CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DHARANA, DHYANA AND SAMADHI
1. "How to transcend the mind?" The Master answers: "Mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness: give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removal of the obstacles to the peace of mind."
Talk 26
Note: In the previous chapters we discussed some of
the ways of transcending the mind to reach the Self. Here
Bhagavan recommends tranquillity to begin with; for we cannot proceed with the vichara when the turbulence of the mind is at its height, any more than we can navigate our ship in a stormy sea.
We must first steer it to some shelter till calm prevails, when we can ply our oars and reach safely our destination.
People complain that the world is too storm-tossed to give them peace. Bhagavan suggests to them to ignore the world, so that if it is responsible for the restlessness of their minds, the latter will acquire calmness by degrees. But if they will not, it will prove that the storm is inside and not outside them. Then they will have to look within: this is vichara.
As meditation is of utmost importance in this yoga, this chapter contains an extensive selection of hints on it. It goes without saying that the working of men's minds differs one from the other, so that it is not possible to frame yogic rules
which can apply to all of them. A Guru is necessary to guide each disciple according to his peculiar circumstances. At best only hints can be given to the general aspirants to light their path and instil in them the requisite confidence to tread it.
Such hints are found here in adequate number.
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As a first step Bhagavan suggests mental quiescence, for it is not possible to come from the hectic activities of ordinary life and plunge straight into meditation, and expect it to succeed. Much preparation has to be made through study, reflection, and sat sanga to transform the worldly vasanas into those of the sadhana, when the mind will, of its own accord, be inclined "to look inward".
It is therefore to the advantage of the practicants not to attempt meditation straightaway, but first to acquire mastery of Bhagavan's teaching and learn how to direct the meditation to attain its aim. This time will not be wasted, for profound study not only takes away the worldly vasanas but it is dharana (concentration) itself, the stepping-stone to a successful meditation (dhyana).
Bhagavan develops the subject:
2. "External contacts — contacts with objects other than itself — make the mind restless. Loss of interests in the not-Self (vairagya) is the first step. Then the habits of introspection and concentration follow, ending in samadhi."
Talk 26
Note: Bhagavan here sheds light on the relation of the mental restlessness to the world. He distinguishes between the mind itself and the external objects, which he calls "other than the mind", i.e., between the Self, which we are seeking, and the not-Self, which we have to abandon, namely, the world of the sense-objects, which is ever restless. He makes us see the direct opposition of the latter to the former — the not-
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Self to the Self. If we cleave to the not-Self, it stands to reason that we cannot hope to get at the Self, and then we shall not be justified in grieving over our failure, or blaming it on
God or on the Guru. Cleave to the world and you are lost to the Self, at least for the period of your cleaving. Cleave to the Self and you are lost to the world, rather the world is lost to you. We cannot hope to see the light if we stubbornly hold on to the darkness: the one is repugnant to the other.
If we abandon the one we will enjoy (or suffer) the other to the full. This is plain common sense.
But this may be misunderstood as advocating the desertion of one's home, wife, children and other obligations.
Nothing is farther from the truth. This sort of interpretation leads to perdition, making the bleakness of one's prospects more bleak. We have seen how Bhagavan discourages escapism, which is, truly speaking, not vairagya but callous egotism. Rational seekers do not make this mistake, or argue that since the Self is alone real, all family and domestic encumbrances are mere dream, which need not be taken seriously. This argument resembles that of the foolish disciples in the story, who dropped their Rishi in a deep pit to bring his teaching of Maya [?] to ridicule. They thought, the story goes, he would plead to take him out of the pit and would thus repudiate Maya [?]. They called out to him from the top of the pit derisively: "Well Sir, now you can tell us if the world is an illusion: but please remember where you are." The
Rishi undaunted feebly answered from the abysmal darkness: "The world is illusion, but not this pit," meaning thereby that although the world is an illusion, the suffering in the pit is, like the dream suffering, real, while it lasts. So, although the world is the not-Self, an illusion, the suffering which we inflict upon others, our family in this case, is genuine and becomes the cause of our own future suffering, for the Self
is one. Sri Krishna, the Self, speaks to Arjuna of the deluded and arrogant people who cause trouble to others: "These malignant ones hate Me in the bodies of others and in their own." (Bhagavad Gita, XVI, 18).
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Bhagavan in this text asks us "to lose interest in the not-Self ", which implies detachment in the performance of duty, freedom from that clinging passion for the family and for possessions. Giving up infatuation for the family is one thing and giving up the family itself is quite another. Abjuring this passion, which is not the same as the negative escapism, causes mental calmness. This is the true significance of vairagya, which can be attained through the analysis of vichara; for (Bhagavan continues):
3. "An examination of the ephemeral nature of the external phenomena leads to vairagya. Hence enquiry is the first and foremost step to be taken, which will result in contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc. The `I'- thought becomes clearer for inspection."
Talk 27
Note: This is a clear direction for the attainment of vairagya.
These two texts practically conclude as follows: the `I' has so far been loaded with things that are not `I' — with wealth, fame, power, family relationships, social status, individual names and titles, with various koshas (bodies), etc., which are temporary — "ephemeral." Take away all this superfluous load by enquiry and discrimination, and the `I' will remain alone as the eternal Self. This is true vairagya. Therefore the renunciation must be with respect to this load, these useless trappings, which hide the true nature of the `I' from our vision by their glamour and their peculiar appeals. Vichara unloads the `I' and restores to us the fullness of the being and its eternal freedom, even though we may retain the body and all human relationships. We shall then become ourselves
in the full sense of the term. We will have then proved to ourselves that in the long run the plus works out to minus — the gain is actually a loss. Wealth and possessions, so long as we retain a passion for them, are in fact subtractions rather than additions. This is the paradox of the life of the body and the world.
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Bhagavan now turns to other methods than the vichara.
4. "If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to the vichara marga, he must develop bhakti [?] (devotion) to an Ideal — maybe God, Guru, Humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of Beauty. When one of these has taken possession of the individual, other attachments grow weaker and dispassion (vairagya) develops. Thus ekagrata (concentration) grows simultaneously and imperceptibly. "In the absence of vichara and bhakti [?], control of breath (pranayama) may be tried. This is known as Yoga marga.
If the breath is held the mind cannot jump at its pets — the objects. Thus there is rest for the mind so long as the breath is held. The mind improves by practice and becomes finer, just as the razor's edge is sharpened by stropping."
Talk 27
Note: Vichara [?] is not therefore the only method of practice to begin with. There are some who do not know how to enquire and how to analyse their thoughts and emotions. They begin and end with the empirical `I'. How to find its root, and how to follow up the `I'-thought, is a problem to which they find no solution. To such the vichara marga remains infructuous — an obstacle rather than a help. Bhagavan advises them to take to bhakti [?], that is, to develop a devotion to an Ideal, even though that Ideal may be as concrete as the service of humanity or a virtue for which they aspire. If bhakti [?] is sufficiently developed, vairagya and concentration
follow as a matter of course. If devotion to an Ideal is also lacking, the seeker may resort to japa or pranayama to arrest the restlessness of the mind. All these practices specifically aim at stopping the vritti, the ceaseless modification, the wanderings of the mind, so that the latter may be nailed to itself and may eventually cognise its own native state. Mental diffusiveness resembles a mixture of gold dust with sand, earth, ashes and dirt of all sorts. Concentration (dharana [?]) and meditation (dhyana) are the sieve which sifts the gold dust from the others. They churn the nadis (nerves) along which consciousness flows to the whole body and track them down to their source, the Heart. Relaxation of the nervous system then takes place, denoting the ebbing of the consciousness from the nadis back to the Heart. The ebbs and flows of the consciousness, which constant practice renders increasingly perceptible to the meditator, gradually loosen the consciousness from the body and end by separating them in samadhi, so that the sadhaka is enabled to perceive the consciousness alone and pure. This is the Self,
God the Absolute.
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Hence concentration is recommended in every form of spiritual practice and in every school of Yoga. It is brought about by bhakti [?], which starts and keeps going the fire of tapas. Bhakti is thus all-inclusive and it is highest in the complete surrender which the Yogin achieves in the path of jnana and vichara. Some practicants find it easier to take to pranayama to control the mind. That is also an effective method of realisation, provided they do not get involved in the chakras but end in the Heart.
5. "What are the steps in the practical sadhana?"
The Master: "They depend on the qualifications and the nature of the seeker. If you are doing idol worship, you should go on with it: it will lead you to concentration. Get
one-pointed, and all will come out right. People think that Liberation is far away and should be sought out. They are wrong. It is only knowing the Self within oneself.
Concentrate and you will get it. The mind is the cycle of births and deaths. Go on practising and concentration will be as easy as breathing. That will be the crown of your achievements."
Talk 31
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Note: Spiritual practices are therefore purely individual, depending on one's temperament, intellectual abilities, modes of thinking, peculiar circumstances and other emotional and spiritual factors. But whatever these may be, a resort to concentration, as we have seen above, is a sine qua non, for which any convenient instrument may be used.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the Upanishads describe some of the methods without exhausting them; for they are as many as the seekers themselves.
Liberation, Bhagavan tells us, is not the acquisition of a new situation or qualification, but only of the most correct point of view about oneself, which is already here and now.
