desassossego
栖栖惶惶 bông-bông-biáu-biáu
>> Mar 08, 2009
兩種練習:abhyasa/sadhna

做功課時不小心看到的一則詞辨:

There is a great difference between just practicing and sadhna. Sadhna is the way of accomplishing something. That something is -- by effecive performance and correct execution -- the achievement of the real. What is real must be true and so lead us toward purity and emancipation. This is yoga sadhna and not the mechanical repetition merely of yoga practice or yogabhyasa. The end of yoga sadhna is wisdom. You might translate yoga sadhna here as "the yoga pilgrimage" as it is a journey that leads somewhere, not the mere treadmill of thoughtless practice.

這是 B.K. S. IyengarLight On Life 裡說的(p.167)。

我想到的 abhyasa,是 Patañjali 的 Yoga Sutra 裡(1.12)提到的:

abhysa vairagyabhyam tan nirodhah

These thought patterns (vrittis) are mastered (nirodhah) through practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya).

Yoga Sutra 1.12 的上文(1.6 ~ 1.11)指出要藉由 abhyasa 和 vairagya 來學習到如何控制諸如 viparyaya、vikalpa 等等五種 vrittis 的變化。vairagya 通常譯成「離欲」,和上下文的關係很清楚,應無疑義;但如果依 Iyengar 對於 abhyasa 的詮釋("the mechanical repetition merely of yoga practice or yogabhyasa"),來理解 Patañjali 的這句話,似乎就可能覺得 Yoga Sutra 這段話有點難懂了。(或者應該去找 Iyengar 的 Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali,讀讀裡面的解釋,再來比較這則詞辨才對。)


*1. 其實才剛讀 Iyengar 的大作,完全不敢有什麼不敬之意,也沒有雞蛋裡挑骨頭的意圖。只是剛好這邊有個同名的 category,算是自己做點筆記,提醒自己一下。以我目前的程度,覺得 "the mere treadmill of thoughtless practice" 也不是什麼壞事啊。希望自己還能安於這樣的練習,不用腦子思想,也不求什麼別的。練習就是練習,聽起來也不錯嘛。(我似乎可以聽到以中老師在一旁喊說,「要感覺啦」。 XD)
*2. 順便紀錄一下,今天是第一次嘗試一大早的練習,Savasana 起來之後,看到時鐘顯示八點四十。雲散天清,從教室看出去視野真好,精神也舒爽。預計再一個星期之後,就調成主要在早上練習囉。