The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity

The First Six Chapters of the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

Chapter 27: The Practice of Meditation

yogī yuñjīta satatam ātmānaṃ rahasi sthitaḥ,
ekākī yatacittātmā nirāśīr aparigrahaḥ (BG 6.10)
śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam ātmanaḥ,
nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājinakuśottaram (BG 6.11)

Some preliminary instructions to the primary level student in the practice of yoga are given here: the outer forms of preparation, the physical appurtenances necessary, and the very first step that is to be taken. The way of meditation is being described here.

This is one system of meditation, the way which is almost akin to the prescriptions of Patanjali Maharishi. Some commentators on the Bhagavadgita, the foremost of them being Madhusudana Saraswati, tag on a large portion of the sutras of Patanjali in their expositions while commenting on these verses of the Sixth Chapter. Madhusudana Saraswati sees a vital connection in these verses between what Bhagavan Sri Krishna must have been having in his mind at the time of his speaking and the methods prescribed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

There are several ways, methods, of meditation. One particular method is here specially mentioned, namely, the directing of the mind to a chosen spot or ideal by being seated in a posture called the yoga asana, the position of the body assumed in meditation. In a calm and quiet undisturbed spot, you should seat yourself. There should not be anything outside which will distract your attention. There should be nothing which you will resent, nothing that will interfere with you, disturb you, annoy you or cause your mind to oscillate out of the point of attention. A pure spot is a sucha desa. Fresh air, beautiful sceneries, mountaintops, riverbanks, the shade of large trees, and so on, which are conducive to composed thinking, such spots are to be selected for meditation. And there one should be seated in intense satisfaction within oneself. This is important. Only a satisfied mind can settle. The unsatisfied mind is unsettled, and concentration or meditation is the settling of the mind. It has to remain like undisturbed water, without ripples or waves, and therefore, no wind of desire or distraction should blow over it.

The instruction here is that outer conditions have a definite influence upon the internal states of mind. This is something very obvious. We know very well how we think differently in different kinds of atmosphere or environment. In a holy place we think in one way, in a judiciary we think in another way, in a marketplace we think in a third way, and so on. The atmosphere of the place to a large extent interferes with our mode of thinking. Hence, such an environment may be chosen for being seated in meditation, which will add to the satisfaction of the mind and not distract it or pull it aside in other directions than the chosen one. Here in this beautiful spot well chosen, one must be seated.

We have similar references in the Brahma Sutras, for instance, in which there are long discussions in connection with the need to be seated for meditation rather than be in any other posture. What posture other than sitting can we assume? Can we stand and meditate, or lie down and meditate? Here it has been very carefully told us that the mind cannot concentrate while the body is standing, because it is necessary for the mind to bestow some attention on the fact of standing in order that the feet be planted properly, fixed firmly on the ground. If we are totally unconscious of standing, we may fall down. Hence, the standing posture is not suitable for meditation. A lying posture also is not suitable because there will be a tendency to go to sleep. Due to the relaxed condition of the body the eyes will slowly close and the mind will so relax itself that it will know nothing. Therefore, a middle course has to be chalked out of not standing or lying down, but sitting.

Even while sitting, what posture will you assume? There are standard postures prescribed. Padmasana, siddhasana, sukhasana are the usually selected standard poses. It is up to each person to select the posture according to one's convenience. The kind of posture one chooses should be such that it will not cause unnecessary mental attention on any particular part of the body. The very purpose of concentrating the mind in yoga is to lift it above body consciousness as much as possible. The balance maintained in the seated posture will enable the mind not to think of the body too much, just as when we are perfectly balanced in health we are not even aware that we have a body. Only when we have some illness do we begin to feel that there is a body hanging on us. A perfectly healthy person is like a child, not even aware that there is a body. That is the balanced state of the whole physiological system.

