Foundation of Yoga & States of Consciousness

V. VIJNANMAYA KOSA OR THE STATE OF TURIYA CAITANYA

1.93 The fourth state of consciousness is distinct from the other three states, namely those of waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. It represents the vijnanamaya kosa.

1.94 It, indeed, is the creative throb of Consciousness meditated on particularly with reference to the Heart or centre of one’s being, as per the Vedic accounts.

1.95 It tends to take possession of the normal consciousness and becomes its constant associate. It is prabhava or the point of birth of a new consciousness.

1.96 It is called the state of manonmana or turiya-jagrata and is characterised by complete cessation of mental activities.

1.97 In fact, it is the state in which the yogin crosses the boundary of finitude and enters into the infinite, ananta.

1.98 The second sub-state of the turiya is called sarvartha and is supposed to be the playground of Aditi, Infinity, in which everything appears as a creative throb of Consciousness and delight.

1.99 The way to entry into this state is perusal of the inner awareness, surrender or exercise of the Will Power, iccha-sakti.

Tracts on Foundation of Yoga & States of Consciousness - IV

MANOMAYA KOSA OR THE STATE OF DREAMLESS SLEEP

1.69 When consciousness ceases to play the dual role of the subject and the object and withdraws itself entirely to itself, it is known as complete sleep or susupti. Here the cogniser becomes devoid of all contents, support and relation to objects.

1.70 It is called the seed of the universe where everything is merged in consciousness in the form of latent impressions which in the state of wakefulness give rise to the world of differentiated perceptions.

1.71 It is the microscopic equivalent of the state of universal destruction where all experiences of the realm of diversity melt into one or sameness.

1.72 Although the same cognising subject, as present in waking and dreaming states, persists here also, he appears to be absent on account of the absence of the object and the means of knowledge, with which he formerly identified himself.

1.73 In this state, the impurity of individuality continues to have infested the consciousness, leaving it in a state of abysmal emptiness. The individual consciousness in this state is called sunyapramatr.

1.74 In this state, manas is set at rest leaving only prana to function.

1.75 Here memory and its objects remain in the latent form.

1.76 For the yogin, the state of dreamless sleep lies quite close to the integral consciousness, as distinct from the waking and dreaming, since here the subject alone exists. It is called rupastha or restored to its original form because the Cogniser, as the creator of forms, lies in its pure form in this state.

1.77 While an average human being understands this state as one of absence of consciousness, for a yogin it is a kind of samadhi in which he is free of distinction between the subject and the object.

1.78 It is also known as the state of mahavyapti, the state of complete pervasion of consciousness in comparison to the dream state where the pervasion is partial.

1.79 Dreamless sleep, susupti, also has four phases.

1.80 When one is about to enter the state of deep sleep, there is a vague awareness akin to that of wakefulness, as it is potent with the residual impressions of the objective world.

1.81 This is called the emergent, udita, state – a state of susupti-jagrat or waking in dreamless sleep.

1.82 When latent impressions begin to proliferate, subtle traces of perception appear as one with one’s own true nature. This leads to greater self-awareness and brings one closer to higher consciousness. This is the state of susupti-svapna, dream in deep sleep. It is also known as vipula or extensive.

1.83 When residual traces of objective experiences get completely subsided, one has subtle and uninterrupted awareness. That is the state state of susupti-susupti and is also known as santa, tranquil.

1.84 On waking from this state, what the subject has lingering in his mind is a faint experience of sheer blessedness.

1.86 Repeated entry into the bliss of the state of deep sleep within deep sleep makes the experience more and more intense and vivid.

1.87 Finally one reaches the fourth state in deep sleep, susupti-turiya, which is a sub-state of transcendent consciousness and is highly blissful, suprasanna.

1.88 If the individual continues to dwell in this sub-state fully aware of his subjective being and its nature, it has the potentiality of getting matured into samadhi or the state of blessedness.

1.89 Normally, in the case of an individual, manas follows senses in their getting entangled with objects. But in the state of manomaya, the order is reversed inasmuch as here the senses follow the manas.

1.90 It results in further intensification on the focal point of consciousness leading to complete elimination of obstructions in the course of the flow of consciousness. This is vijnanamaya, the state of pure or higher consciousness.

1.91 If an individual were able to retain his awareness on the point between waking and sleeping, he is sure to have the experience of the supreme bliss of Consciousness.

1.92 It serves as the point of entry into the fourth state of consciousness, known as turiya.

(To be Continued....)

Tracts on Foundation of Yoga & States of Consciousness - III

PRANAMAYA KOSA OR THE STATE OF DREAM

1.41 The dream state is the result of interiorisation of consciousness when tending to take rest inside after having moved outside for a certain duration.

1.42 In this state of rest, consciousness withdraws itself inward having dissociated itself from the world of organs of sense and action.

