented in sutras 1.3 and 1.4. Your individual sense of being can identify with your ways of being or with its natural state (the state of yoga), consciousness. There are many models of the relationship between nature and Consciousness. One predominant perspective states that there is a fundamental split between Consciousness and nature or between spirit and body. Other viewpoints maintain that the world is just materiality, and thus, only what can be explained in terms of observable phenomena is real. Examining your own perspective on the nature of the relationship between your sense of aliveness and your experiences provides a concrete way to delve into the meaning of this sutra. Becoming aware of your assumptions can help you identify how your assumptions may be influencing your perspective and understanding.

If you think that all that exists is only what can be experienced through your senses, how will that assumption influence your understanding and your actions?
How do your thoughts, which have no materiality, influence your physical body and physiological processes?
To what extent are your experiences only about your senses?
How can your experiences of friendship, kindness, compassion, and love be explained by your current assumptions?
Is it possible that you are embodied consciousness?
In other words, can your physical manifestation be a vehicle for conscious awareness to experience the world?
If you are embodied consciousness, are your ways of being contributing to enhancing your experience of Universal Consciousness?
Are your ways of being detracting from your experience of universal aliveness?

Another idea you may consider is that everything in existence is one organism manifesting in a myriad of forms conducive to recognizing the interconnectedness between everything that exists.
Could that perspective illuminate how what appears to be coincidences may be synchronicities of countless elements coming together for a purpose?

As usual, one more way of exploring the meaning of this sutra is by chanting it.
You can choose to chant it in its traditional form with some of the words coming together:

4.22 citerapratisaṃkramāyāḥ tadākārāpattau svabuddhi saṃvedanam
चितेरप्रतिसंक्रमायाः तदाकारापत्तौ स्वबुद्धि संवेदनम् ॥२२॥

Another option is to chant each word in the sutra individually:

• citeḥ
• apratisaṃkramāyāḥ
• tat
• ākāra
• āpattau
• sva
• buddhi
• saṃvedanam

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This is an excerpt from the book Unravel the thread: Applying the ancient wisdom of yoga to live a happy life

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