24. Hatha Yoga - An Art and a Science

Hatha yoga has been widely advertised as a perfectly scientific way to health, relaxation, and peace of mind. By many people it is considered as a system of mainly physical exercise. Hatha yoga certainly gives you a healthy body and a healthy mind, but its goal is different and much higher.

The physical postures and the breathing exercises of hatha yoga calm the nerves, and ease the tensions in our body and mind, and are vitally important; but we should not stop with them. We should go deeper, and obtain the precious pearl we have within ourselves - self-realization.

These apparently simple postures and regulation of the breathing help in a wonderful way in our meditation and concentration. They who regularly follow up the yoga asanas and pranayama with a period of concentration and meditation - and they alone - can understand this.

The Gheranda Samhita lists the following seven as the aims of hatha yoga:

(1) purification, through the six practices,

(2) firmness, through the practice of the yoga postures,

(3) steadiness, through the practice of mudra,

(4) courage and patience, through the practice of introversion of the mind and the senses,

(5) lightness, through the regulation of the life force,

(6) self-realization, through meditation, and

(7) freedom from bondage, through the direct experience of cosmic consciousness, or samadhi.

In the scriptures, there are declarations that the practitioner will conquer old age and death. This conquest is not to be confused with the physical immortality, nor is it a promise of perennial youth. It is the discovery of that which is untouched by old age and death.

Hatha yoga enables you to discover health - wholeness and holiness. It is a state of inner being in which there is no division at all, but only perfect balance and harmony. This wholeness or harmony concerns not only oneself, but one's relation with the all, with the totality of existence.

Health - also, peace, bliss, love, and god - is impossible to describe; the description is not 'health'. It has to be discovered and experienced. Even so, peace has to be discovered; love and bliss and god have to be discovered. Hatha yoga is a method and a technique for this discovery.

Hatha yoga manifests on two levels at the same time - the physical body and the subtle body. The physical body is material, the subtle body is the combination of the energy and intelligence that indwell the physical body, and animate it. The 'discovery' on the level of the physical body happens when the toxins that cover the cells of the body are eliminated. The 'discovery' on the subtle level reveals the mysterious and mighty intelligence that uses the life force to animate the body, and to perform the numerous functions on the physical level.

Even the simplest movement of the body, like lifting one foot up while standing, is not the work of the muscles alone. When this simple movement is performed with great inward attention, you immediately see the wondrous function of the intelligence that is inherent in every cell of your body, which springs into action to restore the balance. You cannot imitate this action with both your feet on the ground. Hence, it is clear that this intelligence is beyond the 'me' - the ego-sense - and that it responds only to real need, not to imaginary situations. The discovery of this intelligence and the direct realization of its incredible power and efficiency, is the conquest of old age and death, worry, and anxiety. That intelligence knows what to do, and how to do it.

Even the physical aspect of hatha yoga is so designed as to work on the internal vital organs, rather than the superficial muscles. The health of the body depends to a great extent on the health of the nervous system and of the endocrine system of ductless glands. This is done by ensuring that the life force or prana flows through these organs, without being blocked or rushed. If the pranic pressure is even and harmonious, then the body and the mind function well.

Prana is life. It is the power in the life-breath. It bears the same relation to the nerves and the body as the electrical current bears to the electric wire. You do not see the current; you cannot see the prana either - but you see the function of electricity in the lights, fans, radio, television; you see the function of the prana in the countless faculties and functions you enjoy in your life.

Prana flows through nadis which are like light-waves or sound-waves. If the prana flows freely, you are full of life, cheerful, happy, peaceful, optimistic, and zealous; you look forward to facing the challenge of life with hope and enthusiasm.

The yoga system of physical culture waters the roots of inner health, so that the yogi's powers of resistance and endurance are much higher than those of others. He enjoys an inner sense of well-being. This system enables you to prevent illness in youth, and in old age to rise above such illness.

As well as concentrating on the glands, hatha yoga also strengthen the nerves, by working on the brain and spinal column, from which the nerves branch off. Glands, brain, and spinal column, are therefore our primary concern, though we do pay some attention to several important internal viscera, especially those connected with digestion.

However, a serious student would insist that he has nothing whatsoever to do with glands, nerves, and the digestive system, and that he is not interested in strengthening them. His attention is focused on the nadis and the chakras - which the layman associates with the nerves and glands, and the solar plexus or gastric fire. His aim is to purify these nadis. In their pure state, they are strong, powerful, efficient, and radiant.

