Indian Philosophy v2.c24.s38: XII Contemplation
Indian Philosophy v2.c24.s38
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XII Contemplation
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To the roving, restless mind of man that would probe the secrets of earth and analyse the mysteries of heaven, the Yoga says that the truth can be known by a persistent withdrawal of consciousness from outward acts as well as inward changes. Dhāraṇa is fixing the mind (citta) in a particular spot. It is steadfastness of mind. In normal life ideas come and go, but do not stay long. Concentration is normally sustained at its fullest for a very short time only. Dhyāna is the resulting state of an even current of thought undisturbed by others. It is meditation. Dhyāna culminates in samādhi, where the sense of identity is lost; body and mind become dead to all external impressions, and only the object of meditation, whatever it be, remains shining out. When these three are directed to a single object, we are said to have saṃyama.¹ When this saṃyama is directed to objects, external or internal, extraordinary powers, such as seeing through closed doors, disappearing from sight, reading other people's thoughts, result. The seeker for liberation runs the risk of missing his end if he succumbs to the temptation of these powers. One has to resist it, to move upward.²
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¹ iii. 4.
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² iii. 5 1.
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SAMĀDHI OR CONCENTRATION
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Samādhi is the name of the condition to be passed through before reaching deliverance. Since the Yoga insists on attaining freedom through samādhi, it is defined as samādhi, Yogaḥ samādhiḥ.³ It is the ecstatic condition in which the connection with the outer world is broken. It is the goal of the Yoga discipline, since it lifts the soul from its temporal, conditioned, changing existence into a simple, eternal and perfect life.⁴ The puruṣa regains through it the eternal status. There are degrees of concentration or samādhi; saṃprajñāta or conscious, and asaṃprajñāta or superconscious. In the former the mind remains conscious of the object. That state where the citta is single in intent and fully illumines a distinct and real object, removes the afflictions and slackens the bonds of karma, and has for its goal the restraint of all modifications, is called saṃprajñātasamādhi.¹ In it there is a union between the knower and the known, in which the knower may be said to know the object simply because he is it. The thought and the object of thought are the same. This state is accompanied by deliberation (vitarka), reflection (vicāra), joy (ānanda), and sense of personality (asmitā).² These are forms of concentration which have definite objects on which they rest. Different names are assigned to the various shades which the forms of saṃprajñātasamādhi assume, such as savitarka, savicāra, sānanda and sāsmita. We have conscious ecstasy (saṃprajñātasamādhi) as long as we argue about what is good or bad, what is present or absent, as long as we feel a sense of joy and have a sense of individuality. When the feeling of joy passes away and is lost in a higher equanimity, there occurs the state called dharmamegha, in which the isolation of the soul and its complete distinction from matter are realised and karma operates no more. According to the Vedānta, it is the state in which ideas flow in the clearest manner.
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³ Y.B., i. 1.
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⁴ "A kind of waking trance I have often had, quite from boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has generally come upon me through repeating my own name two or three times to myself silently, till all at once, out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individual itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest and the surest of the surest, the weirdest of weirdest, utterly beyond words, where death was an almost laughable impossibility, the loss of personality (if so it were) seeming not extinction, but the only true life" (*Life of Tennyson*, vol. i, p. 320). See his *The Ancient Sage*.
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¹ Y.B., i. 1.
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² Since we do not have concentration on a real clear object (sadbhūtam artham) in sleep, sleep is not a state of concentration. See Vācaspati, i. 1.
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He who has gained internal calm has an intuitive insight into the truth of things. As Vyāsa remarks: "The sattva of buddhi, the essence of which is light (prakāśa), when freed from obscuration by impurity, has a pellucid steady flow which is not dominated by rajas and tamas. When in the super-reflective (nirvicāra) samādhi, this clearness (vaiśāradya) arises, the yogin gains inner calm (adhyātmaprasāda), and the vision by the flash (sphuṭa) of insight, which does not pass successively through the serial order (of the usual discursive knowledge of experience), and which has as its intended object the thing as it really is."³ This insight is filled with truth, is truth-bearing.⁴ There is not a trace of misconception. Patañjali distinguishes this insight from the knowledge derived through inference and scriptural testimony by holding that its object is a concrete reality and not merely a general notion.⁵ In so far as it has a specific entity (viśeṣārtha) for its object, it has closer relation to perception;
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³ Y.B., i. 47. See also ii. 45; iii. 54.
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⁴ Ṛtambharā tatra prajñā (i. 48).
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⁵ i. 49.
