1 00:00:01,300 --> 00:00:09,167 In great detail the pinnacle of yoga practice, namely, samadhi or samapatti 2 00:00:09,167 --> 00:00:12,625 according to the system of Patanjali. 3 00:00:12,625 --> 00:00:26,417 We have turned our attention to the preliminary requirements for the attainment of this goal, 4 00:00:26,417 --> 00:00:32,167 as suggested by Sage Patanjali himself. 5 00:00:32,167 --> 00:00:47,167 I briefly mentioned to you the importance of the stages known as yama, niyama, 6 00:00:47,167 --> 00:00:53,625 asana, pranayama, briefly. 7 00:00:53,625 --> 00:01:07,375 The real court of the yoga is entered only when we come to what is known as 8 00:01:07,375 --> 00:01:15,584 pratyahara and dharana, restraint of the senses and concentration of the mind. 9 00:01:15,584 --> 00:01:26,625 Much had been said everywhere in all the scriptures by saints and sages that 10 00:01:26,625 --> 00:01:29,875 the senses have to be restrained. 11 00:01:29,875 --> 00:01:47,750 The reason for the necessity to control the activity of the senses arises from 12 00:01:47,750 --> 00:01:57,220 the nature of things themselves, namely, things are not really objects. 13 00:01:57,220 --> 00:02:04,167 They have their own subjective nature in themselves. 14 00:02:04,167 --> 00:02:12,375 Nothing is an object in the sense of a subservient appendage to somebody else. 15 00:02:12,375 --> 00:02:27,917 To convert the object into an object of sensory satisfaction is, on the nature 16 00:02:27,917 --> 00:02:38,292 of the things themselves, is an insult to the things. This is why, in a great and 17 00:02:38,292 --> 00:02:45,280 a famous passage in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, it is said objects run away 18 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:52,542 from that person who considers the objects as outside oneself. 19 00:02:52,542 --> 00:03:07,584 The very idea of someone being outside is anathema, really speaking, because no one 20 00:03:07,584 --> 00:03:19,701 would like to be outside as an unwanted external, not intimately and vitally 21 00:03:19,701 --> 00:03:24,209 connected to something else. 22 00:03:24,209 --> 00:03:32,909 The senses make the mistake of imagining that the objects are unconnected with themselves 23 00:03:32,909 --> 00:03:39,001 because if they are vitally connected to the senses, there is no point in the senses running 24 00:03:39,001 --> 00:03:45,542 after the objects, as one does not run after one's own self. 25 00:03:45,542 --> 00:03:52,750 It is in the Bhagavadgita that we are told of the true nature of the sense objects and 26 00:03:52,750 --> 00:04:04,510 the objects -- namely, that both these aspects of perception and experience are products 27 00:04:04,510 --> 00:04:12,417 of the operation of the three gunas of prakriti known as sattva, rajas and tamas, which are 28 00:04:12,417 --> 00:04:19,500 the constituents of the sense organs, which are also the constituents of the objects, 29 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:22,584 so-called, of the senses. 30 00:04:22,584 --> 00:04:34,667 So whatever is the essence of the sense organ is also the essence of the object. 31 00:04:34,667 --> 00:04:42,584 Therefore, there is actually no justifiable point on the part of the sense organs to 32 00:04:42,584 --> 00:04:47,750 move towards another thing, as if it is really another thing. 33 00:04:47,750 --> 00:04:51,917 The objects are not another thing. 34 00:04:51,917 --> 00:05:00,125 They are wrongly conceived externalities of the very same thing of which the 35 00:05:00,125 --> 00:05:02,667 sense organs also are constituted. 36 00:05:02,667 --> 00:05:11,650 A self-alienation, as it were, takes place when objects are considered 37 00:05:11,650 --> 00:05:17,584 as things meant for enjoyment of the sense organs. 38 00:05:17,584 --> 00:05:25,630 You enjoy an alienated part of your own self through a projected part of 39 00:05:25,630 --> 00:05:33,167 yourself, known as sensations. Great blunder of the first nature. 40 00:05:33,167 --> 00:05:38,042 This is the reason why it is said the senses must be withdrawn from 41 00:05:38,042 --> 00:05:45,875 their habit of regarding things in general as objects of enjoyment. 