 47.1. The Inner Psychic World

What is self-knowledge? What veils it? How do I know that such a veil of impurity exists?

To answer these questions, one need not be a philosopher, metaphysician, or theologian. You know you exist, but you do not know what you are. You think - or you think that you think - but you do not know what thought is. You say, "I am," and you do not know what 'I' is.

This self-ignorance creates a limitation, a conditioning. In oneness it creates diversity. We live in a universe - the 'single' verse, the single manifestation of the cosmic being, in which self-ignorance creates endless divisions. We live in a cosmos - cosmos means order - in which there is perfect order; But, the self-ignorance creates disorder; it sees conflict where several forces and factors complement one another.

In order to appreciate all this, it is helpful to be acquainted with the vision of the perfected yogi of self-knowledge. Obviously, his knowledge is not your knowledge, it is not self-knowledge, it is not valid - but it enables you to know your ignorance. This is valuable.

The entire universe and beyond are filled with cosmic consciousness; all this is nothing but pure cosmic consciousness. Being consciousness, it is aware of itself; and this awareness of itself creates a seeming duality. There is awareness of the truth that consciousness is not inert, but that it is all-power, all-energy; there is awareness of the infinite potentiality of the manifestation of this cosmic energy. This causes a stirring or a movement in consciousness, which is comparable to a wish arising in the individual. In the individual, the wish is soon translated into action; in the cosmos, this stirring is realized as the universe. Consciousness, energy, and matter, are different states of the one. It may be that they are what are known as satva, rajas, and tamas, in yoga philosophy.

When consciousness becomes aware of itself, and therefore of the energy, duality, and therefore space is created. This is the first evolute. Consciousness becoming aware of this space feeds this movement, and motion within space is air. That is the next evolute. Movement of air creates friction, and fire is evolved. Science affirms that when two gases fuse, a spark of fire is produced, and at the same time there is water. Water is the next evolute. Water cools, condenses, and solidifies into the earth.

The yogi sees the universe as the body of the cosmic being. It is macrocosmic. His own body is microcosmic, non-different in essence from the macro-cosmic. He busies himself with understanding this microcosm, knowing that a total knowledge of the microcosm is at once the total knowledge of the macrocosm. Self-knowledge is the knowledge of the absolute, infinite or god.

Whatever exists in the universe, is in your body, too. "In his upper member, man has an image of god, which shines there without pause," said Meister Eckhart. Up in the head of man is the seat of consciousness - it is not the brain cells, but what is in them, what works through them, of which the cells are but the abode. When that consciousness becomes aware of itself, it sees itself as the object; and that is the mind.

Consciousness itself is life, energy. Consciousness and energy differ only in their polarity, and not in their substance. The movement of thought within consciousness creates space, and the other cosmic elements are evolved. As in the cosmos, so in the body. Consciousness has its seat in the crown of your head, the mind is centered in the space between the eyebrows, the element space in the throat, the element air in the heart region, fire in the navel region, water in the genital area, and the earth-element in the anal region.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells us: "By a small part of my being, I pervade all." There is a large residue. Cosmic consciousness-energy is immeasurable. In the microcosm, too, there is a great residual energy. Residue is 'sesa' in sanskrit; and 'sesa' also refers to a snake. Hence, perhaps the yogi views this residual energy as a snake. How do we know it exists? By the fact that, in a crisis or danger, there is a great surge of energy whose existence we were unaware of. This residue is beyond the 'me' or ego-sense, and it is the suspension of the 'me' in crisis that seems to release it. A further proof of this is the fact that, in sleep, we get a small dose of this residual energy, and hence we wake up refreshed; and that again is when the ego-sense is suspended.

Consciousness, when it is aware of the faculty of sight - i.e., when it wills to see - shines as the eyesight and the physical eyes. Similarly the other faculties and vital organs evolved. Having thus brought these faculties into being, it identifies itself with them and develops individuation. Consciousness, projecting itself as life, becomes blindly involved in ignorant activity and endless, helpless automation. When it is clouded by the veil of ignorance, the truth of immortality becomes fear of death, and an attempt to perpetuate oneself in one's progeny.

It is not as though consciousness has become ignorance! Just as the sky is not tainted by the cloud, and the canvas is not affected by the picture of fire that appears on it, neither consciousness nor prana can ever become impure. However, there is a notion of such impurity in the nadis - flow of prana - which veils self-knowledge. This has to be removed. Hence, the Bhagavad Gita hints that yoga is practiced in order to purify oneself, not in order to realize god or the self - this is ever real and need not be made real.

