Yoga Sutra: Liberation from All Bonds

K. Nizamis (accesstoinsight.org) and Ven. Thanissaro (translators), Yoga Sutra: "Bondage Discourse" (AN 4.10) edited by Dhr. Seven and Ellie Askew, Wisdom Quarterly, Oct. 11, 2019

"Meditators, there are four bonds (yokes, snares, traps, nooses) [Note 1]. What four?

1. The bond of sensuality (sensual craving) [2]

2. the bond of becoming (rebirth) [3]

3. the bond of (speculative) views [4]

4. the bond of ignorance. [5]

"What is the bond of sensual craving? Here a person fails to discern as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from sensuality.

"When one fails to discern these [the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape] then — with regard to [pleasing] sensual objects — one is obsessed with sensual passion, sensual delight, sensual attraction, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual fascination, and sensual craving. This is the bond of sensuality.

"How is one bound by becoming? Here a person fails to discern as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from becoming [incessant rebirth]. When one fails to discern these then — with regard to states of becoming — one is obsessed with passion for becoming, delight in becoming, attraction to becoming, infatuation with becoming, thirst for becoming, fever for becoming, fascination with becoming, craving for becoming. These are the bonds of sensuality and becoming.

"How is one bound to views? Here a person fails to discern as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from views. When one fails to discern these then — with regard to views — one is obsessed with a passion for views, a delight in views, an attraction to views, an infatuation with views, a thirst for views, a fever for views, a fascination with views, and a craving for views. These are the bonds of sensuality, becoming, and views.

"How is one bound to ignorance? Here a person fails to discern as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from the six sense fields [the media of the five senses with mind as the sixth]. When one fails to discern as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from the six sense fields then — with regard to ignorance concerning the six sense fields — one is obsessed with not knowing [6]. These are the bonds of sensuality, becoming, views, and ignorance.

"Ensnared by harmful, unskillful states — defiling, leading to further becoming [rebirth inseparably associated with disappointment, lack of fulfillment, dissatisfaction, and suffering], unhappy, resulting in disappointment and suffering and future rebirth, aging, and death — one is said to be bound and unfree. These are the four bonds.

• "Thus the bonds of sensual pleasure, becoming, views, and ignorance are bound up with harm (unskillful karma), unwholesome mental phenomena — defiling, leading to again-becoming (rebirth), painful, having suffering (disappointment) as fruit, and stretching forth to more rebirth, old age, and death — because of that, it is called ‘without peace or rest from bondage [7].’ These, meditators, are the four bonds."

Liberation by wisdom

"Now, there are in addition four releases (liberations, freedoms, unyokings) [8]. What four?

1. Release from sensuality
2. release from becoming
3. release from views
4. release from ignorance.

"What is release from sensuality? Here a person discerns as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from sensuality. When one discerns these then — with regard to sensual objects — one is no more obsessed with sensual passion, sensual delight, sensual attraction, sensual infatuation, sensual thirst, sensual fever, sensual fascination, or sensual craving. This is release from sensuality.

"How is one released from becoming? Here a person discerns as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from becoming. When one discerns these then — with regard to states of becoming — one is no more obsessed with passion for becoming, delight in becoming, attraction to becoming, infatuation with becoming, thirst for becoming, fever for becoming, fascination with becoming, or craving for becoming. This is release from sensuality and becoming.

"How is one released from views? Here a person discerns as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from views. When one discerns these then — with regard to views — one is no more obsessed with passion for views, delight in views, attraction to views, infatuation with views, thirst for views, fever for views, fascination with views, or craving for views. This is release from sensuality, becoming, and views.

"How is one released from ignorance? Here a person discerns as it actually is the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from the six sense fields. When one discerns them then — with regard to ignorance concerning the six sense fields — one is no more obsessed with not knowing. This is release from sensuality, becoming, views, and ignorance.

"Free of harmful, unskillful mental states — defiling, leading to further becoming, unhappy, resulting in disappointment and suffering and in future rebirth, aging, and death — one is said to now be free from all bonds [9]. These are the four releases."

Snared by the trap of sensual craving

and the bond of becoming,

snared by the trap of views,

enveloped by ignorance,

beings continue to wander on [10],

cycling through rebirths

onward toward death.