1.43 Here the individual consciousness, ceasing to be the perceiver, turns towards ideation on the basis of mental impressions formed in his consciousness by objects of the external world in the state of wakefulness.

1.44 This state occurs not only while one is asleep but also during the phase of perception in which the external object is represented by its ideas.

1.45 The impurity of karma persists here only as traces while the objects perceived inwardly are illusory creations generated by consciousness in the mind and hence are confined to the dreamer in regard to their perceptibility.

1.46 From the point of view of yoga, this state is higher and subtler than the state of waking consciousness and, as such, it is easier to rise from this to higher states of consciousness.

1.47 On account of this feature of it, it is called, established in itself, padastha or vyapta, pervasive.

1.48 It corresponds to the autonomous cognitive awareness, which is free to pervade everywhere, and is no longer conditioned by the object of knowledge.

1.49 Prana and manas, however, remain active in the state of dream, which has four sub-states.

1.50 First one of these sub-states is svapna jagrat, waking in the state of dream.

1.51 It is the state of vikalpas – ideas, fancies, reveries – independent of the external world and confined only to the dreamer.

1.52 It is also experienced when one is overcome with grief, passion, fear or madness, in which state the dreamer mistakes his mental projections for actual objects.

1.53 In this state, the individual is at times caught in the flux of objective perceptions and at others by the waves of his own mental impressions without being able to differentiate between the two.

1.54 This world of dream appears as real on account of acceleration in the action of the prana and apana. On account of its flexibility, this sub-state is also called gatagata, coming and going or rather one of blinking of consciousness.

1.55 The second sub-state of the state of dream is known as svapna­-svapna, one of dreaming in dream.

1.56 It begins with the dream becoming hazy, disorderly and vague.

1.57 Here the dreamer remains afloat in the flux of consciousness where one thing may be transformed into another without looking strange. As such, it is also known as suviksipta, the sub-state of complete dispersion.

1.58 The third sub-state in this row is known as svapna-susupti, dreamless sleep in the state of dream resulting in enjoyment of peaceful sleep on the part of the dreamer.

1.59 In this state, the subjectivity or pramatrbhava of the cogniser is intense and he is able to examine the situation he find himself in and realise that the objects before him are not really a part of the external world since he is only dreaming.

1.60 Put in this state, the dreamer exercises better control over the series of his dreams by eliminating any incongruity or inconsistency in the motifs of his dream. While lying in this state, he He is able to experience a subtle touch of integrated consciousness. As such, it is also known as sangata or consistent.

1.61 When the dreamer remains fully aware throughout the whole phantasmagoria of dream and knows that he is only dreaming, the sub-state is known as one of witnessing or integrated consciousness, svapna-turiya.

1.62 It is also called the state of witnessing consciousness or integrated consciousness – samahita.

1.63 While the common man considers all these states together as one of simply dream and views various vikalpas of him as lacking in contact with the external world as a whole, the yogin experiences the state of dream as pervaded by his own consciousness.

1.64 The state of dream can be transcended through pranavayu-sthana-kalpana or prana-sandhana. It lies in the fixing of consciousness on the exhalation and inhalation of breath from the centre of the body.

1.65 While breathing-in and out, the individual is advised to maintain his awareness continuously at the meeting point of the incoming and outgoing breaths inside the body.

1.66 Alternatively, he can direct the focus of his consciousness to the point where the expiring and inspiring breaths stop for a split of a second outside the body.

1.67 This sadhana brings subtlety and refinement to the process of breathing with the result that manas or mind becomes cooled down.

1.68 Once one is settled down mentally and the prana becomes refined, one feels as if one were going into the state of sleep or torpor. That, however, is not really so. It is rather the beginning of entrance into the manomaya, the state of consciousness of deep sleep.

(To Be Continued...)

Tracts on Foundation of Yoga & States of Consciousness - II

ANNAMAYA KOSA OR THE STATE OF WAKEFULNESS

1.18 Waking state is that form of awareness, which prevails when the subject’s attention is directed on sensations that come to it through the senses.

1.19 This state is the result of the projection of consciousness on what is sensed by it from the outside via the organs of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. The body, prana, senses and manas remain active in this state.

1.20 Perceptibility of the world outside, indeed, is owing to the cumulative activity of the senses, manas and prana.

1.21 The combine of the three is attended by limitations caused by sensory perception, bodily action and mental modifications leading to obscuration of the true nature of the cogniser.

1.22 From one point of view, this state is called pindastha, that is, the state in which consciousness manifests itself through the body. From a higher point of view, however, it is called sarvatobhadra – all-round auspicious, as it represents the state of consciousness manifest as the ubiquitous fullness of the objective being.