It is easy to theorize: "I am not the body nor the mind, I am the immortal self." While such affirmation has its value, and therefore its use, what we are looking for is an actual transcendence, not wishful thinking. One of the methods suggested for this is hatha yoga. The uniqueness of hatha yoga is its recognition of the physical body itself as the crystallization of the psyche, and therefore the proper vehicle of the soul. Its philosophy is appealing, since it 'stoops to conquer', and does not demand that man pull himself up by his socks.

The Bhagavad Gita describes an inverted tree, with its roots above and branches below. Consciousness which is above, polarized as prana, pours down to every part of the body. Still it is one; it is all consciousness. The polarized consciousness, animating the millions of cells of the body, is known as the subtle body. In this, there are 72.000 nadis, (the Yoganusasanam mentions 350.000) all of which come together in the kanda (approximately the perineum).

Of these nadis, three are considered most important. They are the link, as it were, between consciousness in the brain-center and the distant organs. In the physical body, the spine is such a link between the head and the limbs. These three principal nadis are known as the ida, the pingala, and the susumna.

The ida and pingala lie on the two sides of the susumna. Some say that they cross each other between the head and the base of the spine like the caduceus. The Yoganusasanam says that the ida lies on the left side of the central channel, and terminates in the left nostril; the pingala lies on the right side of the channel and terminates in the right nostril. We may overlook the different theories concerning this, since the most vital nadi for consideration is the susumna.

The description of the susumna in the tantrik texts is highly inspiring. In the section dealing with antaryaga - inner adoration, a tantrik text describes the susumna as having the appearance of a walking stick - from the muladhara up to the crown of the head and bending down to the nostrils. It has the luminosity of lightning and a thousand suns. Yet, it is cool on account of the nectar that flows in it. The Sat-cakra-nirupanam says that the susumna nadi is like the sun, moon, and fire. It extends from the kanda to the crown of the head, while the vital part of the susumna known as vajra-nadi extends from the root of the genitals to the crown of the head. Within even this vajra-nadi is the citrini, which is extremely brilliant, and at the same time extremely subtle. This concept demands the most intense concentration and attention. Citrini is pure intelligence, and runs all the way through, like the vajra-nadi. Inside even this citrini is the brahma-nadi which 'shines in the minds of sages' - i.e., pure knowledge or self-knowledge.

 47.2. Kundalini for Character Building

The human being is a very complex personality, but he need not suffer from the complexes that are so evident in our society today. It is true that there are numerous aspects to his character, which are delicately balanced, and that this balance can be easily upset by very many factors, both internal and external. At the same time, his entire personality is an integrated unit, saturated with the highest degree of intelligence. Hence, it should be easy to sustain the balance or restore it, even if it is temporarily disturbed.

Unfortunately, we have devoted too much attention to imbalanced states of the mind, and to abnormal behavior and very little, if at all, to the study of the wholeness or health of the human being. Yet the right understanding of the wholeness might provide the key to the prevention of what we wish to cure. As is being increasingly realized by medicine and psychology, it is indeed the existence of this wholeness that makes even the so-called "cure" possible.

Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, gives a succinct description of the total human personality. It occurs in the thirteenth chapter of the text. To begin with, there are the "field" and "the knower of the field". The field is the apparently diverse components that constitute the psychophysical organisms. The knower of this whole field is the intelligence "within", which is indivisibly one with the intelligence "within all", and which we commonly refer to as God. No part of the field is unknown to the knower of the field. The knower is not only the subject of an object - as in "The eyes see the foot" or "I am aware of the pain in my back" - but the knower or the indwelling intelligence aware of the functions in this psychophysical organism that the conscious mind is unaware of. That the conscious part of the mind is unaware of these functions is irrelevant; perhaps it is meant to be so, even as the nose is not meant to hear or to see. More than even this, this indwelling intelligence, by its very nature, is aware of itself, in a non-subject-object fashion. It is self-knowledge, knowledge which is the self, or self which is knowledge. Hence, Krishna declares that it is the knower of all.

In the same chapter is given the clue to creation, and therefore to the operation of the creative intelligence: "It is on account of the interaction between this knower and the field that a being arises here, moving or unmoving". It is the knower, the indwelling intelligence, that determines the character of every component part of the field.

