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Written by Swami Vivekananda |
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1. Now concentration is explained.
2. Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (Chitta)
from taking various forms (Vrttis)
A good deal of explanation is necessary here. We have to
understand what Chitta is, and what are these Vrttis. I have
this eye. Eyes do not see. Take away the brain centre which
is in the head, the eyes will still be there, the retinæ
complete, and also the picture, and yet the eyes will not see.
So the eyes are only a secondary instrument, not the organ of
vision. The organ of vision is in the nerve centre of the
brain. The two eyes will not be sufficient alone. Sometimes
a man is asleep with his eyes open. The light is there and the
picture is there, but a third thing is necessary; mind must be
joined to the organ. The eye is the external instrument, we
need also the brain centre and the agency of the mind.
Carriages roll down a street and you do not hear them.
Why? Because your mind has not attached itself to the
organ of hearing. First there is the instrument, then there is
the organ, and third, the mind attachment to these two. The
mind takes the impression farther in, and presents it to the
determinative faculty—Buddhi—which reacts. Along with
this reaction flashes the idea of egoism. Then this mixture of
action and reaction is presented to the Purusa, the real Soul,
who perceives an object in this mixture. The organs
(Indriyas), together with the mind (Manas), the
determinative faculty (Buddhi) and egoism (Ahamkara),
form the group called the Antahkarana (the internal
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instrument). They are but various processes in the mindstuff,
called Chitta. The waves of thought in the Chitta are
called Vrtti (“the whirlpool” is the literal translation). What
is thought? Thought is a force, as is gravitation or repulsion.
It is absorbed from the infinite storehouse of force in nature;
the instrument called Chitta takes hold of that force, and,
when it passes out at the other end it is called thought. This
force is supplied to us through food, and out of that food the
body obtains the power of motion, etc. Others, the finer
forces, it throws out in what we call thought. Naturally we
see that the mind is not intelligent; yet it appears to be
intelligent. Why? Because the intelligent soul is behind it.
You are the only sentient being; mind is only the instrument
through which you catch the external world. Take this book;
as a book it does not exist outside, what exists outside is
unknown and unknowable. It is the suggestion that gives a
blow to the mind, and the mind gives out the reaction. If a
stone is thrown into the water the water is thrown against it
in the form of waves. The real universe is the occasion of
the reaction of the mind. A book form, or an elephant form,
or a man form, is not outside; all that we know is our mental
reaction from the outer suggestion. Matter is the “permanent
possibility of sensation,” said John Stuart Mill. It is only the
suggestion that is outside. Take an oyster for example. You
know how pearls are made. A grain of sand or something
gets inside and begins to irritate it, and the oyster throws a
sort of enamelling around the sand, and this makes the pearl.
This whole universe is our own enamel, so to say, and the
real universe is the grain of sand. The ordinary man will
never understand it, because, when he tries to, he throws out
an enamel, and sees only his own enamel. Now we
understand what is meant by these Vrttis. The real man is
behind the mind, and the mind is the instrument in his hands,
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and it is his intelligence that is percolating through it. It is
only when you stand behind it that it becomes intelligent.
When man gives it up it falls to pieces, and is nothing. So
you understand what is meant by Chitta. It is the mind-stuff,
and Vrttis are the waves and ripples rising in it when external
causes impinge on it. These Vrttis are our whole universe.
The bottom of the lake we cannot see, because its surface
is covered with ripples. It is only possible when the rippled
have subsided, and the water is calm, for us to catch a
glimpse of the bottom. If the water is muddy, the bottom
will not be seen; if the water is agitated all the time, the
bottom will not be seen. If the water is clear, and there are
no waves, we shall see the bottom. That bottom of the lake
is our own true Self; the lake is the Chitta, and the waves are
the Vrttis. Again, this mind is in three states; one is
darkness, which is called Tamas, just as in brutes and idiots;
it only acts to injure others. No other idea comes into that
state of mind. Then there is the active state of mind, Rajas,
whose chief motives are power and enjoyment. “I will be
powerful and rule others.” Then, at last, when the waves
cease, and the water of the lake becomes clear, there is the
state called Sattva, serenity, calmness. It is not inactive, but
rather intensely active. It is the greatest manifestation of
power to be calm. It is easy to be active. Let the reins go,
and the horses will drag you down. Any one can do that, but
he who can stop the plunging horses is the strong man.
Which requires the greater strength, letting go, or
restraining? The calm man is not the man who is dull. You
must not mistake Sattva for dulness, or laziness. The calm
man is the one who has restraint of these waves. Activity is
the manifestation of the lower strength, calmness of the
superior strength.
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This Chitta is always trying to get back to its natural pure
state, but the organs draw it out. To restrain it, and to check
this outward tendency, and to start it on the return journey to
that essence of intelligence is the first step in Yoga, because
only in this way can the Chitta get into its proper course.
Although this Chitta is in every animal, from the lowest
to the highest, it is only in the human form that we find
intellect, and until the mind-stuff can take the form of
intellect it is not possible for it to return through all these
steps, and liberate the soul. Immediate salvation is
impossible for the cow and the dog, although they have
mind, because their Chitta cannot as yet take that form
which we call intellect.
Chitta manifests itself in all these different forms—
scattering, darkening, weakening, and concentrating. These
are the four states in which the mind-stuff manifests itself.
First a scattered form, is activity. Its tendency is to manifest
in the form of pleasure or of pain. Then the dull form is
darkness, the only tendency of which is to injure others. The
commentator says the first form is natural to the Devas, the
angels, and the second is the demoniacal form. The Ekagra,
the concentrated form of the Chitta, is what brings us to
Samadhi.
3. At that time (the time of concentration) the
seer (the Purasa) rests in his own
(unmodified) state.
As soon as the waves have stopped, and the lake has become
quiet, we see the ground below the lake. So with the mind;
when it is calm, we see what our own nature is; we do not
mix ourself but remain our own selves.
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4. At other times (other than that of
concentration) the seer is identified with the
modifications.
For instance, I am in a state of sorrow; some one blames me;
this is a modifications, Vrtti, and I identify myself with it,
and the result is misery.
5. There are five classes of modification,
painful and not painful.
6. (These are) right knowledge, indiscrimination,
verbal delusion, sleep, and memory.
