1.41 Pure as a crystal

1.41 Free from distractions, the mind and heart of the yogi become pure, like a crystal reflecting completely and without distortion whatever is in front of it (samapatti).

This is the entrance to meditation. The word used in this verse is samapatti which means yielding, giving way and coming together. When you release your expectations and opinions, when you let go of who you think you are, all aspects of you come together, there is no illusion of separation between body and mind or between inside and outside. Then, there is no need for reactivity. In other words, you sense with great clarity. Rather than trying to comment on what you are experiencing; your perception becomes a clear window. Usually, all your experiences are colored by your past, including your preferences, previous events and the impressions they left on you. For instance, for the person who was ridiculed in school, taking a class as an adult may generate anxiety because of the impressions left by early experiences. As a result, that person’s perspective on the class may be clouded by his past impressions. Your ways of being are all accumulations of these previous experiences that still have an effect on your attitudes, thoughts, emotions and actions. Once the ways of being are effectively neutralized, whatever is in front of you can be perceived without distortions. As the object is removed, the mind does not cling to it. Instead the mind remains calm and open. This is the threshold of integration (samadhi).

When you rest your mind on an object or idea, how clearly do you perceive it? If distractions emerge, how do they manifest? Are these distractions sensations, thoughts, words, images? What effect does the distraction have on your internal experience? Does the distraction or obstacle generate reactivity? To what extent are the distractions related to your expectations? Do your distractions entangle you in an ever-growing web of stories that pull you away from your focal object and your direct experience? Are some distractions connected to who you think you are, used to be or should be? Can these questions be a path to releasing distractions and apprehending what is in front of you with greater accuracy and without interference?

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:

1.41 kṣīṇavṛtterabhijātasyeva maṇergrahītṛgrahaṇagrāhyeṣu
tatsthatadañjanatā samāpattiḥ
क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु तत्स्थतदञ्जनता समापत्तिः ॥४१॥

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

• kṣīṇa
• vṛtteḥ
• abhijātasya
• iva
• maṇeḥ
• grahītṛ
• grahaṇa
• grāhyeṣu
• tat
• stha
• tat
• añjanatā
• samāpattiḥ

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