The component parts of the field are thus enumerated in the same chapter of the scripture: "The cosmic elements, ego-sense, buddhi, or the determining intellect, the unmanifest nature, the ten senses with the mind as the eleventh; the objects of the five senses, desire and hate, happiness and unhappiness, the intelligence that holds everything together and the cohesive force." One is tempted to see a distinction here between the cosmic elements and their individualized counterparts, but such distinction can at best be arbitrary and fictitious. All this is the field. The knower of the field is the very heart, the creator, and the reality of this field, and that which is aware of the field at all times. The individualized intellect - the inner intelligence - enables one to think, to reason, and to observe the physical actions and the psychological states. But the cosmic creative intelligence is the overall observer of the whole field, and is reflected in the medium of a small part of itself, which then becomes the individualized intelligence.

The individualized intellect is able to observe, and perhaps detect a fault, but the remedy is found, and the fault is remedied only by the creative intelligence. When the fault is remedied, wholeness - health - holiness is restored to the whole personality.

That is what yoga is about. That is what meditation means. The diagnosis is made, but the intellect, the individualized intelligence, then turns within in prayerful adoration, to set the creative intelligence in motion, to heal the organism, and restore the inner harmony and balance.

All this is especially true of behavioral or psychological problems.

The cosmic intelligence, which created diverse objects in 'the field', evolved them from the unmanifest and the five cosmic elements - space, time, air, fire, water, and earth - which are also part of the field. In their subtlest forms, they are unmanifest. In their less subtle forms, they themselves form the perceiving senses. In their gross forms, they are themselves the objects of these senses. These three forms of the element interact upon one another constantly, and their equilibrium is often disturbed. On the gross sphere or plane, these disturbances are known as diseases, and on the psychological plane, they are the character defects. In order to help with the detection of these various disturbances of the inner harmony or disequilibrium among the elements that constitute the psychophysical being, the yogi has mapped out certain fields within the wider field described above. These fields are again represented by mandalas, which are geometrical configurations, intricately worked out and woven with inspiring symbolism.

 48. Laya Yoga

Almost all the great masters have said that self-knowledge, god-realization, enlightenment, or liberation, is possible only when the kundalini is awakened and it reaches the sahasrara. They have also said that this may happen after yoga practice, by the practice of meditation or devotion, or by the sheer grace of god or guru. Even they who insist that it happens by grace alone emphasise the need for the student to engage himself in meditation and also in some yoga practices.

The method that the hatha yogi uses is known as laya yoga. Laya means merging or absorption. It is pointed out that the risk in this method is the stimulation of the lower impulses. On the other hand, with sincere and intelligent application of this technique, you can overcome and sublimate those very impulses. Yoga is not for the weak-minded, but only for one who dares. If the following 'preliminary purificatory exercise' is practiced diligently and sincerely, all the physical, emotional, and psychic disturbances, can be removed. Above all, if we have faith in god and guru their grace will remove all obstacles from our path.

Liberation is liberation from self-ignorance. Enlightenment is the realization of self-knowledge. It is self-ignorance that conjures up division where only polarization exists. Whereas prana and apana are complementary, self-ignorance creates a division. This division is the ego-principle. Hatha, by bringing together the ha - positive, solar, prana, and tha - negative, lunar, apana, unites them - or recognizes their indivisibility.

This first union of the prana and the apana is effected in the solar plexus. When their division is thus canceled, the ego-sense is suspended, and kundalini is awakened. The energies that flowed outward, begin to flow towards their source, which is consciousness. This is laya.

In all this, the yogi needs to exercise strict control of his physical being in its most vital aspects, so that there may be unified action, and not haphazard movement of prana. Such a control is acquired by the practice of the yoga postures and the pranayama. Dissipated energy must be gathered, for dissipated energy is a distraction, and a perpetuation of self-ignorance. To do this efficiently, all the energy-channels should be cleared and purified. Only when the prana flows freely in all the nadis can it change its course or direction. It is like the gears of a motor car. Only when the power is connected to the wheels, can the latter be controlled, moved forward, or stopped.

Usually, the prana flows haphazardly in man, without proper control or direction, as a motor car careering downhill in neutral gear. If everything seems to go right, it is only because the free ride has not yet been challenged by a turn, bump or obstruction. The yogi cannot afford to leave this vital process to chance.

The fusion of the prana and the apana at the solar plexus sparks off great power. The yogi does not let the control even over this psychic heat or energy get out of hand. Using definite techniques, he directs it to the base of the spinal cord, or more properly susumna-nadi, and up along this from center to center, from muladhara, to svadhisthana, to manipura, to anahata, to visuddha, and to ajna. Ascent beyond to the seat of consciousness, or the thousand-petaled lotus, is effected by divine grace. After enjoying communion with the divine here, the power is brought down again through the successive chakras, to enable the yogi to live and function in a divine way.