When there is a disbalance in the nerves or the muscles, in any part of the body, there is the demand on the part of the mind to be conscious of that disbalance, and our intention here is to free the mind from the necessity to think that it is lodged in a body. Body-consciousness is an obstacle in the pursuit of the ideal of yoga. In a graduated manner, the clutches of the body over the mind should be loosened, and this has to be done with care, not in a hurry. How is it done? By maintaining a poised, balanced posture, such a posture which will keep the body in perfect position in such a manner that after a few minutes of sitting in that balanced pose, one will not even know that one is sitting. There will be no necessity for the mind to think that there is a body seated in that posture. This is so because of the balance maintained. There is a stability automatically following from the maintenance of balance. The balance and the fixity are the same. We can fix any particular object in a particular position when its fulcrum is known and it is fixed on that point. So we must know the fulcrum of our physiological system, and then we shall be poised like a hill and unshakenly we shall be seated. When the balance of the physical system is ensured in this manner, the mind will feel secure, just as when the whole country is in great peace, the administration is highly satisfied. It has no work to do. It is only a disbalanced atmosphere that calls for attention from the administration. The mind is the administrator. It has no work afterwards when the entire atmosphere of its governance is in utter peace, as in Ramraja. So śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya sthiram āsanam: having seated oneself in a fixed posture like sukhasana. Padmasana is a hard thing for modern legs; otherwise, it is said to be the best posture.

Nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ. This is a little commonsense instruction. This seat should not be too high above the ground level, nor should it be just on the ground level. That is the idea here. If it is too high, like this cot, for instance, and I sit for meditation, I could fall down. To prevent that possibility of the body falling down by any chance, we are told not to have a seat too high above the ground level. Nor should it be just on the ground level because some insects may creep in and they may bite us. Hence, let the seat be a little high, say half a foot high, not one meter high: nātyucchritaṃ nātinīcaṃ cailājinakuśottaram. This is an ancient prescription in regard to the seat on which one can meditate.

What kind of seat can we have? It is plainly said in this verse that it should be a three-layered seat. We can have a deerskin, we can have a grass mat, we can have a piece of cloth. It is mentioned that on the top there may be a cloth, then there may be a deerskin or some such thing, then a grass mat. The kusha is a sacred grass, and a mat made out of it is referred to here. The idea behind this statement is esoteric, namely that the seat should be such that it is not a conductor of electricity. It should be a non-conductor of electricity. Why is this specific caution? When we meditate, an energy is generated in the body. If the meditation is carried on properly, sincerely, for a protracted period, there will be a concentration of force in one's personality, in the whole physical system, and the earth is a good conductor of electricity. Hence, if there is nothing between one's body and the ground, the energy accumulated in the system during meditation is likely to be consumed by the earth underneath. This is one of the reasons behind brahmacharins walking with wooden sandals. Wood is a non-conductor of electricity. Anyway, these days we have varieties of non-conductors of electricity. The particular thing mentioned in this verse refers to an ancient condition of living, and we can use our common sense here and be seated on anything which is comfortable and is helpful according to our own choice in our meditations. This is just a preliminary caution, some instruction regarding the physical posture and the seat on which one can sit for meditation.

Now comes the main task, which is the responsibility of the yogin. What are we going to do while sitting like this? This is a very difficult thing to understand, but the Bhagavadgita, to repeat once again, is a graduated ascent. It has been very systematically rising from level to level, and we are not suddenly told to sit for meditation without any background of thought being provided to us. What is the background? There is a vast ocean of background of thought already provided to us in the earlier chapters. Just as we do not forget the existence of a foundation being already laid and a superstructure being there when a roofing is struck, and so on, we are not merely thinking of what is told us in the Sixth Chapter here; we think it only in relation to whatever we have heard earlier right from the beginning, from the First Chapter itself. We gather the entire harvest of the earlier lessons and get concentrated in the manner required in the light of the teaching that has already gone earlier, and so the question “What shall I do by sitting in this posture?” should not be raised, really speaking. Everyone who has received the lesson properly and digested its intentions will be able to select the particular form of conceptualisation in the practice of meditation.

According to the lessons we have received, in the light of the picture of the whole of creation that has been placed before us by the Bhagavadgita in all its chapters, what are we expected to think? In this world in which we live, this world which is of that nature which has already been described, into whose mysteries we have been introduced, what are we supposed to think? That is the object of meditation. However, there is still a great concession given to us in these little phrases of the verses of the Sixth Chapter. We do not seem to be required to suddenly lift ourselves to that grand picture of this world, this creation and God, with which we have been acquainted during our studies. We can go to that level of conceptualisation by moving very slowly from the lowest level of physicality. The mind should be moving very slowly from the lowest level of physicality. The mind should be fixed on one spot. Ekgraṃ manaḥ kṛtvā (BG 6.12): On one thing only should the mind think, and it should not think two things. Why should the mind think only one thing and not two things? What is the purpose of this kind of concentration? Why this insistence that the mind should be fixed on a single object? The reason is, again, a subject of psychology.