1.23 The waking state has four sub-states depending on the preponderance of anyone of the states of consciousness in it.

1.24 In the state of preponderance of the objective world on it, the sub-state of the waking is called jagrat-jagrat, the waking in the waking. In this sub-state, the objective aspect of the object is most prominent.

1.25 Here the individual’s consciousness works under the effect of perception of the world outside while the individual himself remains confined to his bodily sense at the cost of almost total unawareness of his true nature.

1.26 As such, this state is considered by yogins as abuddha, totally unawakened.

1.27 When the focus of consciousness is shifted from the object to its knowledge, that state is called dream in the waking state which is kindred to the state born of mental impressions or thinking or visualisation where one finds oneself staring at anything absent-mindedly under the effect of absorption in his own thoughts.

1.28 This sub-state is characterised by the prominence of consciousness of the knower in place of that of the world outside.

1.29 This is the Awakened or buddha state for the yogin. It is also known as jagrat-svapna.

1.30 When in the waking state, the knower’s consciousness becomes completely free of the objectivity; there arises a complete blankness.

1.31 This is the sub-state of jagrat-susupti or deep sleep in waking state.

1.32 In this state of absence of objectivity, the yogin remains self-absorbed for a considerably long time enjoying the bliss of oneness of consciousness with everything.

1.33 From the yogin’s viewpoint this sub-state is known as prabuddha or intensively awakened.

1.34 With the preponderance of pramiti, suchness, in it, there arises the fourth sub-state of witnessing consciousness known as suprabuddha or fully awakened. In other words, this sub-state is known as jagrat-turiya, the fourth in the waking state.

1.35 Here the entire objective world appears as a sheer play of Consciousness.

1.36 The annamaya kosa is the proper receptacle of the waking state, as the individual remains engrossed in his body and the corresponding view of the world outside.

1.37 The individual lying in the state of the annamaya, may fruitfully use the subject-object contact as a means to the sadhana for entry into his real nature as is represented by the fourth and the most fundamental state of consciousness.

1.38 It can happen only if the experiencing subject is free of the purposive attitude towards the objective world on account of being satisfied with its sheer knowledge and rests within itself after the rise of cognition.

1.39 This is why meditation is practised on certain crucial points in the body or outside the body. Such techniques are known as sarira-sthana-kalpana, meditation with reference to a particular point in the body.

1.40 These points can be anyone of the five organs of senses or five organs of action, muladhara, navel, heart, throat and the central point between the eyebrows, on account of the cakras formed there.

(To be Continued....)

Tracts on Foundation of Yoga & States of Consciousness - I

Everything emanates from Consciousness
Is sustained in Consciousness,
Abides in Consciousness,
Finally merges in Consciousness,
That which remains ultimately is Consciousness.

1.2 As countless rays emerge from the sun and ripples from the surface of the sea, so emerge from consciousness infinite worlds, including our own.

1.3 In this world the manifestation of consciousness takes two forms, the objective and the subjective. While the objective is the result of objectification of consciousness, the subjective is the consequence of restoration of consciousness to itself.

1.4 The parallelism of the objective and subjective gets graded into four as manifest in the four states of the human consciousness, namely, the waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep and what in the Veda is called the fourth -- turiyam svid (later known as turiya).

1.5 The waking consciousness bears correspondence to the gross physical as available to us through our senses, the dream consciousness does so to the subtle, the consciousness of the state of dreamless sleep runs parallel to the causal while the fourth gets reflected in it on the axis of coincidence the Ultimate Reality itself.

1.6 Due to the parallelism of the subjective and objective and their coincidence in consciousness, every act of perception presupposes the corresponding sense organ while the latter’s power of perceiving anything has its source in manas or mind. Mind, in its turn, is dependent on the real cogniser lying behind it.

1.7. Sense and mind are just tools placed at the disposal of the Cogniser to make contact with the world outside.

1.8 To restore the Cogniser to its integrality is the concern of yoga.

1.9 Yoga is, thus, a system by which the individual consciousness retraces itself to its original state of purity and immensity.

1.10 The Cogniser is essentially self-luminous, self-conscious and free of the limitations of space and time.

1.11 Everything in this universe is interrelated. The bond of relationship is formed by the consciousness which is the secret sutra of the Upanisads.

1.12 Ignorance is caused by the breakage in that bond of interrelatedness.

1.13 Study of scriptures and books of the sort facilitates knowledge of consciousness to some extent but falls short of making us realise it as such.

1.14 Realisation comes only through intense and subtle awareness of one’s inmost core of being. In that core, consciousness lies in its undiluted integrity and is known as the fourth, turiya, as distinct from the remaining three states known as waking, dream and dreamless sleep (jagrat, svapna and susupti).

1.15 Inward movement to that core is undertaken successively via the annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, and vijnanamaya kosas which form different grades of our being.