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only the intuited objects are too subtle for gross perception.¹ It is higher perception (param pratyakṣam).² So the individual object, whether it belongs to the subtle elements or to the self, is apprehended only by this concentrated insight. It is seeing with the soul when our bodily eyes are shut. When once this intuition arises, its impression rules out all other impressions, so that their ideas no more recur.³ When we gain the highest kind of intuitive knowledge, which simultaneously embraces the past, present and future, with all their states in one whole, it leads us to final perfection.⁴
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¹ Y.B., i. 49.
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² Y.B., i. 42.
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³ i. 50.
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⁴ iii. 54.
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Samādhi is not a simple experience uniform as long as it lasts. On the contrary, it is a succession of mental states which grow more and more simple until they end in unconsciousness. Asaṃprajñāta samādhi is concentration where there is no object, though the latent impressions may remain.⁵ In saṃprajñāta samādhi there is a clear consciousness of the object reflected upon as distinct from the subject, whereas this distinction disappears in the asaṃprajñāta.⁶
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⁵ i. 18.
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⁶ "The soul is no longer conscious of the body or of the mind, but knows that she has what she desired, that she is where no deception can come, and that she would not exchange her bliss for all the heaven of heavens" (Plotinus: *Enneads*, vi. 7. 34). Schelling, in his *Philosophical Letters upon Dogmatism and Criticism*, says: "In all of us there dwells a secret marvellous power of freeing ourselves from the changes of time, of withdrawing to our secret selves away from external things, and of so discovering to ourselves the eternal in us in the form of unchangeability. This presentation of ourselves to ourselves is the most truly personal experience upon which depends everything that we know of the supersensual world. This presentation shows us for the first time what real existence is, whilst all else only appears to be. It differs from every presentation of the sense in its perfect freedom, whilst all other presentations are bound, being overweighted by the burden of the object. This intellectual presentation occurs when we cease to be our own object, when, withdrawing into ourselves, the perceiving image merges in the self-perceived. At that time we annihilate time and duration of time; we are no longer in time, but time, or rather eternity itself, is in us. The external world is no longer an object for us, but is lost in us." Evidently it is not correct to hold that only the Oriental mind feels at home in this type of "emotional" thinking which culminates in a supersensuous object of æsthetic contemplation.
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A distinction is made between the state of samādhi possessing the seed of future life (sabījasamādhi) and that in which it is absent (nirbījasamādhi). Bīja, or seed, according to Vācaspati, is "the latent deposit (āśaya) of karma which corresponds to the hindrances of birth, length of life and kinds of enjoyment."' That which has this basis is sabīja, and that which is exempt from it is nirbīja. Like all products of prakṛti, citta has the three sides of sattva, rajas and tamas. According to Vyāsa, "its aspect of sattva, which is illumination, when commingled with rajas and tamas, loves power and objects of sense; the same, when dominated by tamas, tends towards vice, ignorance, absence of detachment and failure to realise its lordliness; the same, when the covering of error is removed, illumines all round, and since it is pervaded only slightly by rajas, tends towards merit, knowledge, detachment and lordliness. The same sattva, when the last vestige of rajas is removed, becomes grounded in itself (svarūpapratiṣṭham), and being nothing but the discernment of the difference between the sattva and the self (sattvapuruṣānyatākhyātimātram), tends towards the contemplation of the cloud of virtue (dharmameghadhyānopagam bhavati). It is called dharmamegha, or the cloud of dharma, since it is full of dharma, or truth, and rains blessings on the lower planes, while the man himself is basking in the light of the eternal sun of truth, raised above all afflictions and karmas. The contemplators (dhyāyinaḥ) call this the highest intellection (pasaṃkhyānam). But the energy of intelligence (citiśakti) is immutable and does not unite with objects; it has objects shown to it, and is undefiled and unending, while the knowledge of discrimination (vivekakhyāti), whose essence is sattva, is the opposite." Though this is the highest kind of knowledge possible, even that has to be suppressed.² "So the citta being disgusted with this also restrains this insight. In this state it has residual potencies (saṃskāra). . . . The sabīja samādhi, which gives great powers of understanding, is to be used as a stepping-stone to nirbīja samādhi. Since there is no consciousness of any objects in the state, it is also called asaṃprajñātaḥ." Though some residual potencies remain, their roots are cut off. Bhoja is, however, of opinion that in perfect asaṃprajñāta samādhi all residual impressions are destroyed.³ Vyāsa and Vācaspati hold that residual impressions remain in that state.⁴ They require, however, to be removed for ultimate salvation, for the Yoga Sūtra says, when even the subliminal impression of insight is suppressed, since all is suppressed, the Yogin gains nirbīja samādhi or seedless concentration.¹
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¹ Tattvavaiśāradī, i. 2.