7. Direct perception, inference, and competent
evidence, are proofs.
When two of our perceptions do not contradict each other we
call it proof. I hear something, and, if it contradicts
something already perceived, I begin to fight it out, and do
not believe it. There are also three kinds of proof. Direct
perception, Pratyaksham, whatever we see and feel, is proof,
if there has been nothing to delude the senses. I see the
world; that is sufficient proof that it exists. Secondly,
Anumana, inference; you see a sign, and from the sign you
come to the thing signified. Thirdly, Aptavakyam, the direct
perception of the Yogi, of those who have seen the truth. We
are all of us struggling towards knowledge, but you and I
have to struggle hard, and come to knowledge through a long
tedious process of reasoning, but the Yogi, the pure one, has
gone beyond all this. Before his mind, the past, the present,
and the future, are alike one book for him to read; he does
not require to go through all this tedious process, and his
words are proofs, because he sees knowledge in himself; he
is the Omniscient One. These, for instance, are the authors
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of the Sacred Scriptures; therefore the Scriptures are proof,
and, if any such persons are living now, their words will be
proof. Other philosophers go into long discussions about
this Apta, and they say, what is the proof that this is truth?
The proof is because they see it; because whatever I see is
proof, and whatever you see is proof, if it does not contradict
any past knowledge. There is knowledge beyond the senses,
and whenever it does not contradict reason and past human
experience, that knowledge is proof. Any madman may
come into this room and say that he sees angels around him,
that would not be proof. In the first place it must be true
knowledge, and, secondly, it must not contradict knowledge
of the past, and thirdly, it must depend upon the character of
the man. I hear it said that the character of the man is not of
so much importance as what he may say; we must first hear
what he says. This may be true in other things; a man may
be wicked, and yet make an astronomical discovery, but in
religion it is different, because no impure man will ever have
the power to reach the truths of religion. Therefore, we have
first of all to see that the man who declares himself to be an
Apta is a perfectly unselfish and holy person; secondly that
he has reached beyond the senses, and thirdly that what he
says does not contradict the past knowledge of humanity.
Any new discovery of truth does not contradict the past
truth, but fits into it. And, fourthly, that truth must have a
possibility of verification. If a man says “I have seen a
vision,” and tells me that I have no right to see it, I believe
him not. Every one must have the power to see it for
himself. No one who sells his knowledge is an Apta. All
these conditions must be fulfilled; you must first see that the
man is pure, and theat he has no selfish motive; that he has
no thirst for gain or fame. Secondly, he must show that he is
super-conscious. Thirdly, he must given us something that
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we cannot get from our senses, and which is for benefit of
the world. And we must see that it does not contradict other
truths; if it contradicts other scientific truths reject it at once.
Fourthly, the man should never be singular; he should only
represent what all men can attain. The three sorts of proof,
are, then, direct sense perception, inference, and the words of
an Apta. I cannot translate this word into English. It is not
the word inspired, because that comes from outside, while
this comes from himself. The literal meaning is “attained.”
8. Indiscrimination is false knowledge not
established in real nature.
The next class of Vrttis that arise is mistaking the one thing
for another, as a piece of mother-of-pearl is taken for a piece
of silver.
9. Verbal delusion follows from words having
no (corresponding) reality.
There is another class of Vrttis called Vikalpa. A word is
uttered, and we do not wait to consider its meaning; we jump
to a conclusion immediately. It is the sign of weakness of
the Chitta. Now you can understand the theory of restraint.
The weaker the man the less he has of restraint. Consider
yourselves always in that way. When you are going to be
angry or miserable, reason it out, how it is that some news
that has come to you is throwing your mind into Vrttis.
10. Sleep is a Vrtti which embraces the feeling
of voidness.
The next class of Vrttis is called sleep and dream. When we
awake we know that we have been sleeping; we can only
have memory of perception. That which we do not perceive
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we never can have any memory of. Every reaction is a wave
in the lake. Now, if, during sleep, the mind has no waves, it
would have no perceptions, positive or negative, and,
therefore, we would not remember them. The very reason of
our remembering sleep is that during sleep there was a
certain class of waves in the mind. Memory is another class
of Vrttis, which is called Smrti.
11. Memory is when the (Vrttis of) perceived
subjects do not slip away (and through
impressions come back to consciousness).
Memory can be caused by the previous three. For instance,
you hear a word. That word is like a stone thrown into the
lake of the Chitta; it causes a ripple, and that ripple rouses a
series of ripples; this is memory. So in sleep. When the
peculiar kind of ripple called sleep throws the Chitta into a
ripple of memory it is called a dream. Dream is another
form of the ripple which in the waking state is called
memory.
12. Their control is by practice and nonattachment.
The mind, to have this non-attachment, must be clear, good
and rational. Why should we practice? Because each action
is like the pulsations quivering over the surface of the lake.
The vibration dies out, and what is left? The Samsharas, the
impressions. When a large number of these impressions is
left on the mind they coalesce, and become a habit. It is said
“habit is second nature;” it is first nature also, and the whole
nature of man; everything that we are is the result of habit.
That gives us consolation, because, if it is only habit, we can
make and unmake it at any time. The Samshara is left by
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these vibrations passing out of our mind, each one of them
leaving its result. Our character is the sum-total of these
marks, and according as some particular wave prevails one
takes that tone. If good prevail one becomes good, if
wickedness one wicked, if joyfulness one becomes happy.
The only remedy for bad habits is counter habits; all the bad
habits that have left their impressions are to be controlled by
good habits. Go on doing good, thinking holy thoughts
continuously; that is the only way to suppress base
impressions. Never say any man is hopeless, because he
only represents a character, a bundle of habits, and these can
be checked by new and better ones. Character is repeated
habits, and repeated habits alone can reform character.
13. Continuous struggle to keep them (the
Vrttis) perfectly restrained is practice.
What is this practice? The attempt to restrain the mind in the
Chitta form, to prevent its going out into waves.
14. Its ground becomes firm by long, constant
efforts with great love (for the end to be
attained).
Restraint does not come in one day, but by long continued
practice.
15. That effort which comes to those who have
given up their thirst after objects either seen
or heard, and which wills to control the
objects, is non-attachment.
