Chapter V
Swami
continues,
Take it step by step
“The lower step can be
seen from the higher step, not the higher step from the lower. So, one should
strive to go step by step, higher and higher — in other words, from the culture
of the Atma to the
culture of the will and thence to the culture of the moral conduct. Then, the
enjoyment of the bliss of the Atma becomes
quite easy and natural.
When the baby is unable
to walk, the mother encourages it to toddle a few steps at a time at home
before it is allowed to go on the road. Instead, if it is put on the high road
first, how can it learn? Besides, what of the dangers of the road?
So also, first the
internal factors have to be strengthened, and then external factors, like moral
conduct, become easy. Morals without the basis of internal uplift will not be
deep-seated. So the cultivation of the attitude of the Atma is primary.
The aim of spiritual
practice is to remove the motive, the wish, the attachment, the yearning for
the fruit. Understanding this clearly, the spiritual aspirant must not give way
to any dispiritedness, despondency, or feeling of failure or doubt. The
aspirant must be patient and bear things with fortitude.
Therefore, the aspirant
must develop within themself enthusiasm, faith, activity, and joy. Keeping the
great big result of effort constantly in view, the aspirant must boldly discard
all difficulties and temptations. Since the latter are but short-lived and
weak, with a little patience, they can be overcome with ease. If the aspirant
is not vigilant and patient, all already-achieved success will melt away in an
unguarded moment.
Spiritual aspirants, yogis, and renunciants (sanyasins) have to climb a ladder, the steps of which
are: argumentation, no argumentation, analysis, non-analysis, agreement, etc. (sa-vitharka, nir-vitharka, sa-vichara, nir- vichara, samatha, etc.)
Introspection
A realized yogi writes on the above
ladder, thus:
SAVITARKA SAMADHI
Concentration in which the options of
word, meaning and understanding are confused is called Savitarka Samadhi or the
Samadhi with argumentation.
If you concentrate and meditate on the
gross objects, on their nature and in relation to time and space, it is
Savitarka Samadhi (Samadhi with argumentation). It is Sthula Dhyana. You will
get control over the object. You will acquire full knowledge of the object.
The 'cow ' as a word, the 'cow' as an
object and the 'cow' as an idea, though different from one another, are cognised
as indistinct. You begin to analyse. The characteristics of the word are
different; the characteristics of the idea are different; and the
characteristics of the object are also different. Everything has a name which
has some meaning.
When the mind apprehends a word and
meditates on its meaning and form as well as on the understanding of both, and
thus lose itself in the thing completely, it is called Savitarka Samadhi.
NIRVITHARKA SAMADHI
Nir means “without”: nirvitarka samadhi
refers to the state in which the mental alternations of shabda, artha, and
jñana are suspended. The less-real components, shabda and jñana, fall away
completely, while the mind is absorbed in only artha, or form, and loses its
awareness of being the knower.
SAVICHARA AND NIRVICHARA SAMADHI
The state of samadhi concerned with
subtle objects extends up to Prakriti, the source of all manifestation.” In the
nirvitarka example (meditation on the guru), the yogini’s mind penetrated to
the subtle or tanmatric level of her object of meditation. But when the mind
becomes immersed in this subtle level of the object thus revealed, and then
begins to more fully explore that subtle object (as in the nada yoga example),
this is savichara samadhi.
In nirvichara samadhi sattva guna alone
is active. Tamas guna is suppressed, resulting in the inactivation of memory
and any cognition of subtle form; and rajas guna is also suppressed, which
stops the fluctuations in the mind’s cognitive process. For the first time true
one-pointed concentration, the sattvic state of ekagara chitta, becomes
possible. Even subtle thoughts do not occur.
SAMATHA
Samatha is a form of meditation practice
that builds tranquility and calmness of mind.
With samatha, one develops the
ability to calm the mind and rest in a state of increased ease. This gives one
the ability to practice mindfulness and see the experience without reacting so
strongly. When thoughts and other experiences arise, he can observe them with a
patient awareness and develop some insight. Samatha is a necessary practice to
develop a calm mind that can cultivate insight and wisdom.
Swami
writes,
Clean and feed the mind
Just as soap is
necessary to make this external body clean, repetition of the divine name,
meditation, and remembrance (smarana)
are needed to clean the interior mind. Just as food and drink are needed to
keep the body strong, contemplation of the Lord and meditation on the Atma are needed to strengthen the mind. Without this food and
drink, the mind will just totter this way and that. As long as the waves are
agitating the top, the bottom cannot be seen. When the waves of desire agitate
the waters of the mind, how can one see the base, the Atma? The tottering causes the waves and is caused by
want of food and drink.
So, clean the mind with
contemplation of the Lord. Feed it with meditation on the Atma. Only meditation and spiritual practice (sadhana) can clean the depths of the mind and give it
strength. Without purity and strength, the Atma recedes into
the distance and peace flees.
Introspection
Here, Swami instructs for a combination
of Dhyana and Bhakti.
Swami’s words is extremely relevant in
this context where He writes, “clean the mind with contemplation of the Lord.
Feed it with meditation on the Atma”.
For the single pointed meditation, for converging the mind on the object of meditation, Swami prescribes the dosage of Upasana and asks us to clean the mind with the contemplation of the Lord.
Rare indeed is a sadhaka who can
directly take off in his dhyana / meditation on the “abstract” Atman or
SELF in the very beginning itself. For “ cleaning the mind”, i.e., for stopping
the mind from wandering to “ unclean” ideas and thoughts, contemplation on Lord
through various modes of Japa, Sankirtana etc. is prescribed so that the mind
is intensely focused on the Lord with form and at this stage, slowly,
gradually, evolving to Dhyana or meditation on “ SELF” is possible.
Love.