We possess a false view of our identity, like the proverbial millionaire who stubbornly imagined himself to be a miserable pauper, and acted as if he were truly such, and thus perpetuated his wretchedness. We are immortal, but imagine ourselves to be mortal, and act according to this belief. We are nothing but the Supreme Intelligence or Pure knowledge, the knower of all things, thinker, feeler, conceiver, creator, and not mere chemical compounds, mere flesh, blood, bones, bile and mucus, which hardly bear an aesthetic examination. There is a pronounced discrepancy, which escapes us, between the body-I belief and the revulsion we feel at the exposure of the body's internal parts. We love ourselves most, and if the body is us, how is it that we cannot tolerate this exhibition? We hardly need a highly developed
analytical faculty to discover this patent incongruity. Once we disentangle the intelligent in us from the unintelligent body by practice, we are liberated that very instant. So liberation is there for the asking, completely at our disposal, if we but make up our mind and act with resolute determin- ation. Self-"real"-isation therefore simply means discovering to be "real" that — our selves — which we have so far taken to be unreal and mortal: "It is only knowing the Self within oneself."
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6. "If you go the way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and will find yourself in an endless maze.
But if you trace back the source of thoughts these will disappear and the Self alone will remain. In fact there is no inside or outside for the Self. They are the projections of the ego. The Self is pure and absolute."
Talk 13
Note: Thoughts include sensations, pet notions, all habits of the mind (vasanas), — the sense of `I' and `mine', etc. If we thoughtlessly let ourselves go and yield to the promptings of these habits and instincts, we will be swamped, literally involved in an "endless maze", which will tend to keep the ego firmly fixed in avidya [?], suffering the consequences of its ignorance. "Slimming" becomes necessary. Shed the vasanas: track them down to their source by investigation, and you are bound to reach the Self. You will never go astray, for all thoughts are rooted in the Self, as all the branches of a tree are rooted in the earth.
7. "If the origin is sat only, why is it not felt?"
Bhagavan: "The salt in lump is visible, but invisible in solution; still it is cognised by its taste. Similarly sat (or truth), though not perceived by the intellect is still realisable in other ways. How? Just as a man who has been robbed and blindfolded by robbers and thrown in a jungle
enquires his way and returns home, so also the ajnani who is blinded by ignorance enquires his way from the Jnani [?] and returns to his source."
Talk 108
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Note: Sat [?] "in lump" is Brahman, the Self, alone and pure. It is experienced as concentrated consciousness in samadhi.
Once the senses are out again, the concentrated conscious- ness ("in lump") spreads out to the whole body and becomes a "solution", and thus imperceptible. Yet the Jnani [?] knows it by "its taste". This is a delightful metaphor. What we want now is to "taste" it in its lumpiness, so that we may distinguish it from the body in which it is now in "solution" — in an indistinguishable state. Bhagavan advises us to enquire from him who has tasted it in both the states, as the blindfolded man finds his way home with the help of those whose eyes are open. Robbers (the senses) have stolen the knowledge of the Self from us by blinding us with the world illusion.
We have now to resort to the Master who has found the
Self, so that we too may see and "taste" it again, as we used to do before the cruel burglary had taken place.
8. "Please help me to realise the Self. It is no use reading books."
Bhagavan answers, "Quite so. If the Self be found in books, it would have been realised long ago. Is it not a wonder that we should seek the Self in books? Can it be found there? Of course books have impelled the question." Talk 117
Note: Bhagavan is, of course, right to be satirical about finding the Self in books. To lose oneself and then search for it in books resembles the case of the proverbial princess, who all along carries her necklace round her neck but goes in search of it everywhere outside her person. A single look in the mirror would have sufficed. The mirror of the Self is
the `I', our own being. How can books act as its mirror?
Sound books can only induce the search and suggest ways and means. Even then we should have to act upon the suggestions in our own mind, which more often than not we do not. Why? We have no time, you know.
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9. "The Srutis [?] speak of the Self as being of the size of the thumb, the tip of the hair, a spark, subtler than the subtle, etc., etc. They have no foundation in fact. It is only Being.
It is simply Being. People desire to see it as a blazing light, etc. How can it be? It is neither light nor darkness.
It is only as it is. It cannot be defined. The best definition for it is `I am that I am'."
Talk 122
Note: That settles it: we are not to take literally all the descriptions of the Self found here and there. If we do, then we will be giving form to the formless, name to the nameless, and attributes to the attributeless. All objective descriptions and comparisons of the Self are meaningless, and must stop at a point not too far away. Bhagavan does not wish to slight the Srutis [?], because he himself very often quotes them. What he decries is only the lack of uniformity and cohesion which almost always confound and confuse the casual student and biased theologian who finds in them a vast field for adverse propaganda. The beginner feels himself honestly lost in what appears to be a maze of inconsistencies and exaggerations, as witness these descriptions of the Self. The Jnani [?] knows how to tackle the Upanishads [?]. The veteran seeker likewise skims much of their cream, according to his intuitive maturity.
The others take them literally and allow their imagination to run riot, or hold to their letter tenaciously but allow the spirit to slip through their fingers.
Bhagavan is keen that we should have a notion of the
Self which is divested of all analogies and sensuous descrip-
tions. The Self is the pure Being. To be, by its very definition, means to exist, which negates nonexistence. Being therefore means eternal existence, which can be said of only an indestructible substance. But all objective things are destruct- ible, being insentient. Therefore eternal existence can be predicated of only the be-ing which is pure sentience. This we call the Infinite Self or Supreme Consciousness which transcends all objectivity. What description or analogy can therefore fit it? Bhagavan finds a single definition which can do so, namely, `I am that I am,' that is, the "indefinable
Being."
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10. "One should not be content with mere discipleship,
initiation, ceremony of surrender, etc. These are external phenomena. Never forget the Truth underlying all phenomena."
Talk 133
Note: This should be read side by side with the last note
of the last chapter — the chapter on Grace — which also refers to ceremonies and initiations. Those who attach importance to these performances are welcome to continue them, but they should know that "initiations" are not indispensable for spiritual progress. They come nowhere before the direct investigation and meditation of the yoga sadhana. Ceremonies are phenomena and thus have a magical value to those who believe in the phenomena. The seeker has to learn to do without them and concentrate on the eternal truth which underlies all phenomena and which can be found nowhere but inside his own heart. He who worships through ceremonies and mantras remains in illusion and under the influence of the devas who are supposed to preside over the mantras. Sri Krishna says in the Gita that he who worships devas goes to the devas, but His devotee goes direct to Him, the Supreme Atman.
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If the mantras of initiation can give Liberation, even our
"dumb brethren" can secure it. There is, of course, nothing against a little ceremony in certain phases of life, e.g., birth, marriage, death, taking sannyasa, to give an air of sanctity to the function and impress the people concerned, but to believe that it has more in it than that, is to cross into the world of illusion. But the mantras which are used as japa in the spiritual practice are entirely different. That is the sadhana proper and many sadhakas are greatly helped by them. They have no connection with any deva and lead eventually to the Self.
11. "What is the difference between meditation and distraction?"
Bhagavan: "When there are thoughts it is distraction.
When thoughts are absent it is meditation. However, meditation is only practice as distinguished from the real state of peace."
Talk 68
Note: The last sentence means that although in meditation the mind is expected to be free from thoughts, it is not
Realisation itself, which is the state of Peace, but still the stage of practice for Realisation. Meditation means attempts to gain freedom from thoughts, and distraction is the inability to gain that freedom. Thinking, of whatever nature and quality, is therefore distraction, ignorance and the cause of suffering. But to imagine that in the advanced meditation there is no peace is wrong, because as thoughts relax their pressure on the mind, disturbance proportionately decreases, which is what is experienced as peace, repose, mental ease and comfort, a foretaste of the peace absolute of the Self which will follow.
12. "For whom is the blank? Find out. You cannot deny
yourself at any time. The Self is ever there and continues in all states."
Talk 13
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Note: This is an answer to an enquirer who either sees blank in meditation or goes to sleep. It is the constant complaint of beginners that when thoughts stop the substratum or Self is not perceived. One has not yet become firmly established in the practice to be sensitive enough to intuit the substratum of thought. To seek a blank is to think a blank, which is, again, a thought. Thus the free mind has not yet been attained. Instead of having an active thought one has then a passive one, which is still a thought. I call it a passive thought because it is not of a well-defined conception, or sensuous perception — of a sound, or smell, or taste — but a thought nevertheless, of which the meditator is well-aware, otherwise he would not speak of it. At this point an occasion arises for a mildly increased alertness, which may have a successful result. It is this: the perception of the blank is obvious then, but there stands, as if in the background, though in fact right in the centre of, or all about the experience, the seer of the blank. If this is remembered at that moment and the attention switches off from the blank on to this seer — oneself — not the body of the seer, but the consciousness that sees the blank, one stands a great chance of perceiving It, or at least beginning to apprehend Its nature. By constant repetition direct perception of It is bound to result. This is Self-Knowledge.
13. "The mind must be introverted (in dhyana) and kept
active in its pursuit. Sometimes it happens when the eyes are closed latent thoughts rush forth with great vigour. It may also be difficult to introvert the mind with the eyes open. It requires strength of mind to do so. The mind is contaminated when it takes in objects.
Otherwise it is pure."
