What to do with your Enlightened Brother-in-Law?

What to do if your brother-in-law is enlightened? - The world's longest blog article. Apologies in advance for being a nerd. 

What is enlightenment? How to achieve it? Is it easy to do? What is nothingness?

Any resemblance to any living “brother-in-law”  is entirely coincidental.

Since a large number of people on this planet have a brother-in-law, it seems to me that it is about time this important subject be squarely addressed, for, given the large number of brother-in-laws on the planet, there must surely be quite a number who consider themselves “enlightened.” In fact, recent studies have shown that there is a veritable epidemic of enlightenment occurring in the population of brothers-in-law. I feel it is my duty to take on this subject straight up.

Notwithstanding the current pandemic of enlightenment in this group, there have always been some in every age and culture who consider themselves enlightened and who, moreover, consider any and all religious or spiritual doctrines, practices, or promotion as, to quote P.G. Wodehouse, “bilge.” Some, using stronger language, shout “poppycock!”

True devotees everywhere and in every age are plagued by at least one know-it-all scofflaw and self-described enlightened brother-in-law. Since presumably your gentle nature and your firmly held beliefs preclude you from knocking the ‘ol buster off (and putting him out his misery while saving civilization from this blight upon humanity), this article may offer you some solace and alternatives.

Perhaps you are plagued, as I have been, by one such who, while adamantly rejecting any label, would easily fit into the target range of the dreaded “nondualist.” These blighters fancy themselves godlike and omniscient, gazing down upon creation and its creatures with a sardonic and all-knowing hauteur. Their disdain and dismissal of practices such as meditation, dogma, ritual, prayer and the like is, well, “absolute.”

And what makes his assertion that religion is unnecessary (and, in fact, worse than unnecessary) so clever is that there is a some level of truth here. Starting with the well known evils and disadvantages, prejudices, and narrow-mindedness of religion and its practitioners and representatives, there is the deeper truth that in the nondualistic state of consciousness there is no longer any distinctions of “I or Thou” or ego or separateness. In the state of Oneness, there is only Consciousness itself! It almost absurd to spend a lot time describing the state because by “definition” this state is beyond words. Still, for my purposes and I hope for yours too I will use these words as synonyms or markers and these include Oneness and God. Other terms (and there are many more) include Self-realization, samadhi, satori, nirvana, heaven, or mystical marriage (etc. etc.). (Keep in mind that users of these terms may well make distinctions among them.)

In the tradition of Vedanta, the scriptures of India, and among yogis (rishis, masters, etc.) the attitude of our nondualist is the approach to God (or Oneness) called gyana yoga. A modern Christian who approaches God as the “Cosmic Ground of Being” might similarly be called a gyana yogi. So, too, a Buddhist who refuses to describe the ultimate state as any-thing at all except perhaps as nirvana.

As Krishna notes in the Bhagavad Gita, this approach, however, is austere to an extreme (like being a spiritual stoic) and comments that the path to the Absolute should be walked only by a few advanced souls for it is “arduous” for most embodied beings. Easier for humans is to approach the Unapproachable through the “I-Thou” relationship. To be a true nondualist one must deny the very existence of all objects in the field or sphere of duality, including one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and so on! Rare and difficult indeed! For those who attempt it prematurely (and that includes, in my humble opinion, just about everyone who does) they seem to fall into a pit of self-delusion. Those attracted to this path are, admittedly, those who possess a keen and sharp and discerning mind. In the attempt to cut off the report of the senses and emotions (too soon), the mind can drift and pretend to establish its own alternative reality. The consequences, as any amateur psychologist can tell you, are disastrous for as Krishna also notes in Bhagavad Gita, “suppression availeth nothing.” The sphere of the mind is far vaster and more labyrinthian than that of the physical cosmos.

Our aspiring nondualist might even, with a sarcastic grin, quote sages who say, of enlightenment, that “it is, and, it isn’t!” In this they pretend to be deep and profound, hoping by this koan to stump you into submission. Our nondualist will mock all forms of spirituality as tainted with duality and thus doomed by their opposite! And, again, there is some truth to this. One who emphasizes devotion in an unbalanced way may become fanatical, for example. One who emphasizes ritual or dogma may become dogmatic, and one who treasures selflfess service may become restless and disillusioned.

Hiding behind the pretense of nonduality may impress a few, but enlightenment is not a put up job. Yes, it is that an enlightened master can make himself appear very ordinary to ordinary and materialistic people but those of refined consciousness will always catch his scent! It is absurd to claim enlightenment but to have no noticeable traits of an expanded consciousness.

Still, we must confess that enlightenment is unconditional and it expresses itself uniquely in each soul who achieves it. Swami Kriyananda once asked an enlightened yogi why he didn’t seem to have any disciples or conduct any ministry. The yogi’s simple reply was, “God has done what He wants with this body.”

Another feature of the state of Oneness is that it exists independent of any efforts to achieve it. Will power or mental power or affirmation alone cannot command it. But the scoffer mistakenly concludes that any effort to achieve it is futile, and that any effort to share “the path to it,” is nothing but self-serving propaganda. Pointing to the many shortcomings of religion and religionists, and their all-too-human representatives, he claims to have “proof.”

In this we encounter yet another of mankind’s existential dilemmas: how can the ego transcend itself? Can any action ever be other than in self-interest? Is anyone who strives for salvation or seeks to help others towards the same goal simply self-deluded because he or she is so plainly NOT (yet) enlightened himself? Is there a way out of this conundrum? The relationship of spiritual growth to effort and even to grace is so difficult to establish objectively that it is not difficult to look at all the religious craziness that abounds and dismiss it all as useless. Add to this the overpowering satisfaction and relief it offers to the ego which can rise up and shout, “I told you so!” “I’m perfect just the way I AM!” “I don’t have to do a thing!” But is it true?

Human life is not worth living if we abandon the nexus between action and consequence. The law of action and reaction has its metaphysical counterpart in the law of karma. Problem is, the nondualist proclaims, leaping into the breach, action only produces reaction and it never ends. Or does it?

Sleep may be the opposite of activity, but yogis claims that Oneness is achieved through the state of breathlessness -- a state that doesn’t produce death to the physical body. “Be still and know that I AM GOD” says the Old Testament. To admit a nondual state is, itself, logically even, to yield to the affirmation that there exists a state of being, of consciousness that has no second, no dual, and that this state is transcendent of duality.

Other great spiritual teachers and scriptures further proclaim that from this state of Oneness is manifested the whole of creation itself. This cannot be proved logically, they admit, but only realized in the state itself. By definition, moreover, this would have to be the case.

The power of Oneness holds the key to our imprisonment in the body and ego. “It takes One to Know One.” It has been both a universal precept and an easily observed fact in the history of the spiritual giants of planet Earth that each soul, imprisoned, is eventually awakened from its delusive dream of duality and separateness by the influence, wisdom, and compassion of another who has already awakened from the dream. Thus the power of the myths such as the prince and the pauper. We are all royalty but we find ourselves paupers and have forgotten our true nature. Someone or somehow we must awaken from this error, this nightmare of mistaken identity.

This, too, is the meaning of the famous story by Jesus Christ: the Prodigal Son. A true guru (known as a “Sat” guru, or savior) comes in every age (measured in thousand or more year increments) to re-awaken the forgotten memory of our Oneness in those souls who, during that time, are ready and “have ears to hear” (as Jesus put it repeatedly). Such a One also has the power to attract and completely liberate those who have incarnated in that time and place in readiness to ascend.

But the pseudo guru of the Big Easy to Oneness is not finished yet, for he also has the testimony of some spiritual teachers (and seekers) who quote scriptures such as I AM THAT I AM (Old Testament), or, “Tat twam asi” (Thou art THAT! - Hindu scriptures) to bolster their claim that no personal effort is needed for we are already enlightened and only have to realize it.

This claim, though misplaced, nonetheless has its source in the truth that the state of Oneness both preexists and coexists with material reality. Out of Oneness, out of nonduality, and out of God has come creation’s duality. (Out of the One, comes two; from two, three!) Nonduality (God) is both the source and sustainer of duality and at the same untouched by it. This is as deep and profound a truth (and mystery to our duality-bound intellect and body-bound sense experiences) as any mankind has intuited. It is taught in various ways in every great faith and metaphysical tradition. On its basis, some have falsely concluded that we can simply declare ourselves “free” and thereby be proclaimed “enlightened.” But again I ask you, is it so? And if it is, how do you we know it’s true? Are there are any proofs of enlightenment?

