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Written by Swami Vivekananda |
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We have now come to the chapter which is called the
Chapter of Powers.
1. Dharana is holding the mind on to some
particular object.
Dharana (concentration) is when the mind holds on to some
object, either in the body, or outside the body, and keeps
itself in that state.
2. An unbroken flow of knowledge to that
object is Dhyana.
The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one
particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if
the mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through
that part of the body, and through no other part, that would
be Dharana, and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in
that state for some time it is called Dhyana (meditation).
3. When that, giving up all forms, reflects
only the meaning, it is Samadhi.
That is, when in meditation all forms are given up. Suppose
I were meditating on a book, and that I have gradually
succeeded in concentrating the mind on it, and perceiving
only the internal sensations, the meaning, unexpressed in any
form, that state of Dhyana is called Samadhi.
4. (These) three (when practised) in regard to
one object is Samyama.
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When a man can direct his mind to any particular object and
fix it there, and then keep it there for a long time, separating
the object from the internal part, this is Samyama; or
Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, one following the other,
and making one. The form of the thing has vanished, and
only its meaning remains in the mind.
5. By the conquest of that comes light of
knowledge.
When one has succeeded in making this Samyama, all
powers come under his control. This is the great instrument
of the Yogi. The object of knowledge are infinite, and they
are divided into the gross, grosser, grossest, and the fine,
finer, finest, and so on. This Samyama should be first
applied to gross things, when when you begin to get
knowledge of the gross, slowly, by stages, it should be
brought to finer things.
6. That should be employed in stages.
This is a note of warning not to attempt to go too fast.
7. These three are nearer than those that
precede.
Before these we had the Pranayama, the Asana, the Yama
and Niyama; these are external parts of these three—
Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. Yet these latter even are
external to the seedless Samadhi. When a man has attained
to them he may attain to omniscience and omnipresence, but
that would not be salvation. These three would not make the
mind Nirvikalpa, changeless, but would leave the seeds for
getting bodies again; only when the seeds are, as the Yogi
says, “fried,” do they lose the possibility of producing
further plants. These powers cannot fry the seed.
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8. But even they are external to the seedless
(Samadhi).
Compared with that seedless Samadhi, therefore, even these
are external. We have not yet reached the real Samadhi, the
highest, but to a lower stage, in which this universe still
exists as we see it, and in which are all these power.
9. By the suppression of the disturbed modifications
of the mind, and by the rise of
modifications of control, the mind is said to
attain the controlling modifications —following
the controlling powers of the mind.
That is to say, in this first state of Samadhi, the modifications
of the mind have been controlled, but not perfectly,
because if they were, there would be no modifications. If
there is a modification which impels the mind to rush out
through the senses, and the Yogi tries to control it, that very
control itself will be a modification. One wave will be
checked by another wave, so it will not be real Samadhi,
when all the waves have subsided, as control itself will be a
wave. Yet this lower Samadhi is very much nearer to the
higher Samadhi than when the mind comes bubbling out.
10. Its flow becomes steady by habit.
The flow of this continuous control of the mind becomes
steady when practices day after day and the mind obtains the
faculty of constant concentration.
11. Taking in all sorts of objects and
concentrating upon one object, these two
powers being destroyed and manifested
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respectively, the Chitta gets the modification
called Samadhi.
The mind is taking up various objects, running into all sorts
of things and then there is a higher state of the mind, when it
takes up one object and excludes all others. Samadhi is the
result of that.
12. The one-pointedness of the Chitta is when
it grasps in one, the past and present.
How are we to know that the mind has become
concentrated? Because time will vanish. The more time
vanishes the more concentrated we are. In common life we
see that when were are interested in a book we do not note
the time at all, and when we leave the book we are often
surprised to find how many hours have passed. All time will
have the tendency to come and stand in the one present. So
the definition is given, when the past and present come and
stand in one, the more concentrated the mind.
13. By this is explained the threefold
transformations of form, time and state, in
fine or gross matter, and in the organs.
By this the threefold changes in the mind-stuff as to form,
time, and state are explained. The mind-stuff is changing
into Vrttis, this is change as to form. To be able to hold the
changes to the present time is change as to time. To be able
to make the mind-stuff go to the past forms giving up the
present even, is change as to state. The concentrations
taught in the preceding aphorisms were to give the Yogi a
voluntary control over the transformations of his mind-stuff
which alone will enable him to make the Samyama before
named.
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14. That which is acted upon by
transformations, either past, present or yet
to be manifested, is the qualified.
That is to say, the qualified is the substance which is being
acted upon by time and by the Samskaras, and getting
changed and being manifested all the time.