Talk 61
Note: Should the eyes be open or closed in meditation? This text gives the answer, which means "either way". Generally
the eyes are kept closed to prevent ocular experiences which are far more disturbing than those of the other sensory organs. The important thing to remember is that the mind should be kept preoccupied with the meditation, and never be allowed to be either sluggish or to stray at will without restraint. It has to be tied to the focal point of the meditation.
Yet stray it will, it must, which should not worry the meditator, who has simply to be alert enough to be aware of this straying and to bridle it back immediately, giving it no scope to go out of his control. This last happens when the meditator gets involved in a subject in which he is now, or was once, interested, so that he entirely forgets himself and the work on which he is now engaged. Memory is to blame for it: it should be carefully watched and firmly restrained.
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14. "Sphurana [?] is felt on several occasions, such as in fear,
excitement, etc. Although it is always and all over, yet it is felt at a particular centre and on particular occasions. It is also associated with antecedent causes and confounded with the body. Whereas it is also alone and pure: it is the
Self. If the mind is fixed on the Sphurana [?] and one senses it continually and automatically, it is Realisation."
Talk 62
Note: This is a fascinating subject like the sensation of the sphurana itself. Obviously the questioner has an experience of it to impel him to seek elucidation about it. There are those who look askance at it: they are of course mistaken. Sphurana [?] is defined (in brackets, not here) as a "kind of indescribable but palpable sensation in the Heart centre", which Bhagavan tells us "is felt on several occasions" and "all over". Those who first sense it in meditation become thrilled by it, and if they happen to have read or known nothing about it, they get puzzled at what it all means.
Bhagavan clarifies the position. The apparent discrepancy
in its location as "all over" and the "Heart centre" is, apart from the unpredictable psychological occasions mentioned in the text, due to the degree of firmness in, or proximity to the Self at the moment. In the beginning when the Heart has not yet revealed itself, it is felt "all over", as it always is, particularly on the right side of the body. But with constant practice its diffusion gradually diminishes and fixes itself in the Heart, nay, it becomes the Heart itself.
The diffusion of consciousness "all over" is the conscious- ness "in solution" of text 7, in this chapter. Between the first sensing of the sphurana and the discovery of the Heart, which is the Self proper — the consciousness "in lump" — there is only a short lag of time, so that those who are so fortunate as to begin to feel it, take heart at the immi- nence of the Supreme Experience. Thereafter it continues to be felt — it is then mukti itself, Bhagavan says, which he confirms in the next text.
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15. "Again, Sphurana [?] is the foretaste of Realisation. It is
pure."
Talk 62
Note: This is encouraging to the followers of the path of vichara to know that the Supreme Consciousness sends its harbinger to welcome them a good time in advance — a harbinger which in the end turns out to be the Host Himself, the Supreme Lord of the House, nay, Host, Guest and Home all in one (text 32).
16. "I have faith in murti dhyana (worship of form). Will this
help me to gain jnana?"
Bhagavan: "Surely it will. Upasana [?] helps concentration of mind. Then the mind is free from other thoughts and is full of the meditated form. The mind becomes it — and thus quite pure. Then think who is the worshipper. The answer is `I'-the Self. So the Self is gained ultimately." Talk 63
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Note: So long as the mind is amenable to control, the means of doing it is immaterial. Once the mental diffusion is restrained, the worship of form (upasana) will automatically change over to the vichara, that is, investigation into the identity of the worshipper himself. This is unavoidable, for the reason of the fact that however dear the worshipped form may be, it cannot be dearer than one's own Self, and secondly it is changeable, whereas the subject, the worshipper himself, is changeless, as the witness of all change and all objects. Complete satisfaction is never obtained till the knowledge of oneself as the changeless and absolute conscious existence takes place, which will compel the vichara by a natural necessity.
It is granted that the worshipped form is sattvic — ideally pure — to be capable of inducing alike purity in the worshipper's mind.
17. "All are agreed that the jiva is. Let us find out the jiva first
Then there will be time to find out if it should merge in the Supreme, is a part thereof, or remains different from it. Let us not forestall the conclusion. Keep an open mind, dive within and find out the Self. The truth will itself dawn on you. Why should you determine beforehand if the finality is unity or duality, absolute or qualified?" Talk 63
Note: The context is the relation of Monism to Dualism — whether they interchange, whether one should begin with duality and end with unity, etc. Bhagavan argues that all that is unnecessary to know beforehand. All schools, whether dualistic, monistic or qualified monistic, agree that the basis of their creeds is the jiva, whose existence all admit.
Since the jiva is undeniable, one should start with it? which is what our monistic school does in its enquiry about the nature of the seeker's own self. The rest will of its own accord
unfold itself till the end, when one will be in a position to judge for oneself which of the three schools is right. At the present stage the question should be allowed to hang fire, for it is not capable of solution.
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18. "What if one meditates incessantly without karma (without
action)?" The Master replies: "Try and see. The vasanas will not let you. Dhyana [?] comes only step by step with the gradual weakening of the vasanas by the Grace of the
Master."
Talk 80
Note: By vasanas is meant the habits of the mind, which ceaselessly pop up as thoughts, like the ceaseless waves of the ocean. Memory is the storehouse of the vasanas and thus the worst enemy of a quiescent mind.
By action we are not to understand manual work alone, but also thinking. Action results only from thinking. It is its manifestation in the phenomenal world, the execution of its commands. Thus in the last analysis work proves to be nothing but vasanas. The control of the vasanas can be achieved by a slow process, through constant practice, helped by the presence of the Master, which gradually files away the dirt of the mind and strengthens it. Guru sanga is the greatest of all blessings if accompanied by determined efforts.
Studying the tricks of memory is a very helpful practice, which will result in keeping one on one's guard, against its insidious pressure on the whole course of the sadhana.
Retrospection, excepting as it has a direct bearing on the vichara, is always a drawback in this practice, for there is generally nothing uplifting in the experiences of a less mature age. More often than not it rouses sorrowful memories, regrets and passion, which have to be thrown into the limbo, rather than be resuscitated in a mind which is looking upwards, towards the light that never dims.
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19. "He who instructs an ardent seeker to do this or that
(work) is not a true master. The seeker is already afflicted by his activities and wants peace and rest. He wants cessation of his activities. Instead he is told to do something in addition to, or in place of, his other activities."
Talk 601
20. "Activity is creation; activity is the destruction of one's
inherent happiness. If it is advocated, the adviser is not a master but a killer. Either the Creator (Brahma) or Death (Yama) may be said to have come in the guise of such a master. He cannot liberate the aspirant but strengthens his fetters."
Talk 601
Note: No one can deny that Bhagavan is very firm in decrying work by the aspirant, because of the reports he receives from some of the meditating disciples, who have been asked to work as service to him, the Guru. Bhagavan places meditation on the highest level, as the noblest of work. He discourages burdening "ardent" sadhakas, who stand in need of mental quiescence, with extraneous work in the name of service to the master. Work is worldly and needs a certain amount of attention, if it is to be well done, which can only take the aspirant's mind in a direction opposite to that of the sadhana. Ashrams have, no doubt, to be run by devotees as honorary workers, but these must be selected from non- meditating, or less "ardent" residents. Some such institutions go so far as to admit no non-workers on their premises, for all must work, they insist, to promote the ideals of their peculiar brand of Truth. To Bhagavan "this adviser is not a master but a killer". One almost hears the voice of Vyasadeva in the Bhagavata Purana condemning action for the devotee in four long chapters (10/13, Book XI). Shankara adds his quota in stanza 3 of his Atma Bodha which says that "Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not hostile to it.
Knowledge alone can destroy it, as light destroys darkness."
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As for worldly action, Bhagavan is emphatic that it destroys happiness, for it is created, supported and perpetuated by ignorance. It is caused by desire and ends in bondage, which is misery in essence. Bhagavan characterises the preacher of action as the embodiment of Yama, the Lord of Death, which is the strongest language he can use against the promoters of action.
21. "`Who am I??' is the best japa. What can be more concrete
than the Self? It is within each one's experience every moment. Why should he try to catch (as japa) an outside thing, leaving out the Self? Let each one try to find out the known Self, instead of searching for the unknown beyond."
Talk 81
Note: This is an answer to the demand of an American visitor for a concrete idea like japa, dhyana, etc., to which one can hold in the search of what he calls the "Light", rather than being merely told that if thoughts cease the Self alone remains. The visitor does not seem to have understood the implication of the self-enquiry. In the first instance he does not identify the Self or `I' with the "Light" or Reality which he is seeking. Bhagavan tells him that the quest `Who am I' is the best japa. For the whole sadhana consists of nothing but knowing it, which once done, our work is at an end. The visitor has not yet learnt the fact that the `I' is the only intelligence existing in this vast universe, and all else is as dead as a door nail, incapable of making itself known by its own light. The light of the `I' alone can reveal it. No object or world can exist by itself apart from this `I' (of which it is a thought) as its container as well as knower. The `I' is the only immanent element in all our experiences whatever. We know it most as our own Self, and because we do not perceive it as we perceive all other things, we are now seeking to know it
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absolutely in all these spiritual practices, through the guidance of the Master, for it is pure spirit or pure knowledge. What other japa can be more useful and more concrete than it — our `I', — Bhagavan asks?
The next few texts will shed more light on Bhagavan's meaning of the quest "Who am I".