Given that religion will always have its share of frauds and flawed human beings (as we find in all human endeavors), and given that there are ignorant and superstitious people who practice religion out of fear, suffering or for ego or material gain, it’s not so difficult, if so inclined, to conclude along with Karl Marx that religion is “the opiate of the people.” When one has a taste of nonduality and in relation to it, it is true that all spiritual efforts and beliefs seem unnecessary. If one achieves enlightenment and it is a permanent beatitude, well, why argue? But the mere contemplation or passing experience of Oneness does not thereby render one exempt from the challenge and effort needed for purification of ego consciousness in order to enjoy the permanent blessing of soul freedom. The coexistence of nondual and dual states of consciousness (and passing back and forth between) can give rise to pride and self-delusion.

In fact, this is a commonly reported challenge to spiritual seekers even if they never use these somewhat dry and technical terms. Swami Kriyananda, my teacher, has pointed out that in the last stages of liberation the final test is that of pride--in this case, pride in the very real lofty heights of vision and power granted to the soul before it merges into the stream of Bliss forever. The Christian analogy is the temptation of Christ during which Satan shows to him all the earth and offers him dominion over all things if Jesus will worship him, Satan, Lord of Creation. Jesus says, simply, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” The test of pride is both the soul’s first and last temptation.

And because many people, including your brother-in-law, may have in fact had some peak experience of a nondual or nonverbal reality, it tempts one to so declare the inadequacy and unessential need for self-effort, religion or spiritual activities or beliefs. If well read, our scoffer might quote Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita who (like Buddha centuries later) who decried the common reliance upon Vedic rituals and prayers in substitution for the effort to seek God as the sole reality.

Is all spiritual striving and sharing, therefore, simply a delusion, like your brother-in-law avers?

There’s a corollary to this line of false but egoically convenient reasoning. The corollary is the long standing appearance of the teaching of emptiness. The state of the void or emptiness is indeed a state of consciousness. It includes trance states or states induced medically or otherwise. Every night in deep sleep we enter the dreamless sleep state in which yogis say we touch upon our soul nature as Bliss. Yet far from being unconscious, when we awaken from a good sleep we are aware that we slept well (or not), having entered this important and essential state. Yogis have long used comparisons to sleep to hint at higher states of consciousness. Unfortunately, in sleep we cannot progress spiritually because enlightenment by definition is a higher, more aware state.

If all things are a manifestation of consciousness, this must include rocks. Rocks don’t appear especially conscious. Therefore, we can conclude that in this relative world, consciousness itself is relative but that unconsciousness, taken literally, is impossible.

But some clever scoffers aver that emptiness is de facto the state of enlightenment. This is convenient because it, too, absolves the scoffer of any guilt, remorse or need for effort or right action. This false teaching is well rooted in that agnostics, atheists and materialists believe that at death we disappear and no longer exist. Hard to argue with the obvious physical evidence (or lack of it) supporting this point of view. But in this article I don’t want to get into the afterlife issue, not for fear, but it’s a much bigger topic. In this article I want to focus on enlightenment as a present state of consciousness while living in a human body. I am only saying that the lack of belief in an afterlife is another point of view that would seem to support the idea that enlightenment is a state of emptiness.

This concept of no-thing-ness is, however, a valid teaching because, as a state of being, it can be experienced by meditative efforts. But is it enlightenment? Emptiness is a feature of and typically associated with Buddhistic teachings, though it appears throughout history and in human thinking. But it is flawed, both logically and intuitively. For no one, except perhaps a suicide, seeks permanent loss of consciousness. Survival is the most deeply rooted instinct to be found anywhere in creation. If it is false then the creation itself is false. And yes that teaching is common, too, but we are not here to discuss whether the creation is true or false. A useless debate. We can simply say that it is impermanent so far as our experience of it is concerned. We can say that intrudes impressively upon our senses and our thoughts, and, indeed, even our dreams. Whether anything is, ultimately, “real” begs the question and no doubt pleases mental midgets but not true seekers who, in the end, want practical results to their sincere seeking.

Let us therefore say that the creation is false in the sense of always changing, alternating between opposites and not absolute in the sense that Oneness, pure Consciousness, and God are unchanging and eternal. Whether or not the creation is self-perpetuating is also a “relatively” useless question for midget minds and dry hearts.

Returning now to emptiness, my teacher (Swami Kriyananda) has put it so well with his tongue-(firmly)-in-cheek: Commenting on the Buddhistic belief that the end of suffering and the goal of life is to achieve the void, he says, “No wonder that in that tradition they came up with the concept of Boddhisattva: one who postpones his enlightenment to help others. Seeking no-thing-ness is more likely to prompt a request for a rain check from what amounts to an act of suicide. Who would aspire to no-thing-ness? Why, moreover, would one who achieved emptiness feel such deep and abiding compassion for the sufferings of others?

That emptiness is in fact a state of consciousness and can be experienced is not worth denying. Many great spiritual teachers so attest to it. Most express this state as a steppingstone, a way station to the goal. But if the price to end suffering is to end consciousness as we know it, well, hmmmm, I think most of us would want put in a request for that rain check.

Like Frank Sinatra sang, “Is that all there is?” Hardly: saints down through ages don’t exhibit love, compassion and joy as aspects of an enlightened consciousness “for nothing!” The “nothing” that is real and true is the dissolution of ego, “nothing” less. But when ego is dissolved (or expanded into Infinity--either image works for the sake of describing the indescribable), the result is the one thing all beings seek: pure, unconditioned Bliss. Not a loss of consciousness but Consciousness itself. Satchidananda: God is, and we are, and we seek immortality (Sat), unbroken Self-awareness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda): Ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss.

Our survival instinct isn’t present for the sake of mere survival. We survive that we may live; we live only as we are self-aware, and we seek to live to enjoy living. The ancient teachings of India, including the adi (first) Swami Shankycharya, in seeking to dispell the growing atheism among the adherents of Buddhism, declare that God is Sat-Chit-Ananda: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss. This is the nature of absolute reality and is the eternal promise and striving of all creation and of our souls.

But no matter how cogent your response to the scoffer is, be prepared for his “ultimate defense strategy.”  When shaken, he will deploy his golden parachute of silent nonduality to dismiss your explanations as born in the “captivity” of duality.

Putting the scoffer aside, smug in his inertial blanket of theoretical nonduality, I do think he does us a service by helping us clarify some important questions. The effort can highlight for us both the limits of intellectual discovery and the potential for the intellect to point us in the right direction when used wisely. But, like Moses who could not enter the Promised Land because born in captivity (duality), the intellect must be set aside. Only the heart can “know” and can enter into God (Oneness). “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

So I see at least three useful inquiries offered to me by my (self-proclaimed) enlightened brother-in-law:

1.    What does it mean to be enlightened?

2.    Are there any objective signs of an enlightened consciousness?

3.    What, if anything, can I (as ego) do to transcend ego and achieve enlightenment?

Human life would be insufferable if we didn’t have the intuitive wisdom that we can improve our lives and that we can discover what is true (whether it be in respect to material, psychological or spiritual matters). The intuitive knowledge and common shared experience that intention and attitude markedly affect a person’s actions (and that one’s actions reflect one’s consciousness) is fundamental to the human experience.

Many sages, saints, poets and ordinary people have attempted to describe the indescribable state of nonduality. “Nonduality” is a coldly rational word and I prefer “God” or, at worst, Oneness. But it would the height of folly to “mince words” when describing God!

I suppose that many humans, indeed, perhaps most, have had some peak experience in their lives. In every field of human activity you find beginners, experienced people, and “masters” of their art or craft. This, too, is fundamental to the human experience.

So, therefore, it is not unreasonable to presuppose that enlightenment, too, has its stages of progressive development. You might object along rational lines saying that an experience of nonduality must surely be, by “definition,” the same for everyone. That may be logical but it defies the testimony and experience of human beings. Love, too, might be said to be the same, but in fact it isn’t. There are degrees of depth and feeling.

Paramhansa Yogananda was once asked if there is an end to striving (in achieving enlightenment). He said, effectively, that there is no end but one goes on into endlessness. What else, after all, would “Infinity” suggest?