15. The succession of changes is the cause of
manifold evolution.
16. By making Samyama on the three sorts of
changes comes the knowledge of past and
future.
We must not lose sight of the first definition of Samyama.
When the mind has attained to that state when it identifies
itself with the internal impression of the object, leaving the
external, and when, by long practice, that is retained by the
mind, and the mind can get into that state in a moment, that
is Samyama. If a man in that state wants to know the past
and future he has to make a Samyama on the changes in the
Samskaras. Some are working now at present, some have
worked out, and some are waiting to work; so by making a
Samyama on these he knows the past and future.
17. By making Samyama on word, meaning,
and knowledge, which are ordinarily
confused, comes the knowledge of all
animal sounds.
The word represents the external cause, the meaning
represents the internal vibration that travels to the brain
through the channels of the Indriyas, conveying the external
impression to the mind, and knowledge represents the
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reaction of the mind, with which comes perception. These
three confused, make our sense objects. Suppose I hear a
word; there is first the external vibration, next the internal
sensation carried to the mind by the organ of hearing, then
the mind reacts, and I know the word. The word I know is a
mixture of the three, vibration, sensation, and reaction.
Ordinarily these three are inseperable; but by practice the
Yogi can separate them. When a man has attained to this, if
he makes a Samyama on any sound, he understands the
meaning which that sound was intended to express, whether
it was made by man or by any other animal.
18. By perceiving the impressions, knowledge
of past life.
Each experience that we have comes in the form of a wave
in the Chitta, and this subsides and becomes finer and finer,
but is never lost. It remains there in minute form, and if we
can bring this wave up again, it becomes memory. So, if the
Yogi can make a Samyama on these past impressions in the
mind, he will begin to remember all his past lives.
19. By making Samyama on the signs in
another’s both knowledge of that mind
comes.
Suppose each man has particular signs on his body, which
differentiate him from others; when the Yogi makes a
Samyama on these signs peculiar to a certain man he knows
the nature of the mind of that person.
20. But not its contents, that not being the
object of the Samyama.
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He would not know the contents of the mind by making a
Samyama on the body. There would be required a twofold
Samyama, first on the signs in the body, and then on the
mind itself. The Yogi would then know everything that is in
that mind, past, present, and future.
21. By making Samyama on the form of the
body the power of perceiving forms being
obstructed, the power of manifestation in
the eye being separated, the Yogi’s body
becomes unseen.
A Yogi standing in the midst of this room can apparently
vanish. He does not really vanish, but he will not be seen by
anyone. The form and the body are, as it were, separated.
You must remember that this can only be done when the
Yogi has attained to that power of concentration when form
and the thing formed have been separated. Then he makes a
Samyama on that, and the power to perceive forms is
obstructed, because the power of perceiving forms comes
from the junction of form and the thing formed.
22. By this the disappearance or concealment
of words which are being spoken is also
explained.
23. Karma is of two kinds, soon to be
fructified, and late to be fructified. By
making Samyama on that, or by the signs
called Aristha, portents, the Yogis know the
exact time of separation from their bodies.
When the Yogi makes a Samyama on his own Karma, upon
those impressions in his mind which are now working, and
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165
those which are just waiting to work, he knows exactly by
those that are waiting when his body will fall. He knows
when he will die, at what hour, even at what minute. The
Hindus think very much of that knowledge or consciousness
of the nearness of death, because it is taught in the Gita that
the thoughts at the moment of departure are great powers in
determining the next life.
24. By making Samyama on friendship, etc.,
various strength comes.
25. By making Samyama on the strength of the
elephant, etc., that strength comes to the Yogi.
When a Yogi has attained to this Samyama and wants
strength, he makes a Samyama on the strength of the
elephant, and gets it. Infinite energy is at the disposal of
everyone, if he only knows how to get it. The Yogi has
discovered the science of getting it.
26. By making Samyama on that effulgent light
comes the knowledge of the fine, the
obstructed, and the remote.
When the Yogi makes Samyama on that effulgent light in the
heart he sees things which are very remote, things, for
instance, that are happening in a distant place, and which are
obstructed by mountain barriers and also things which are
very fine.
27. By making Samyama on the sun, (comes)
the knowledge of the world.
28. On the moon, (comes) the knowledge of the
cluster of stars.
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29. On the pole star (comes) the knowledge of
the motions of the stars.
30. On the navel circle (comes) the knowledge
of the constitution of the body.
31. On the hollow of the throat (comes) cessation
of hunger.
When a man is very hungry, if he can make Samyama on the
pit of the throat hunger ceases.
32. On the nerve called Kurma (comes) fixity of
the body.
When he is practising the body is not disturbed.