42 00:05:45,875 --> 00:05:55,789 There is no such thing as enjoyment, really speaking. The irritation, the nervous 43 00:05:55,789 --> 00:06:11,125 tension, agitation, which characterises the sense organs when they feel charged 44 00:06:11,125 --> 00:06:19,375 with a desire to move towards something which they consider as outside, that 45 00:06:19,375 --> 00:06:32,292 keeps the senses unhappy, and an illusory satisfaction or happiness seems to be brought 46 00:06:32,292 --> 00:06:42,209 about by the cessation of this anguish after the senses come in contact with the objects. 47 00:06:42,209 --> 00:06:54,000 So all happiness is an illusion, if happiness is to be construed in the sense of sensory 48 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,375 activity and experience. 49 00:06:56,375 --> 00:07:05,250 Since this is the one thing after which people run, such a kind of attitude is 50 00:07:05,250 --> 00:07:09,459 contrary to the great aim of yoga, which is universal experience. 51 00:07:09,459 --> 00:07:13,917 Hence, there is necessity for self-restraint. 52 00:07:13,917 --> 00:07:24,417 In one of the great passages of the Bhagavadgita, it is said that yogis 53 00:07:24,417 --> 00:07:37,667 restrain their senses either by offering the sense organs in the fire of 54 00:07:37,667 --> 00:07:47,542 self-control, or by offering the objects in the fire of the sense organs. 55 00:07:47,542 --> 00:07:53,959 Difficult it is to make out the meaning of this kind of statement. 56 00:07:53,959 --> 00:08:00,875 Sense restraint is described in two ways. 57 00:08:00,875 --> 00:08:18,375 Either the senses are restrained by subjugation of their impulses in regard 58 00:08:18,375 --> 00:08:33,292 to the objects outside or by the placement of the objects themselves in the context 59 00:08:33,292 --> 00:08:38,709 of the sense organs, the desire for them is made to cease. 60 00:08:38,709 --> 00:08:47,667 Restraint of the senses does not mean putting a pressure on the desire 61 00:08:47,667 --> 00:08:55,390 of the senses, but an elimination of the desire itself. 62 00:08:55,390 --> 00:09:09,650 The word 'fire' that is used in these verses is very pertinent: In the fire of restraint 63 00:09:09,650 --> 00:09:12,370 the senses are offered. 64 00:09:12,370 --> 00:09:20,709 So, restraint is a fire, and not merely an action of the nature of suppression 65 00:09:20,709 --> 00:09:22,769 or negative restraint. 66 00:09:22,769 --> 00:09:35,420 Because it is a fire, it consumes the impulse of desire for things. 67 00:09:35,420 --> 00:09:45,079 It is a fire which consumes into ashes, as it were, all desire for objects. 68 00:09:45,079 --> 00:09:52,875 So self-restraint, sense control, does not mean pressing down the existing desires 69 00:09:52,875 --> 00:10:00,625 into the subconscious, but burning them down in the fire of restraint. 70 00:10:00,625 --> 00:10:09,625 Or, the other way is to place the sense organs in harmony with the objects. 71 00:10:09,625 --> 00:10:24,080 What do you mean by placing the sense organs in harmony with the objects? 72 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:32,230 The objects are not to be regarded as temptations for the senses or the mind. 73 00:10:32,230 --> 00:10:37,823 They are friends of our own selves. 74 00:10:37,823 --> 00:10:47,459 The objects are not temptations. They are our friends. 75 00:10:47,459 --> 00:10:52,270 A friend cannot be an object of temptation. 76 00:10:52,270 --> 00:11:04,740 A friend cooperates with you and coordinates with your activities. 77 00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:14,329 Therefore, it is necessary to consider the objects as on par with your own existence, 78 00:11:14,329 --> 00:11:22,375 and not regard them as either tools for your sensory satisfaction or even 79 00:11:22,375 --> 00:11:28,459 as things totally isolated from you. 80 00:11:28,459 --> 00:11:39,320 Inasmuch as the world, the universe as a whole, is a single living principle, no part of it 81 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:46,792 can be regarded as outside some other part, and therefore no part of it can become an 82 00:11:46,792 --> 00:11:50,834 object for the enjoyment of another part. 83 00:11:50,834 --> 00:12:03,810 The parts of the whole act in a complementary manner -- one assisting the other, cooperating 84 00:12:03,810 --> 00:12:11,042 with the other, coordinating itself with the other -- in a state of harmony that is required 85 00:12:11,042 --> 00:12:14,521 for the maintenance of the balance of the organism itself. 86 00:12:14,521 --> 00:12:20,792 This is a very difficult practice. 