The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c40.s12.53

v2.c40.s12.53

The Maitrāyaṇīya repeatedly develops the theme; the state to be aimed at is reaching the fourth stage,⁴ by the suppression of the living self. By pressing the tip of the tongue against the palate,⁵ by suppressing voice, mind, and breath, one sees the Brahman, the self, and becomes selfless. Another device, forming the beginning of an advance by sound to the absolute without sound, consists in closing the ears with the thumbs,⁶ when the sound of the ether within the heart becomes audible. By the suppression of breath the light of the ether within the heart is made manifest.⁷ Or again by using the sound Om as an arrow, with mind as its point, the Yogin pierces the darkness and sees him who sparkles like a wheel of fire, the colour of the sun, the Brahman that shines beyond the darkness, in the sun, the moon, the fire, and the lightning.¹ The oneness of the breath and mind and also of the senses and the relinquishment of all conditions of existence is declared to be Yoga. A formal list of six elements of Yoga appears in the Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad.² These are Prāṇāyāma, ‘regulation of the breathing out and in’, Pratyāhāra, ‘suppression’ of the organs of sense such as the mind, so as to prevent its activity spoiling concentration, Dhyāna, ‘meditation’, Dhāraṇā, ‘concentration of the attention’, Tarka, ‘reflection’, a term of doubtful sense in this context,³ and Samādhi, ‘absorption’ or complete union with the object of meditation. This list differs, in the insertion of Tarka, and in the placing of Dhyāna before Dhāraṇā, from the later list, which makes up the number of eight members by inserting as the first three items Yama, ‘discipline’, refraining from doing injury, truthfulness, &c., Niyama, ‘self-restraint’ such as purity, contentment, &c., and Āsana, ‘postures in sitting’. Of all these the most important is the use of Om as a symbol of Brahman to meditate upon. It is recognized by the Kaṭha,⁴ but its importance belongs to the later Upaniṣads, which delight in mystery regarding it; it has three syllables or morae, or three and a half, or three morae and three echoes, three morae and four half morae, and so on; the point of the Anusvāra is given a hidden sense and the echo is also famed. It is refreshing to find that silence is called the highest point of all.⁵ The view then is that man can only enter on the meditation with Om: he must at the end attain the nothingness in that which is not a word, like the sap of the flowers in the liquid honey.⁶ In the condition of Samādhi the consciousness of a separate subject and object entirely disappears, and the state of selflessness is reached. This union is attained by the ascent of the soul, from the heart through the Suṣumṇā vein and the Brahmarandhra, to union with the absolute.⁷ Naturally this conception is developed with the aid of the metaphor by which the heart is called a lotus, and by the use of the veins, 72,000 in number, into wild fantasies. Yet, though most of this absurdity is found in the later Upaniṣads, it should be recognized that the needs of Āsana are hinted at in the Çvetāçvatara,⁸ and the virtues of Pratyāhāra are recognized by the Chāndogya.⁹