Daily, the yogi visualizes the whole process actually taking place. Nothing may happen for a long time - not till his heart is purified, his mind steadied, and the power actually awakened. Yet, the very visualization helps him, for the concentrated mind directs the prana to those centers, corrects any defects there may be in the flow of the prana, promotes health, and brings near the day on which the visualization might be actualized.

Does the awakened kundalini purify the heart and steady the mind, or does it awaken only after the heart is purified and the mind steadied? Paramahamsa Baba Muktananda declared in one of His inspiring talks in California that it is the awakened kundalini that leads to the vision of truth, and 'all the knots of the heart are cut asunder, all doubts dispelled, and all the karmas come to an end when the supreme truth has been seen'; and He reminded His audience that the rising sun dispels darkness - it is not as though when the darkness goes, the sun rises! According to Baba, the kundalini is awakened through shakti-pata or the Grace of the guru, who directly transmits His energy to the disciple. The guru is one who can bring about such awakening through shakti-pata. This statement is supported by a beautiful verse which occurs towards the conclusion of the Yoga Vasistha. The sage Visvamitra says: "O Vasistha, you have demonstrated that you are the guru by shakti-pata. Only he who is able to awaken god-consciousness in the disciple by a look, a touch, a verbal instruction, or non-verbal grace, is a guru."

One thing is beyond controversy, and that is that total purification of the heart and steadiness of the mind are simultaneous with the awakening of the kundalini and its ascent to the sahasrara. The following exercises are aimed at this. The most vital part of the practice described below is self-purification. It is perhaps self-hypnosis; but the effect is more real and long lasting than self-hypnosis. We may not in one sitting burn all evil in us for ever, but every attempt is bound to leave a positive mark on our personality; if it does not, then you can be sure that there is a lack of sincerity or intensity of faith.

As students of self-hypnosis know, the conscious mind must be lulled, in order that self-hypnotic suggestions might strike root. This is achieved by pranayama, which accompanies the purificatory process. Each suggestion is then propelled by a mantra, the seed-mantra.

Understood rightly, the technique is entirely scientific, though it leans a bit heavily on psychology.

 48. Laya Yoga - Conclusion

The effectiveness of laya yoga lies in powerful imagination - which is image-in-action: i.e. transferring the image of god within, visualizing god within and feeling his living presence there. The emotional risks involved can surely be avoided if the 'purificatory breathing exercise' is practiced with intense visualization and feeling. This blossoms into experience. That is what the sculptor does. He looks at the stone and visualizes the statue he wants to carve out of it. He sees it there. He persists in this visualization till the chips that do not belong to the statue are chiseled away. Now his imagination or visualization has become actualized, realized. The 'purificatory breathing exercise' itself can be used to overcome any evil habit - physical or mental. Instead of vaguely imagining that all the evil tendencies are stored in the left side of the abdomen, you can actually visualize the particular evil habit there; and then visualize that habit being dried and burnt. That is the obvious purpose of prefacing the laya yoga practice with the important and vital process of purification.

To reject the practice of laya yoga, fearing the risk of undesirable physical or mental results, is like throwing out the baby with the bath-water. Yoga is for the brave man, full of common-sense and wisdom, with discrimination to absorb what is good and guard himself against what is undesirable. The caution found in the texts on yoga applies only to those who devote their whole time to the practice of yoga; and even then only if they refuse to heed nature's warnings in the form of pain, discomfort, etc. Fear not.

Regular practice of yoga will dispel all your doubts and bestow the highest prize upon you.

The sage Vasistha says: "By any one of these methods propounded by the various teachers, the movement of prana can be restrained. These yogic methods bring about the desired results if they are practiced without violence or force. When one is firmly established in such practice, with simultaneous growth in dispassion, and when the mental conditioning comes under perfect restraint, there is fruition of the restraint of the movement of prana. Surely, all these practices appear to be distractions; but, by their steady practice, one reaches the absence of distractions. It is only by such steady practice that one is freed from sorrow, and he experiences the bliss of the self. Hence, practice yoga. When through practice the movement of prana is restrained, then nirvana or liberation alone remains." (Upasama Prakaranam of Yoga Vasistha: 79)

However, all these, when practiced mechanically, are of no use at all. Hence, the same Vasistha declares that the energies in the body are purified only through jnana or spiritual insight. That is the teaching of Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, too. He says, "Breath control is said to help the yogi to rouse the kundalini-shakti which lies coiled in the solar plexus. The shakti rises through the nadi called the susumna, which is embedded in the core of the spinal cord and extends to the brain. If one concentrates on the sahasrara, there is no doubt that the ecstasy of samadhi ensues. The vasanas (tendencies) are, however, not destroyed."