87 00:12:20,792 --> 00:12:27,800 You can never consider the objects that are tempting you as your friends and therefore 88 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:32,290 you just be with them as you are with your friends. 89 00:12:32,290 --> 00:12:42,820 Such a philosophical attitude is called for in the other form of self-restraint. 90 00:12:42,820 --> 00:12:55,542 These are certain prescriptions for the practice of the withdrawal of 91 00:12:55,542 --> 00:12:58,250 consciousness operating through the sense organs. 92 00:12:58,250 --> 00:13:04,750 Actually, the senses by themselves are not the culprits. 93 00:13:04,750 --> 00:13:12,417 The trouble is in the nature of consciousness itself, which rushes 94 00:13:12,417 --> 00:13:20,779 forward through the apertures of the sense organs, externally. 95 00:13:20,779 --> 00:13:26,860 The word 'externally' is to be underlined again and again. 96 00:13:26,860 --> 00:13:38,875 The outsideness of things is the trouble. The things themselves are not the trouble. 97 00:13:38,875 --> 00:13:50,000 Therefore, the consciousness has to be trained in regard to its essential nature, 98 00:13:50,000 --> 00:14:03,500 which is non-externality -- consciousness being pure subjectivity, consciousness 99 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:07,584 being never an object to its own self. 100 00:14:07,584 --> 00:14:14,690 Consciousness cannot see itself as if it is outside itself. 101 00:14:14,690 --> 00:14:22,160 Such being the case, it is futile on the part of this process of consciousness to imagine 102 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:30,834 as if it is moving in a world of dreams, where illusory objects present themselves as if 103 00:14:30,834 --> 00:14:34,875 they are truly existing there, physically. 104 00:14:34,875 --> 00:14:44,959 There is a psychological blunder, a metaphysical error involved in 105 00:14:44,959 --> 00:14:47,860 the very activity of consciousness itself. 106 00:14:47,860 --> 00:14:57,630 The entire soul in us, in its individualised capacity, is in a restless condition, while 107 00:14:57,630 --> 00:15:03,959 actually it has no cause to be restless because the soul is what it is. 108 00:15:03,959 --> 00:15:06,084 It cannot be other than what it is. 109 00:15:06,084 --> 00:15:17,050 This is something to tell you about the nature of pratyahara, or sense control. 110 00:15:17,050 --> 00:15:27,917 Other, lesser methods of sense control, are of course known to you, as prescribed in the 111 00:15:27,917 --> 00:15:36,870 scriptures: namely, being physically away from objects that are likely to be regarded 112 00:15:36,870 --> 00:15:40,889 as tempting to you. 113 00:15:40,889 --> 00:15:51,620 If you have a house just near a brewery or a cinema house or some such place, the mind 114 00:15:51,620 --> 00:16:02,250 easily acquiesces in the possibility of utilising these atmospheres for its 115 00:16:02,250 --> 00:16:06,792 satisfaction through the impulses. 116 00:16:06,792 --> 00:16:13,959 Be away physically, as far as possible, from such places, such things and such persons 117 00:16:13,959 --> 00:16:18,209 who are likely to attract your attention in the wrong direction. 118 00:16:18,209 --> 00:16:25,125 And be moderate in your dealings. 119 00:16:25,125 --> 00:16:34,125 This is a great teaching we have from the Bhagavadgita. Yuktaharaviharasya 120 00:16:34,125 --> 00:16:40,630 yuktacestasya karmasu, yuktasvapna- vabodhasya yogo bhavati duhkhaha: 121 00:16:40,630 --> 00:16:52,850 That great saving panacea known as yoga is available to that person who is moderate in 122 00:16:52,850 --> 00:17:03,639 eating -- not going to excess of either eating too much or not eating at all; moderate in 123 00:17:03,639 --> 00:17:12,042 sleeping -- not sleeping the whole day and night, and not sleeping at all; being active 124 00:17:12,042 --> 00:17:22,260 -- not always, but only when it is necessary, and also not being inactive. 125 00:17:22,260 --> 00:17:30,950 All propensities, impulses and needs of life have to be harmonised in a golden mean, 126 00:17:30,950 --> 00:17:33,350 as they call it. 127 00:17:33,350 --> 00:17:38,130 No excess of any kind, either this way or that way, is to be attempted. 128 00:17:38,130 --> 00:17:45,280 Having everything or having nothing -- neither of these things are advisable. 129 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:53,500 And I was also mentioning something about the nature of concentration of mind, 130 00:17:53,500 --> 00:17:57,679 which is dharana. 