John Paul Sartre may have declared himself “radically free” to act from his own inner creative impulse, unaffected by outer circumstances but in this he betrayed both common sense and truth. Nothing about his life, should you be so unfortunate to study it, suggests the truth of his self-declaration.

True saints may indeed have “seen” God but each and everyone of them are unique and their lives, examples, and message was surely conditioned by, because appropriate to, outer circumstances and the needs of others. Always appropriate to the circumstance is the wise one.

What can enlightenment possibly mean if it isn’t life changing? It may be that it transforms each person uniquely but states of anger, jealousy, lust and dishonesty are not aspects of an enlightened consciousness. This is not only common sense but it is, in fact, the testimony of the lives of thousands of souls who have been recognized as having a desirable and elevated state of consciousness worthy of being called enlightened.

I won’t attempt to go further and speak of the “miracles” performed by saints for I know those cannot be “proved” although a sincere study of their lives and the testimony of credible witnesses may prove surprisingly persuasive.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the disciple, Arjuna, in fact asks his guru, Krishna, “What are the signs of the one who has achieved liberation?” In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, he describes numerous signs of enlightenment which demonstrate power of nature and power over life and death. But again, such things are beyond the experience of most people.

“He who says he knows, doesn’t. He who says he doesn’t, doesn’t. He who knows, knows.”

I have purposely avoided attempting to define enlightenment. I would have to quote my guru and others who are Self-realized and consistent in their roundabout descriptions. But I cannot speak of it from my own experience. But how can I “know” who is Self-realized. We can point at the blue sky above, but until we can fly, we remain earth bound.

It is foolish to buy into the clever and ego-affirming dogma that enlightenment is easy of attainment; that it costs nothing (in terms of effort or discipline); that it eschews the need for religion, spiritual teachings, prayer, meditation, or a spiritual teacher. Such assertions will always be made by some but simply examine their lives and see with what degree of non-attachment, even-mindedness, inner peace, compassion and wisdom do they conduct their lives? Their philosophy is simply a state of self-delusion, for it comforts and coddles the ego and excuses it of any meaningful effort, devotion to anything greater than themselves, or grateful, compassionate service to others. In Oneness we see all life as a part of ourselves.

In the duality of human life, we have the opposites but this does not mean that anger is just as valuable as love. We find greater happiness in love than in hatred. They may be opposites but what separates them from Oneness is the link to ego desire and involvement. Love connects and unites; hatred, separates.

Peace and love draw one closer to Oneness because the ego-active principle is soothed and smoothed. As we express more and more virtue and self-less-ness we become calmer and stronger in ourselves. At the center point between opposites is the still state of Oneness and while logic dictates that the opposites should be equal as well as opposing, goodness brings us closer to ego transcendence than evil.

But there is a catch, for “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” As long as even our goodness is ego-centric and ego-affirming, we are still caught and the pendulum of duality will, in time, force us back. Only when we consciously give ourselves to God with love and self-offering can the power of grace (of Oneness, of nonduality) meet us halfway to draw us ever deeply toward the still point within. Only when we consciously surrender into Oneness with an open heart can we enter, and, when we are ready, remain, in that beatitude.

So don’t let your scoffer brother-in-law get to you. Disdain and contempt is difficult to bear, but only by the ego. Instead, consider it a glorious path to God. Meet disdain with love and even-mindedness. Indeed, feel but compassion, for a dry, loveless heart and overly intellectual mind has no room, no appetite for God, no chance for true happiness. Like one used to eating stale cheese, the armchair philosopher substitutes his cleverness for truth and, in time, finds the harvest but a bitter fruit of stillborn emptiness, devoid of happiness.

Be of good cheer! The truth shall make you free!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Yoga Sutras Blog Post # 6! Samadhi at Last!

Yoga Sutras – Blog Article # 6 - Book 3 – Vibhuti Pada

We now arrive, at last, at Book 3 – Vibhuti Pada. Without attempting to be scholarly on the subject, there are two meanings of the term “vibhuti” that I am familiar with: one, is that the word refers to the sacred ash that remains after a fire ceremony. I recall that it also refers to divine aspects or “shining attributes.” Both terms apply here because Patanjali essentially reveals in Book 3 those attributes, born of superconsciousness, that arise to the yogi who has achieved the higher states of consciousness. Sacred ash works, too, because these attributes are what are left over from the self-offering of ego into the soul. (Ash may sound negative but the negative part is the ego and the positive part is what is sacred.)

But first Patanjali must describe to us the last three stages: dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (oneness). As usual his statements are pithy and clinical. To truly understand these sutras one must have a true (Self-realized) guru to unlock their secrets. Using resources that include Yogananda’s lecture notes from his talks on Patanjali and translations of commentaries written by disciples (both direct and subsequent) of Lahiri Mahasaya, and from my teacher, Swami Kriyananda (direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda), and what little might occur to me in this effort, I would like to proceed with great caution. I feel as if I am driving into a tunnel with dim headlights and the expectation of many diversions and obstacles.

The first five stages of the 8-Fold Path are considered “external.” Now that’s not easy to understand, looking back at the prior blog articles, but relative to the land beyond our dreams into which we will go in the final 3 stages, it can make some sense. That last word, sense, is purposeful and a pun, here. Because one way or another the first five stages have something to do with our relationship to the body and senses, even the subtle senses.

The first of the three (last) stages is called dharana. It is often translated simply as “concentration.” Dharana is the stage of consciousness where, in meditation, we can hold the mind steady and focused. If you are a meditator, try this experiment: using a timer, see how long you hold your mind without the intrusion of a single thought! (No need to report back!) Well, advanced yogis can do that for long periods of time. Yogananda offered that we would have to achieve one hour before we could say we’ve made any substantial progress in meditation. Well, you can pretend you didn’t hear that from me.

In the stage, now, of dharana our mind is focused and we experience what are called “thought waves.” Notice how when you meditate and gaze upwards behind closed eyes towards the sixth chakra (the Kutastha), that everything seems to be in motion. We aren’t aware of it but all physical sense stimuli come to us in repeated waves. Take for example the sense of touch. We must constantly move our hand over the object we are touching in order to continue to feel it. Same with smell, we must periodically sniff, as it were. If we were to stare fixedly at a candle in time the image would vanish. All material objects are pulsing with electromagnetic waves and the result, at least to our senses, is more or less that these objects are fixed in time and space, when, in fact, they are constantly moving, being held in their orbit by electromagnetic radiation.

And so it is, also, with our perceptive faculties. So long as the “I” is present and witnessing itself and the object under its microscope, we experience a constant sense of wave motion. It’s difficult, isn’t it, to even hold one thought in clear and unbroken focus. This is because even subtle objects such as mental images or perceptions of subtle sight and sound, wash over and toward us in pulses. It is like the refresh rate on your computer monitor or TV screen: the electrons are being fired rapidly and repeatedly in order to hold in steady focus the image on your screen. It happens too fast, usually, for us to notice unless we, perhaps, look away or to the side and then we might notice the fluctuation.s. One of the reasons for this is that nothing “outside” of ourselves is real. All is ultimately thought-waves. When at last these waves subside we have at least a taste of Stanza 2: “yogas chitta vrittis nirodha” (The state of Oneness is achieved when all thought-waves subside into the Eternal now!)

In meditation we concentrate on various things, but let us say, for illustration, we are focused on the heart chakra. It takes effort and concentration (achieved, ironically, only by deep relaxation and focused attention) to hold our awareness in the area of the heart, or anahat, chakra. But as we progress in meditation, a steady and prolonged concentration on any object will produce a state of breathlessness. This state of steady perception is the state of dharana. It is the gateway to the highest states of consciousness. Achieving it is the price of entry. It is your “ticket to ride!”

It is interesting that dharana is associated with the negative pole of the sixth chakra. This center resides at the base of the brain, near the medulla oblongata. It is the seat of ego consciousness. In dharana the sense of “I” perceiving or concentrating upon something remains. (See my blog articles on the 8-Fold Path, including dharana.)

In the next stage, dhyana (translated, simply, as meditation), the object yields up its wisdom as the “I” principle merges into the object. In one translation that I have the verse (no. 2) describes the knowledge that flows as “about the object” whereas in another translation it says an unbroken flow of thoughts towards the object. It is a curious and seemingly important distinction until you realize that “you” have disappeared and that the difference in verbs, so to speak, has no real meaning. The important point is that you have become that object. No words, which are but symbols, are confined to the world of distinctions, or duality and there is a point, and it is here, where words simply cannot go.