22. "Please say how I shall realise the `I'. Am I to make the
japa `Who am I?'
Bhagavan: "No japa of the kind is meant."
Visitor: Am I to think `Who am I?'
Bhagavan: "Hold the `I'-thought and find its moola (source)."
Talk 486
23. "Enquiry `Who am I?' means finding the source of `I'.
When that is found, that which you seek is accomplished."
Talk 67
Note: The above two texts should leave no doubt in the mind of the abhyasi [?] (the practicant) about Bhagavan's use of the enquiry `Who am I?'. It is neither a slogan nor a mantra, but an intense enquiry into one's own nature. That is why this method is called vichara (enquiry). Although sometimes he uses the epithet japa for it, as in text 21 above, he does not mean it to be a mechanical incantation, but an actual investigation in the `I"s real nature, which he further develops in the next text.
24. "The One Infinite Unbroken Whole becomes aware of
itself as `I'. This is its original name. All other names, e.g., OM, etc., are later growths. Liberation means only to remain aware of the Self. The Mahavakya `I am
Brahman' is its authority. Though the `I' is always experienced, yet one's attention has to be drawn to it. Then only knowledge dawns. Hence is the need for the teaching of the Upanishads and the Sages."
Talk 92
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Note: Bhagavan takes us here to the genesis of the `I', which is the very first self-awareness of the "Unbroken whole". It is the name the Self gave to itself and precedes all other names of the Absolute. When it is realised as such by direct experience, Liberation is said to have been achieved. Yoga Vasishta
calls this first self-awareness by the Absolute as the first stir of thinking in Brahman, like the first wave of a calm ocean from within itself.
There are two ways of being self-aware: objectively and subjectively. If I stand on one side and on the other stand others and the world — I in opposition to you — then the `I' is the objective body: a part of the world of multiplicity. But if I am aware of myself as pure awareness, it is subjective self-awareness, when the world is totally absent. The former `I' being objective, is a mere thought — an `I'-thought — and should be destroyed, like all other thoughts, in order that the `I' may cease to be a thought and may turn upon itself as the one who is aware of the thought, through the help of the Guru or Scriptures. This is the meaning of "one's attention has to be drawn to it". In other words, the `I' will cease to be a thought, and will remain only the Consciousness `I am', which is the Mahavakya to which the text refers. This is Liberation itself.
By "its original name" and "later growths" in the text above, we are not to understand that the `I' has a beginning and a progress towards an end. Such an interpretation goes against the absolutism of Advaita, and against all that we have so far studied. It refers only to the genesis of this dream, which we call the jiva and the universe; the genesis of the `I'-thought, of the `I' imagining itself a part of a world of multiplicity.
25. "So long as there is a knower there is knowledge —
knowledge of all kinds: direct, inferential, intellectual,
etc. Let the knower vanish and they will all simultan- eously vanish. Their validity stands and falls with him."
Talk 93
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Note: The knower comes before his knowledge. Knowledge of various kinds is nothing but the world's multiplicity. Thus the world comes after, and depends on, the knower, with whom "it stands and falls". Without the seer there can be no seen, because the seen is a mere thought in the seer, who is not a thought at all; for if he were, he would disappear with his thoughts, and there would remain no one to tell the tale; no one to speak of yesterday or of last year's events. Our life consists mainly of memory, of remembered persons, scenes and events, which proves our fixity in a changeable world. We are the fixed observation post, as it were, and all things, from birth to death, march past us. They come and go, but we, the `I', remain ever.
Even if the body is cut by operations and diminished by a hand, leg, or lung, the `I' remains the same — undiminished.
26. "Experience (of the Reality) is temporary or permanent.
The first experience is temporary and by concentration it can become permanent. In the former the bondage is not completely destroyed; it remains and asserts itself in due course. But in the latter it is destroyed root and branch."
Talk 95
Note: This is of considerable significance to those who have had an experience of the Self. In the first instance it distinguishes between the temporary and the permanent experience. Secondly it warns them that bondage will remain round their necks and will cause their rebirth if they will discontinue the practice. Bondage "asserts itself in due course", if one is not careful to consolidate it into sahaja.
There must be no room for complacency.
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27. "Seekers are of two classes: kritopasaka and akritopasaka.
The former has already overcome his predispositions by steady devotion, so that his mind has become pure. He has some kind of experience but does not comprehend it.
As soon as instructed by a competent Master, permanent experience results. The other class of seekers need great efforts to achieve this end."
Talk 95
Note: I have underlined "but does not comprehend it" to draw attention to the great importance of sahaja in the validation of the Realisation of the Self. Perfect firmness in the Being, and thus competence to teach it, is achieved only in sahaja, so that any knowledge about it before then cannot but be partial, even though the Self is being daily experienced in samadhi. Practice and the presence of the Master hasten the maturity of the kritopasaka for sahaja.
The other class of seekers, namely, the akritopasaka, the immature worshippers, have to slog their weary way uphill: they have to push, pull and heave to gain the stage of the kritopasaka, and then on to the Great Liberation.
28. "Of what nature is the realisation of Westerners who
report flashes of Cosmic Consciousness?"
The Master answers: "It comes as a flash and disappears likewise in a flash. That which has a beginning must also end. Only when the ever-present consciousness is realised will it be permanent. Consciousness is indeed always with us. Everyone knows himself as `I am'. No one can deny his own being."
Talk 96
Note: The answer to this question is fully given by the question itself. The reality that lasts not longer than a split second is as good as nothing. In the previous notes we have observed that even the daily experience of the pure consciousness in nirvikalpa, which lasts much longer than a
mere flash, cannot give complete satisfaction and complete apprehension of all the ins and outs of the reality, but needs years of incessant practice — conscious and deliberate — to be perfected. That being the case, what value can be attached to these flashes? Moreover, who can tell whether they are of the genuine stuff, or mere gossamer tricks of the mind?
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As for the "Cosmic Consciousness" itself, is there such consciousness at all in the sense of the Westerners? Bhagavan uses this term for Brahman, the Self, or Chaitanya [?] (the pure consciousness); but to the Western "occultist" it has an altogether different flavour. Ours is the creed of the Absolute, wherein neither the individual nor the Cosmos exists; whereas the Western religious mystic and clairvoyant are dualists, who find great mysteries in the Cosmos and the individual, and still greater mysteries in the Cosmic
Consciousness. Students of the Cosmic Consciousness have therefore to distinguish between the Advaitic meaning of it, and that of its Western counterpart. Probably this distinction has been in the mind of the questioner to impel him to enquire about "the nature of the realisation of Westerners", or else the realisation of the one consciousness is the same for all men without any distinction.
29. "Samadhi [?] transcends thought and speech and cannot be
described. As the state of deep sleep cannot be described, more so is samadhi. You know that you are unconscious in deep sleep, but consciousness and unconsciousness are only modes of the mind. Samadhi [?] transcends them.
You know samadhi only when you are in samadhi."
Talk 110
Note: This is an answer to a request from an American lady to describe samadhi. It is obvious that no one can describe a
thing which cannot be even thought of. Again, descriptions can be made in terms of sensuous experience — a perception, feeling or idea. But samadhi is neither an idea nor an object which is cognised in time and space in terms of shapes, colours, sounds, smells, etc. to be described. Being the pure mind itself, of which the questioner has not the remotest notion, description of it becomes impossible. Moreover, "you know what samadhi is only when you are in samadhi," when all thoughts have vanished and you are aware of nothing but the pure mind or consciousness — and not when you are out of it, at the time, for example, when the question is made. Thus the task of describing it becomes doubly difficult.
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"You know that you are unconscious in deep sleep," does
not mean that the knowledge of this unconsciousness, or the unconsciousness itself actually prevails in that state, but that it only appears as such to the person who is in the waking state.
The unconsciousness of sushupti is not unconsciousness in sushupti itself. The man in jagrat judges things from his own state, which is that of the play of the senses and, therefore, of objectivity. When objectivity is absent, the state appears to him to be one of blank unconsciousness. Consciousness and unconsciousness mean nothing else to him but perception and non-perception of objects respectively, which is why the text speaks of them as "only modes of the mind". When viewed from inside the state of non-perception, that is, of sushupti, in this case, itself, consciousness is ever present as the man himself, who is at no time nonexistent. The state of sushupti is therefore not one of unconsciousness but of consciousness stripped of objective perceptions. In other words, sushupti is the state of the man himself, released from the infliction of body and senses, which disturb his peace in jagrat. It is the same as the state of samadhi with the difference that in the latter he is aware of himself as this pure consciousness. The antahkarana [?],
or the aggregate psychical functions, including that of cognition, merge completely in this pure consciousness in sushupti, whereas in samadhi they are present but quiescent, inoperative.
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30. "The Heart is formless. Should we imagine it to have a
shape and meditate on it?"
Bhagavan: "No. Only the quest `Who am I?' is necessary.
Investigation of `I' is the point, and not meditation on the Heart-centre. There is nothing like within and without. Both mean either the same thing or nothing. "Of course there is also the practice of meditation on the
Heart-centre. But it is only a practice and not investigation.
