Let us continue our discussion on mediation and the benefits it affords a practitioner. Through meditation, a person’s emotional and mental bodies gradually transition from chaos to order, expanding and learning to respond to higher vibrations. Each meditation session helps to remove the barrier separating the individual from the higher worlds, allowing for direct knowledge. As people become more proficient in meditation, their thought forms become more defined, enabling them to receive fuller life energy from higher realms.
Meditation also aids in incorporating higher forms of matter into people’s bodies. It often leads to experiencing elevated emotions originating from the Unity level (46) and reflected in the emotional envelope. Moreover, it is essential to develop the mental and causal bodies to attain stability and balance. This ensures that profound emotions, which guide a person in the right direction, do not become distorted and lead them in undesirable directions. Achieving perfect balance and stability necessitates the guiding influence of the mind and will, in addition to the motivating force of emotion.
For those practicing meditation, understanding Patanjali’s five stages of mind can be beneficial. However, it’s important to note that these stages are not limited to the mental plane; they exist in suitable forms on every plane. The five stages presented in the table are:
(1) Kshipta: This refers to the butterfly mind that constantly shifts from one object to another. It represents activity on the physical plane.
(2) Mudha: This stage refers to confusion, where a person is swayed and bewildered by emotions. It corresponds to activity in the Emotional World.
(3) Vikshipta: This state is characterised by being preoccupied or infatuated with an idea. The person is possessed or obsessed by the idea. This corresponds to activity in the lower Mental World (47:4-7). The person should learn Viveka, which is related to the cognitive aspect of consciousness.
(4) Ekagrata: This refers to one-pointedness and the state of possessing an idea instead of being possessed by it. This corresponds to activity on the higher mental plane (47:1-3). The person should learn Vairagya, which is related to the activity aspect of consciousness.
(5) Niruddha: This refers to self-control, where a person rises above all ideas and can choose according to their illumined will. This corresponds to activity on the Unity (46) plane. The person should learn Shatsampatti, which is related to the will aspect of consciousness.
Once full control of the mind has been achieved, allowing the individual to suppress all mental activities, they are prepared for Samadhi, which corresponds to Contemplation. We will explore Samadhi more extensively when we discuss the highest form of meditation, contemplation. However, it is beneficial to provide a preliminary understanding of Samadhi here for completeness.
The term “Samadhi” etymologically means “fully placing together” and can be translated into English as “composing the mind,” which refers to collecting all thoughts together and eliminating distractions. According to Vyasa, “Yoga is the composed mind.” This is the original meaning of Samadhi, although it is frequently used to describe the trance state that naturally arises from perfect composure.
Samadhi comes in two forms: (1) Samprajnata Samadhi, where consciousness is directed outwards towards objects, and (2) Asamprajnata Samadhi, where consciousness is turned inwards and withdrawn into itself, leading to the next level of experience.
It is worth briefly explaining the Four States of Mind mentioned in Yoga and is arranged in tabular form for compactness and clarity.
(1) Jagrat: waking consciousness
(2) Svapna: dream consciousness; consciousness working in the emotional envelope and capable of influencing its experiences on the brain.
(3) Sushupti: deep-sleep consciousness, operating in the mental envelope, and unable to influence its experiences on the physical brain.
(4) Turiya: trance consciousness, so detached from the brain that it cannot be easily recalled externally.
It is important to note, however, that these four states of consciousness exist on every plane. Similarly, when mental self-consciousness is developed, and the brain responds to it, waking consciousness includes the mental subplanes. The expanding of waking consciousness involves the development of the brain’s atoms, certain organs, and connections between cells.
For the inclusion of emotional self-consciousness, the pituitary envelope must be developed, and the fourth set of spirillae in the atoms must be perfected.
For the inclusion of mental self-consciousness, the pineal gland must be active, and the fifth set of spirillae must be in thorough working order. This fifth set only activates at the (i3). If these physical developments are not achieved, then the emotional and mental consciousness remain super-conscious and are not expressed through the brain.
If a person possesses no physical envelope, then their jagrat or waking consciousness is their emotional consciousness. Thus, a wider definition of jagrat would be that it is that part of the total consciousness which is working through its outermost vehicle.
We may also reconsider Samadhi from the point of view of the current analysis. Samadhi is a state of consciousness in which the physical envelope is insensible, but the mind is fully self-conscious, and from which the mind returns to the physical brain with the memory of its super-physical experiences.
If a person throws themselves into a trance and is active on the emotional plane, then their Samadhi is on that plane. If they function on the mental plane, then their Samadhi is on that plane. The person who can practice Samadhi can thus withdraw from the physical envelope, leaving it insensitive, while their mind is fully conscious.
Samadhi is, therefore, a relative term. Thus, a Master, a 45-Self, begins His Samadhi on the plane of atma, the Lower Spiritual (45:4-7) and rises from there to the higher planes of the 3rd triad, 45:1:3, 44 and 43:4-7.