In an effort to be less mental about it, let’s say you are experiencing a deep state of inner peace. In the stage of dharana you experience this peace even as you witness it and yourself witnessing it. As your consciousness relaxes and expands and joyfully offers itself into this living Presence what results is, simply, Peace. The “I” which watches has become that state of peace. That’s as far as I can go with words.

To return to the correlation with the chakras, in dharana we gaze, as it were from the base of the brain up and into the third eye (the positive pole of the sixth chakra; known as the Kutastha). As our consciousness expands upward toward the object or experience our center of gravity moves up and into the forehead (well, kinda). Hence dhyana is associated with the Kutastha center (point between the eyebrows).

Finally, Samadhi results when even the object, as an object (or state of consciousness), vanishes and we become whatever “meaning” or essential consciousness underlies the object. This is even harder to describe. It is a state of complete absorption and while I don’t want to stumble on terminology here let me say that the sutra itself speaks in terms of a state of oneness with specific objects, or states of consciousness. I will be so bold as to describe this as the final stage of superconsciousness, as it relates to the soul as an individual spark of Divinity (not, therefore, in the sense of cosmic consciousness which comes later). In dharana, we see the promised land; in dhyana we enter the promised land; in samadhi we ARE the promised land. (Hey, I’m trying, can’t you see?)

From Lahiri Mahasaya comes the description that Samadhi takes place when the mind (dhyata), the goal (Brahman), and meditation (dhyana) are undifferentiated, the true nature of the object shines forth. I take this to mean, restated at least, that when the “I” principle (the mind), the soul principle (Brahman), and the process of meditation (act of contemplation) are One in relation to an object, then what remains is the essence (consciousness) of the object. Now you may ask, “define object.”

In these higher states we might meditate on the guru, we might encounter astral beings (angels), we might be receiving a flow of knowledge and wisdom, hearing an astral sound or music, or otherwise be meditating on an infinity of states or internal objects of astral sense. We might be working out past karma from the subconscious mind, even possibly working on present day problems in the material world. At this point (for me at least), and contemplating the sutras in their entirety, I cannot see any end or any limit to what Patanjali means by “object.”

Like the candle that vanishes as we gaze fixedly at it, but in reverse, it’s not the candle that vanishes, WE vanish. Imagine staring out of a window. At first you are daydreaming. Then after a time, the daydream vanishes and you are left in the void, as it were. But again, in these higher stages our fixed concentration upon so called objects results in OUR vanishing. This does not mean, as opposed to daydreaming, that we lose consciousness. No, no, no & far, far from it.  As the entire universe, whether objects of thought, emotions, or material objects are a dream of the cosmic Dreamer and are in their essence consciousness and thought, so we, by deep concentration, enter into and become that consciousness. There is nothing else, for we, too, are but a thought and have no essential reality beyond the Dreamer. Just as at night in our dreams we may or may not be conscious of our own role in the dream, and we might not recall or play the role dictated by our body’s current age or gender, so too we can enter into any other reality, even if but temporarily.

When we experience these three stages of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi in our contemplation of objects, Patanjali calls the combined process samyama. “Sam” is possibly the root for our word, same and is the root for samadhi and for samprajnata etc. Yama means control as we saw in relation to this term used to describe the first stage of the 8-Fold Path. This is important to most of the rest of book 3 wherein he describes the consequences of the three stage process of concentration when applied to various objects. Shall we move on?

In verse 8, Patanjali cautions us that samyama is still external to the seedless or final and true state of samadhi (nirbikalpa). Samyama by itself is not necessarily productive of nirbikalpa. One must meditate on OM and approach samadhi through the stages of Om samadhi and Kutastha samadhi (astral and causal planes through the spiritual eye as Yogananda taught in his lessons). Samyama should be practiced in the order of the stages as given. Samyama is more direct than focusing on the first five stages of the 8-Fold Path (so here we see a direct reference to the stages as not being strictly linear).  

Verse 9 is especially oblique. As I understand it, Patanjali is saying that to reach nirbikalpa samadhi one must set aside the impressions and knowledge one has received through the practice and experience of samyama. The chitta (energy and waves of thought) will alternate between this setting aside (he uses the term “suppression”) and the spontaneous emergence of chitta. (This is a subtle expression of the flux, or thought pulsations, that are the creative engine of the universe.) This stage or state he calls nirodha parinama.

In time and with depth of practice the chitta is at last pacified and calmed. The thought waves have subsided and we experience, at first, the void, or nirvana (no-thing-ness). As water fills a glass from above, or as a boat out at sea comes towards the shore, so at last, we begin to hear the booming shores of Bliss as we enter cosmic consciousness beyond the three worlds into the Infinite Bliss of Spirit.

As verse 10 points out, all past impressions may be now cleared out and neutralized. I take it to mean that the subconscious mind has become en-lightened. To achieve samadhi we must learn to redirect the restless thought waves which go constantly towards objects of desire into a uniform thought wave which is the true nature of chitta (consciousness). This nature is called Ekagrata and achieving this state leads to samadhi. The mind remains calm even when impressions of this calm state arise. This state is called Ekagrata Parinama.

Now that we have reached Samadhi, we are ready to hear from Patanjali how samyama can reveal the nature of the creation. Stay tuned for the next blog!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Yoga Sutras - Part 5

Although the Yoga Sutras class series ended Wednesday, November 23, I made the commitment to continue these articles until I felt satisfied we had surveyed all four of the books (padas) of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Hence this is Part 5 of the blog article series.

Book 2 is called Sadhana Pada. Whereas the sutras of Book 1 (Samadhi Pada) largely deal with the attributes of superconsciousness, Book 2 deals with the disciplines, practices, and attitudes necessary to achieve superconsciousness.

Before I go on, however, I’d like to comment on terminology. Throughout the sutras, and especially Book 1, the term samadhi is used. Just now I used the term “superconsciousness.” The two terms are not necessarily the same. In Yogananda’s teachings the term samadhi refers to the state sometimes known as cosmic consciousness: a state wherein the soul achieves Oneness with God, with Infinity. That state has a preliminary and temporary stage called sabikalpa and a final and permanent stage called nirbikalpa samadhi. But as previously described in a prior blog article Patanjali uses the term to describe several levels. In fact in translations from Sanskrit the term is sometimes translated simply as “concentration!”

In Book 1 when Patanjali describes at some length the interaction between the Knower, the knowing, and the object, the equivalency of concentration for samadhi seems close enough. In the state of cosmic consciousness there is no object, no knowing and no knower, for they are One. It strikes me that Patanjali’s use of the term samadhi is larger, broader, and somewhat looser than Yogananda’s. Hence my ambivalence in these articles in my own usage.

Superconsciousness, by contrast, is used by Yogananda (it may have even been his own term, though I am not sure of that) to describe the state of the soul and especially its attributes which are eight in number (listed in Part 4, the previous blog article). It is a state of intuitive perception that goes beyond the body and the senses and which perceives through the sixth sense: intuition. It is not samadhi as Yogananda uses the term. 

But a state of superconsciousness is part of the states described by Patanjali.

Sadhana Pada begins by defining “kriya yoga.” What Patanjali defines as kriya yoga are practices that are, in fact, aspects of the niyamas (the second stage of the 8-Fold Path, or right action). To we who are disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda and kriyabans (practitioners of the technique Yogananda taught which he and his line of gurus termed “Kriya Yoga”), this is all rather confusing. The practice of austerity (self-control, or tapaysa), Self-study (swadhaya), and nishkam karma (action without desire for the fruits of action, ascribing all action to God as the Doer) are certainly aspects of the yogic path but do not, by themselves, appear to describe Kriya Yoga insofar as it is an advanced breath control meditation technique that Yogananda made famous throughout the world in his teachings and his autobiography!

In his life story, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” Yogananda, in a footnote, explains that by using the term “kriya yoga” Patanjali was referring to the exact technique taught by Babaji or a similar technique. He goes on to  write that the reference to kriya as a life force control technique is proved by verse 49 of Book 2 which he translates as “Liberation can be accomplished by that pranayama which is attained by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration (inhalation and exhalation).” This translation seems loosely formed even if, for all of that, clearer and more accurate as to its meaning. The literal translation of Verse 49 seems mostly to define “pranayama” as the fourth stage of the 8-Fold Path wherein breath is controlled, meaning transcended. Close enough.