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika therefore defines laya as 'The non-recollection of past experiences'. Till all the vasanas or memories of past experiences are destroyed, one should practise laya.

 49. Yoga of Meditation

"The glass may be made of gold, but what makes the glass useful is the place where there is no gold - the empty space." - Taoist maxim. That is meditation. It is not the feverish activity in which you are engaged constantly that ensures your prosperity, but the period when you are in meditation. That is the creative vacuum, that is the creative silence, the creative peace.

Hence, yogi Svatmarama declares in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika: "Without hatha, raja yoga is not fruitful; and hatha is not fruitful, is not fulfilled without raja yoga. Hence, one must practice both. At the conclusion of the kumbhaka, and the restraint of prana, one should make the mind supportless - unconditioned. Then, one will attain the goal of raja yoga."

All this is laconically expressed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He declares that the mental modifications cease when the breath is suspended after being expelled. Then, surely the mind stands supportless. That is meditation.

Gheranda, however, gives the student some support! Gheranda Samhita describes three kinds of meditation - the gross, the luminous, and the subtle.

The gross meditation involves elaborate visualization, in the region of one's heart, of a heavenly abode of god, who reigns supreme in that heaven. It is contemplation of god with name and form, to be visualized in elaborate detail. This is extremely popular, especially with devotees of god. The legends known as puranas provide the devotee with very many variations of the theme for his contemplation.

The second type is the contemplation of light. The focal point can either be the muladhara chakra, or the center of the eyebrows. The student contemplates muladhara chacra, in all its glowing details, and visualizes the light of the jiva or the living soul in the form of a radiant flame. Or, he can contemplate the light of 'om' in the eyebrow center.

The third type is regarded as 'difficult to be attained, even by the gods, as it is a great mystery', in the words of the Gheranda Samhita. The student practices the sambhavi mudra during his meditation. The kundalini is awakened. Along with the self, this kundalini shakti - life-force - leaves the body through the eyes, and appears in front of the yogi. This is not easy even to imagine!

Meditation is the art of realizing the universal self, beyond the ego-sense. Universal is one, and not many; What is it that appears to have created a division in the one, so that this one appears to be many? Meditation is the quest for the answer to this question.

In the practice of the yoga asanas, we sense an intelligence which is beyond the 'me'; during the practice of pranayama, again we realize that life is governed by an intelligence that is distinct from the ego-sense. In meditation, we actually pursue this ego-sense, to see what it is, and how it veils that intelligence. In samadhi or vicara - inquiry, we discover that the ego-sense is a non-entity; it has always been a non-entity. The transcendental intelligence alone is the reality at all times. Even ignorance and enlightenment, covering and discovery, are words invented by the mind, to rationalize all this.

The one is one; it only appears to be many. Even the three factors that we discussed in the last chapter - consciousness, energy, and matter - are really not three, but one unity apprehended at three stages. If you have watched trees in early spring - especially in countries like Canada, where the growing season is brief - you see this clearly. In winter, the trees have no foliage at all. Early in spring, you go near a tree and watch; the tree knows the season, the temperature, and the climatic conditions; it has also the know-how of sprouting fresh leaves. When these sprouts emerge triumphantly, you see the fiction of the energy, the will; and then you see its materialization.

Such division of this phenomenon into knowledge, will, and action - or consciousness, energy, and matter - is not a fact, but the fruit of your own mental conditioning. You think that one has become three, and then you think that the three are somehow one. As long as this thinking thinks that it thinks, it will continue to think diversely creating contradictions, conflicts, conditioning, happiness and unhappiness, fear and anxiety.

You think that you are unhappy, and therefore you feel unhappiness. It is true that there is a temporary benefit if you come face to face with the truth that you are unhappy, only because you think you are unhappy. You know that this unhappiness is not something real in itself, but is the product of your thinking. All the great movements, which pretend to cure all ills, by enabling one to think one way or the other, are based on this wonderful formula. But, unless this discovery is your own, you do not know how to think! You think you are unhappy, so you feel unhappy. The obvious inference here is that, if you think you are happy, you will feel happy! Theoretically, it seems to be sensible, but only theoretically. It does not work, because you do not know what it is that thinks. In the case of the unhappiness which you are experiencing now, the thinking is there already. You are not producing anything, it is there, and you are observing it; whereas in the other case, are you thinking that you are happy, or are you thinking that you are thinking that you are happy? The happiness is twice removed! You are only sitting and thinking that you are thinking that you are happy. In other words, do you know what this thinking means? Who thinks? That is the problem.