Two motives of our actions are (1) What we see ourselves;
(2) The experience of others. These two forces are throwing
the mind, the lake, into various waves. Renunciation is the
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power of battling against these, and holding the mind in
check. Renunciation of these two motives is what we want.
I am passing through a street, and a man comes and takes my
watch. That is my own experience. I see it myself, and it
immediately throws my Chitta into a wave, taking the form
of anger. Allow that not to come. If you cannot prevent
that, you are nothing; if you can, you have Vairagyam.
Similarly, the experience of the worldly-minded teaches us
that sense enjoyments are the highest ideal. These are
tremendous temptations. To deny them, and not allow the
mind to come into a wave form with regard to them is
renunciation; to control the twofold motive powers arising
from my own experience, and from the experience of others,
and thus prevent the Chitta from being governed by them, is
Vairagyam. These should be controlled by me, and not I by
them. This sort of mental strength is called renunciation.
This Vairagyam is the only way to freedom.
16. That extreme non-attachment, giving up
even the qualities, shows (the real nature
of) the Purusa.
It is the highest manifestation of power when it takes away
even our attraction towards the qualities. We have first to
understand what the Purusa, the Self, is, and what are the
qualities. According to Yoga philosophy the whole of nature
consists of three qualities; one is called Tamas, another
Rajas and the third Sattva. These three qualities manifest
themselves in the physical world as attraction, repulsion, and
control. Everything that is in nature, all these
manifestations, are combinations and recombinations of
these three forces. This nature has been divided into various
categories by the Sankhyas; the Self of man is beyond all
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these, beyond nature, is effulgent by Its very nature. It is
pure and perfect. Whatever of intelligence we see in nature
is but the reflection from this Self upon nature. Nature itself
is insentient. You must remember that the word nature also
includes the mind; mind is in nature; thought is in nature;
from thought, down to the grossest form of matter,
everything is in nature, the manifestation of nature. This
nature has covered the Self of man, and when nature takes
away the covering the Self becomes unveiled, and appears in
Its own glory. This non-attachment, as it is described in
Aphorism 15 (as being control of nature) is the greatest help
towards manifesting the Self. The next aphorism defines
Samadhi, perfect concentration, which is the goal of the
Yogi.
17. The concentration called right know-ledge
is that which is followed by reasoning,
discrimination, bliss, unqualified ego.
This Samadhi is divided into two varieties. One is called the
Samprajnata, and the other the Asamprajnata. The
Samprajnata is of four varieites. In this Samadhi come all
the powers of controlling nature. The first variety is called
the Savitarka, when the mind meditates upon an object again
and again, by isolating it from other objects. There are two
sorts of objects for meditation, the categories of nature, and
the Purusa. Again, the categories are of two varieties; the
twenty-four categories are insentient, and the one sentient is
the Purusa. When the mind thinks of the elements of nature
by thinking of their beginning and their end, this is one sort
of Savitarka. The words require explanation. This part of
Yoga is based entirely on Sankhya Philosophy, about which I
have already told you. As you will remember, egoism and
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will, and mind, have a common basis, and that common
basis is called the Chitta, the mind-stuff, out of which they
are all manufactured. This mind-stuff takes in the forces of
nature, and projects them as thought. There must be
something, again, where both force and matter are one. This
is called Avyaktam, the unmanifested state of nature, before
creation, and two which, after the end of a cycle, the whole
of nature returns, to again come out after another period.
Beyond that is the Purusa, the essence of intelligence. There
is no liberation in getting powers. It is a worldly search after
enjoyment in this life; all search for enjoyment is vain; this is
the old, old lesson which man finds it so hard to learn.
When he does learn it, he gets out of the universe and
becomes free. The possession of what are called occult
powers is only intensifying the world, and in the end
intensifying suffering. Though, as a scientist, Patanjali is
bound to point out the possibilities of this science, he never
misses an opportunity to warn us against these powers.
Knowledge is power, and as soon as we begin to know a
thing we get power over it; so also, when the mind begins to
meditate on the different elements it gains power over them.
That sort of meditation where the external gross elements are
the objects is called Savitarka. Tarka means question,
Savitarka with-question. Questioning the elements, as it
were, that they may give up their truths and their powers to
the man who meditates upon them. Again, in the very same
meditation, when one struggles to take the elements out of
time and space, and think of them as they are, it is called
Nirvitarka, without-question. When the meditation goes a
step higher, and takes the Tanmatras as its object, and thinks
of them as in time and space, it is called Savichara,
withdiscrimination,
and when the same meditation gets beyond
time and space, and thinks of the fine elements as they ar, it
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is called Nirvichara, without-discrimination. The next step
is when the elements are given up, either as gross or as fine,
and the object of meditation is the interior organ, the
thinking organ, and when the thinking organ is thought of as
bereft of the qualities of activity, and of dulness, it is then
called Sanandam, the blissful Samadhi. In that Samadhi,
when we are thinking of the mind as the object of
meditation, before we have reached the state which takes us
beyond the mind even, when it has become very ripe and
concentrated, when all ideas of the gross materials, or fine
materials, have been given up, and the only object is the
mind as it is, when th eSattva state only of the Ego remains,
but differentiated from all other objects, this is called Asmita
Samadhi, and the man who has attained to this has attained
to what is called in the Vedas “bereft of body.” He can think
of himself as without his gross body; but he will have to
think of himself as with a fine body. Those that in this state
get merged in nature without attaining the goal are called
Prakrtilayas, but those who do not even stop at any
enjoyments, reach the goal, which is freedom.
18. There is another Samadhi which is attained
by the constant practice of cessation of all
mental activity, in which the Chitta retains
only the unmanifested impressions.