Either way, this illustrates either Yogananda’s stretching a point to make a point or, as I prefer, demonstrates the necessity of having a true guru to explain and interpret the scriptures, and especially their deeper and more immediate meaning. Yogananda’s translation fits neatly into the clinical approach take by Patanjali throughout the sutras.

In Verse 2 Patanjali states that kriya yoga leads to samadhi and freedom from suffering. This is, at minimum, a hint that the term refers to something more than austerity, study, and selfless action as those terms (and practices) are commonly understood.

He then goes on to list the psychological attributes that lead to pain as being ignorance, egoity, attachment, aversion and clinging to life. As the verses of Book 2 proceed it is clear that he is establishing a link between the seeds of past action, suffering, and karma. Ignorance comes first and is the foundation for all the other attributes, he writes. Ignorance mistakes the ephemeral for the eternal. Egoity mistakes the soul for the body and its senses (the “instrument of seeing”). Attachment dwells on pleasure and aversion upon pain, while clinging to life is to abide in (to hold fast to) the present form and is derived from past experience of change, especially the great change we call death.

These are conquered by “resolving them” into their causal state. To quote Yogananda’s counsel, he said that a kriya yogi should “cognize breath as an act of mind,” in other words, as a thought, merely. By dissolving the thought, the object vanishes. This is rather subtle, to say the least, but let me try.

Every time we experience one or more of the five senses, say, we smell incense, we are in fact engaging in a mental act. The sense stimuli come to the brain via the organs of sense, say the olfactory nerves, and are noticed, then analyzed, then identified, categorized, and then judged by the mind. “Ah, I LOVE the smell of incense!” Truly, therefore, “it’s all in your head.” If you were asleep you would presumably not smell the incense. This isn’t to say that there is no reality to the smell of incense. It is to point out that without the functions of your mind, you could smell incense.

To a yogi, therefore, who attains full conscious control of otherwise autonomic functions, including the power to turn off the five senses at will in a state of deep meditation, the process is one of dismissing the sensory input and especially the mind’s interest in and response to that input. So the yogi who dissolves the reactive process of attachment and aversion, who dissolves the egoity that arises from awareness and identification with the body and the senses, and overcomes the clinging to that body has, by definition, and if only during that state, banishes false Prince Ignorance from the throne of soul  consciousness.

The clinical key to transcendence resides in controlling the mind and transcending its body-bound, matter-dependent, sense-dependent functionings. The creation is a dream, or thought, but not a subjective one of our making but a relatively objective one of the cosmic Dreamer. To banish the dream is not to dissolve the dream on its level but in relation to our consciousness. The objective reality of the creation is but a thought in the mind of the observer AS IT RELATES to the observer. The yogi can banish the world of the senses once he cognizes that, for him, it is merely a thought because it takes the cognizing functions of the mind to perceive it. In fact, we are all yogis at night when we sleep for then we banish the dream world of this world from our awareness. More on this later.

Well, like I said — I’d try.

Thus Verse 10, Book 2 concludes that by meditation the gross modifications (motions and appearances) of the world are rejected. Through Verse 15 Patanjali speaks obliquely about the law of karma and the samskaras (tendencies) caused by past action. In Verse 15 he says that to the yogi all is painful because he knows, in advance that: 1) the consequence of desire impelled action is its opposite; 2) in pleasant circumstances he knows it will have to end; or 3) after the pleasure of indulgence has past, the memory will bring fresh renewed sense cravings,  and  4) in all events the law of duality means everything has to balance to zero! Whew!

I recall that in an extraordinary movie about Padre Pio (the Italian stigmatic of the twentieth century), he turns to his confessor and says, without explanation or context, and in a whisper as if a secret that cannot be spoken aloud: “it is all sin, Angelino!” He doesn’t mean this in the judgmental, sin-oriented way of fundamentalists. He is speaking as a yogi, as a Shankhya-yogi (one who pierces the veil of maya – delusion). “All is maya,” he is saying: pleasure, pain, success, failure, health, disease and so on. It doesn’t matter! Any attachment we have has to be paid for: sooner, or later. 

In Verse 17 Patanjali “nails it” when he says that the cause of delusion, the cause of misery, and that which is to be avoided is the “junction of the Seer and the seen.” Yogananda frequently quoted Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (another example of his overarching wisdom, for this quote cannot be found in the Gita!) saying to Arjuna: “Get away, oh Arjuna, from my ocean suffering and misery!” In the Self, alone and untainted by duality, the Seer is One. But as the mind cognizes objects, internal or external, revealed by chitta (consciousness modified by the lower mind’s contact with the senses and objects of the senses, whether past, present or in imagination), the Seer takes on these modifications (of chitta) and becomes colored or stained by them.

This sounds all pretty “heavy” except that as Yogananda would put it: with God all is fun; without God, it is anything but fun!” When we know this life to be but a dream, we can enjoy the show with the eyes of God.

Patanjali goes on to clinical define that which is “seen” as composed of the elements and the organs, and the interplay of the three gunas, or qualities of nature (Prakriti) which alternatingly illuminate, energize or hide the eternal Spirit who plays them all. Patanjali says that this play, this drama, is carried on for the experience (entertainment) of the Seer and for the ultimate release (freedom-moksha) of the Seer from identification with the drama.

He goes further in Verse 23 to turn the problem into the solution, for he states that this drama is necessary for the soul’s Self realization: the junction of the seen (Prakriti, or nature) and the Seer (soul, or Purusha) is the necessary perquisite to Self-realization. Discrimination practiced with unceasing vigilance is what is needed. Or as Krishna put it in the Bhagavad Gita, the soul cannot achieve the actionless state (of the Seer) by refusing to take action (engage with the seen).

Self-realization is achieved in seven stages: the first four eliminate past karma and are intuition born knowledge of Shankhya (essential maya of creation), cessation of suffering, samadhi and constant illumination (flowing of knowledge about all things). The latter three bring complete freedom from considering thoughts as having any reality, from this no more thoughts arise to create more reactive processes, and at last one achieves the permanent state of unbroken union with Spirit.

As we now have arrived at Verse 29: the stages of Ashtanga (8-Fold Path) – the most famous of the sutras of Patanjali – we will stop here!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman

Yoga Sutras - Part 3

This blog post comes AFTER class #3 instead beforehand. In our first two classes, we've moved slowly in relation to the stanzas or sutras themselves. But I warned the class that I had no agenda and would move about as our interests guided us and that's the way it's been. It's been more fun for me and more engaging for everyone. The very vibration of these sutras - no less a scripture - inspires in one who seeks their treasure with reverence, a wisdom beyond one's years! So let us continue.....

In the first two classes (out of only 4), we had proceeded only about 5 sutras into book 1 (Samadhi Pada), out of 4 books. We've all agreed that the material is very deep, for each sutra opens like a picture window onto a panorama at at once diverse, colorful and expansive. So in class 3 this week, we began with stanzas 6 through 11 in which Patanjali talks about the most elemental "vrittis" or "modifications" in consciousness. As is typical with the sutras, Patanjali is clinically austere.

The five modifications (or vrittis) he says that our consciousness creates in contact with the qualities of nature are as follows: we either perceive what is true, or we mistake the false for the real, or we live in the unreality of our own thoughts and words (unrelated to any reality other than our own), or we experience the voidness of sleep (and other similar states), or memory brings to our mind recollected objects.

In the state of mind that perceives that which is true, we find three levels: lowest is that knowledge which comes from sensory or experiential evidence; next is that which comes through logical inference, and finally comes the highest form, or intuition (direct perception). The first two are easily understood but in our culture, intuition is greatly misunderstood and mistrusted.

We all rely on hunches and the combination of memory and insight to give us answers, often under difficult circumstances. The process of creativity is nothing less than intuition. The process of creativity has been widely studied and has found that inspirations and ideas come from a "place" that goes beyond logic and typically requires that one suspend ratiocination for a time. Sometimes that means going for walk; taking a shower; "sleeping on it" and the like. When thinking "aloud" so to speak, we often look up, or up and off to the side, as if, like a computer, we are searching for a file on some invisible hard disk. Sometimes the response is "file not found" but often in that "pause that refreshes" and which clears the grinding activity of the  conscious mind, the super-mind ("superconsciousness" or "sixth sense") drops an answer into the lap of the intellect. It is correct to say that "I had an idea" but our language fails to admit that the conscious thinking mind didn't produce the idea. It simply appeared by a process that is stimulated by our concentration upon the need for an answer and upon our knowledge and commitment to the subject matter, but otherwise appears as if a gift from a power that is beyond our conscious control. In ancient times this gift of creative ability was said to be the gift of the Muse(es), mythical goddess(es).