The mind is not a solid substance. It is a fabric of interconnected associations, relations. We are not just moving inside the skull of an individual person. The whole structure of the mind is very intriguing because while it appears to be a little personal property of any given individual, we will find that it is not like that. It has connections with every blessed thing in the world. Modern scientists have coined a word to describe the subtle invisible activities of the human mind, not the visible conscious activities, the unknown hidden background behind the screen activities of the mind, which are stronger operations, more forceful activities than the waking activities. The word coined by modern psychological science is 'prehension' instead of 'apprehension'. They make a distinction between apprehension and prehension. The word was coined specifically to distinguish between ordinary mental action and unknown activities going on in the labyrinths of our deeper unconscious personality.

Apprehension is a subtle connection that a person maintains with his own coterie, though outwardly he may look independent and unrelated to people. Even in human society there are people who look fine outside, very cultured and civilised, but inwardly they are a part of a large brood. A subtle subterranean activity is the occupation of the so-called cultured individual on the surface, and this subterranean treasure of his belonging to something undesirable will not be made visible outside due to the subtle manoeuvring of conscious operations. This is seen in society and everywhere in various subtle operations of human groups. And what is a human group? It is nothing but a mental group. When we speak of human society or political organisations, etc., we are not actually speaking of physical bodies. We are speaking of minds operating in subtle ways.

So the mind, which is accustomed to live this kind of life merely on the surface – sometimes deliberately hiding the bottom of it and many a time not even being conscious that there is a bottom at all – such a mind is unfit for yoga meditation because it is already a member of a group of relations which tries to maintain its empirical immortality, which means the immortality of the individual personality as a social unit of sentiments, passions, greed, and all sorts of instinctive relations which are the demands of the physical existence of a person. Such a mind involved in such relations consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly, will not be fit for meditation. If such a mind begins to concentrate under the impression that it is practising yoga, one will find that the whole brood of hounds will start attacking it as a renegade, and it will not be able to think even for a moment without getting disturbed. After a few minutes of sitting we will get agitated and we will like to get up. I have seen this in certain meditation sessions where people get up in a few minutes and walk out on the veranda because it is so disturbing. Meditation is very disturbing because it is a process of heart searching, the way of searching for dacoits, thieves and undesirable activities. Therefore, they somehow or other sneak beneath the possible atmospheres of detection and get out of the clutches of this detective activity. Meditation is a detective activity in one way. It is a very, very subtle and well-organised method of discovering the activities of the mind, not only as it is available on the surface, but also at its back.

Now, why we should concentrate the mind on one object was a question to be answered. The mind, in spite of it being such a terrific involvement of this nature described now, is a flimsy arrangement of relations which are undesirable, and so they cannot have real strength because they have no moral force behind them. Any kind of organisation which does not have the support of moral sanction cannot last for long. Hence, the very art of meditation is frightening to the wavering mind of instinctive longings.

The mind is a web of relations, and it is necessary for us to understand what an interconnection of relations can be. Relations are not substances. They are not tangible things. They are nothing at all, while they appear to be very, very solidly existing there as heavyweights. A relation is an unintelligible something which appears to be there, while it is really not there. It is a kind of illusion. So in one sense we may say the very existence of the mind is an illusion. It is not there. The ego is said to be like that. The mind is that. Every blessed thing of the nature of a non-spiritual character is finally non-existent. The mind, being a mere setup of relational organisations, cannot be considered as an existent something. Therefore, it is on the one hand difficult to handle it, and on the other hand, it is very easy to squash it.

Now, the concentration of the mind on one particular thing works a miracle immediately. The miracle is this, that its so-called multitudinous tentacles of relation are immediately drawn together into a single direction of attention, so it looks as if we have immediately cut off the hands and the feet of this operation and only one limb is left to keep it alive. This is pratyahara.