Only the one who meditates on the Heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still." Talk 131
Note: It looks as though in the second half of this text
Bhagavan retracts the statement in the first half not to meditate on the Heart centre. Actually he does not. Both statements are correct in their own contexts. In the first instance the question envisages the use of the imagination to give a form to the formless Heart, which is absurd. After all the Heart is naught but the Self, which is represented in our understanding by the principle `I'. Would it not be therefore more logical and simpler to catch hold of this principle and enquire into it, rather than create an artificial image of it — the imageless — and meditate on it? This completely disposes of the question in the form it is put. (See texts 9 in Chapter X and 23 in this Chapter).
Now we turn to the positive side of the question, whether meditation on the Heart is possible. Bhagavan declares it to be possible, but not in the form of investigation, as it is done when the `I' is the subject. Meditation on the
Heart must be a special meditation, provided the meditator takes the Heart to be pure consciousness and has at least, an
intuitive knowledge of what pure consciousness is. Only that meditation succeeds which has this intuitive knowledge, and is conducted with the greatest alertness, so that the moment thoughts cease, the mind perceives itself in its own home — the Heart itself. This is certainly more difficult to do than to investigate into the source of the `I', because it is a direct assault on, rather direct contact with, the very source itself.
It is no doubt the quickest method, but it exacts the greatest alertness and the most concentrated attention, denoting a greater adhikara (maturity).
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31. "Jnana [?] once revealed takes time to steady itself. The Self
is certainly within the direct experience of every one, but not as one imagines it to be. It is only as it is. This experience is samadhi. Owing to the fluctuation of vasanas, jnana takes time to steady itself. Unsteady jnana is not enough to check rebirths. Jnana [?] cannot remain unshaken side by side with vasanas. True that in the proximity of a great Master, the vasanas will cease to be active, the mind becomes still and samadhi results. Thus the disciple gains true knowledge and right experience in the presence of the Master. To remain unshaken in it further efforts are necessary. He will know it to be his real Being, and thus be liberated even while alive."
Talk 141
Note: This confirms text 26 in this chapter. Those who
have experienced the Self and puzzle as to why they do not possess the Supreme Knowledge and Wisdom of Bhagavan are answered here. Bhagavan asks them to continue the practice to attain firmness in jnana and thus absolute perfection.
"Owing to the fluctuation of vasanas, jnana takes time
to steady itself. . . . Jnana [?] cannot remain unshaken side by side with vasanas." The senses are always active in the waking state even with the Jnani [?], and the habits of perception as
well as the other peculiar mental habits continue to disturb the clear vision of the Self, if this is still of a tender age. The birth in the Self resembles the birth in this world of jagrat, which at first appears to the newborn incoherent and unintelligible, but gradually the day-to-day experience gives it significance and coherence. Infancy has to pass on to youth, then to adolescence, and finally to full adulthood. It is the same with the birth in the Self, but this process is quickened if the sadhaka remains with the Guru till the end. This is also a complete answer to those who believe that a short stay with the Master suffices for full-fledged jnana. Note 3 of the last chapter has already stressed the necessity of a long stay till mukti is attained.
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"The Self is not as one imagines it to be. It is only as it
is." This imagination of the Self is common to all. We imagine ourselves having height, breadth, colour, smell — a body, in short, — whereas in fact we are only `I am', that is, the knower of the smell, of the colour, of the shape — the principle of knowledge, in effect. To know ourselves by direct experience as this principle, pure and simple, is samadhi. Protracted practice ripens into an intuitive approximation of the Self, otherwise the Self remains but an imaginary conception even for sadhakas.
32. "Heart and Sphurana [?] are the same as the Self. How can
Sphurana [?] be described? It includes all these (light, movement, etc.) — it is the Self. Fix your attention on it and do not let go the idea of its ultimate character."
Talk 160
Note: This is one more affirmation on Bhagavan's part of the identity of the Sphurana [?] with the Self, or Heart. By "do not let go the idea of its ultimate character" he seems to advise concentration on the pure consciousness, which the
meditator on the Heart has always to keep in mind and to which Bhagavan referred in text 30 above.
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33. "Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or
manifest itself. What is needed is losing the ego. That which is, is ever present. Even now you are It, and not apart from It. The blank is seen by you. You are always there.
What do you wait for? The expectation to see and the desire to get something are all the working of the ego.
You have fallen into the snare of the ego, which says all this. Be yourself and nothing more."
Talk 183
Note: This cannot be fully understood without its context.
The questioner had asked the Guru of an Ashram that although he had kept his mind blank, as was required by the teaching of that Guru, awaiting God "to show Himself in
His true Being" in it, he had so far experienced nothing, and the answer he had got from that Guru was to this effect: `The attitude is right. The Power will come down from above.
It is a direct experience.' Now he wants the opinion of
Bhagavan on this. The above is Bhagavan's answer.
As we well see Bhagavan repudiates any such thing as descent of God, or of any Power. If you seek the reality, seek it here, for it is always abiding — it is here and now, fully manifested, or else it cannot be real. Reality that ascends and descends, that off and on absents itself is a dream. The test of reality is immutability, which implies eternal existence, eternal presence. That being the case, is God absent from here that appeal may be made to Him to come down? If He is, how would He be aware of our appeal? Secondly, does not this appeal expose our ignorance and the hollowness of our surrender? As for the powers of God, are they different from Him? Such notions are the creation of the imagination, the self-exaltation of the ego, Bhagavan asserts. Kill the ego
and all these imaginations will cease: the Reality will stand revealed.
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34. "It is enough if one surrenders oneself. Surrender is
giving oneself up to the origin of one's being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some
God outside you. One's source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it. Because you imagine yourself to be out of it, you raise the question `where is the source'?"
Talk 208
Note: This is a good way of defining surrender, and to many, a novel one. When we imagine our surrender to be to an outside God, here we are told that it is to no one but to the "origin of one's being", This delusion of an outside God
Bhagavan knocks on the head by the firm reminder of "Do not delude yourself ". He cannot be firmer than this.
The concept of an external Creator underlies the worship of almost all religions, which makes worshippers contract the habit of believing in a wrong external God, so that seekers on the path of jnana find themselves confronted with the necessity of extirpating this entrenched dogma, through the practice of Vichara [?], by turning their gaze inwardly towards the Self. Since there is nothing real beside the Self, the surrender of the external to the internal alone is true surrender: this is merging in the source of one's being.
Again, the answer to the question of "where the source of things is?" leads to oneself by a logical necessity. Being the originator of the question, one by sheer enquiry is pushed back to one's own source. From seeking it one ends by merging into it.
35. "Yes, control of mind and contemplation are
interdependent. They must go on side by side. Practice
(abhyasa) and dispassion (vairagya) bring about the desired results by degrees. Dispassion checks the mind from going outward; practice keeps it turned inward.
The two processes go on constantly within.
Contemplation will in due course be successful."
Talk 220
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Note: Efforts to meditate without the interference of thoughts which constantly harass the meditator is control; whereas contemplation is the meditation proper, that is, freedom from extraneous thoughts. Both processes have to go side by side naturally. But ability to control the mind does not come on a sudden, or from the first day or first month: constant practice is necessary, and this cannot be made except after one has sufficiently developed a dispassion for the things of the world.
It all begins with viveka — discrimination between real happiness and false happiness, between the really useful and the fictitiously useful. This advances to the renunciation of the fictitiously useful and aspiration for the really useful.
Seeking the means of attaining the latter then begins, after which comes the practice of the means. This is sadhana, which ends in the complete success of the contemplation, right in
Liberation itself.
36. "Grace is always there, but practice is necessary."
Talk 220
Note: In the chapter on Grace, Grace has been compared to
Provident Fund which swells with the earnings — it is not a free gift. To expect Grace without earning it, is a thoughtless expectation. Moreover, there is no one to confer Grace: neither God, nor Guru, nor anyone. Grace confers itself. It is like an ocean which is ever full and ready to flow into all rivers and canals that have access to it, that have no
obstructions in its way. Exertion removes the obstructions without the necessity of praying for it. If the sluicegate of a canal, let us say, is closed, can any prayer help the water to flow into the canal? Prayer for Grace helps to the extent that it contains genuine bhakti [?], and if this increases to the point of turning into a regular and continuous stream, it becomes the practice of which Bhagavan speaks, which opens the sluicegate and permits the flow of Grace in abundance.
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37. "Why does not the mind sink into the Heart even while
meditating?"
The Master answers: "A floating body does not readily sink unless some means are used for making it do so.
Breath-control makes the mind quiescent. The mind must be alert and meditation pursued unremittingly even when it is at peace. Then it sinks into the Heart.
Association with the wise also makes the mind sink into the Heart. "Such association is both mental and physical. The external
Guru pushes the mind inward. The same Guru is also in the Heart of the seeker, and so he draws the latter's inward- bent mind into the Heart."
Talk 223
Note: We have had many occasions to discuss the supreme value of the Guru's physical company and Sat-sanga. Here we have another clear and precise statement from Bhagavan himself on it — mentally and physically. The proximity of the Guru is essential for rapid progress, and the more of it the better. The evader cannot now so easily escape with his specious plea to the contrary simply because it suits his worldly purpose. The physical presence of the Master, to repeat, is of the greatest help in this sadhana.
"Why does not the mind sink into the Heart in
meditation?" Because concentration has not been sufficiently heavy to "sink" it. The mind is, as we all know, restless by
nature, and has to be quietened by incessant practice. One of the methods, Bhagavan suggests, is breath-control, if a direct assault cannot be made on it by the mind itself through vichara and meditation. If you have not acquired mastery in marksmanship, your shots will be sure to go astray — they will never hit the target: but by repeated attempts they will.