In modern history when artistry left behind the almost exclusive realm of serving religious artistry and the sense of individual self-hood began to appear more commonly, creativity was ascribed to the ego and to the subconscious mind. Not surprisingly the cultural image of the artist as slightly mad and dependent upon the need for opiates (of one form or another) to fuel one's creativity came into being.

Yogananda described intuition as "the soul's power of knowing God." But God is truth in any form, from the location of your car keys to the theory of Relativity. Yogananda called this realm of the mind the "superconscious mind." It is unitive in nature and beyond the boundaries of time and space. It manifests in an infinity of resourceful ways in human life but includes such proven and dramatic powers as telepathy.

In this class I was able to draw upon some of the interesting material from the lecture notes from Yogananda's class series on the Yoga Sutras. For example, he told his audiences that to take stock of another person's character (when necessity demands it), concentrate in your own heart center until you are very calm and then visualize the eyes of the person and "watch" for what feelings arise in the heart. Of course you should first beware of any superficial attraction or dislike and make sure those reactions are not creating filters. As he put it: to take a picture you must hold the camera very still!

Patanjali in stanza 12 speaks strong of the need for non-attachment. After speaking on the need for non-attachment, on how to be impartial in the face of criticism, and the need to rise above being too personal, he describes non-attachment not as denial (as it is usual thought of), but, rather, as sharing what one has while not thinking that it is yours! What a wonderful, positive, and expansive way to think about non-attachment.

On the subject of material desires Yogananda counsels us to beware of denying the power of temptation lest it overpower you by your very denial. He says "of course temptation is made pleasurable! Why deny it? But it comes at a cost. Learn to live without and not depend upon anything for your happiness."

Now we get into some heavy material. Thus far, Patanjali's progression in book one begins with stating that Oneness ("yoga") is achieved when the mind is freed of the delusive power of the vrittis. In the stanzas described above he describes those vrittis and how they are stilled by non-attachment, practice, and devotion. Now he comes to stanzas 17 through 20 which describe the stages of "samadhi" or true knowledge born of deep meditative concentration and born of superconsciousness transcendent of ego and body awareness.

In Yogananda's commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita he digresses to bring together the "Gita" and the Yoga Sutras. He explains that Patanjali was describing an extended ladder of states under the term "samadhi." In his own teachings, Yogananda limited the use of that term to the two highest states (known as "sabikalpa" and "nirbikalpa" samadhi). But here, in interpreting the yoga sutras, Yogananda follows the thread of Patanjali's analysis and explains Patanjali's terminology under the heading of "samadhi."

The terms "samprajnata" and "asamprajnata," he explains, go together but have a lower octave of meaning and a higher octave or set of meanings and experience. Furthermore, within samprajnata (on both the lower and higher levels) there are four sub-levels. For those four sub-levels Patanjali uses the terms savitarka, savichara, sananda, and sasmita. In the first octave of samprajnata samadhi, savitarka refers to intuition that is mixed with inner dialogue that questions, reasons, and doubts the nature and meaning of the experience that is taking place. It has a particular relationship to the coccyx center (the muladhara chakra) at the base of the astral spine. (Now I warned you this was going to get heavy.) For example, in meditation you might hear the characteristic astral sound of the bumble bee but in savitarka state you are unsure whether that's the sound you are hearing; you doubt, you question, and you try to reason your way through the inner experience that you are having.

The next stage is more upbeat. In the savichara state of meditation, intuition is still mixed with inner dialogue of reasoning and pondering but we are clearer and surer of our inner perceptions. This is associated with the sacral (swadisthana chakra) center, one and a half inches above the base of the spine (opposite the sex organs). Sananda is the next state which happens when those perceptions resolve into their deeper essence of joy!

The example I gave in class goes like this: you see a rose. Looking at it, you wonder to yourself: Is that a rose, or is it a poppy or daisy? You are unsure of yourself. In savichara you conclude (rightly) that it is indeed a rose. That conclusion makes you happy. Focusing on the happiness you now feel, you forget the rose and notice and enjoy the happiness. This is sananda. In the fourth stage, called sasmita, the joy recedes somewhat in favor of pure self-awareness. The joy doesn't disappear entirely but the feeling of pure Self-awareness dominates the experience.

If you are following the progression of chakras you will have concluded on your own that sananda relates to the manipur (navel) chakra and sasmita to the heart center. These first four are the product of the awakening of that stage of Patanjali's famous 8-Fold Path (not introduced by him, however, until Book 2, Verse 29) known as dharana: concentration. This is the stage where the meditator can hold in steady focus the perception of such inner sounds (of the chakras) and other astral manifestations described in raja yoga. In the stage of dharana (see my prior blog articles on each of the stages of the 8-Fold Path), the awareness of "I" as the perceiver remains. "I am feeling joy." "I am feeling peace." "I am seeing the inner light of the spiritual eye." And so on.

When samprajnata and asamprajnata achieve their higher octave, they are synonymous with the stages of samadhi described with the terms "sabikalpa" and "nirbikalpa" samadhi. The four stages samprajnata are described now seen as preliminary steps towards nirbikalpa samadhi -- a state of cosmic consciousness from which the soul returns into so-called ordinary or ego consciousness. By progressive flights into cosmic consciousness the soul eventually retains contact with transcendence even upon returning to wakeful consciousness. That state is then nirbikalpa samadhi.

Getting back to the four stages of samprajnata that are the initial forays leading to nirbikalpa samadhi, we find that savitarka is no longer the doubting mind but is filled with reverence and wonderment at what it is experiencing. In savichara the soul perceives the very nature of God, while in Sananda the soul experiences pure bliss. Finally in sasmita the expanded Self feel its identity in every atom of space as though creation were its own body. It is a state of perfect calmness in which the soul is like a grand mirror in which all creation is reflected! (Whew! Imagine....well, yes that's an excellent meditation exercise.)

Yogananda then takes a fun little detour to explain that the chakras produce these sounds in the same way that if you walk up to the projection booth of the theatre you will hear the electric light making a buzzing noise as it throws its light rays onto the screen below. The prana which enters the astral body and then down the spine and out the doorways of the chakras is like a subtle and intelligent form of electricity. It therefore hums like electricity. Yogananda says the coccyx center (muladhara) produces an astral and electrical current that makes the bumble bee sound but whose purpose is to solidify the life force current (known as "prana") into atoms. It is known as the "earth current." In doing so it produces the power of smell.

The next chakra, the water element of swadisthan, makes a flute-like sound and produces the sense of taste. The navel chakra (manipura) is the fire element wherein prana glows with heat and light, producing harp like sounds and the sense of sight. At the heart (anahat) chakra, the current combines life force and oxygen producing the bell or gong like sound and the sense of touch. At the throat center (visuddha), the vibration current is very subtle. Yogananda says that this current maintains the etheric background in the body "timing it to all spatial vibrations." Space, he says, is a vibration upon which all objects are projected and can appear to be separate and three dimensional. The etheric current produces the sense of hearing and the sound of distant waterfall or ocean rumblings. Finally, the sixth chakra is the dynamo (or holding vessel or battery) of consciousness and life force as it continuously recharges with life current and intelligence the sub-dynamos of the lower five chakras. It's sound is the symphony or source of the other sounds. It is the sound the AUM, the sound of a might ocean or thunder.

For reasons that are unclear and upon which Yogananda made no comment, stanzas 42-44 make another attempt to further define samprajnata samadhi. This time it's as if there are only two stages, not four, of samprajnata. With respect to what he calls "objects" savitarka samadhi is when we achieve knowledge that includes simultaneous awareness of sound and meaning whereas nirvitarka samadhi (samadhi without question) is attained when only the object remains and no trace memory of sound, meaning or knowledge remains! When the objects are subtle (meaning the inner powers of the chakras which have the capacity and intelligence to produce the five senses), the same two stages are called savichara and nirvichara!

