Short Essay on the Nature and Forms of Yoga

Yoga here means the cessation of mental functions or modifications (cittavrttinirodha). It does not mean any kind of contact between the individual self and some other reality like God or the Absolute.

The aim of yoga, as we have already said, is to prevent the self from identifying itself with mental modifications.

But this is not possible as long as the modifications arc there and the self has not realised its distinction from citta or the mind. So what yoga really stands for is the arrest and negation of all mental modifications.

There are five conditions or levels of the mental life (cittabhumi). The citta is constituted by the elements of sattva, rajas and tamas. Its different conditions are determined by the diffe rent degrees in which these elements are present and operative in it.

These conditions are called ksipta or restless, niudha or torpid, viksipta or distracted, ekagra or concentrated, and niruddha or restrained. In each of these there is some kind °f repression of mental modifications.

One state of the mind deludes other different states. Love and hate, for example, naturally oppose and cancel each other.

But still yoga cannot be attained in all the levels of citta. In the first, called ksipta, the mind or citta is under the sway of rajas and tamas, and is attracted by objects of sense and the means of attaining power.

It flits from one thing to another without resting in any. This condition is not at all conducive to yoga, because it does not help us to control the mind and the senses.

The second, viz. mudha, is due to an excess of tamas in citta or the mind which, therefore, has a tendency towards vice, ignorance, sleep and the like.

In the third level, called viksipta or distracted, the mind or citta is free from the sway of tamas and has only a touch of rajas in it.

It has the capacity of manifesting all objects and makes for virtue, knowledge, etc. This is a stage of temporary concentration of citta or the mind on some object, which is followed by distraction.

It cannot be called yoga, because it does not permanently stop the mental modifications nor end our troubles and destroy the mental afflictions of avidya and the rest.

The fourth level of citta is called ekagra or concentrated. Here citta is purged of the impurity of rajas and there is the perfect manifestation of sattva.

It marks the beginning of prolonged concentration of the mind or citta on any object so as to reveal its true nature, and it prepares the way for the cessation of all mental modifications.

In this state, however, the mind or citta continues to think or meditate on some object, and so, even here, the mental processes are not altogether arrested.

At the last level, called niruddha, there is the cessation of all mental functions including even that of concentration which marks the previous stage.

Here the succession of mental states and processes is completely checked, and the mind (citta) is left in its original, unmodified state of calmness and tranquility.

These last two levels are conducive to yoga insofar as both manifest the sattva element of the mind to the highest degree and are helpful for the attainment of the ultimate goal, viz. liberation.

In fact, ekagra or the state of concentration, when permanently established, is called sarhprajnatayoga or the trance of meditation, which there is a clear and distinct consciousness of the object of contemplation.

It is known also as samapatti or sarhprajnata saniadhi inasmuch as citta or the mind is, in this state, nearly put into the object and assumes the form of the object itself.

So also the state of niruddha is called asariiprajnata yoga or asariprajnata samadhi, because all mental modificadons are stopped in this state, nothing is known or thought of by the mind.

This is the trance of absorption in which all psychoses and appearances of objects are stopped and there are no ripples in the placid surface of citta or the mind.

Both these kinds of Samadhi are known by the common name of samadhi-yoga or the cessadon of mental modifications, since both conduce to self-realisation.

There are, then, two main kinds of yoga or samadhi, viz. the sarhprajnata and the asariiprajnata. Four kinds of sarhprajnata samadhi are distinguished according to the different objects of contemplation.

It is called savitarka when the mind (citta) is concentrated on any gross physical object of the external world, e.g. the image of a god or goddess.

Having realised the nature of this object, one should concentrate on subtle objects like the tanmatras or subtle essences of the physical elements.

The mind’s concentration on these subtle objects is called savicara samadhi. The next step is to take some subtler objects like the senses and concentrate the mind (citta) on them, till their real nature becomes manifest to it, in what is called sananda samadhi.

The last kind of sarhprajnata samadhi is called sasmita inasmuch as the object of concentration herein is asmita or the ego-substance with which the self is ordinarily identified.

The fruition of this stage of concentration is the realisation of the true nature of the ego. But it also gives us a glimpse of the knowing self as something almost indistinguishable from the ego.

Thus the mind (citta) realises the nature of different objects within or without the body and leaves them behind, one after the other, till it becomes completely free from thoughts of all objects and attains what is called asamprajnata samadhi or yoga par excellence.

It puts a stop to all mental modification and does not rest on any object at all. This is the final stage of samadhi because when it is attained the whole world of objects ceases to affect, and to exist for, the yogin.

In this state, the self abides in its own essence as pure consciousness, enjoying the still vision of isolated self-shining existence. When one attains this state, one reaches the final goal of life, namely, liberation or freedom from all pain and suffering.

All life is a quest of peace and a search for the means thereof. Yoga is one of the spiritual paths that lead to the desired goal of a total extinction of all pain and misery through the realisation of the self distinction from the body, the mind and the individual ego.

But this final goal cannot be attained all at once. Even if it be possible for a self to attain once the state of samadhi and thereby release from pain.

There is the possibility of a relapse and consequent recurrence of pain, so long as all the impressions and tendencies of the mind (citta) due to its past and present deeds are not wiped out.

It requires a long and arduous endeavour to maintain oneself steadily in the state of samadhi and destroy the effects of the different kinds of karma, past and present.

For this it is necessary to practise yoga with care and devotion for a sufficiently long time. The auxiliary means to the practice of yoga will be explained in the next election.