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38. "The mind does not now sink into the Heart because
the latent tendencies stand as obstacles. They are removed by breath-control or association with the wise. In fact the mind is always in the Heart. But it is restive and moves about on account of latent tendencies. When the tendencies are made ineffective, it will be restful and at peace. "By breath-control the mind will be only temporarily quiescent, because the tendencies are still there. If the mind is transformed into the Self it will no longer give trouble. That is done by meditation."
Talk 223
Note: This develops the previous text and very rightly declares meditation to be superior to pranayama, or breath- control, in that the latter cannot destroy the vasanas, which are purely mental. Mental practices alone can destroy them through vichara and dhyana, which restore the mind to its pristine purity as the Self. How? Because the mind is itself the Self: "it is always in the Heart," nay, the Heart itself, but when thoughts or latent tendencies overwhelm it, they buoy it up to the surface, so to say, away from the reality of itself.
That is why it strays into ajnana [?], it "floats". What pranayama does is simply to quieten its restlessness by the temporary suspension of the breath, but does not teach it the truth about its real nature, as does the vichara. Reflection reveals its relationship to the world on the one hand, and on the other to the reality that is itself. It shows it where the
obstruction to the vision of its true self lies, and how it can be removed, and dhyana actually removes the obstruction by stopping all thoughts and all vasanas. Vichara [?] and dhyana are the reverse and obverse of the Advaitic sadhana, whereas pranayama is a simple mechanical device — in this line a mere crutch, for when Bhagavan suggests pranayama it is always on the understanding that it is combined with dhyana, which follows it up after it (pranayama) has temporarily subdued the waves of the mind. Let us remember again that the trans- formation of the mind into the Self is effected through dhyana alone or the right japa, which is as good as dhyana.
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39. "There is no entity by the name mind. Because of the
emergence of thoughts we surmise a thing from which they start. That we term mind. When we probe to see what it is, there is nothing like it. Buddhi or intellect is the thinking or discriminating faculty. But these are mere names. Ego, mind and intellect are all the same. Whose mind? Whose intellect? The ego's. Is the ego real? No.
We confound the ego and call it intellect or mind."
Talk 237
Note: Philosophers, metaphysicians, and theologians will open their eyes wide at this statement of Bhagavan. How they wrangle about words which mean absolutely nothing! Buddhi, manas, ahankar, chitta, etc., seem to them to be watertight psychical compartments, with well-defined boundaries and so on; whereas in fact they are only the creation of the analytical mind. They create the compartments and then get confused and confounded by them. All these are but different functions of the mind or the Self, outside of which they have no existence whatsoever. They should be totally ignored in our search for truth. Our aim is the pure mind itself, not its functions — not its manifestations as phenomena, as perceptions, as sensations,
as ideas, as imagination. All these are irrelevant to our search, and so we have to discard them in order to arrive at the pure mind which emits, or secretes them, as it were. As long as our attention is fixed on them, we can never reach their substratum, the Real. They are nothing but shadows, and thus, as Bhagavan says, unreal, "mere names." "When we probe" into them they all disappear. The irony of it is that all the sciences known to man, from physics down to psychology, and even philosophy itself, deal with only these unreal psychical processes, never with the mind itself.
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40. "To realise the Self effort is necessary. Just as water is got
by boring wells, so also you realise the Self by investigation."
Talk 240
Note: As we have already observed, efforts are absolutely indispensable, with due respect to the modern prophets of effortlessness. Efforts are made to reach the effortless state which is unalloyed bliss and eternal.
41. "Ravi marga (the Path of the Sun) is jnana. Moon marga is
yoga. They think after purifying the 72,000 nadis in the body, sushumna is entered and the mind passes up to the sahasrara and there is nectar trickling. These are all mental concepts of the man who is already overwhelmed by the world concepts. Other concepts are now added in the shape of this yoga. The objects of all these is to rid the man of concepts and to make him inhere in the pure Self, i.e. in the absolute consciousness, which is free from thoughts. Why not go straight to it? Why add new encumbrances to the already existing ones?"
Talk 251 Talk 252
Note: The Path of the Sun is the vichara and dhyana, which rid one of all concepts and all thoughts, so that the pure
consciousness may be perceived. "The Path of the Moon" is indirect and leads not to the Heart but to the head. The latter passes through the sushumna where the breath is ultimately confined through the practice of pranayama, and thence to the sahasrara (brain centre), where bliss, or nectar is said to be stored up. Bhagavan avers that the Moon Path is based on mere conjectures, "concepts," which have been magnified and diversified in all sorts of ways to make it appear difficult and mysterious, particularly by the Hatha Yogis and Kundalini Yogis. "Clairvoyants" go even farther and write special books on the Chakras [?] — their shapes, their colours, their movements, the special siddhis they confer. Yet all these are of no use in the search for the reality, which has neither shape nor colour and is certainly devoid of mysteries.
Except the seekers of siddhis the professed aim of all these systems of Yoga is the reality. That being the case, Bhagavan asks, then why all these devious routes? Why add new notions to the millions with which we are already saddled and of which yogis have to rid themselves? Why not go straight by the "Path of the Sun" and save much time and trouble?
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42. "Kevala nirvikalpa takes place even in the tanumanasi stage....
The three classes of jnanis, namely, the dull, middling and superior are due to their prarabdha, according as it is strong, middling and weak respectively. There is no difference in their samadhi or their jnana. The classification is only from the standpoint of the observer. The seventh and highest stage is that of the Turiyaga which is beyond words. "There is no need to discuss these points. Jivanmukti and Videhamukti are differently described by different authorities. Videhamukti is also said to occur even to jnanis who are still in a body."
Talk 256
Note: This text is of special interest to those who are very near the end of their spiritual journey. It encourages them
to quicken their step that they may have a taste of nirvikalpa. which Bhagavan says, can be experienced even in a tenuous state of the mind, before all the vrittis and vasanas have been completely destroyed, a taste which will consolidate their faith in the glorious destiny which is soon to be fulfilled.
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These three divisions of the jnanis must not be taken too seriously, for they mean nothing to the jnanis themselves.
The Jnani [?], whether he is of the first, second, or third class, has attained Liberation from the wheel of birth and death, and does not care a straw how he and his attainments appear to others. The third degree Jnani's prarabdha is still "strong" on him, that is, on his worldly circumstances, and may not cause him even to be recognised as a Jnani [?]. It is not "strong" in his own perception, but in the treatment of him by others in this respect. Those who have lived with our Master Sri Ramana Maharshi, who is taken to be the very highest, the Turiyaga, cannot be impressed by anyone lesser than he. Him alone they call Jnani [?] and would ignore any claim of jnana on behalf of another. They pitch their mark so high because of the sublimity of their Master's attainments that the three classes of Jnanis mentioned above pass them unnoticed. This does not mean that these Jnanis do not exist. In fact they do, and live their normal life unconcerned with what others think of them. Some may have a large number of followers, and some may have none at all. A few may not even like to be recognised as Jnanis to spare themselves the inconvenience of taking disciples, preferring to remain in obscurity to enjoy their individual freedom. The recognition, however, depends upon the individual prarabdha, which affects only the Jnani's external circumstances, as it has been already said, and not the internal, which is the same for all Jnanis and all their classes and divisions.
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On the contrary there may be some people, who have developed a highly intuitive intellect and who, without being Jnanis, shine out as great teachers with tremendous following, attracted by one trait of their intellectual or aesthetic abilities or other. Popularity and considerable reputation are thus not at all a criterion by which the Jnani [?] and his spiritual greatness should be appraised. Prarabdha [?] is responsible for all this worldly show.
As for Jivanmukti and Videhamukti, these are terms which usually indicate the states of the living Jnani [?] and the one who has discarded his physical body respectively. Videha means without a body, so videhamukti means the state of the liberated man who is bodiless. But the same term also applies to even the Jivanmukta [?], because, as far as his own perception of himself goes, he is bodiless, being the pure Brahman, the
Pure Consciousness, though he is still in a body. That is why
Bhagavan avoids talking about this distinction, which is really nonexistent at his own level (See text 56).
43. "When thoughts cross the mind and effort is made to
eliminate them, the effort is termed meditation. Meditation is only negative inasmuch as thoughts are kept away." Talk 294
Note: Warding off thoughts is one of the negative functions of meditation. Text 35 speaks of control and contemplation as if they were separate processes. They are no more separate from each other than chewing is from eating. Control, concentration, contemplation, meditation are parts of the one and the same process, which goes by the general name of dhyana, which in the last analysis proves to be a negative process. The positive side of the practice is its aim, which is Atmanishtha, fixation in the Self. The latter cannot be achieved without the former, which clears the decks for it. Unless thoughts and feelings are swept away, the stable
consciousness from which they rise and which underlies them cannot be perceived. In fact even in the investigation there is nothing positive because it is only a process of elimination, not of acquisition. The ego and all the upadhis have to be liquidated for the reality to show itself from underneath them.
As the ever-shining sun cannot be seen when it is covered by thick clouds, so is the pure consciousness hidden from perception by these accretions and superimpositions.
