Thoughts for a Christmas Eve!

The Holy Family – Thoughts for a Christmas Eve

The image of Joseph, Mary and the child Jesus in that stable long ago, in the company of lowly shepherds and hushed barnyard animals on a cold, frosty December night evokes such tenderness in hearts, young and old, around the world. It is a scene mixed with poignancy, sacredness, and a timelessness that comforts and uplifts.

The images of Jesus’ birth bring together the mundane with the sublime, the natural with the supernatural, the individual with the archetypal, and the personal with the historic. I wonder too if the image and underlying meaning of the “holy family” speaks to us of our essential and elemental human nature: the father (masculine), the mother (the feminine), the spiritual (and therefore pure, i.e., the child), the past (the parents), the present (the scene), and the future (the child), all meet in a singularly cosmic, and yet personally immediate, tableau, frozen in both time and timelessness.

It is difficult to imagine Joseph and Mary as individuals, for their lives have long since vanished into legend, myth, and into the dim past. The so-called facts of the story as given to us in the Bible go far beyond our human experience: the husband engaged but not the father, the wife pregnant by alleged divine intervention, her travelling on a donkey in her “ninth month,” and all because of a taxation census decree called by some “dude” in Rome, far away, “no room at the inn,”  and giving birth in a barn ….. whoa! Sounds like a Disney movie, and throw in that moving star and three very wise fellows on camels in cool costumes from “the east!”

We yogis who believe in so-called miraculous powers, demonstrated even in modern times by masters of yoga (Paramhansa Yogananda is said to have raised a person from death at least twice according to eye witnesses), might take all of this “lying down,” and so, too, believing Christians who simply check the box that says, “Miracle” (no explanation needed).

But even we must, or at least should consider the effort to, distill some personal significance from such an inspired and powerful story. How can we understand this scene in the present tense, in the reality of our own lives? Can we discern some timeless, universal, and metaphysical meaning, as well?

The metaphysical significance of this scene is not difficult to unveil, for the stable setting says to us that the infant child of spiritual consciousness is given birth in humility. The child is a “king” because the soul, being a child of the Infinite, is the royal child of God. The birth taking place at night and at the winter solstice signifies the death of the ego as a pre-condition for the soul’s re-birth into human consciousness. The darkness also symbolizes inner silence, or meditation, as the cradle from which God’s grace is given birth.

The soul is considered a child because our spiritual awakening is, at first, helpless or dependent on parents and surrounded by animals. Parents refer to teachers (perhaps a priest, or minister or other giver of truth teachings) and teachings (such as given in scriptures that are studied). The presence of animals refers to the fact that at the birth of our soul’s awakening we are still very much enmeshed in body and sense consciousness (our lower nature, in other words).

The wicked King Herod, who plots the death of the infant, is our enemy ego supported by his soldiers from our sub-conscious. He kills all of the infants in the surrounding villages because any form that soul consciousness takes (peace, kindness, wisdom, pure love, etc.) must be killed. All higher qualities represent a threat to the ego’s hegemony.

As an aside, in just this same way, and in the great Indian epic story called the Mahabharata, the evil forces would not give on inch of territory to the rightful heirs and thus the famous and historic war of Kurukshetra ensued and became the allegorical basis for the great scripture of India, the Bhagavad Gita. In addition, at the birth of Lord Krishna (centuries before Jesus), another wicked king sought to kill the child for the exact same reasons: a prophecy that this child would usurp his kingdom!

The star, described as “his” star, symbolizes the child’s high spiritual stature, as does the visit from “three wise men from the East” (think India!). In ancient times the heavens gave signs and wonders of such historic and miraculous events. Metaphysically the star represents intuition, or the “third eye” (“spiritual eye”) seen in meditation in the forehead. This inner light becomes the devotee's guide and it was this intuitive guide, not some astronomical anomaly that the visitors from the east followed. As another point of interest, Paramhansa Yogananda told audiences in America that the three wise men were his own preceptors from India (in former lifetimes): viz., Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar. (It must have taken some courage to say such a thing publicly in America during the Thirties!)

The angels singing “on high” in the hills is another symbol for the high spiritual stature of the child Jesus, for he indeed is considered an avatar: a soul who has achieved Self-realization (oneness with God) and has returned to physical birth as a savior for many souls.

Now let’s take a more personal turn, away from the archetypal, and inward to our own lives. The sanctity of Joseph and Mary as “the parents” reminds us that our spiritual awakening is preceded (seeded) by our efforts to live a moral and balanced life. Balancing male and female qualities in ourselves is one way of describing this process. From Joseph we learn self-control, justice, surrender to God’s will, servicefulness, and nobility; from Mary, purity, (also) surrender, modesty, endurance and faith in the goodness of God.

Joseph’s somewhat odd position as a kind of step father represents for us the realization that even the power to change on a human level has its source in God, in the higher power of our soul’s eternal wisdom and power. Specifically, this power comes to us through the agency of the Holy Ghost, or Holy Vibration: the primordial and underlying sustaining energy of the universe which is God immanent in creation. That the Holy Ghost inseminated Mary reminds us that the conception of the infant child of our soul’s reawakening has an essentially a divine source, for the child represents our higher self, or soul, and it is a reflection of God, a spark of the Infinite Spirit. It cannot therefore be conceived by merely ego tendencies, even the ego’s high aspirations.

Other aspects of our own spiritual journey include the message that we are “reborn” in the dark night of inner silence of prayer, meditation, and self-forgetfulness (desirelessness). The barnyard animals, hushed and attentive, represent our own animal nature, our lower nature, which must be stilled and quieted for this “inner soul child” to be born.

As the shepherds guide and protect their flocks, so, for us, does reason and intellect acts as shepherds, or guides, to our daily actions. But they, too, take their inspiration on the surrounding hilltops of self-reflection guided by the starlight of intuition. They receive intuitive counsel from the angels of our higher nature. We are instructed to come down from the hills of ego-consciousness and enter the cave (stable) of silence, of prayer and meditation. There we “worship” the soul’s inner light.

King Herod represents our subconscious habits, tendencies, and desires, vitalized through ego-affirmation and protectiveness. King Ego will stop at nothing to kill this young child for it instinctively knows that, though a child and seemingly helpless, it has the potential to de-throne the ego.

The holy family was told by an angel to flee into Egypt and to return only when called and it was safe. Thus it is that we are warned, as new devotees, to stay in close company with other, more seasoned devotees and to stay focused upon his newly adopted spiritual teachings, practices, and fellowship, before daring to venture out into the world of former friends and activities.

So, you see, the Holy Family and the night of Christ’s birth have lessons universal and timeless for each and every one of us. 

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