There is another problem. You are seriously observing a thought - let us say of anger, and you think you discover that a thought of anger is later felt as anger. This apparent discovery sometimes makes it appear that the anger has gone, or it seems to have gone. Perhaps, it has merely been overlaid with dullness; perhaps, you are looking away inwardly. Because, to observe the anger is painful. Or perhaps, having understood all this theoretically, you imagine that, in the light of your observation, it has gone. A few days, later it comes back! That means, it was there, hidden all the time, covered with a lot of thinking and imagination. When it is thus covered, there is no longer the pain to provide the incentive to look within. What do you do now? You look within. Everything is calm - or appears so. The mind has not been conquered. A few days later, somebody else provokes you, and suddenly you realize that anger was there all the time - but you were 'asleep'. So, during that period of dullness, you lose the edge, the incentive. What must you do?

The yogi suggests that you practice an exercise. As you inhale, repeat the mantra mentally. As you exhale, repeat the mantra mentally. As this mental repetition of the mantra goes on, the mind forms a habit. This habit is not looked upon by the mind as a threat or a challenge. If breathing itself is not a challenge to the mind, then this automatic repetition of the mantra is not a challenge either. The mind is not bothered at all. The habit is formed.

You sit listening to your own mental repetition of the mantra. You hear the mantra. Who is it that is repeating the mantra? 'Me.' Who is it that is listening to the mantra? 'Me.' Now there is a new incentive to watch the mind. The thing that repeats the mantra inside, and the thing that listens to the mantra inside, both seem to be your objects of observation - and you are watching both these. You can similarly observe anger or other psychological factors now.

Only a calm mind can observe itself, can reflect. Any reflection that takes place in a distracted mind is a perversion. You can neither meditate nor reflect when the mind is in commotion. Whatever is reflected, when the reflecting medium is disturbed, is a distortion. You cannot make the mind calm, because any effort to do so is going to disturb the calmness of the mind, is going to alter the essential nature of the mind. All the methods that people have invented - including the methods of visualizing an image of god - are confessions of failure, though they are excellent aids. You do not know how to still the mind. Therefore, instead of allowing the mind to think of a million things, you make it think of just one thing - call it Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Moses, or a mantra. When you successfully plant this mantra or image of god in the mind, you have only succeeded in creating one huge tidal wave in the mind - with the result that all the little waves disappear.

Hence, Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, after giving elaborate instructions for meditation, suddenly reveals the essence of meditation: "Don't think anything!" There lies the problem.

Try this exercise. Grind your whole thought process to a stand-still, by using one thought, 'I will not think,' like a broom, and sweep all other thoughts out with it. This is not meditation, but merely sitting and thinking 'I will not think'. Do this for a few minutes, then let go. Let the mind think what it likes for a couple of minutes, then begin again. You will see the fun.

You may find as many methods for meditation or for concentration, or for entering into samadhi as there are teachers in the world. Because, meditation is not a technique which can be taught, but an experience which can be caught by each one in his own unique way. Having learned these methods, when you go into your own meditation room, you will find you will still have to evolve your own method. What is good for another person, may not be good for you. After studying everything on earth, eventually you will have to discover for yourself how not to think.

In the pursuit, there are three types of internal obstacles. One - thinking itself. Streams of thought occur in the mind. From where do they come? Two - what are known as emotions. These emotions are a bit more problematic than mere thoughts. You will find that, when there is a thought, you are able to observe the thought fairly dispassionately; but when there is an emotion, it carries you off. E-motion is a motion outward. Three - the manifestation of energy - restlessness. You cannot pinpoint it as a thought or a feeling; it is just an amorphous disturbance of energy. You will have to discover it yourself, a description will not help.

The yogis have simplified our approach to these three. But, unless we come face to face with them in ourselves, this simplification is useless. The theory is that thought has its seat in the brain, emotion has its seat in the heart, energy has its seat in the solar plexus. If you have a bee buzzing in your bonnet, it means your mind is focused too much on your head - shift it. If you are going crazy with some emotion, your whole attention is focused on your heart - shift it. There seems to be a simple method for doing this. In the case of both mental and emotional upheaval, try to see if you can shift your attention to the solar plexus. Then you have withdrawn the energy from the thinking and from the emotion, and you are in contact with the energy center. From there, you are looking at the emotion or the thought. When you are looking at the emotion in this manner, it does not move outside anymore. The emotional disturbance or mental disturbance is checked, and you have acquired some ability to look within yourself. Each one has to do it for himself - one cannot explain it too much.