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² Vyāsa quotes from Pañcaśikha (i. 4) to the effect: "Knowledge is but one, discrimination alone is knowledge." "Ekam eva darśanam khyātir eva darśanam."
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³ Bhojavṛtti, i. 18.
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⁴ Rājendra Lāl Mitra writes: "This contradiction may be explained by supposing that the Pātañjala Bhāṣya has in view a meditation from which there is awaking, while Bhoja describes the final meditation from which there is no further waking; for he admits that in the earlier stages of the unconscious meditation there are residua peculiar to it. Yogis admit that people do wake from unconscious meditation, and that that meditation is often practised, and in such cases the saṃskāras must remain in latent state, to be revived by proper stimuli on waking. It is difficult satisfactorily to describe to what condition Patañjali himself referred. The way in which he has used the word śeṣa would suggest the idea that he has been correctly interpreted in the Pātañjala Bhāṣya" (Y.S., p. 23).
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¹ i. 51. Tasyāpi nirodhe sarvanirodhaṁ nirbījaḥ samādhiḥ.
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Until we reach the stage of samādhi our effort is the negative one of discriminating puruṣa from prakṛti. When the distinction is realised, the positive nature of spirit manifests itself. This manifestation of the nature of spirit on its own plane, above all confusion with prakṛti, is the highest form of samādhi. In this superconscious samādhi the seer abides in himself.² All possibility of confusion between the self and the activity of citta ceases.³ The Yoga believes that the citta of man is like a millstone. If we put wheat under it, it grinds it into flour; if we put nothing under it, it grinds on until it grinds itself away. When we strip the citta of its fluctuations, its workings cease, and it is reduced to a condition of absolute passivity. We then enter into a silence which is untouched by the ceaseless noises of the outer world. The citta has become desolate, but the self is quite at home. It is the mystical state which occurs as a sequel to intense concentration. We cannot give an adequate description of it. For, as Vyāsa says, "through yoga must yoga be known, and yoga becomes manifest through yoga, and who is earnest about yoga rests in it for evermore."⁴ Samādhi is a condition which few can attain and almost none can possess long, since it is broken in upon by the calls of life. So it is said that final liberation is not possible until the body is cast off.
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² i. 3.
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³ i. 3-4.
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⁴ Yogena yogo jñātavyo yogo yogāt pravartate Yo pramattas tu yogena sa yoge ramate ciram. (Y.B., iii. 6.)
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That ecstatic states occur cannot be doubted. Plato regards "this divine madness" as "the source of the chiefest blessings granted to man." The highest intuitions are revealed in such moments. Moses at Mount Horeb heard the "I am" of the Eternal Spirit. Isaiah perceived the mystery of the reality in the words "Holy, Holy, Holy." St. Peter knew, from the vision of the street, that God was the God of all peoples and nations. St. Paul is reported to have fallen into a trance at his conversion. The mediæval mystics speak of visions and voices as quite common. Wordsworth and Tennyson among modern poets refer to ecstatic conditions. These visions and voices are generally represented as the visitations of God, intended to help the struggling saint and strengthen him in his hour of need; so that, to the believers in God, ecstasy is another name for deification.¹ The Yoga, however, does not accept this view. Every soul is potentially divine, and its divinity is manifested when nature, external and internal, is controlled.² The visions and the voices are, in Yoga, regarded as the revelations of the creative spirit in man. Whether they are authentic or not is to be judged by the light of reason.
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¹ "A condition of automatic activity, referred to Christ or God as the cause, is spoken of by some of the great Christian mystics as deification" (J. H. Leuba : Journal of Philosophy, xxi. p. 702).
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² See the illuminating preface in Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.
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FREEDOM
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Freedom in the Yoga is kaivalya, or absolute independence. It is not a mere negation, but is the eternal life of the puruṣa, when it is freed from the fetters of prakṛti. It is defined as the relapse of the qualities (guṇāḥ) in view of the absence of any purpose of the self or the energy of intelligence grounded in itself.³ The puruṣa is in his true form (svarūpa). As in the case of other Hindu systems of thought, so also in the Yoga, the cause of all desire is ignorance of the true nature of things. The effect of this ignorance is the body, its support is citta, and its object is worldly enjoyment. So long as avidyā remains, the individual does not shake off his burden. Avidyā can be removed by discriminative knowledge (vivekakhyāti).⁴ When the individual acquires knowledge, all false notions disappear. The self is purified and remains untouched by the conditions of citta. The guṇas retire to rest and the self abides in its own essence.¹
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³ Puruṣārthaśūnyānāṁ guṇānāṁ pratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṁ svarūpapratiṣṭhā vā citiśakter iti (Y.S., iv. 33).