This is the perfect superconscious Asamprajnata Samadhi,
the state which gives us freedom. The first state does not
give us freedom, does not liberate the soul. A man may
attain to all powers, and yet fall again. There is no safeguard
until the soul goes beyond nature, and beyond conscious
concentration. It is very difficult to attain, although its
method seems very easy. Its method is to hold the mind as
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the object, and whenever through comes, to strike it down,
allowing no thought to come into the mind, thus making it an
entire vacuum. When we can really do this, in that moment
we shall attain liberation. When persons without training
and preparation try to make their minds vacant they are
likely to succeed only in covering themselves with Tamas,
material of ignorance, which makes the mind dull and stupid,
and leads them to think that they are making a vacuum of
themind. To be able to really do that is a manifestation of
the greatest strength, of the highest control. When this state,
Asamprajnata, super-consciousness, is reached, the Samadhi
becomes seedless. What is meant by that? In that sort of
concentration when there is consciousness, where the mind
has succeeded only in quelling the waves in the Chitta and
holding them down, they are still there in the form of
tendencies, and these tendencies (or seeds) will become
waves again, when the time comes. But when you have
destroyed all these tendencies, almost destroyed the mind,
then it has become seedless, there are no more seeds in the
mind out of which to manufacture again and again this plant
of life, this ceaseless round of birth and death. You may ask,
what state would that be, in which we should have no
knowledge? What we call knowledge is a lower state than
the one beyond knowledge. You must always bear in mind
that the extremes look very much the same. The low
vibration of light is darkness, and the very high vibration of
light is darkness also, but one is real darkness, and the other
is really intense light; yet their appearance is the same. So,
ignorance is the lowest state, knowledge is the middle state,
and beyond knowledge is a still higher state. Knowledge
itself is a manufactured something, a combination; it is not
reality. What will be the result of constant practice of this
higher concentration? All old tendencies of restlessness, and
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dulness, will be destroyed, as well as the tendencies of
goodness too. It is just the same as with the metals that are
used with gold to take off the dirt and alloy. When the ore is
smelted down, the dross is burnt along with the alloy. So
this constant controlling power will stop the previous bad
tendencies, and, eventually, the good ones also. Those good
and evil tendencies will suppress each other, and there will
remain the Soul, in all its glorious splendour, untrammelled
by either good or bad, and that Soul is omnipresent,
omnipotent, and omniscient. By giving up all powers it has
become omnipotent, by giving up all life it is beyond
mortality; it has become life itself. Then the Soul will know
It neither had birth nor death, neither want of heaven nor of
earth. It will know that It neither came nor went; it was
nature which was moving, and that movement was reflected
upon the Soul. The form of the light is moving, it is
reflected and cast by the camera upon the wall, and the wall
foolishly thinks it is moving. So with all of us: it is the
Chitta constantly moving, manipulating itself into various
forms, and we think that we are these various forms. All
these delusions will vanish. When that free Soul will
command—not pray or beg, but command—then watever It
desires will be immediately fulfilled; whatever It wants It
will be able to do. According to the Sankhya Philosophy
there is no God. It says that there cannot be any God of this
universe, because if there were He must be a Soul, and a
Soul must be one of two things, either bound or free. How
can the soul that is bound by nature, or controlled by nature,
create? It is itself a slave. On the other hand, what business
has the soul that is free to create and manipulate all these
things? It has no desires, so cannot have any need to create.
Secondly, it says the theory of God is an unnecessary one;
nature explains all. What is the use of any God? But Kapila
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teaches that there are many souls, who, through nearly
attaining perfection, fall short because they cannot perfectly
renounce all powers. Their minds for a time merge in
nature, to re-emerge as its masters. We shall all become
such gods, and, according to the Sankhyas, the God spoken
of in the Vedas really means one of these free souls. Beyond
them there is not an eternally free and blessed Creator of the
universe. On the other hand the Yogis say, “Not so, there is
a God; there is one Soul separate from all other souls, and
He is the eternal Master of all creation, the Ever Free, the
Teacher of all teachers.” The Yogis admit that those the
Sankhyas called “merged in nature” also exist. They are
Yogis who have fallen short of perfection, and though, for a
time debarred from attaining the goal, remain as rulers of
parts of the universe.
19. (This Samadhi, when not followed by
extreme non-attachment) becomes the
cause of the re-manifestation of the gods
and of those that become merged in nature.
The gods in the Indian systems represent certain high offices
which are being filled successively by various souls. But
none of them is perfect.
20. To others (this Samadhi) comes through
faith, energy, memory, concentration, and
discrimination of the real.
These are they who do not want the position of gods, or even
that of rulers of cycles. They attain to liberation.
21. Success is speeded for the extremely
energetic.
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22. They again differ according as the means
are mild, medium or supreme.
23. Or by devotion to Icvara.
24. Icvara (the Supreme Ruler) is a special
Purusa, untouched by misery, the results of
actions, or desires.
We must again remember that this Patanjali Yoga
Philosophy is based upon that of the Sankhyas, only that in
the latter there is no place for God, while with the Yogis God
has a place. The Yogis, however, avoid many ideas about
God, such as creating. God as the Creator of the Universe is
not meant by the Icvara of the Yogis, although, according to
the Vedas, Icvara is the Creator of the universe. Seeing that
the universe is harmonious, it must be the manifestation of
one will. The Yogis and Sankhyas both avoid the question of
creation. The Yogis want to establish a God, but carefully
avoid this question, they do not raise it at all. Yet you will
find that they arrive at God in a peculiar fashion of their
own. They say:
25. In Him becomes infinite that all-knowingness
which in others is (only) a germ.
The mind must always travel between two extremes. You
can think of limited space, but the very idea of that gives you
also unlimited space. Close your eyes and think of a little
space, and at the same time that you perceive the little circle,
you have a circle round it of unlimited dimensions. It is the
same with time. Try to think of a second, you will have,
with the same act of perception, to think of time which is
unlimited. So with knowledge. Knowledge is only a germ
in man, but you will have to think of infinite knowledge
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around it, so that the very nature of your constitution shows
us that there is unlimited knowledge, and the Yogis call that
unlimited knowledge God.
26. He is the Teacher of even the ancient
teachers, being not limited by time.