33. On the light emanating from the top of the
head sight of the Siddhas.
The Siddhas are beings who are a little above ghosts. When
the Yogi concentrates his mind on the sop of his head he will
see these Siddhas. The word Siddha does not refer to those
men who have become free—a sense in which it is often
used.
34. Or by the power of Pratibha all knowledge.
All these can come without any Samyama to the man who
has the power of Pratibha (enlightenment from purity). This
is when a man has risen to a high state of Pratibha; then he
has that great light. All things are apparent to him.
Everything comes to him naturally, without making
Samyama on anything.
35. In the heart, knowledge of minds.
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36. Enjoyment comes by the non-discrimination
of the very distant soul and Sattva.
Its actions are for another; Samyama on this
gives knowledge of the Puruca.
This power of non-attachment acquired through purity gives
the Yogi the enlightenment called Pratibha.
37. From that arises the knowledge of hearing,
touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling,
belonging to Pratibha.
38. These are obstacles to Samadhi; but they
are powers in the worldly state.
If the Yogi knows all these enjoyments of the world it comes
by the junction of the Purusa and the mind. If he wants to
make Samyama on this, that they are two different things,
nature and soul, he gets knowledge of the Purusa. From that
arises discrimination. When he has got that discrimination
he gets the Pratibha, the light of supreme genius. These
powers, however, are obstructions to the attainment of the
highest goal, the knowledge of the pure Self, and freedom;
these are, as it were, to be met in the way, and if the Yogi
rejects them, he attains the highest. If he is tempted to
acquire these, his farther progress is barred.
39. When the cause of bondage has become
loosened, the Yogi, by his knowledge of
manifestation through the organs, enters
another’s body.
The Yogi can enter a dead body, and make it get up and
move, even while he himself is working in another body. Or
he can enter a living body, and hold that man’s mind and
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organs in check, and for the time being act through the body
of that man. That is done by the Yogi coming to this
discrimination of Purusa and nature. If he wants to enter
another’s body he makes a Samyama on that body and enters
it, because, not only is his Soul omnipresent, but his mind
also, according to the Yogi. It is one bit of the universal
mind. Now, however, it can only work through the nerve
currents in this body, but when the Yogi has loosened
himself from these nerve currents, he will be able to work
through other things.
40. By conquering the current called Udana the
Yogi does not sink in water, or in swamps,
and he can walk on thorns.
Udana is the name of the nerve current that governs the
lungs, and all the upper parts of the body, and when he is
master of it he becomes light in weight. He cannot sink in
water; he can walk on thorns and sword baldes, and stand in
fire, and so on.
41. By the conquest of the current Samana he is
surrounded by blaze.
Whenever he likes light flashes from his body.
42. By making Samyama on the relation
between the ear and the Akaca comes divine
hearing.
There is the Akaca, the ether, and the instrument, the ear. By
making Samyama on them the Yogi gets divine hearing; he
hears everything. Anything spoken or sounded miles away
he can here.
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43. By making Samyama on the relation
between the Akaca and the body the Yogi
becoming light as cotton wool goes through
the skies.
This Akaca is the material of this body; it is only Akaca in a
certain form that has become the body. If the Yogi makes
Samyama on this Akaca material of his body, it acquires the
lightness of Akaca, and can go anywhere through the air.
44. By making Samyama on the real
modifications of the mind, which are
outside, called great disembodiness, comes
disappearance of the covering to light.
The mind in its foolishness thinks that it is working in this
body. Why should I be bound by one system of nerves, and
put the Ego only in one body, if the mind is omnipresent?
There is no reason why I should. The Yogi wants to feel the
Ego wherever he likes. When he has succeeded in that all
covering to light goes away, and all darkness and ignorance
vanish. Everything appear to him to be full of knowledge.
45. By making Samyama on the elements,
beginning with the gross, and ending with
the superfine, comes mastery of the
elements.
The Yogi make Samyama on the elements, first on the gross,
and then on the finer states. This Samyama is taken up more
by a sect of the Buddhists. They take a lump of clay, and
make Samyama on that, and gradually they begin to see the
fine materials of which is is composed, and when they have
known all the fine materials in it, they get power over that
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element. So with all the elements, the Yogi can conquer
them all.
46. From that comes minuteness, and the rest of
the powers, “glorification of the body,” and
indestructibleness of the bodily qualities.
This means that the Yogi has attained the eight powers. He
can make himsef as light as a particle, he can make himself
huge, as heavy as the earth, or as light as the air; he will rule
everything he wants, he will conquer everything he wants,
alion will sit at his feet like a lamb, and all his desires be
fulfilled at will.