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⁴ It is said to have seven stages, as follows: (1) The thing to be escaped from has been known, and so need not be known again. (2) The reasons for the thing to be escaped from have dwindled away, and so need not dwindle away again. (3) The escape is directly perceived by the concentration of restriction (nirodhasamādhinā). (4) The means of escape in the form of discriminative discernment has been cultivated. While these four belong to the fourfold release from external phenomena (kāryavimukti),
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¹ iii. 24-33.
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The goal of jīva is detachment and independence. It is not compatible with the human relationships of family life, society, etc., and accordingly the Yoga is said to be an unethical system. Ethical considerations cannot have any place in a system that aims at the breaking of all bonds connecting the individual to the world.² The criticism is one which we have frequently met. The ethical pathway alone helps us to reach the goal of perfection, though the latter takes us to a region beyond good and evil. Salvation is the realisation of the true nature of the self which is obscured by so many impurities. We can get rid of them only by effort and discipline. The Yoga is much more emphatic than many other systems in holding that philosophy cannot save us. What we stand in need of is not subtleties of disquisition but control of will. We must subdue the inner turmoil of emotion and passion. The true philosopher is a physician of the soul, one who helps us to save ourselves from the bondage of desire.
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² "An ethical purpose and practice is not logically demanded by the goal of Yoga; for honesty, friendliness, etc., are irrelevant to one who seeks utter detachment and isolation. The coupling of a concern for moral values with a desire for the suppression of personality is one of the incongruities that betray the confusion of thought from which this system suffers" (Journal of Philosophy, xvi, No. 8, p. 200).
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The Yoga recognises that all men are not capable of the discipline it insists on. There are some who are called in modern psychology extraverts, and for them the Yoga of action (kriyāyoga), consisting of austerities (tapas), study (svādhyāya), and devotion to God (Īśvarapraṇidhāna), are prescribed.³ Tapas or austerity is that which burns up the impurities mixed up with the subconscious impressions resulting from afflictions and karma. The Yoga psychology assumes that, besides the conscious mind, there is an unconscious but
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³ ii. 1.
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the other three refer to the final release (cittavimukti), and they are: (1) the authority of buddhi is ended; (2) the guṇas come to rest; (3) the self that has severed its connection with the guṇas is enlightened by himself and nothing more, and is stainless and isolated. (Guṇasambandhātītaḥ svarūpamātrajyotir amalaḥ kevalī puruṣa iti.) (Y.B., ii. 27.)
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psychically active region, and tapas aims at the control of the contents of this unconscious region.¹
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¹ What happens above the threshold of consciousness is symbolic of the play of the forces underneath it. Adepts in Yoga explore, in cases of nervous disease and "possession," what is normally hidden in the unconscious being by letting it come to the surface through hypnotic trance or otherwise. Belief in such cures, which remind us of modern psycho-analysis, is wide in India.
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A Yogi who has attained the power of samādhi sets about destroying karma, which is of three kinds: (1) deeds done in the past whose consequences have begun to operate in the present life (prārabdha); (2) those done in the past whose consequences have to be expiated in some future life or the stored (saṃcita) karma; and (3) those produced in the present life which require to be expiated in the present life or in some future one (āgāmi). The last can be checked through devotion to God and social service. The ripe karmas are exhausted in this life, and about the unripe ones, which demand a future life, it is said, the Yogi can create all the bodies necessary to pay off the old debts. Each of the bodies has a citta or mind, of its own, called the nirmāṇa citta or the artificial mind. The artificial bodies with their cittas are distinguished from the ordinary ones, since they are perfectly methodical in all their acts. The consciousness of the Yogi controls these different automatisms. As soon as the automaton, which has a particular destiny, a particular portion of the stored-up karma to exhaust, fulfils its aim, the Yogi withdraws his control from it, and the "man" dies a sudden death. Unlike the natural mind, the experiences of the artificial mind leave no traces behind.²
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² iv. 4-5.
Cites (1)
- Yogasūtra — Patañjali (author of the Yogasūtra), Sanskrit