It is true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but this has
to be called forth by another knowledge. Although the
capacity to know is inside us, it must be called out, and that
calling out of knowledge can only be got, a Yogi maintains,
through another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter, never
calls out knowledge. It is the action of knowledge that
brings out knowledge. Knowing beings must be with us to
call forth what is in us, so these teachers were always
necessary. The world was never without them, and no
knowledge can come without them. God is the Teacher of
all teachers, because these teachers, however great they may
have been—gods or angels—were all bound and limited by
time, and God is not limited by time. These are the two
peculiar distinctions of the Yogis. The first is that in
thinking of the limited, the mind must think of the unlimited,
and that if one part of the perception is true the other must
be, for the reason that their value as perceptions of the mind
is equal. The very fact that man has a little knowledge,
shows that God has unlimited knowledge. If I am to take
one, why not the other? Reason forces me to take both or
reject both. It I believe that there is a man with a little
knowledge, I must also admit that there is someone behind
him with unlimited knowledge. The second deduction is that
no knowledge can come without a teacher. It is true as the
modern philosophers say, that there is something in man
which evolves out of him; all knowledge is in man, but
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certain environments are necessary to call it out. We cannot
find any knowledge without teacher, if there are men
teachers, god teachers, or angel teachers, they are all limited;
who was the teacher before them? We are forced to admit,
as a last conclusion, One Teacher, Who is not limited by
time, and that One Teacher or infinite knowledge, without
beginning or end, is called God.
27. His manifesting word is Om.
Every idea that you have in the mind has a counterpart in a
word; the word and the thought are inseparable. The
external part of the thought is what we call word, and the
internal part is what we call thought. No man can, by
analysis, separate thought from word. The idea that
language was created by men—certain men sitting together
and deciding on words, has been proved to be wrong. So
long as things have existed there have been words and
language. What is the connection between an idea and a
word? Although we see that there must always be a word
with a thought, it is not necessary that the same thought
requires the same word. The thought may be the same in
twenty different countries, yet the language is different. We
must have a word to express each thought, but these words
need not necessarily have the same sound. Sounds will vary
in different nations. Our commentator says “Although the
relation between thought and word is perfectly natural, yet it
does not mean a rigid connection between one sound and
one idea.” These sounds vary, yet the relation between the
sounds and the thoughts is a natural one. The connection
between thoughts and sounds is good only if there be a real
connection between the thing signified and the symbol, and
until then that symbol will never come into general use.
Symbol is the manifestor of the thing signified, and if the
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thing signified has already existence, and if, by experience,
we know that the symbol has expresssed that thing many
times, then we are sure that there is the real relation between
them. Even if the things are not present, there will be
thousands who will know them by their symbols. There
must be a natural connection between the symbol and the
thing signified; then, when that symbol is pronounced, it
recalled the thing signified. The commentator says the
manifesting word of God is Om. Why does he emphasise
this? There are hundreds of words for God. One thought is
connected with a thousand words; the idea, God, is
connected with hundreds of words, and each one stands as a
symbol for God. Very good. But there must be a
generalisation among all these words, some substratum,
some common ground of all these symbols, and that symbol
which is the common symbol will be the best, and will really
be the symbol of all. In making a sound we use the larynx,
and the palate as a sounding board. Is there any material
sound of which all other sounds must be manifestations, one
which is the most natural sound? Om (Aum) is such a sound,
the basis of all sounds. The first letter, A, is the root sound,
the key, pronounced without touching any part of the tongue
or palate; M represents the last sound in the series, being
produced by the closed lip, and the U rolls from the very root
to the end of the sounding board of the mouth. Thus, Om
represents the whole phenomena of sound producing. As
such, it must be the natural symbol, the matrix of all the
variant sounds. It denotes the whole range and possibility of
all the words that can be made. Apart from these
speculations we see that around this word Om are centred all
the different religious ideas in India; all the various religious
ideas of the Vedas have gathered themselves round this word
Om. What has that to do with America and England, or any
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other country? Simply that the word has been retained at
every stage of religious growth in India, and it has been
manipulated to mean all the various ideas about God.
Monists, Dualists, Mono-Dualists, Separatists, and even
Atheists, took up this Om. Om has become the one symbol
for the religious aspiration of the vast majority of human
beings. Take, for instance, the English word God. It
conveys only a limited function, and if you go beyond it, you
have to add adjectives, to make it Personal, or Impersonal, or
Absolute God. So with the words for God in every other
language; their signification is very small. This word Om,
however, has around it all the various significances. As such
it should be accepted by everyone.
28. The repetition of this (Om) and meditating
on its meaning (is the way).
Why should there be repetition? We have not forgotten that
theory of Samskaras, that the sum-total of impressions lives
in the mind. Impressions live in the mind, the sum-total of
impressions, and they become more and more latent, but
remain there, and as soon as they get the right stimulus they
come out. Molecular vibration will never cease. When this
universe is destroyed all the massive vibrations disappear,
the sun, moon, stars, and earth, will melt down, but the
vibrations must remain in the atoms. Each atom will
perform the same function as the big worlds do. So the
vibrations of this Chitta will subside, but will go on like
molecular vibrations, and when they get the impulse will
come out again. We can now understand what is meant by
repetition. It is the greatest stimulus that can be given to the
spiritual Samskaras. “One moment of company with the
Holy makes a ship to cross this ocean of life.” Such is the
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power of association. So this repetition of Om, and thinking
of its meaning, is keeping good company in your own mind.
Study, and then meditate and meditate, when you have
studied. The light will come to you, the Self will become
manifest.
But one must think of this Om, and of its meaning too.
Avoid evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in
you, and this evil company is just the heat that is necessary
ot call them out. In the same way we are told that good
company will call out the good impressions that are in us,
but which have become latent. There is nothing holier in
this world than to keep good company, because the good
impressions will have this same tendency to come to the
surface.
29. From that is gain (the knowledge of) introspection,
and the destruction of obstacles.
The first manifestation of this repetition and thinking of Om
will be that the introspective power will be manifested more
and more, and all the mental and physical obstacles will
begin to vanish. What are the obstacles to the Yogi?
30. Disease, mental laziness, doubt, calmness,
cessation, false perception, non-attaining
concentration, and falling away from the
state when obtained, are the obstructing
distractions.
Disease. This body is the boat which will carry us to the
other shore of the ocean of life. It must be taken care of.
Unhealthy persons cannot be Yogis. Mental laziness makes
us lose all lively interest in the subject, without which there
will neither be the will nor the energy to practice. Doubts
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will arise in the mind about the truth of the science, however
strong one’s intellectual conviction may be, until certain
peculiar psychic experiences come, as hearing, or seeing, at
a distance, etc. These glimpses strengthen the mind and
make the student persevere. Falling away when attained.
