Attaining the state of yoga is something like a river stream merging with the ocean, when the river water loses its own identity and becomes one with the sea. Having thus, struck upon the core of existence, mind realises its wholesome power, when it has nothing more to explore. Similarly, during yoga, the unitary mind gets dropped, and so too the sense of individualistic existence, leaving no scope for any differentiation. So, one is at peace.
You may ask: If mind is devoid of any thought, what purpose would it serve? For, thoughts drive all actions on our part. Let me make it clear here that attaining samadhi is not the end game. It is a self-empowerment process, which brings into play full human potential, when one would know no limits. Also, mind regains its sense of orderliness, when all its functional constituents begin to spontaneously operate in coordinated manner. Mind then becomes free from any preconditioning, when full mind-space becomes available. The scope of vision thus expands to its optimum best. Intelligence gets sharpened. Armed as such, mind explores the targeted subject with an open mind, and so is able to perceive things in the right perspective, and accordingly make right moves. In fact, you then look at things from the highest centre of consciousness, whereupon nothing remains hidden from you. Intuitively, you may get to root of whatever is looked at.
The process does not end with samadhi. Patanjali must have realised the danger of those having attained samadhi developing the tendency to get mentally disinterested from the usual course of life and get stuck to an abstract imaginary world. But that is not the purpose of samadhi. We are not only supposed to just improve our own lot, but also lead others towards that end. And that will not be possible if the seeker gets mentally cut off from the living world. Accordingly, Patanjali suggested a backward integration process, which he has termed as the process of samanvaya. It involves backward integration of samadhi, dhyana, and dharana. Having established in the process, when due attention is given to an issue and reflected upon, one may intuitively get to the root of the subject in hand. Following which, one may be able to spontaneously pick up the right lead. This is what in Kashmir Saivism is termed as being in Sahaja Samadhi.
Having thus discussed the concept of Yoga, it is time now to get down to its application. There are hundred and odd methods of meditation in circulation, followed by various cultures all across. There is no fun in comparing and being judgmental about which one of them is superior to other. For, as already experienced by Swami Ram Krishna Paramhansa, you may follow different paths, but at the end of the day, the same sense of love overtakes you. A fresher would, however, be keen to know what particular mode of dhyana to follow. Experientially speaking, a three-course process is suggested — Calming down the Mind, Mind Detoxification and Contextual Meditation — that run in conformity with the above laid principles.
Calming the Mind: A fresher, before taking up the Dhyana process, needs to first create a favourable inner mental climate. The method calls for trying to relatively calm down the restive mind, flirting with unwieldly thought crowd playing within in immediate terms, mostly inconsequential and negative. Otherwise, the state of mind would not be conducive to pursue dhyana process in right earnest.
The method is simple, true to the callings of Pratyahara. You need to lie down on your back in a relaxed posture with no pillow support, preferably on a hard bed, in order that spinal-cord remains straight. Close your eyes. All your sensory instruments will naturally get disengaged from the outer world and thereby waking state consciousness. The subconscious mind immediately comes into full play, bringing into focus random thoughts picked up in immediate past that would be playing at the surface level. Persistent desires and feelings too may keep knocking your inner space. Evidently then, you will be flooded with thoughts, unnerving you from within. Allow the thoughts to naturally flow in and flow out. Continue the process for at least 20 minutes. Don’t pay any attention to the thoughts visiting you again and again. Just train your mind to remain disengaged from them as a silent witness. Remember, only when you pay attention that you get affected. The irony, however, is that it is not easy to remain unaffected.
The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Connect with him at
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