131 00:17:57,679 --> 00:18:00,917 On what is it that you are going to concentrate the mind? 132 00:18:00,917 --> 00:18:12,000 I mentioned certain points in this connection last time, which you 133 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,917 must remember always in your mind. 134 00:18:14,917 --> 00:18:21,667 You cannot concentrate your mind on anything which is repulsive in its 135 00:18:21,667 --> 00:18:31,167 nature, which you do not at all appreciate in any manner. 136 00:18:31,167 --> 00:18:40,500 Nor would you like to go on concentrating on something which is neutral in its nature, 137 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:44,292 which neither you like nor you do not like. 138 00:18:44,292 --> 00:18:52,940 It is the nature of the mind to concentrate and think of only that which is pleasurable 139 00:18:52,940 --> 00:18:55,980 in its nature. 140 00:18:55,980 --> 00:19:02,640 It is not that you must be concentrating on pleasurable objects. 141 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:13,334 The idea is through a particularised form of pleasant feeling, you rise to a universal 142 00:19:13,334 --> 00:19:19,292 form of pleasantness, which is attributed to God Almighty Himself. 143 00:19:19,292 --> 00:19:27,750 Inasmuch as nothing in the world can be regarded as permanently pleasant always, 144 00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:34,417 the things of the world have an unpleasant aspect also, at the same time. 145 00:19:34,417 --> 00:19:40,977 As nobody has seen God, it will indeed be difficult to concentrate the mind on God 146 00:19:40,977 --> 00:19:55,659 Almighty. You can only stretch your imagination to a point of your idea 147 00:19:55,659 --> 00:20:04,599 of perfection -- deathlessness, beauty, magnificence and grandeur, 148 00:20:04,599 --> 00:20:13,212 comprehensiveness and perfection -- in order that you may be able to conceive 149 00:20:13,212 --> 00:20:18,875 a possible picture of the presence of God. 150 00:20:18,875 --> 00:20:26,090 By picture, I do not mean something that is painted on a canvas or a piece of paper. 151 00:20:26,090 --> 00:20:34,810 Something that is presented to your mind by your own vision. 152 00:20:34,810 --> 00:20:39,667 It is not difficult to bring this picture before the mind. 153 00:20:39,667 --> 00:20:48,542 One thing is that God is everywhere, and therefore you should never go 154 00:20:48,542 --> 00:20:54,084 for an object which is only in one place. 155 00:20:54,084 --> 00:21:07,542 God is everywhere, in everything, and He is the soul of your own self. 156 00:21:07,542 --> 00:21:15,750 God operates from outside as well as from inside, being everything in Himself. 157 00:21:15,750 --> 00:21:21,167 Perfection is the nature of God. 158 00:21:21,167 --> 00:21:29,959 By perfection, you mean all things that you consider as desirable, from your point of view. 159 00:21:29,959 --> 00:21:37,667 It never perishes, as other things do in the world. 160 00:21:37,667 --> 00:21:43,959 It is not subject to the destructive activity of the time process. 161 00:21:43,959 --> 00:21:55,042 It is above time, therefore. It is not only in one place. Therefore, it is above space also. 162 00:21:55,042 --> 00:22:02,750 It is neither in space, nor in time. It is Being-as-such. 163 00:22:02,750 --> 00:22:09,792 It is wonderful happiness to have a vision of such a Being because of the fact that all 164 00:22:09,792 --> 00:22:19,959 your longings are fulfilled at one stroke by this great Being, Who is the dear delight 165 00:22:19,959 --> 00:22:22,667 of your own bosom. 166 00:22:22,667 --> 00:22:32,542 The object that you concentrate upon as a symbol of God Almighty, is that which you 167 00:22:32,542 --> 00:22:39,417 believe to be capable of bestowing upon you everything whatsoever that 168 00:22:39,417 --> 00:22:48,000 you can imagine in your mind. That's why He is called Almighty, Supreme Power, 169 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,500 capable of granting any boon whatsoever. 170 00:22:53,500 --> 00:23:04,875 If you can convince yourself of the possibility of such a Being in your vicinity, within you or 171 00:23:04,875 --> 00:23:14,790 without you; if it has entered your feelings, not merely the understanding logically; 172 00:23:14,790 --> 00:23:23,230 if your feelings are throbbing with the great expectation of even the thought of there being 173 00:23:23,230 --> 00:23:35,042 such a thing as God of this nature, your mind will jump on it and fix itself, as an arrow 174 00:23:35,042 --> 00:23:39,580 will go and fix itself on its target. 