47. The glorifications of the body are beauty,
complexion, strength, adamantine hardness.
The body becomes indestructible; fire cannot injure it.
Nothing can injure it. Nothing can destroy it until the Yogi
wishes. “Breaking the rod of time he lives in this universe
with his body.” In the Vedas it is written that for that man
there is no more disease, death or pain.
48. By making Samyama on the objectivity,
knowledge and egoism of the organs, by
gradation comes the conquest of the organs.
In perception of external objects the organs leave their place
in the mind and go towards the object; that is followed by
knowledge and egoism. When the Yogi makes Samyama on
these by gradation he conquers the organs. Take up anything
that you see or feel, a book, for instance, and first concentrate
the mind on the thing itself. Then on the knowledge
that it is in the form of a book, and then the Ego that sees the
book. By that practice all the organs will be conquers.
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49. From that comes glorified mind, power of
the organs independently of the body, and
conquest of nature.
Just as by the conquest of the elements comes glorified body,
so from the conquest of the mind will come glorified mind.
50. By making Samyama on the Sattva, to him
who has discriminated between the intellect
and the Purusa comes omnipresence and
omniscience.
When we have conquered nature, and realised the difference
between the Purusa and nature, that the Purusa is
indestructible, pure and perfect, when the Yogi has realised
this, then comes omnipotence and omniscience.
51. By giving up even these comes the
destruction of the very seed of evil; he
attains Kaivalya.
He attains aloneness, independence. Then that man is free.
When he gives up even the ideas of omnipotence and
omniscience, there will be entire rejection of enjoyment, of
the temptations from celestial beings. When the Yogi has
seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he
reaches the goal. What are all these powers? Simply
manifestations. They areno better than dreams. Even
omnipotence is a dream. It depends on the mind. So long as
there is a mind it can be understood, but the goal is beyond
even the mind.
52.The Yogi should not feel allured or flattered
by the overtures of celestial beings, for fear
of evil again.
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There are other dangers too; gods and other beings come to
tempt the Yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly
free. They are jealous, just as we are, and worse than we
sometimes. They are very much afraid of losing their places.
Those Yogis who do not reach perfection die and become
gods; leaving the direct road they go into one of the side
streets, and get these powers. Then again they have to be
born; but he who is strong enough to withstand these
temptations, and go straight to the goal, becomes free.
53. By making Samyama on a particle of time
and its multiples comes discrimination.
How are we to avoid all these things, these Devas, and
heavens, and powers? By discrimination, by knowing good
from evil. Therefore a Samyama is given by which the
power of discrimination can be strengthened. This is by
making Samyama on a particle of time.
54. Those which cannot be differentiated by
species, sign and place, even they will be
discriminated by the above Samyama.
The misery that we suffer comes from ignorance, from nondiscrimination
between the real and the unreal. We all take
the bad for the good, the dream for the reality. Soul is the
only reality, and we have forgotten it. Body is an unreal
dream, and we think we are all bodies. This non-discrimination
is the cause of misery, and it is caused by ignorance. When
discrimination comes it brings strength, and then alone can
we avoid all these various ideas of body, heavens, and gods
and Devas. This ignorance arises through differentiating by
species, sign or place. For instance, take a cow. The cow is
differentiated from the dog, as species. Even with the cows
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alone how do we make the distinction between one cow and
another? By signs. If two objects are exactly similar they
can be distinguished if they are in different places. When
objects are so mixed up that even these differenti? will not
help us, the power of discrimination acquired by the abovementioned
practice will give us the ability to distinguish
them. The highest philosophy of the Yogi is based upon this
fact, that the Purusa is pure and perfect, and is the only
“simple” that exists in this universe. The body and mind are
compounds, and yet we are ever identifying ourselves with
them. That is the great mistake that the distinction has been
lost. When this power of discrimination has been attained,
man sees that everything in this world, mental and physical,
is a compound, and, as such, cannot be the Purusa.
55. The saving knowledge is that knowledge of
discrimination which covers all objects, all
means.
Saving, because the knowledge takes the Yogi across the
ocean of birth and death. The whole of Prakriti in all its
states, subtle and gross, is within the grasp of this
knowledge. There is no succession in perfection by this
knowledge: it takes in all things simultaneously, at a glance.
55. By the similarity of purity between the
Sattva and the Purusa comes Kaivalya.
When the soul realises that it depends on nothing in the
universe, from gods to the lowest atom, that it is called
Kaivalya (isolation) and perfection. It is attained when this
mixture of purity and impurity called mind has been made as
pure as the Purusa Itself; then the Sattva, the mind, reflects
only the unqualified essence of purity, which is the Purusa |
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