We also hear some such story of the operations of the mind in concentration, or dharana, in the Yoga System of Patanjali. He tells us that in dharana, in concentration, a manifold operation is to be noticed by the meditator. What are the manifold operations? The types of thought which are extraneous to the chosen method of thinking are not at all conducive to the way of meditation. They are obstructive, and are to be eliminated. Conditions of mind which are to be carefully eliminated are also certain functions of the mind, and they cannot be eliminated by severing them from the body of the mind, like amputation. The severing of the relations of the mind does not mean physically cutting its limbs. The severance automatically takes place when its tentacles are withdrawn. The withdrawal of the outer relations of the mind is tantamount to the severance of those relations. It is not a loss, but a gain. In concentration, therefore, our energy increases to a high pitch and an optimum level. It is not a diminution of activity. When I say we have to sever relations of the mind with undesirable things, it does not mean it has lost the contact with realities in the world. It has all the contact, but in a very heightened form. Pratyahara, withdrawal of the mind from distracting sources, is not a severance from sustaining forces but from the points of concentration which distract and create illness in the mind.

So in the earlier state of concentration when the mind is withdrawn from sources of distraction, it may appear that it is losing all the centres of its pleasure, but really it is not so. It is freed from unhealthy thinking. Its hanging over objects which it imagines to be the sources of its satisfaction cannot be considered as a healthy condition. Hence, when health supervenes by the conscious withdrawal of the relations of the mind from these distracting sources, the level or the content of the force of the mind rises to a high pitch, though in the beginning it looks as if it is a loss and we are very unhappy when we feel that in the discipline of yoga meditation we have to disconnect ourselves from outward relations.

We are accustomed to social thinking, mostly. Philosophical thinking is very strange. We do not think philosophically in our daily life, much less metaphysically. We are social beings. The society in which we live is a psychological society, and it is made to appear that the very existence of a person depends upon the relation that the mind maintains with other minds, as if one person cannot be alive if another is not there. By 'another', I mean a person or any object of sense. If they are not there, it will look like the life itself of the person is at stake. This is an illusion, this is a deception, this is Mara or Satan working and telling us the wrong thing: “If your relations outwardly maintained with objects of sense are to be snapped, you shall not live.” This will be told us from inside, but the opposite is the truth. We shall live much better than we lived earlier because earlier we lived like a slave of the objects; now we are living with great freedom born of the strength of our own self. While working as a slave under a master may look like a life of great protection from a master, and to be without a master will look like a precarious life of insecurity, don't we believe it is better to be a free person than to be a slave of a master who is guarding us? Yet we think along this line only, that we require protection by a master outside. The master is the world of senses, and if the master is not to guard us we are unprotected. So there is a fear. We have a fear that we shall lose all things, but this fear is unfounded. It is the fear of losing ill health and the fear that health will supervene.

So in this little instruction that the mind should be concentrated on one point only there is a wealth of suggestiveness, namely, that all the underground activities of the subconscious and the unconscious mind should be completely taken possession of under a central government authority, as it were, and no independence should be given to these varied and abandoned particular sentimental activities of the mind. Generally we live according to our instincts, according to our sentiments, whims and fancies. We are just automatons moving according to the dictates of the sentiments and the instincts within. We are not masters of our own selves. While we are slaves of others, we are slaves of our minds also. Yet, this double slavery has to be noticed, detected, and its meaning should be known.

When this kind of engagement becomes the sole responsibility of the yogi seated in meditation, it will appear in the beginning that the whole world is up in arms against this yogin. It will appear that we cannot be here at all. “Get out from this place. You are not for us. You are a renegade; you are leaving us.” This was told to the Buddha and all the saints. A little suggestion of this kind is made even to the Christ. The world which was our very dear, beloved friend will now tell us, “Get out, I shall have nothing to do with you, because up to this time you were my friend, and today you are trying to assume independence. I shall see to it.” When this frightening threat is dealt by the world of relative operations, attachments and longings, the little spark of aspiration is likely to get extinguished by the mere fear of a possible tragedy that may descend upon oneself.

All these are not the concern of the Bhagavadgita here. It is a lofty teaching which assumes that the student is suitably educated in self-discipline and self-control, and the Bhagavadgita is really a teaching for an illumined, cultured and elevated mind. A lay mind will not be able to grasp its actual intentions by a mere cursory glance.

The connections of the mind in relation to objects of sense get automatically broken the moment it is forced to concentrate on any particular thing. It may be even a dot on the wall. Now, it does not matter what object is chosen for concentration, because every object is a part of the whole cosmic structure, and therefore whatever we touch is nothing but the world and the concentrated form of the properties of prakriti – sattva, rajas, tamas. Any object is as good as any other for purpose of meditation because everything in the world is connected to everything else, and any road can take us to Rome.