There is a higher level of consciousness into which all the stages of samprajnata evolves (whether in its lower octave or higher). This level is called asamprajnata. In its lower octave, asamprajnata is when we move from the stage of dharana (described earlier) into the 7 stage of the 8-Fold Path, known as dhyana (absorption). Here we are in superconsciousness: knowing, knower, known are One. There is no flicker of interruption of consciousness. In its higher octave, asamprajnata samadhi is, as I understand it, the equivalent of nirbilkapa samadhi: the final and highest stage of transcendence, or Oneness.

On that one note, I think I shall end with a sigh of relief!

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman.

Yoga Sutras - Part 2

This week we hold class 2 on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. My last blog article described the Yoga Sutras (“YS”) as both intimidating AND inspiring. Well, that comment is only further justified by my ongoing study. I’d like to share some key points, insights, and inspirations as they have occurred to me. As this blog format is rather truncated (neither a class nor a book), I cannot begin to pretend to share comprehensively, both for the depth of the YS which is beyond my ken and for its very content which requires more time and space.

The first thing that hits one in book 1 of the YS (“Samadhi Pada”), is the necessity and power of concentration. Like shooting a gun or cannon to take down a target (person, plane or ship, e.g.), all you need do is combine force (will) with a steady aim at only one key portion of the “body” you are attempting to obliterate, and the whole thing comes down. [Now I know some of more pacific readers just blanched, but this is Patanjali’s point: get over it. I’ll explain in a minute.] You don’t need to wrestle every inch of it, only the heart or head!

It is through the power of meditative concentration that the arrow of our attention pierces the body armor of maya (the delusive force and masking power of matter and the creation which hides “the Lord,” the Spirit who is, alone, all that Is). There is a well known sentence in Paramhansa Yogananda’s classic story, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” that I believe is inspired by a sloka in some Indian scripture that says “divine vision is center everywhere, circumference, nowhere.”

You could spend lifetimes trying to achieve realization of this key point. But for now, let me say the insightful point is you don’t have to acquire all the knowledge and wisdom of the world or to become scrupulously virtuous in thought, word, and deed to achieve freedom from this world of suffering, unceasing flux, and unending cycles of birth and death. To enter the transcendent state of Superconsciousness (and ultimately, cosmic consciousness), you need only one doorway: one “object” of concentration with which your entire being becomes One with.

I’ve heard my teacher (Swami Kriyananda, direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda and founder of the Ananda communities worldwide) lightly joke that you could worship a crocodile — indeed, anything. Why? Because the transcendent consciousness of Spirit is at the heart of every atom (“center everywhere”).

The second sutra (aphorism) of Patanjali is one of two most famous and most valuable: (and I paraphrase it) Suffering is transcended and Oneness with Bliss achieved by rising above identification with one’s body, matter, sense impressions, memories, fantasies, sleep (and all drug-induced states), likes, dislikes, attachments and desires. This second sutra (literally translated as “Yoga is the restraining, or calming, of the reactive process (mind-stuff) from taking various forms (vrittis)) states the concentration principle described above in negative terms. This isn’t a description of what to do. It is an explanation of what is necessary.

Because immediately thereafter, Patanjali launches into the subject of concentration. While it is true that our concentration in meditation is disrupted by our matter identifications (listed above).  And yes it is true, therefore, as Patanjali enumerates in his most famous sutra (listing the 8 stages of enlightenment) we must work on achieving right attitude and right action. And, yet (and this is the beauty and power of yoga concentration), we can combine those efforts to release the hold of maya upon our minds by the power of concentration. We do not have to fight to the death every delusion that pops up like so many assassins in a James Bond movie.

As we identify with matter, we lose touch with our true Self. It’s really that simple. By steady concentration upon any single object (in meditation), the hypnotic influence of maya dissolves and we enter a portal into Oneness.

Patanjali enumerates and defines the obstacles to Oneness and he also describes some of the stages of realization. These stages are not permanent but represent the process by which, step by step, we achieve true knowledge. First, we question, doubt or reason based on our inner perceptions. Then, we receive (intuitively) true knowledge about that which we are contemplating. From that knowledge we experience happiness or some level of satisfaction and bliss. Finally, that knowledge becomes permanently realized as our own Self.

Beyond such realization is the “seedless” realization which a state of Oneness without any process or object used or intervening. This is true transcendence. He also acknowledges that the speed with which enlightenment takes place is the result of our energetic commitment (or lack thereof).

Patanjali gives a one-liner acknowledgement that, despite his clinical analysis, Oneness can be achieved by devotion to God! (He adds no comment or explanation.)But, to be fair, he then goes on for several sutras to describe the Supreme Ruler (or Power) who is the true teacher of all rishis and gurus and whose name (and word) is AUM! Repetition and communion with the seed sound of OM is “the way.”

To remedy our shortcomings and attachments, he recommends deep concentration upon one object (OM being previously suggested). Another approach, he says, is to control the breath (pranayama, including kriya yoga). Meditating upon the inner Light (“Jyoti”), or upon a pure heart, or on the message of dreams (that all life is a dream), or upon the bliss of the dreamless state (of sleep), or “on anything that appeals to one as good!”

Wow! Dr. Patanjali, here, at your service! I make house calls. Can you imagine it? That's enough medicine for us all right now. Until next week, your own Self.

Nayaswami Hriman

Patanjali's 8-Fold Path - Samadhi - the Final Stage

This is the eighth, and final, blog article in this series on the 8-Fold Path, known as Ashtanga Yoga, of Patanjali. Samadhi is the name given to us by Patanjali for what amounts to both the goal of our soul's striving and the only and eternal reality there is, and out of which all things created have been born: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss. This latter phrase is a loose translation by Paramhansa Yogananda of the term "Satchidananda" given to us long ago by the Adi Swami Shankacharya of ancient India. The term applies to God: the Eternal Spirit. It is lasting happiness that we seek: pure and simple.

In the stage of samadhi the soul finds its true home. Having shed the three encircling bodies of the flesh, light, and thought (physical, astral, causal), the soul merges back into the Great Light of God, the Infinite Spirit, Bliss eternal. But there are various stages of samadhi as taught in the scriptures of India. Paramhansa Yogananda simplified, and clarified, these stages into two.

The first stage, sabikalpa samadhi, is reminiscent of our description of the seventh stage, dhyana. In sabikalpa samadhi the soul achieves Oneness with God but returns to ego awareness. While the same is said of dhyana, the difference is that in samadhi the soul passes beyond the 3 bodies, beyond the 3 cosmoses and into the Bliss sphere of God, beyond all duality and vibration. In dhyana, the Oneness achieved is Self-realization as the soul, not as the Infinite. The soul here being that individualized spark of the Infinite that exists within creation.

Yogananda taught that like the caged bird finding the door open, the soul flies into sabikalpa for brief periods at first. The progression from sabikalpa to nirbikalpa is one that, to my knowledge, he did not give an account of. He did teach that the soul is not yet free in sabikalpa and can yet fall again, spiritually, by attachments and desires which may yet be stimulated.

As the bird takes time to gain confidence in his flying from the cage, we cannot say how much "time" is required to achieve final liberation once the soul experiences sabikalpa samadhi. As yet the book of life is not yet ended.

In sabikalpa samadhi the physical form is inert, fixed, and appears even to be sleeping or dead to the casual or unknowing observer. But, by and by, with ever deeper forays into the Infinite Spirit, the soul sheds ever more its more limiting identities and attachments. At one point, though it returns to ordinary wakefulness, it retains its awareness of its Infinite source and identity. Thus is achieved the final stage of nirbikalpa samadhi and one becomes a jivan mukta (freed while yet living incarnate).

Yet at this point, past karma remains. The jivan mukta forever freed from ego affirmation or fresh new desires has a train of box cars of past incarnations to unravel the knot of ego-identity and doership. The soul now has no compelling need to rush, as time and space have been transcended. Yet if the soul wishes he can work out such past karma in any number of ways: on the causal plane, by incarnating into multiple bodies (for speed and efficiency), or by just taking his time. Perhaps the jivan mukta uses the karmic chain to remain and to help close disciples.

Yogananda taught that we cannot achieve liberation without liberating at least six others. This apparently simultaneous equation is hopefully semantics more than literal, but the point remains that we cannot achieve freedom for ourselves alone. What else would be Infinity if not union with all souls, in sympathy, love, and compassion?

Still, most souls, once freed from past karma as well, are said to vanish into the Infinite. Only if called forth by the devotion's frost of prior disciples and the will of God, would such souls appear. When at last the jivan mukta achieves final freedom, he becomes a siddha. If a siddha returns to physical form it is only to assist others and such a one becomes an avatar -- a savior. Some do so in the public eye, others unseen, each according to the divine will and the unique patterns of such soul's eternal thumbprint.