But those who see through sensual craving

and the trap of becoming (rebirth)
who cast off the bond of views

grow dispassionate

toward ignorance,

now free of all bonds,

they — the traps abandoned —

are sages free and awake indeed.

ALTERNATIVELY:

“Snared by the bond of sensual craving [for pleasure]
and by the bond of repeated rebirth
snared by the bond of [speculative] views
and enveloped by ignorance,
beings go around in the continued wandering on,
destined to rebirth and death.

“But those fully understanding sensual craving
and in every way the snare of rebirth
dispelling the lure of views
now free of ignorance
are released from all snares:
They, indeed, are the wise ones
having gone beyond all bonds.”

NOTES

1. Yogā (plural), from the root yuj, “to yoke, join, fasten, harness.” Yoga has many meanings, but its plainest senses are: “the act of yoking, attaching, joining, harnessing; a yoke or bond,” The English word “yoke” is a cognate of yoga. It is translated as “bond,” “bondage,” and “snare” to emphasize the negative connotations of the word in this sutra.

2. Kāma-yoga, as in kama-sutra, snare of sensualtiy.

3. Bhava-yoga: the noun form of the root bhū, “to become, to be,” is often translated as “becoming,” i.e., “coming into being or existence,” referring to the process of repeated birth and death, rebirth and redeath. Literally, however, the word may also be translated just as “becoming” (the dynamic, non-static form of being) since it is always altering and changing. In this sense, although it may sound strange and unfamiliar to us, it refers to the three major “states” or “modes” of “becoming” (living, existing, transforming) into which beings may be reborn: namely, kāma-bhava, or the mode of becoming characterized by sensual pleasure and craving; rūpa-bhava, the mode of becoming characterized by phenomenal form purified from the attachments and distortions of craving; and arūpa-bhava, the mode of becoming characterized by phenomenal formlessness (which may therefore be described as a kind of abstract, purely mental mode of becoming temporarily free or independent of sensual or fine-material form). Although these are traditionally associated with three distinct planes or realms of “rebirth,” they may also be understood as three distinct modes or levels of consciousness. These three modes or levels of consciousness are in fact necessarily always present in all sentient beings; however, beings -- which should probably be called “becomings” -- have a deep tendency, through their own karma (deeds) and their own consequent stage of mental development, to remain stuck and attached to a particular mode or level of consciousness.

4. Diṭṭhi-yoga. Diṭṭhi (“view”) is the Pali language form of the equivalent Sanskrit noun dṛṣṭi, from the root dṛṣ, “to see.” It suggests a way of seeing or looking at things -- a “view, theory, doctrine, belief, opinion, speculation, ideology, outlook, or dogma.” The usual translation is “view” and more often “wrong view.” The early Buddha-Dharma (Teaching of the Buddha) makes a fundamental distinction between “knowing and seeing” things “as they actually are” (yathābhūtaṃ)” or right knowledge, and not knowing and not seeing things as they actually are, or “ignorance.” Compare, for example, the typical formula: Tassa evaṃ jānato evaṃ passato kāmāsavāpi cittaṃ vimuccati, bhavāsavāpi cittaṃ vimuccati, avijjāsavāpi cittaṃ vimuccati (“Of one knowing thus and seeing thus, one's mind [citta] is liberated from the influxes or intoxicants of sensuality, one's mind is liberated from the influxes or intoxicants of becoming, one's mind is liberated from the influxes or intoxicants of ignorance” (MN 7, Vatthūpama Sutra, PTS MN i.38). The translation “opinion or speculation” is useful here because it emphasizes that the “views” in question are not founded on reality nor are they in accord with it.

5. Avijjā-yoga.

6. Aññāṇaṃ: the negative particle a- + ñāṇa, “knowledge,” so not-knowing. Dictionaries translate this plainly as “ignorance, lack of knowledge.” The Commentary gives the following interpretation: “Through being opposed to knowledge, ignorance is characterised as aññāṇa” or Avijjā aññāṇa nti ñāṇa-paṭipakkha-bhāvena aññāṇa-saṅkhātā avijjā (PTS Mp iii.14). This would seem to suggest that the commentator took the term aññāṇa to imply a sense of “opposition” or “contrariness.”

7. Ayogakkhema.

8. Visaṃyogā.

9. Yogakkhema.

10. Saṃsāra.