Some says or weeks when you are practising the mind will
be calm and easily concentrated, and you will find yourself
progressing fast. All of a sudden the progress will stop one
day, and you will find yourself, as it were, stranded.
Persevere. All progress proceeds by rise and fall.
31. Grief, mental distress, tremor of the body,
irregular breathing, accompany nonretention
of concentration.
Concentration will bring perfect repose to mind and body
every time it is practised. When the practice has been
misdirected, or not enough controlled, these disturbances
come. Repetition of Om and self-surrender to the Lord will
strengthen the mind, and bring fresh energy. The nervous
shakings will come to almost everyone. Do not mind them
at all, but keep on practising. Practice will cure them, and
make the seat firm.
32. To remedy this practice of one subject
(should be made).
Making the mind take the form of one object for some time
will destroy these obstacles. This is general advice. In the
following aphorisms it will be expanded and particularised.
As one practice cannot suit everyone, various methods will
be advanced, and everyone by actual experience will find out
that which helps him most.
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33. Friendship, mercy, gladness, indifference,
being thought of in regard to subjects,
happy, unhappy, good and evil respectively,
pacify the Chitta.
We must have these four sorts of ideas. We must have
friendship for all; we must be merciful towards those that are
in misery; when people are happy we ought to be happy, and
to the wicked we must be indifferent. So with all subjects
that come before us. If the subject is a good one, we shall
feel friendly towards it; if the subject of thought is one that is
miserable we must be merciful towards the subject. If it is
good we must be glad, if it is evil we must be indifferent.
These attitudes of the mind towards the different subjects
that come before it will make the mind peaceful. Most of
our difficulties in our daily lives come from being unable to
hold our minds in this way. For instance, if a man does evil
to us, instantly we want to react evil, and every reaction of
evil shows that we are not able to hold the Chitta down; it
comes out in waves towards the object, and we lose our
power. Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so
much loss to the mind, and every evil thought or deed of
hatred, or any thought of reaction, if it is controlled, will be
laid in our favour. It is not that we lose by thus restraining
ourselves; we are gaining infinitely more than we suspect.
Each time we suppress hatred, or a feeling of anger, it is so
much good energy stored up in our favour; that piece of
energy will be converting into the higher powers.
34. By throwing out and restraining the Breath.
The word used in Prana. Prana is not exactly breath. It is
the name for the energy that is in the universe. Whatever
you see in the universe, whatever moves or works, or has
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life, is a manifestation of this Prana. the sum-total of the
energy displayed in the universe is called Prana. This
Prana, before a cycle begins, remains in an almost
motionless state, and when the cycle begins this Prana
begins to manifest itself. It is this Prana that is manifested
as motion, as the nervous motion in human beings or
animals, and the same Prana is manifesting as thought, and
so on. The whole universe is a combination of Prana and
Akaca; so is the human body. Out of Akaca you get the
different materials that you feel, and see, and out of Prana
all the various forces. Now this throwing out and restraining
the Prana is what is called Pranayama. Patanjali, the father
of the Yoga Philosophy, does not give many particular
directions about Pranayama, but later on other Yogis found
out various things about this Pranayama, and made of it a
great science. With Patanjali ist is one of the many ways,
but he does not lay much stress on it. He means that you
simply throw the air out, and draw it in, and hold it for some
time, that is all, and by that, the mind will become a little
calmner. But, later on, you will find that out of this is
evolved a particular science called Pranayama. We will hear
a little of what thoese later Yogis have to say. Some of this I
have told you before, but a little repetition will serve to fix it
in your minds. First, you must remember that this Prana is
not the breath. But that which causes the motion of the
breath, that which is the vitality of the breath is the Prana.
Again, the word Prana is used of all the senses; they are all
called Prana, the mind is called Prana; and so we see that
Prana is the name of a certain force. And yet we cannot call
it force, because force is only the manifestation of it. It is
that which manifests itself as force and everything else in the
way of motion. The Chitta, the mind-stuff, is the engine
which draws in the Prana from the surroundings, and
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manufactures out of this Prana the various vital forces. First
of all the forces that keep the body in preservation, and lastly
thought, will, and all other powers. By this process of
breathing we can control all the various motions in the body,
and the various nerve currents that are running through the
body. First we begin to recognise them, and then we slowly
get control over them. Now these later Yogis consider that
there are three main currents of this Prana in the human
body. One they call Ida, another Pingala, and the third
Susumna. Pingala, according to them, is on the right side of
the spinal column, and the Ida is on the left side, and in the
middle of this spinal column is the Susumna, a vacant
channel. Ida and Pingala, according to them, are the
currents working in every man, and through these currents,
we are performing all the functions of life. Susumna is
present in all, as a possibility; but it works only in the Yogi.
You must remember that the Yogi changes his body; as you
go on practising your body changes; it is not the same body
that you had before the practice. That is very rational, and
can be explained, because every new thought that we have
must make, as it were, a new channel through the brain, and
that explains the tremendous conservatism of human nature.
Human nature likes to run through the ruts that are already
there, because it is easy. If we think, just for example’s
sake, that the mind is like a needle, and the brain substance a
soft lump before it, then each thought that we have makes a
street, as it were, in the brain, and this street would close up,
but that the grey matter comes and makes a lining to keep it
separate. If there were no grey matter there would be no
memory, because memory means going over these old
streets, retracing a thought as it were. Now perhaps you
have remarked that when I talk on subjects that in which I
take a few ideas that are familiar to everyone, and combine,
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and recombine them, it is easy to follow, because these
channels are present in everyone’s brain, and it is only
necessary to recur to them. But whenever a new subject
comes new channels have to be made, so it is not understood
so readily. And that is why the brain (it is the brain, and not
the people themselves) refuses unconsciously to be acted
upon by new ideas. It resists. The Prana is trying to make
new channels, and the brain will not allow it. This is the
secret of conservatism. The less channels there have been in
the brain, and the less the needle of the Prana has made
these passages, the more conservative will be the brain, the
more it will struggle against new thoughts. The more
thoughtful the mane, the more complicated will be the streets
in his brain, and the more easily he will take to new ideas,
and understand them. So with every fresh idea; we make a
new impression in the brain, cut new channels though the
brain-stuff, and that is why we find that in the practice of
Yoga (it being an entirely new set of thoughts and motives)
there is so much physical resistance at first. That is why we
find that the part of religion which deals with the world side
of nature can be so widely accpeted, while the other part, the
Philosophy, or the Psychology, which deals with the inner
nature of man, is so frequently neglected. We must
remember the definition of this world of ours; it is only the
Infinite Existence projected into the plane of consciousness.