The term Samadhi is sometimes used to refer to the state just beyond the level where a person can maintain consciousness. For example, for someone whose awareness is limited to the physical plane, the emotional plane would be considered Samadhi. In this context, when the person returns to their lower faculties, they would not bring back any definite additional knowledge or new abilities. This type of Samadhi is not encouraged in the highest schools of occultism.
Entering into Samadhi is similar to going to sleep, but while one is a natural process with no significance, the other is a result of the trained will and is considered a valuable ability. Physical methods of inducing trance, such as hypnotism, drugs, or focusing on a particular point, belong to the practices of Hatha Yoga and are not utilised in Raja Yoga.
To a clairvoyant, the distinction between a mesmerised subject and the self-induced trance of a Yogi is immediately apparent. In a mesmerised or hypnotised person, all the “principles” are present, with the higher manas or mind paralysed, Unity consciousness (46) separated from it, and the emotional envelope entirely subjected to lower manas (47:4-7) and kama (48:1-7).
In a Yogi, however, the “principles” of the lower quaternary disappear entirely, with only hardly perceptible vibrations of the golden-hued prana and a violet flame streaked with gold rushing upwards from the head and culminating in a point.
A mesmerised or hypnotised person does not remember their experiences, while a Yogi remembers everything that has happened to them.
To better understand the methods used in meditation, let’s consider a few practical examples.
First, we should cultivate the habit of seeing the physical envelope as a tool of the monad. We need to contemplate how we can control and direct our physical envelope and then mentally separate ourselves from it.
Next, we need to recognise that we can control our emotions and desires and then mentally distance ourselves from the emotional envelope, along with its desires and emotions. We should then imagine ourselves in the mental envelope, acknowledging that we can control and direct our thoughts and then distance ourselves from our minds. Finally, we let ourselves ascend into the spiritual realm, aka the causal envelope (47:1-3), where eternal peace resides and intensively strive to realise that this is our true self.
When we bring our consciousness back down, we should try to carry the peace of the spirit into our different bodies.
Another exercise involves focusing on character-building and picking a virtue like harmlessness. Concentrating on this virtue, we contemplate its various aspects – how it manifests in actions, speech, thoughts, and desires. We also consider how it would be expressed in the life of an ideal person, how it would impact daily life, and how it would influence interactions with others once fully embraced.
After contemplating harmlessness, the student would carry a state of mind that would soon be evident in all their actions and thoughts. Other qualities could be approached in a similar manner. With a few months of dedicated effort in this direction, remarkable changes in a person’s life could be achieved, as described in the memorable words of Plotinus written 1,900 years ago: “Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful as yet, do as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful; he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes the line lighter, this other purer until he has shown a beautiful face upon the statue. So do you also; cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is shadowed, labour to make all glow with beauty, and do not cease chiselling your statue until there shall shine out on you the godlike splendour of virtue until you shall see the final goodness surely established in the stainless shrine”. Powerful words.
Carrying on our discussion on meditation, the prolonged contemplation of a virtue can lead a person to gradually develop that virtue, as eloquently expressed in the Hindu Scriptures: “What a man thinks on, that he becomes; therefore think on the Eternal.” Another passage states: “Man is the creation of thought.”
An exemplary illustration of the power of meditation is demonstrated by a man who dedicated forty years to daily meditation on truth. As a result, he became so attuned to truth that he could always detect when someone was lying based on the sensation he felt within himself. Coincidentally, this man was a judge, and his developed faculty undoubtedly served him well in this role.
In this practice, an individual engages their imagination – a powerful tool in Yoga. If a person imagines possessing a certain quality, they are halfway to acquiring that quality; similarly, envisioning oneself free from a particular flaw is halfway to overcoming it. The trained imagination wields such potency that it can help a person rid themselves of half their troubles and faults.
It’s not advisable to dwell on faults, as doing so can foster negativity and despondency, creating a barrier to spiritual influences. Instead, it’s more beneficial to minimise attention on negative traits and focus on nurturing their positive counterparts. Progress in spiritual development comes not from grappling fiercely with one’s lower nature but rather from evolving towards a deeper understanding and appreciation of higher ideals. Once we have experienced the joy and bliss of a higher life, the allure of lower desires diminishes in comparison. A great Teacher once remarked that the best way to repent for wrongdoing is to look ahead with optimism and resolute determination to avoid repeating the transgression.
Suppose the purpose of the meditation is to intellectually understand an object and its relation to other objects. It is important for the student to remember that the first task of the observer is to observe accurately. The accuracy of the observation determines the quality of thought. Inaccurate observations can lead to subsequent errors that can only be corrected by going back to the beginning.
After carefully observing the object, the student should contemplate it from different perspectives to grasp its natural, super-physical, and metaphysical aspects. The goal is to clearly define the consciousness level, which is still unclear. The best way to understand this is to look at an example, which we will do in the next presentation.