An avatar is said to have unlimited spiritual power to uplift other souls whereas a jivan mukta may have only a few disciples or a siddha somewhat more limited scope.

I've seen in my own service of teaching and of spiritual community that one can see how different souls are attracted together in seemingly mysterious ways which, over long (perhaps vast) periods of repeated incarnations, can evolve into a guru-disciple relationship. Thus it is not difficult to imagine how each soul helps free other souls, even, more or less simultaneously. Also, however, one soul may fall spiritually, perhaps greatly (or so it would appear). Yet that soul's guru-to-be by the inextricable linkage of karma finds that soul and in some way renders spiritual and material aid.

There are stories of the disciple who advances faster than the guru and who, therefore, in the bond of spiritual friendship, helps the guru who may have fallen. Here, then, we do not refer to the "sat guru" but, well, lacking a term, a guru-to-be. Indeed one's sat (savior-avatar) guru may be, say, Jesus Christ, but one may have a twin soul with whom one's path of ascension is linked. But here we edge toward an abyss of unaswered questions.

Apparently it must be so that to liberate (at least) six others, one need not be an avatar. One might be part of a larger spiritual family the head of which is an avatar, however. Swami Kriyananda writes that upon the death of one of Yogananda's most advanced disciples (Sister Gyanamata), Yogananda pronounced that she was free. Then, answering a silent question that arose in Kriyananda's mind ("Well, then, where are her six disciples?"), Yogananda added, "She had disciples." Clearly Yogananda was the sat guru, you see?

Terms such as salvation, freedom, liberation, or enlightenment have various meanings according to intention and context. Ultimate freedom will always be the state of nirbikalpa samadhi from there is no loss of beatitude, regardless of whether incarnate or in the Bliss sphere. But such usage can also mean "final" freedom, even from past karma. It just depends. Certainly many who are considered saints are not liberated in the sense of nirbikalpa samadhi: they may be wise, compassionate, devotional, or self-sacrificing. The state of samadhi may be withheld from them as they perform their God-given, karma-guided earth duties. Only later, perhaps on the astral plane, do they receive their reward, or, late in life, or, upon death.

It's very likely that among church-ordained "saints" few have achieved (in that incarnation) nirbikalpa samadhi. Thus it is that the "gifts of the Holy Spirit" can manifest long before final liberation. No doubt that's why the church abstains from its blessing until the saint is safely dead and buried! Yogananda said very few of the saints he wrote about (other than his own line of gurus) in "Autobiography of a Yogi" were free.

When, in daily life, we act with the consciousness that we are part of all, we partake of the attitude of samadhi. Yogananda recommended that we read and memorize his poem, Samadhi. (You may email me for a free copy taken from the original edition of his autobiography as published by Crystal Clarity Publishers.) I recite it everyday and have found its subtle influence growing steadily together with his presence.

He said he wrote it on the New York subway, riding up and down the line, unnoticed by anyone! His poem, Samadhi, is the latest in the line of mystical literature given to us by the great ones down through the ages. Attempting to describe the undescribable, it uses our English language and images we can relate to in this day and age. It is vibrant with spiritual power.

Think Samadhi; feel Samadh; radiate Samadhi to all.

Thank you for participating in this 8-fold blog series. I don't write for sound bites but only from inspiration, but I would be happy to receive any suggestions.

Blessings to all,

Nayaswami Hriman

8-Fold Path - Step 6 - SUPER ETHER!

The 6th Stage of the 8-Fold Path of Patanjali is called "dharana." I don't recall the literal translation of this Sanskrit word but it refers to that stage of meditation in which one or more of the eight aspects of superconscious are experienced. From the standpoint of our theme of the elements, Yogananda calls this stage SUPER ETHER. We saw in the prior blog post that the 5th stage was ETHER (space). We described that space as the calmness which precedes action. Well, SUPER ETHER is a reference to the even finer medium which is thought or consciousness itself. This, then, is consciousness before it enters a spatial awareness.

Imagine day dreaming. You are staring out the window completely lost to thought. Perhaps you don't even hear someone calling your name. Your eyes are open but you are not seeing any objects. Your mind is elsewhere. With the fifth stage (ETHER) representing the ability to shut off the five senses, it is natural that the next stage takes place on the astral plane and its perceptions are those of subtle realities.

In meditation, "dharana" means that meditator experiences peace, wisdom, energy, love, calmness, inner sound or light, and bliss as the observer. "I am feeling peaceful," for example. The meditator may hear the inner sounds of the chakras or the symphony of all of them -- the sound of AUM. He may see astral light in the forehead (behind closed eyes), or, the spiritual eye itself (3 concentric rings of gold, blue, and white).

But throughout the experience the observer ("I") is separate and aware of his separateness from the states being observed and felt. This is, in another sense, the "thinking, separate mind." Technically one doesn't have to be "thinking" a long line of thoughts in this state, but one is consciously self-aware even as one feels uplifted into a state of deep peace, love, or is receiving a flow of intuitive insights (as wisdom), and so on.

This state has its center at the base of brain and is considered to be the negative pole of the 6th chakra. It is aligned with the part of the brain called the medulla oblongata. Here also is called the "Mouth of God." As the physical mouth is the entry point to the physical body for the sustaining value of food and water, the medulla oblongata (in the astral body) is the entry point for Life Force (known as as cosmic consciousness, and also as prana). Just as a corpse cannot be revived by food and water but must first be "alive," so too that "aliveness" is caused by a flow of Life Force from the astral body which in turns receives that intelligent (causal) energy (astral) through the opening of this chakra.

When we leave the physical body at death, we leave through this doorway after rising through the tunnel of the deep spine, known as the sushummna. The light at the end of this tunnel is often reported by those who have had near-death experiences but who return to life. The light seen is the light of the astral world to which we go (in our astral and causal bodies) after "death."

The negative pole of the 6th chakra is also the seat of our I-ness, our sense of separateness, and of ego. Here ego is neutral, neither "good" nor "bad," just separate. We need ego to function in the body. When ego becomes prideful, energy is blocked at this center and the result may include a tightening of the muscles around the medulla which pulls the head back and gives the decided appearance of a person "looking down his nose!"

When we speak of the next two centers we will see that this one, the seat of ego, is the last great spiritual test of the soul in its upward journey towards Cosmic Consciousness and Oneness with God. As great as are the delusions of sense objects and of maya, the greatest test is the "pride which goeth before the fall." It is our sense of ego.

So here we see posed our human dilemma: we can see the promised land (peace, wisdom, love etc.) but the "I" cannot enter it, because I am still the observer and Peace still, yet, but an object (pleasant enough, to be sure). This basic existential relationship will only elongate and be exaggerated as we go down the spine and out through the senses into the material world. Once our soul does this it gets caught up for untold lifetimes pursuing will-o-the-wisp dreams of complete fulfillment: in possessions, positions, human love, pleasure, wealth and power.

Oddly enough those pursuits are somewhat easy to pierce the veil of delusion, but, alas, only mentally. For when one disappoints us, we simply move on in search of yet another. So, instead, here at the literal threshold of Oneness we see this promised land but, like Moses, we cannot enter it -- yet.

For the meditator on the upward path to Self-realization, however, this is a decided improvement and reward for the efforts made to date. I have said previously that these stages aren't to be taken literally or only sequentially. It's just easier to explain them intellectually in that way. For many of us have very profound experiences of superconsciousness (peace, wisdom, power, love, calmness, sound, light, and bliss), but they are fleeting and inconsistent, and, indeed, sometimes a "one-time shot." Often a person has such an experience and its purpose, spiritually speaking, is to ignite one's resolution and inspiration to embark consciously upon the inner path. After that, when the honeymoon is over, we have to do the hard daily work of spiritual disciplines and introspection.

We can bring this stage into daily life by affirming peace (etc.) in our actions, our thoughts, and our hearts as we go about the busy-ness of living. This is mere affirmation unless supported by actual inner experience in meditation, however. As we view life and others, so we become ourselves. Hence a focus and affirmation of higher values helps us, in time, to unfold and become those states of consciousness. Hence the positive and necessary value of the stage of dharana and the element of SUPER ETHER.

Blessings,

Nayaswami Hriman