You will discover that emotion is nothing more than thought of a different intensity of energy, a greater voltage. Thought is made of energy. The brain cells generate a minute electrical charge. That means, prana moves in the brain cells, and they produce this thought. But that is not all; there is a second element to it. In those brain cells are hidden some past impressions. That is what you call memory. When this energy moves among those impressions, something comes up - this is what you call thought. This understanding helps you by revolutionizing your observation. You are no longer caught up in these emotions; you are merely an observer. You see that energy activating brain cells produces thought, energy activating latent impressions produces thought. Thus, you become free of your thoughts and your emotions.

In the Yoga Sutras, a beautiful series of meditation exercises is given. Vitarka vicara nanda 'smita 'nugamat sampra jnatah - in which a kind of path is carved out.

First, vitarka: you allow the mind to indulge in thinking thoughts and counter-thoughts. Then you look directly within to see where thought arises. Can you distinguish that spot where the thought arises? Is there any difference in the source, in the ground of the experiences, of pleasure and pain, of happiness and unhappiness? Are they not all different waves that are the one ocean?

That intelligence which sees this directly, is called vicara. Vicara is not analysis or inquiry. It is when this awareness moves directly within to see that all these thoughts, all these feelings, are of the same substance, whether called pleasant or unpleasant, pleasure or pain, happiness or unhappiness.

The aggregate of all these is what we have so far considered as 'me'. The 'me' is, therefore, the ground of all these. When thus the ground of thoughts, feelings, and experiences is directly seen, there is peace, not unlike the experience of sleep in which, however, there is still this 'I'.

We started by seeing differences in this world, good and evil etc. Then these seem to disappear, because we realize that all these divisions were in 'me', created by 'me'. Finally, there is just 'me' left. But the 'me', so long as it is there, is capable of creating a division. Why do we run after what is called pleasure? Because we have given them a lot of value. Switch off this attraction-repulsion, and the mind naturally moves in one area called 'god'. That is brahmacharya, which means the mind moves in Brahman. But, although the object seems to have gone, the 'I' is still there.

You look at a mountain, and even though the idea that it is a mountain may not arise, there is still the feeling: 'I see ... ' When the eyes are open, there is seeing. What is it that jumps up within you and says: 'I see'?

There is a lovely sutra in the Yoga Sutras which says: "The seen is the seeing." With this realization, there is great delight within you. There, your inquiry ends. Then, Divine Grace steps in. For, the undivided intelligence or cosmic consciousness cannot be realized by the finite, by divided consciousness. 'I' cannot see God. 'I' cannot see the totality.

All this is part of what we call meditation. Meditation is self-discovery. It leads to self-knowledge, which is synonymous with samadhi, enlightenment, freedom, liberation, etc. We readily understand what is meant by knowledge; it is knowledge of another, of an object. But, self is not an object; self-knowledge is not knowledge of another. Hence, self-knowledge poses a big problem. All other knowledge is associated with thought; hence, self-knowledge is said to be free of thought, a direct realization. Self-knowledge is free of interference of the mind; hence, it is declared that it follows control of the mind - though that is an extremely inadequate term.

There is a very big difference between our physical and psychological being. In the case of the body, exercise or work brings on fatigue. In the case of the mind, if it does not do anything, there is fatigue. If you make the mind stop functioning, you will feel as though you are carrying a terribly heavy load, you are so fatigued. So, we should neither stop the mind, nor let the mind flow as it will, but bring it under the control of our intelligence, so that we may be able to observe it. It is possible to vary the technique, vary the method, but not the goal. Instead of sitting upright and meditating, one can walk about and meditate. Instead of inactively and passively sitting in your own meditation room or on the seashore, one can be active and meditating. Instead of outwardly seeming to be in the meditative mood, one can even go into a club or a hotel or a theater, sit and listen to some music, and, at the same time, inwardly be watchful. One can do all sorts of things, if one is sincere.

The whole problem of yoga or meditation is one of sincerity. If you are sincere, you will find some way out. If not, nothing in the world will be of any use. Here, one must use common sense all the time, and modify the method of meditation, to bring it in alignment with life itself, and bring life in alignment with our attempts at meditation. Our daily life and our meditative life should not be in conflict with each other, other wise there is no meditation at all. Everyone must constantly be watchful and alert.