A little of the Infinite is projected into consciousness, and
that we call our world. So there is an Infinite beyond, and
religion has to deal with both, with th elittle lump we call our
world, and with the Infinite beyond. Any religion which
deals alone with either one of these two will be defective. It
must deal with both. That part of religion which deals with
this part of the Infinite which has come into this plane of
consciousness, got itself caught, as it were, in the plane of
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consciousness, in the case of time, space, and causation, is
quite familiar to us, because we are in that already, and ideas
about this world have been with us almost from time
immemorial. The part of religion which deals with the
Infinite beyond comes entirely new to us, and getting ideas
about it produces new channels in the brain, disturbing the
whole system, and that is why you find in the practice of
Yoga ordinary people are at first turned out of their groove.
In order to lesson these disturbances as much as possible all
these methods are devised by Patanjali, that we may practice
any one of them best suited to us.
35. Those forms of concentration that bring
extraordinary sense perceptions cause
perseverance of the mind.
This naturally comes with Dharana, concentration; the Yogis
say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose
one begins to smell, after a few days, wonderful perfumes.
If it becomes concentrated at the root of the tongue one
begins to here sounds; if on the tip of the tongue one begins
to taste wonderful flavours; if on the middle of the tongue,
one feels as if he were coming in contact with something. If
one concentrates his mind on the palate he begins to see
peculiar things. If a man whose mind is disturbed wants to
take up some of these practices of Yoga, yet doubts the truth
of them, he will have his doubts set at rest, when, after a
little practice, these things come to him, and he will
persevere.
36. Or (by the meditation on) the Effulgent One
which is beyond all sorrow.
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This is another sort of concentration. Think of the lotus of
the heart, with petals downwards, and ruunning through it
the Sucumna; take in the breath, and while throwing the breat
out imagine that the lotus is turned with the petals upwards,
and inside that lotus is an effulgent light. Meditate on that.
37. Or (by meditation on) the heart that has
given up all attachment to sense objects.
Take some holy person, some great person whom you
revere, some saint whom you know to be perfectly nonattached,
and think of his heart. That heart has become nonattached,
and meditate on that heart; it will calm the mind. If
you cannot do that, there is the next way.
38. Or by meditating on the knowledge that
comes in sleep.
Sometimes a man dreams that he has seen angels coming to
him and talking to him, that he is in an ecstatic condition,
that he has heard music floating through the air. He is in a
blissful condition in that dream, and when he awakes it
makes a deep impression on him. Think of that dream as
real, and meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on
any holy thing that pleases you.
39. Or by meditation on anything that appeals
to one as good.
This does not mean any wicked subject, but anything good
that you like, any place that you like best, any scenery that
you like best, any idea that you like best, anything that will
concentrate the mind.
40. The Yogi’s mind thus meditating, becomes
un-obstructed from te atomic to the Infinite.
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The mind, by this practice, easily contemplates the most
minute thing, as well as the biggest thing. Thus the mind
waves become fainter.
41. The Yogi whose Vrttis have thus become
powerless (controlled) obtains in the
receiver, receiving, and received (the self,
the mind and external objects),
concentratedness and sameness, like the
crystal (before different coloured objects.)
What results from this constant meditation? We must
remember how in a previous aphorism Patanjali went into
the various states of meditation, and how the first will be the
gross, and the second the fine objects, and from them the
advance is to still finer objects of meditation, and how, in all
these meditations, which are only of the first degree, not
very high ones, we get as a result that we can meditate as
easily on the fine as on the grosser objects. Here the Yogi
sees the three things, the receiver, the received, and the
receiving, corresponding to the Soul, the object, and the
mind. There are three objects of meditation given us. Firs
the gross things, as bodies, or material objects, second fine
things, as the mind, the Chitta, and third the Purasa
qualified, not the Purasa itself, but the egoism. By practice,
the Yogi gets established in all these meditations. Whenever
he meditates he can keep out all other thought; he becomes
identified with that on which he mediates; when he meditates
he is like a piece of crystal; before flowers the crystal
becomes almost identified with flowers. If the flower is red,
the crystal looks red, or if the flower is blue, the crystal
looks blue.
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42. Sound, meaning, and resulting knowledge,
being mixed up, is (called Samadhi) with
reasoning.
Sound here means vibration; meaning, the nerve currents
which conduct it; and knowledge, reaction. All the various
meditations we have had so far, Patanjali calls Savitarka
(meditations with reasoning). Later on he will give us higher
and higher Dhyanas. In these that are called “with
reasoning,” we keep the duality of subject and object, which
results from the mixture of word, meaning, and knowledge.
There is first the external vibration, the word; this, carried
inward by the sense currents, is the meaning. After that
there comes a reactionary wave in the Chitta, which is
knowledge, but the mixture of these three makeup what we
call knowledge. In all the meditations up to this we get this
mixture as object of meditation. The next Samadhi is higher.
43. The Samadhi called without reasoning
(comes) when the memory is purified, or
devoid of qualities, expressing only the
meaning (of the meditated object).
It is by practice of meditation of these three that we come to
the state where these three do not mix. We can get rid of
them. We will first try to understand what these three are.
Here is the Chitta; you will always remember the simile of
the lake, the mind-stuff, and the vibration, the word, the
sound, like a pulsation coming over it. You have that calm
lake in you, and I pronounce a word, “cow.” As soon as it
enters through your ears there is a wave produced in your
Chitta along with it. So that wave represents the idea of the
cow, the form or the meaning as we call it. That apparent
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cow that you know is really that wave in the mind-stuff, and
that comes as a reaction to the internal and external soundvibrations,
and with the sound, the wave dies away; that
wave can never exist without a word. You may ask how it is
when we only think of the cow, and do not hear a sound.
