Stopping Time

Yesterday we discussed samyama, when 3 hours feels like 10 minutes. Today we are going to look into why this happens and how it relates to reaching samadhi.

Yoga Sutra III.53 says, "By samyama on moment and on the continuous flow of moments, the yogi gains exalted knowledge, free from the limitations of time and space."  

Let's start with a nice logic based preface; Einstein’s theories of relativity, specifically the concept of time dilation. This theory explains that the passage of time depends on the motion of the observer. The example often given to illustrate this theory is of an astronaut traveling near the speed of light then returning to Earth to find that more time had passed there than he had observed on his journey. In a similar way, when engaged in meditation, or samyama, an hour can pass by in what seems like a few minutes. In samyama, the ‘motion’ of the mind has come to a stand-still, thus arresting time in the gross world and allowing the consciousness (the observer) to ‘travel at light speed’ through the subtle world. 

Sutra IV.13 further discusses time; "The three phases of time (past, present, and future) intermingle rhythmically and interweave with the qualities of nature. They change the composition of nature's properties into gross and subtle."  (For a review of the qualities of nature see Sattvic Diet, April 28)

A single moment is pure. As it moves into the next moment, creating a chain of moments reaching into the past and the future, it is affected by the gunas and time takes on the qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas. Consider the quiet calm of an impending storm, when the whole world seems to stand perfectly still.  In that moment of stillness there is purity and the potential for anything. It is only when that moment goes into motion and moves into the future that the clouds suddenly break lose taking on the rajasic and tamasic qualities of a thunderstorm. 

Any moment has the capacity to absorb any combination of the qualities of nature, but will only do so when put into the movement of time. This relationship links the three phases of time and the three qualities of nature eternally. 

By samyama, the yogi can learn to live only in the pure moment of the present, the calm before the storm, unaffected by the past and the future and thus unaffected by the qualities of nature. No longer limited by time and space, the yogi attains samadhi.