Over the past few decades, the ability to write computer programs has undoubtedly transformed the world in unprecedented ways. A program or a code is a procedure of computational instructions that are executed at a lightning speed on any electronic device. Millions of codes, every day, are at a tireless run on the silicon chips in your smartphones, watches, laptops, printers, television sets, PlayStations, cars, trains, airplanes, in almost all electronics. Today there are far more silicon chips than there are people on the planet.
One of the areas where computer scientists are actively venturing into is computational linguistics. This field has big applications like real-time voice translation from one language to another¹ and it's been found that Panini’s Sanskrit grammar is the most complete and sophisticated engine for this purpose due to the highly precise and unambiguous rules of Panini’s structure. The word that Panini uses to describe his operational rules is ‘vrtti’ (nice paper). Panini gives a set of rules/algorithms (vrttis) for all possible tasks in a language. This is known as generative grammar and is a precise equivalent to a Turing Machine. The same word ‘vrtti’ is used by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras: “Yogas Chitta Vrtti Nirodhah” to describe the functioning of the human mind. In this sutra ‘Chitta’ is the mind-stuff and ‘Vrtti’ can be understood as a modification in the mind. Being free from these Vrttis one experiences a state of Yoga.
Vrttis are the different patterns of thoughts that arise in the mind. There are innumerable vrttis that run in one’s mind. While being engaged in the world new vrttis are being continuously formed, they leave impressions in the subconscious mind as they subside, and they surface up when a similar situation again arises. This way our mind has developed a humungous set of algorithms to deal with different people and situations in our life. Patanjali further classifies these vrttis into five categories: Proof, misconception, imagination, memory and sleep². To see the power of these vrttis, remember any friend/enemy of yours and see how in split-second past memories, likes and dislikes, judgments run through your mind. Two people experience the same situation differently because a different set of algorithms run in their minds.
This phenomenal ability of the mind to create algorithms also becomes a limitation when our mind gets stuck in set concepts and limited paradigms and creates barriers for itself. Patanjali says vrttis are klishta or aklishta meaning that they either create limitations (klishta) or they help you progress in your life (aklishta). With the technological revolution, the nature of jobs and work we do has become much more mentally and intellectually demanding than physical. The amount of information we are exposed to and the amount of planning we do is way more than what people used to do half a century ago. With this changing world it becomes absolutely essential to learn the tools and techniques to harness the full potential of our minds.
Sri Sri Ravishankar says “The concept that things should be a certain way causes distress in the mind. The cause of stress is set concepts in the mind”. Sometimes it is not easy to get rid of the set concepts in our minds. With the help of breathing techniques and meditation practices, we can experience a state of Yoga as mentioned by Patanjali where we experience utmost clarity. This helps in decoding our mind and enables us to create new useful vrittis for our life. Computers and smartphones have already brought a revolution in the world, but your mind is no less than a supercomputer only if you use it ;).
Watch out this link for the next program.
