René Descartes (1596-1650) is recognised as one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He is famously known for his ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ (‘I think, therefore I am’) and dualism, separation of mind and body. First of all let’s be clear. As this is a Yoga blog, I assume you will read ‘mind’ in a yogi way, mind as opposed to soul. But this is not the case. The mind for Descartes is the soul. He believes in two kinds of substances in the world: souls and matter. For him we are not our bodies, we are our souls…. that think. The self thinks and lacks extension; the body is matter, doesn’t think and can extend.
This is of course different than in Yoga. In Yoga , the mind is as physical as the body, it is part of Prakrti/nature. Our soul in Yoga is pure consciouness, called Purusa. Purusa doesn’t think…. In Yoga philosophy, our mind’s constant activities tint the aspect of our mind that is closest to the soul, namely buddhi (intelligence/knowledge/discrimination/will). And buddhi functions like a mirror. It is shaped by all the ideas and thoughts (the vrttis) of the mind (one part of it, manas) and as a mirror close to the soul, it presents back to the soul these images, the soul becoming conscious of its reflection in the animated intellect. The goal of our Yoga practice is to still all those changing states of the mind (vrttis) so that the soul can reflect its purity on our all being. The explanation of the connection between Prakrti and Purusa is in fact a weakness of the philosophy: how can there be an interaction between something as pure as Purusa, pure consciousness, which doesn’t think and Prakrti? How does one become aware of and involved with the other? There is no clear explanation to my knowledge, and it is quite an issue for the whole philosophy I think…..
When I started yoga I remember reading in articles and books, remarks that would make me think Descartes’ philosophy was in direct opposition to Yoga, in particular because of this dualism. I’m so glad I read the Meditations now. To oppose Descartes to Yoga philosophy in general is a misunderstanding, and to pretend discrediting his philosophy on souls and matter by theories on Prakrti and Purusa is wrong, given the controversial relationship between those two as seen above. Whether mind and souls are distinct entities or not, which scientifically or philosophically seems impossible to prove, can we not still our mind’s thoughts, feel calm and realise ‘I am a soul’ and simply ‘I am’, the conclusion of both philosophies? And in fact, can the conclusion not be reached more credibly if the soul is a thinking entity? Something to contemplate….
Almost the same can be said about Descartes’ philosophy of course: if, as he argued, the human mind is other than the rest of the external world, then how does each mind interact with material things, including its own body? So much has happened after Decartes in Western Philosophy and it is not the point of this note to go into the history of philosophy. It is just to trigger a few thoughts, mainly because I enjoyed reading Descartes so much and wanted to find common points with Yoga, which I love of course.
One of the most famous philosophical treaties of Descartes is called Meditations. There are six Meditations. Descartes uses the well known yogic technique of meditation and self-enquiry in his philosophical quest for what is real and who we are. He opens the Third Meditation as follows:
“I shall now close my eyes, I shall stop my ears, I shall call away all my senses. I shall efface even from my thoughts all the images of corporeal things, or at least (for that is hardly possible) I shall esteem them as vain and false; and thus holding converse only with myself and considering my own nature, I shall try little by little to reach a better knowledge of and a more familiar acquaintanceship with myself.”
Does this method sound familiar to you Yoga practitioners? It describes the last three limbs of the ashtanga yoga system: Pratyahara - the withdrawal of the senses, Dharana - concentrating the mind, and Dhyana - meditation.
His Meditations will lead him to his famous ‘Cogito ergo sum’ - ‘I think, therefore I am’, a contemplation that he exists, one of his certainties, to the point that his meditation could be said to have taken him to the eighth limb of the ashtanga yoga system: contemplation.
Descartes is sometimes said to be a sceptic, doubting everything. Actually, Descartes only doubts as part of his philosophical analysis and reasoning. He has certainties and one of his greatest certainties is the existence of God. He constantly meditates on God. Descartes closes his Fourth Meditations as follows:
‘(…) I want to pause here and spend some time contemplating God; to reflect on his attributes and to gaze in wonder and adoration on the beauty of this immense light, so far as the eye of my darkened intellect can bear it. For just as we believe through faith that the supreme happiness of the next life consists in contemplating the divine majesty, so experience tells us that this same contemplation, though much less perfect, provides the greatest joy we can have in this life.’
Does this sounds familiar Dharma Yogis? Descartes doesn’t push his analysis to consider non-dualism (in yogic term - oneness with God) or dualism, although it is obvious from reading his Meditations that he is a dualist. So is Patanjali.
As many Yogis, Descartes embarked on an inner journey in his philosophical search. There are so many similarities between him and yogis. He used the yogic technique of meditation, turning within, letting go of all the things he couldn’t be sure about. His inner journey took him to an awareness of his true self, his soul, his truth. This is what all philosophies and inner work aim towards.