175 00:23:39,580 --> 00:23:44,000 Such a concept of God is known as ishta devata in ordinary language -- 176 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:53,125 your dear delight, your beautiful god, your most beloved thing. 177 00:23:53,125 --> 00:24:05,042 Most beloved thing, that is your ishta. It is your divinity; therefore it is devata. 178 00:24:05,042 --> 00:24:14,450 A god is that which is above all things, and inclusive of everything. 179 00:24:14,450 --> 00:24:20,959 Therefore, there is no necessity to think of anything else outside this ishta devata. 180 00:24:20,959 --> 00:24:32,959 It is transcendent, and not just outside, as an object, like other things in the world. 181 00:24:32,959 --> 00:24:45,792 Again, be sure that you are confident that you are going to obtain everything by the 182 00:24:45,792 --> 00:24:50,375 grace of this Divine Being. 183 00:24:50,375 --> 00:24:54,084 You should not doubt in your mind whether this will bring anything or not. 184 00:24:54,084 --> 00:25:01,370 Doubts are the greatest of traitors, it is said. 185 00:25:01,370 --> 00:25:12,959 You have no enemy anywhere except your own disbelief and doubt, even in regard to the 186 00:25:12,959 --> 00:25:17,110 possibility of achieving this perfection: whether it exists or not. 187 00:25:17,110 --> 00:25:26,320 From all you have gathered up to this time by our analysis and study philosophically, 188 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:35,710 you would have convinced yourself of the existence of a mighty reality, called God. 189 00:25:35,710 --> 00:25:40,167 If the conviction itself is lacking, then everything that you do in this world is 190 00:25:40,167 --> 00:25:47,375 a waste, and it will be like pouring ghee on ashes, not on fire. 191 00:25:47,375 --> 00:25:50,167 Faith is the greatest thing. 192 00:25:50,167 --> 00:25:58,542 A faithless person achieves nothing, so it is necessary to implant in your heart a perfect 193 00:25:58,542 --> 00:26:06,500 faith in the capacity of this ishta devata to bestow upon you everything and anything. 194 00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:15,500 This is the highest form of concentration of the mind, and when this concentration goes 195 00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:23,292 on continuously due to the delight it brings to you, that concentration becomes meditation. 196 00:26:23,292 --> 00:26:32,042 A continuous flow of the same uniform thought in concentration 197 00:26:32,042 --> 00:26:35,542 is actually known as meditation. 198 00:26:35,542 --> 00:26:49,690 Unbroken continuity of the feeling of the presence of this wondrous divinity before 199 00:26:49,690 --> 00:27:00,667 you is concentration as well as meditation, when it is prolonged for a long time. 200 00:27:00,667 --> 00:27:15,625 The aim finally is, as you know, not only to seek a blessing from this divinity as an 201 00:27:15,625 --> 00:27:24,209 external gift from God, but to have God Himself with you. 202 00:27:24,209 --> 00:27:30,899 Don't you believe that the giver is greater than that which is given? 203 00:27:30,899 --> 00:27:39,042 So, you reach a stage that you do not expect any material gift from God, 204 00:27:39,042 --> 00:27:48,230 though He is capable of granting that gift also. 205 00:27:48,230 --> 00:27:56,459 Difficult it is for the mind to conceive the greatness of God, and His being all-in-all, 206 00:27:56,459 --> 00:28:01,709 and that you need nothing else from Him except Himself only. 207 00:28:01,709 --> 00:28:10,000 This is the pinnacle of concentration, and the best form of meditation, 208 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:21,209 which leads you finally to the union that is expected in yoga. 209 00:28:21,209 --> 00:28:30,860 The union finally, according to the system of Patanjali, is that which I have already 210 00:28:30,860 --> 00:28:35,220 delineated through the stages of samapatti mentioned. 211 00:28:35,220 --> 00:28:42,667 But there are various other types of union also, according to the schools of teachings 212 00:28:42,667 --> 00:28:50,459 and yoga, any one of which you can adopt for your practical purpose. 213 00:28:50,459 --> 00:28:54,500 Hari Om Tat Sat. God bless you.