You make that sound yourself. You are saying “cow” faintly
in your mind, and with that comes a wave. There cannot be
any wave without this impulse of sound, and when it is not
from outside it is from inside, and when the sound dies, the
wave dies. What remains? The result of the reaction, and
that is knowledge. These three are so closely combined in
our mind that we cannot separate them. When the sound
comes, the senses vibrate, and the wave rises in reaction;
they follow so closely upon one another that there is no
discerning one from the other; when this meditation has been
practiced for a long time, memory, the receptacle of all
impressions, becomes purified, and wwe are able clearly to
distinguish them from one another. This is called
“Nirvitarka,” concentration without reasoning.
44. By this process (the concentrations) with
discrim-ination and without discrimination,
whose objects are finer, are (also)
explained.
A process similar to the preceding is applied again, only, the
objects to be taken up in the former meditations are gross; in
this they are fine.
45. The finer objects end with the Pradhana.
The gross objects are only the elements, and everything
manufactured out of them. The fine objects begin with the
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Tanmatras or fine particles. The organs, the mind,* egoism,
the mind-stuff (the cause of all manifestion) the equilibrium
state of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas materials—called
Pradhana (chief), Prakrti (nature), or Avyakta (unmanifest),
are all included within the category of fine objects. The
Purusa (the Soul) alone is excepted from this definition.
46. These concentrations are with seed.
These do not destroy the seeds of past actions, thus cannot
give liberation, but what they bring to the Yogi is stated in
the following aphorisms.
47. The concentration “without reasoning” being
purified, the Chitta becomes firmly fixed.
48. The knowledge in that is called “filled with
Truth.”
The next aphorism will explain this.
49. The knowledge that is gained from testimony
and inference is about common
objects. That from the Samadhi just mentioned
is of a much higher order, being able
to penetrate where inference and testimony
cannot go.
The idea is that we have to get our knowledge of ordinary
objects by direct perception, and by inference therefrom, and
from testimony of people who are competent. By “people
who are competent,” the Yogis always mean the Rishis, or
the Seers of the thoughts recorded in the Scriptures—the
Vedas. According to them, the only proof of the Scriptures
* The mind, or commony sensory, the aggregate of all senses.
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is that they were the testimony of competent persons, yet
they say the Scriptures cannot take us to realisation. We can
read all the Vedas, and yet will not realise anything, but
when we practise their teachings, then we attain to that state
which realises what the Scriptures say, which penetrates
where reason cannot go, and where the testimony of others
cannot avail. This is what is meant by this aphorism, that
realisation is real religion, and all the rest is only
preparation—hearing lectures, or reading books, or
reasoning, is merely preparing the ground; it is not religion.
Intellectual assent, and intellectual dissent are not religion.
The central idea of the Yogis is that just as we come in direct
contact with the objects of the senses, so religion can be
directly perceived in a far more intense sense. The truths of
religion, as God and Soul, cannot be perceived by the
external senses. I cannot see God with my eyes, nor can I
touch Him with my hands, and we also know that neither can
we reason beyond the senses. Reason leaves us at a point
quite indecisive; we may reason all our lives, as the world
has been doing for thousands of years, and the result is that
we find we are incompetent to prove or disprove the facts of
religion. What we perceive directly we take as the basis, and
upon that basis we reason. So it is obvious that reasoning
has to run within these bounds of perception. It can never go
beyond: the whole scope of realisation, therefore, is beyond
sense perception. The Yogis say that man can go beyond his
direct sense perception, and beyond his reason also. Man
has in him the faculty, the power, of transcending his
intellect even, and that power is in every being, every
creature. By the practice of Yoga that power is aroused, and
then man transcends the ordinary limits of reason, and
directly perceives things which are beyond all reason.
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50. The resulting impression from this Samadhi
obstructs all other impressions.
We have seen in the foregoing aphorism that the only way of
attaining to that super-consciousness is by concentration, and
we have also seen that what hinder the mind from
concentration are the past Samskaras, impressions. All of
you have observed that when you are trying to concentrate
your mind, your thoughts wander. When you are trying to
think of God, that is the very time which all these Samskaras
take to appear. At other times they are not so active, but
when you want them not to be they are sure to be there,
trying their best to crowd inside your mind. Why should that
be so? Why should they be much more potent at the time of
concentration? It is because you are repressing them and
they react with all their force. At other times they do not
react. How countless these old past impressions must be, all
lodge somewhere in the Chitta, ready, waiting like tigers to
jump up. These have to be suppressed that the one idea
which we like may arise, to the exclusion of the others.
Instead, they are all struggling to come up at the same time.
These are the various powers of the Samskaras in hindering
concentration of the mind, so this Samadhi which has just
been given is the best to be practised, on account of its
power of suppressing the Samskaras. The Samskara which
will be raised by this sort of concentration will be so
powerful that it will hinder the action of the others, and hold
them in check.
51. By the restraint of even this (impression,
which obstructs all other impressions), all
being restrained, comes the “seedless”
Samadhi.
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You remember that our goal is to perceive the Soul iself.
We cannot perceive the Soul because it has got mingled up
with nature, with the mind, with the body. The most
ignorant man thinks his body is the Soul. The more learned
man thinks his mind is the Soul, but both of these are
mistaken. What makes the Soul get mingled up with all this,
these different waves in the Chitta rise and cover the Soul,
and we only are a little reflection of the Soul through these
waves, so, if the wave be one of anger, we see the Soul as
angry: “I am angry,” we say. If the wave is a wave of love
we see ourselves reflected in that wave, and say we are
loving. If that wave is one of weakness, and the Soul is
reflected in it, we think we are weak. These various ideas
come from these impressions, these Samskaras covering the
Soul. The real nature of the Soul is not perceived until all
the waves have subsided; so, first, Patanjali teaches us the
meaning of these waves; secondly, the best way to repress
them; and thirdly, how to make one wave so strong as to
suppress all other waves, fire eating fire as it were. When
only one remains, it will be easy to suppress that also, and
when that is gone, this Samadhi of concentration is called
seedless; it leaves nothing, and the Soul is manifested just as
It is, in Its own glory. Then alone we know that the Soul is
not a compound, It is the only eternal simple in the universe,
and, as such, It cannot be born, It cannot die, It is immortal,
indestructible, the Ever-living Essence of intelligence.
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