sanyoga = sans yoga (Il n'y a pas de coïncidences)

last night, in spite of my earlier sloth-inspired reticence, i went to my weekly meditation group. the half-Canadian who leads the group is in India right now, and, being a complete and utter madman, he agreed to connect in via Skype at the ridiculously early time of 4:30am Jaipur time. the ethernet connection on our end, however, had disappeared into the ethers itself, and the group ending up having a nice long meditation while we waited for the half-Canadian to call.

fortunately, this is beside the point.

the point is that we finally did connect with one another, and the whole episode provided a lovely metaphor for that night's topic of discussion: sanyoga, which means, approximately and allegedly, 'without union.'

the term is explicated in the second book of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras:

drashtri drishyayoh sanyogo heyahetuh

which means damn near nothing to anyone living today outside of scholars and poseurs because Sanskrit is deader than Latin. thankfully, however, there are enough scholars and poseurs to pass down translations* to would-be scholars and poseurs like myself:

drashtri (द्रष्टृ, draṣṭṛ) = the seer; he who perceives; the true self; drastu
drishyah (दृश्यः, dṛśyaḥ) = that which is seen; experienced
sanyoga (संयोग, saṁyoga) = unity; bond; identification
heya (हेय, heya) = that which should be avoided
hetuh (हेतुः, hetuḥ) = cause

in other words, sanyoga is the disconnection from our true self, an identification with an experience rather than the recognition that we are the observer of the experience. this leads, invariably, to pain and suffering.

sanyoga is the root cause of all other obstacles:

the birthplace of desire
(my apartment, NYC, 1999)

the wellspring of attachment
(South Beach, Miami, 2009)

the fountainhead of loneliness
(Art Basel, Miami, 2008)

the breeding ground of aversion

(Wynwood, Miami, 2009)

the question arises:

why does this happen?

but only in the mind experiencing:

s e p a r a t i o n

so, rather than asking why, i find it more useful (and less agitating) to address the source of the question. that's why i:

close my eyes each day
(author with half-Canadian, Vermont, 2009)

practice mantra
(envelope containing mantra, Delray Beach, 2008)

and, most of all:

try to remember
(author seeing ocean for first time, Outer Banks, 1980)

*translation appropriated from here, without permission