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44. "Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought
keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness. By constant meditation it gains strength, i.e., weakness of fugitive thoughts gives place to the enduring background free from thoughts. This expanse devoid of thoughts is the Self. Mind in purity is the Self."
Talk 293
Note: The previous text defines meditation as the effort to eliminate thoughts, and this one as sticking to one thought.
Both definitions on examination prove to be the same. To stop all thoughts one thought should be chosen to tie the mind with. This will automatically exclude all other thoughts; for there is no such thing as mind absolutely free from thoughts in jagrat. The aim is to restrain the distractions which weaken it. Practice reduces the distractions — the mental waves — and thus strengthens the mind, till absolute mental stability is gained, which is not other than the Self, for stable — waveless — mind is the pure mind, the pure
Consciousness. This is simple to understand, Bhagavan often tells us, and easy to practice.
45. "Trance is the natural state. Although there are activities
and phenomena, yet they do not affect the trance. If these are realised to be not apart from the Self, the Self is realised.
It is to be realised with the mind. The Pure Mind, that
is, the mind free from thoughts is the Self. The pure mind is beyond the impure mind."
Talk 317
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Note: The word Bhagavan uses is samadhi and not trance, which is the traditional translation of samadhi, and which the recorder of this "Journal" has adopted. This translation is, of course, not only inapt but defective. If we retain the word samadhi even in English, there will be less trouble for the reader to follow the idea.
In this text Bhagavan removes much of the misappre- hensions which hover round the term samadhi and restores it to its natural significance as being the natural state of all things. Trance, far from conveying this idea, wraps it up in dark clouds and darker associations. It can now be observed how faulty translations of key words are dangerous.
In Sahaja samadhi [?], the permanent state of the Jnani [?], as of Bhagavan himself, the world does not disappear, as it does in kevala nirvikalpa, but it is all there — with its shape and colours, smells, tastes and sounds; with its solids and liquids, summers, springs and autumns; with its cinemas and music halls — all its fun and frolics, all its tragedies and comedies — wholly and vividly the same. But these no longer stand as isolated or connected islands in an external boundless space; no longer as God's creation; no longer as the rainbow beauties that had once enthralled his young imagination and dominated his youthful heart. They are now mere thoughts and sensations, mere wisps of his jagrat dreams, in which he, the dreamer, alone is real. They no longer cloud the perception of his own reality. In another sense they are also real, because he, the perceiver, is real. They are "the stuff of which dreams are made", and dreams rise only from the dreamer, who is their soul and substance: as the substance is real, so they must be.
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Here again Bhagavan identifies the pure mind with the
Self. Mind is therefore not manas — another wrong trans- lation by the old scholars which has become traditional, sacrosanct in their eyes, and which we repudiate. Mind is mind. When it is covered by thoughts it is called manas or impure mind. When thoughts are arrested it is the pure mind or Self.
46. "The Bible says, `Be still and know that I am God.' Stillness
is the sole requisite for the realisation of the Self as God.
The whole Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical state- ments: `I AM THAT I AM', and `BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD'."
Talk 338
Note: The questioner is an American lady who thinks that the affirmation of `I am the Supreme Being' should be more helpful than the quest `Who am I?' The former, in her opinion, is a positive, whereas the latter a negative, or neutral, approach. It is obvious that she has completely missed the point of the quest. The quest is an investigation, not self- hypnosis, nor Coueism, which flourishes on "positive" auto- suggestions. Bhagavan had answered that she should first find out who is the one who affirms before she starts affirming, which would compel her to enquire into the nature of the empirical `I', the `I' which she thinks herself to be, and which has, at first sight, nothing of the "Supreme" in it.
In any case to arrive at the Being of her suggestion the mind must be still, hence Bhagavan twice quotes the Old
Testament to explain his meaning to her. The first, namely, `I am that I am,' conveys the nature of the reality, as the Being, or, as she calls it the Supreme Being; and the second, namely, `Be still and know that I am God,' the method of attaining It.
These two dicta, Bhagavan opines, express the heart and essence of the Vedanta — its Goal and Path at once.
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47. "While not actively conscious of any kind of selfhood,
there is a deep quietness in the mind. Is one at such times ready to dive into the Self? Or is this condition unhealthy, a sort of self-hypnotism?
Bhagavan: "There is consciousness along with the quietness in the mind: this is exactly the state to be aimed at. The fact that there is a doubt on this point shows that the state is not steady but casual. "When deep quietness prevails without obstructing the consciousness, where is the need to dive?"
Talk 348
Note: The experience of the questioner is interesting, inasmuch as it is precursory to the great experience of the
Self. He is then just below the mental waves, and is feeling his way to the substratum. He asks if he should then "dive", and Bhagavan answers that there is no need to do so, for the consciousness which is aware of the quiet is the reality itself, which means that the questioner has only to be aware of that consciousness.
We have often observed that consciousness prevails at all times, for through it we are conscious of things. To catch consciousness by itself, all we have to do is to drop the things, which our friend the questioner seems to have done, as is evidenced by the feeling of inner peace, which the thoughts, or things of the mind, would not have otherwise permitted.
All he has now to do is to try to be aware of the consciousness that feels, or notices, the quiet, which is already present and does not need to be dived for to be cognised. A little shrewdness, so to say, a little more alertness at that supreme moment will be sure to do the trick.
48. "Just as by churning the curd, butter is extracted and by
friction, fire is kindled, even so by unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self, ceaseless like the unbroken filamentary flow of oil is generated the natural or changeless
nirvikalpa samadhi, which spontaneously yields that direct perception of Brahman, which is at once Knowledge and
Experience and which transcends time and space. This is
Self-realisation, cutting asunder the Hridaya-granthi, or the knot of the Heart which is constituted of delusions, of ignorance, of the vicious and age-long tendencies of the mind. All doubts are thus dispelled and the bondage of karma is severed."
Talk 349
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Note: The churning of the curd and friction refer to the ceaseless churning of the enquiry. The "unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self " is the holding on to the dhyanic current which resembles the unbroken flow of oil — vigilant because it is sufficiently alert to ward off digressions as well as sleep.
This last inclination is as troublesome as the inclination to reminisce. Success in this leads to nirvikalpa, wherein the knot of ignorance which is lodged in the Heart of the jiva snaps, opening wide the door of Self-realisation, which is usually barred by this "Hridaya-granthi".
Let it not be supposed that in samadhi thoughts stop like a snuffed out candle; for that is not at all possible. Highly tenuous thoughts continue to hover all the time, and the alertness continues to be exercised against them at the same time; yet peace supreme reigns, and the Self is clearly experienced. The presence of thoughts in their subtlest form is due to the presence of the senses in their quiescent state.
The senses — strictly speaking, the antahkarana [?] (all the processes of thought) — merge in the Self only in sleep and in videhamukti: they do not merge in samadhi, or otherwise samadhi would be nothing but sleep, wherefrom nothing could be brought back to the waking state, and the Self would remain ever unknown. It is only because the antahkarana [?] is present in samadhi, though quiescent — or because quiescent — that the Self is cognised and we have all the Srutis, Smritis
and everything that is known about the Self. To this presence the Rishis owe their jnana and Liberation. In sushupti there is no cognition of the Self, because the faculty of cognition is not present but has merged in the Self, like all the other faculties.
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49. "The Shastras say that we must serve the Guru for twelve
years for getting Self-realisation. What can the Guru do? Can he hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self always realised? Confusing the body with the Self is due to ignorance. If ignorance is wiped out the confusion will end and true knowledge unfolded. By remaining in contact with realised sages one gradually loses his ignorance till it disappears totally. The eternal Self is thus revealed. "Without understanding it aright people think that the
Guru teaches something like "TATVAMASI" and immediately the disciple realises "I am Brahman". In their ignorance they conceive Brahman to be something much bigger and far more powerful than anything else. With a limited `I' man is so stuck up and wild. What will he be if the same `I' increased enormously? He will certainly be proportionately more ignorant and more foolish. This false `I' must perish. Its annihilation is the fruit of service to the Guru. Realisation is eternal and is not granted by the
Guru. The Guru helps only the removal of ignorance — that is all."
Talk 350
Note: Bhagavan is certainly frank in his attitude towards orthodoxy and the way people interpret the Shastras [?]. In ancient days, as we read in the Mahabharata and elsewhere, lack of accuracy was winked at and calculation of periods very loose. The year particularly was not the same as our year, nor were the numerals of the same values as their present namesakes, so that when we read of a certain Rishi having remained in meditation or samadhi for a thousand or
a million years, we will be highly foolish if we take the figures or the years in their dictionary meanings. Moreover, hyper- boles were the very salt of their poetic effusions. When they tell us, for example, that it is easier for a person to bring down the sun for one's child to play with than to get at Paramatman, the Supreme Self, we should know how to take it. Thousands upon thousands of seekers have so far passed through the portals of Mukti [?], but not one has succeeded to bring down the sun to play ball with. We are not to take literally all what we read in the Shastras: gold and dross are mixed together in them, either by accident or design to make the strong-minded pick up the valuable gold, leaving the dross to the weak ones who need them.
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Now the twelve-year service to the Guru as the price of
Mukti [?] is patently absurd. For not all servers are of the same degree of purity, nor of the same preparations, nor of the same surrender-attitude, nor of the same spiritual culture.
How can all succeed in passing the winning-post at one and the same time, at the tick of the twelfth year? Secondly is Mukti [?] a thing which is in the hands of the Guru to grant or withhold? The Self being ourselves, is it the gift of the external
Guru that we are now in existence, that we are what we are and where we are? If not, how are we entitled to presume that the Guru is the dispenser of the reality to his disciples?
All he can do is to help them perceiving it. We are that reality, but, owing to the upadhis which are superimposed on us, we are unable to perceive ourselves as in truth we are. The Guru gives us a helping hand, which is all he can do.
If the twelve-year service means anything, it is to convey the idea of constancy of residence with the Guru.
Again, the conception of a tremendous Brahman vari- ously described by various pseudo Self-realised teachers pre- cludes even veteran sadhakas from recognising the Brahman
in themselves or in those who have actually realised it; more so those who take literally what they read in various scriptures about a personal Creator, who is full of actions and qualities and has infinite powers. If the idea that one day they will be that Almighty God is allowed to go to their puny heads, they will have any amount of trouble for their sins, and Bhagavan's delightful tirade will be a good and timely warning. "With a limited `I'," he cautions, "man is so stuck up and wild. What will he be if the same `I' increases enormously? This false `I' must perish."
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50. "How to meditate? Concentrate on that God or mantra
which you like best. If a single thought prevails, all other thoughts are put off and finally eradicated. Dhyana [?] is a fight. As soon as you begin meditation other thoughts will join together and try to sink the single thought to which you try to hold. The good thought will gradually gain strength through practice, and will put other thoughts to flight. This is the battle royal constantly taking place in meditation. "One wants to rid oneself of misery for which he requires peace of mind. Peace of mind, which means the clearing of the mind from all thoughts, is brought about by dhyana."
Talk 371
Note: We meditate with the ultimate object of acquiring peace.
For the mind has the tendency of forming vortices of thoughts about one object or another, one problem or another, round which it circles ceaselessly. We thus live in whirlpools of constant worries, at one time patent, at another time subdued, from which we find no escape except in meditation or mind control.
The single thought which Bhagavan recommends us to take up for meditation acts both as a calming influence and as an anchor to tie up the mind to, to the exclusion of
all other thoughts, including those which cause the wor- ries. This thought may be chosen ad libitum from among the
Gods, the mantras, the teachers, or from some lofty ideals, or even virtues, for which the meditator has a special parti- ality.
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At first the meditator will be astounded to find new thoughts swarming up in his mind as soon as the latter has succeeded to a degree of ridding itself from the surface waves which had been disturbing it. These are memories of the experiences through which he had passed in life: they specifically choose moments of attenuated mind to escape from the confinement of the subconscious, into which they have been stored up from a very early age, and come into prominence to divert the meditator's attention to them.
Extreme alertness on the latter's part has thus to be exercised at every step in the meditation to oppose their intrusion. This "battle royal" is finally won through perseverance in the practice.
51. "When dhyana is well-established it cannot be given up. It
will go on automatically even when you are engaged in work, play or enjoyment. It will persist in sleep too. Dhyana [?] must become so deep-rooted that it will be natural to one."
Talk 371
Note: When dhyana has taken a firm grip on the mind it establishes a dhyanic current, which is ceaselessly directed towards the Heart, like the magnetic needle which peren- nially points to the magnetic Pole, irrespective of one's preoccupations with other matters.
By its "persisting in sleep" it is not meant that meditation is then practised deliberately and in one's full awareness, but that the flow of the dhyanic current persists as impressions in the same way as the impressions of jagrat experience are
carried over to the dream state, whether one is aware of it or not. It has been the experience of some sadhakas that after the first experience of the Self in samadhi, and before they have attained firmness in it, they mechanically attempt to capture, and sometimes do capture, the samadhi state in the dream also. But once a substantial degree of firmness is achieved in jagrat, such dreams no longer recur, except extremely seldom; for one has by then established oneself almost permanently in the reality which prevails in the waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep.
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52. "The difference between the external and the internal
nirvikalpa is this: the former is holding to the reality while witnessing the world, without reacting to it from within.
There is the stillness of a waveless ocean. The internal nirvikalpa involves loss of body-consciousness."
Talk 406
Note: In samadhi the Self is witnessed in all its purity, and there is profound peace. As we have already studied in Note 48, the world as most tenuous thoughts, like gossamer cloud that hangs about the orb of the sun at midday, continue to hang about, but without dimming the perception of the Self.
"The stillness of a waveless ocean" is at once graphic and
picturesque. This still vastness is the empirical space with which we are familiar, but which is actually the ether of the Heart, into which all the things live, move and have their being.
The internal nirvikalpa, the Kevala, wipes out all thoughts, including that of the body. This does not mean loss of consciousness, as in sleep, for that will no longer be samadhi, but sushupti. Samadhi [?] must be in jagrat — let us hold this idea tight, and never forget it. The various accounts we read in books about nirvikalpa, particularly by modern writers, are in the main based on imagination. Some followers of Kundalini
yoga allow themselves to be carried away by the kevala kumbhaka and get trapped into laya, a state resembling deep sleep, which they mistake for nirvikalpa, although they remain unaware of the Self, the basic requisite of samadhi. (Vide Appendix.)
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Therefore by loss of body-consciousness Bhagavan does not mean swoon or laya, but loss of the body-idea, or body- thought, which vaguely prevails in the external nirvikalpa.
Total loss of body and world consciousness, as in sleep, never takes place in any samadhi, at all events not in that of the dhyana yoga, for then the Self would no longer be cognised, which is a necessary condition in the true samadhi. Samadhi [?], I wish again to emphasise, is dwelling in the Self in the waking state, that is, when the senses are all out but quiescent — rather rendered quiescent by meditation, — and never when the senses are merged in the Self and the world is totally extinguished, as it happens in deep sleep. We must also not forget that it is the jagrat mind that seeks and makes efforts to attain the Reality, and that it is, therefore, in jagrat that it has to be satisfied.
53. "You say that the mind is like a cork and does not sink.
What does it matter if the mind is active? It is so only on the substratum of the Self. Hold to the Self even during mental activities."
Talk 406
Note: This requires some explanation, for it is likely to
mislead new students. We have been repeatedly told that the substratum cannot be witnessed so long as it is covered by mental activities, and in this text Bhagavan says just the reverse, namely, that it would not matter if the activities were present. The text here speaks to the person who has experienced the Self but has not yet made it sahaja. For such an one mental activities no longer obstruct the Self, for he
has already experienced them as superimpositions on it, so that he has only to hold to the Self always at the same time as witnessing the activities much like remembering the canvas while enjoying the sight of the pictures painted on it. When this practice is perfected, it is then called sahaja samadhi, and the sadhaka a full-fledged Jnani [?] or Jivanmukta [?].
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54. "Vritti Jnana alone can destroy ajnana [?]. Absolute jnana is
not inimical to ajnana [?]."
Talk 629
Note: Merely being in the Self in kevala nirvikalpa does not
dispel ignorance, although it brings Liberation from birth and death if turned into Sahaja. It is investigation into the nature of the Self and the world, and relating the one to the other in what is called as argumentative meditation or Vichara [?], that results in the knowledge which destroys ignorance. Absolute jnana or complete merging of the jiva into the absolute Consciousness in Turyatita is devoid of all mental modification (vritti) to learn anything during meditation to destroy ignorance: even the awareness `I am this' is absent at the moment. Bhagavan calls this Swarupa Jnana (Knowledge of one's very Self — in its purest state) and can also be gained through Vritti Jnana.
It must not be assumed that all yogis attain jnana through vichara, as Bhagavan did, yet they are not precluded from being Jivanmuktas of the highest order.
55. "Deep sleep is nothing but the experience of pure being."
Talk 617
Note: The word `experience' here may give the
impression that the sleeper is aware of his being in dreamless sleep. In fact he is not, since all the faculties of cognition are then withdrawn into him. In both dreamless sleep and videhamukti no cognition of the being is possible, which is
the reason the Bhagavata gives for taking a body by the Self and becoming a jiva, so that with the manifestation of the antahkarana [?] (inner organ) — manas, buddhi, ahankara and chitta (the thinking faculty, intellect, ego and memory) — through the body the jiva may perceive himself as he is by nature, as the pure chit and enjoy the bliss of this realisation.
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56. "There are five states for the individual. They are jagrat,
svapna, sushupti, Turiya and Turyatita. . . If in jagrat the
Heart is not relinquished, the mental activities are still and Brahman alone is contemplated, the state is called Turyatita. Again when the individual merges in the supreme the state is called Turyatita... The clear-sighted yogi abides only in Turiya and the highest yogi remains in Turyatita alone."
Talk 617
Note: Although many Upanishads do not speak of Turyatita (beyond the Fourth), as, for example, the Mandukya, which deals only with the first four states, experience and a number of minor Upanishads prove its existence as a state deeper than Turiya (the Fourth). Yet Turiya alone is sufficient to secure sahaja and Liberation, which is all that the yogi aims at achieving. Long abidance in Turiya culminates in the experience of Turyatita, which is total merging of the individual in the Supreme Being (Brahman [?]). Here the Jivanmukta [?] is actually a videhamukta, that is, while in life he dwells in, and is aware of, the very state in which he will be after shedding the body. This is the highest that is possible for any jiva to attain.