1.16 Normally, our states of wakefulness, dream and profound sleep bring interruption in the free flow of consciousness. The interruption is caused by transition from one state of consciousness to the other.

1.17 All states of consciousness (waking, dream and deep sleep) are ascertained with reference to the Cogniser.

(To be continued.....)

Tracts on Aditi (Creatrix)

The infinity of consciousness tending to creation becomes finite and individualistic. It becomes individualistic by virtue of having become self-centric while finite on account of identifying itself with whatever it projects itself on.

This hrdaya of Consciousness is treated as feminine on account of being creative, that is why She is called the Creatrix or Aditi in the Vedas. She is eternally constant in her original status yet successive in her creative movement.

In the form of expansion, emanation etc., from the earth up to the stage of self-realisation, the creative movement is meant for her self-expression both in the form of action and its consciousness.

The self-expression of her is mystifying as well as revelatory of her.

Her mysteriousness is maintained by the golden light around her real nature lying in transcendence of all as well as in the inmost being of all.

The universe unfolds forth into being and continues in existence as per her wishes to remain self-expressed and is withdrawn to into her when she chooses to remain self-withdrawn.

She is absolutely autonomous in herself and this autonomy, however, She serves as the law of universal dynamics, Rta, in the creative process.

Space, time and form are vitalised by her pulsation and are not capable of penetrating its real nature.

On account of being all pervading, eternal, and complete as well as the Heart of Consciousness and the foundation of the universe, She is characterized as the hŗdaya in the Kathopanisad.

Her role lies in bringing to light new objects in the universe, in the form of the knower, knowledge and the objects of knowledge.

On account of her being all-encompassing, any amount of proof for her existence as an entity, substance or being is inadequate in proving her as such, since any such proof to prove itself as such would have to involve extrapolation and interpolation which is impossible of her.

While acceding to contraction or limitation by concealing her real nature, she makes two sorts of movement. Some times flashes with the predominance of consciousness, at other times, she appears with predominance of limitation. Thus is her inherent nature.

Being the nature of sound or Vāk, She brings into manifestation the sphere of limited experient, through successive phases of ever-new mental activity.

When exalted, emits the universe out of herself, having allowed herself to get individualised, on other hand, she manifests herself as inner organs, outer organs, and the objects to be perceived through the organs.

Appears as the body as well as the psychic apparatus forming the individual personality while the body serves as her receptacle of her limited formation on the one hand, the psychic apparatus acts as the core of the personality on the other.

As intellect, makes distinction between the subject and the object, between one object and the other so on and so forth.

In the form of manas, she prepares the background for the operation of the intellect.

This is how she keeps herself involved in her universal manifestation along with its cognisance.

Acting as the organs of senses, she supplies manas with the raw data in the form of sensation to operate on in its search for various possibilities.

The psychic apparatus helps her in her cause of differentiation, as intellect she makes distinction between the subject and the object, between one object and the other so on and so forth.

As manas conceals her true nature by non-difference, as outer senses whose main function is perception of difference, as knowable objects, which have the nature of differentiated appearances all round.

Thus, in this way she deludes the heart of creatures by concealing her true nature while exalting herself into limitation, she partially veils her nature.

Aditi, Indrāni, Rudrāni, Uma Haimavati, Pārvati, Lakşmi, Saraswati, Kali, Radha, maya, cidrupini, sakti, vimarsa, parāvāk, manomanā, pratibhā svatantrya, aisvarya, sphuratta, amŗta, sāra, hŗdaya, spanda unmani, citi-śaktī, Prakriti of the Bhagavadgita, kundalini, Sakti, Dus Mahavidya, etc. are her synonyms.

Tract on Individual Consciousness (atman)

Integral Consciousness working through the individual with the individual as its centre is known as individual consciousness. It is called atma on account of fluxes; when its rests in its purity, it is called paramatman.

Buddhi, ahankara, manas and sense organs serve as the apparatus of its functioning. Knowledge of this consciousness remains confined to the modes of its psychic apparatus while its desires are normally linked with the pleasures of sense objects. Under their fascination, it wanders from one form of existence to another.

Bondage is mainly due to lack of discernment between one’s real nature and the accretions settled on it.

Pleasure is a manifestation of the innate blissfulness of the Self. The bliss gets diluted into pleasure due to the limitation of the senses acting as the channel of its manifestation. Feeling of outer pleasure comes from the objects of senses while inner pleasure comes from getting what one wants.

Its desires are associated with the pleasures of sense objects. On account of their influence, it wanders from one form of existence to another.

Pain is a miserable state that arises when one fails to get what he wants or loses something which is dear to him. Main types of pain are: dullness and hurt on the pride of self, caste, creed, nation, etc.

Delusion is false identification with the body or consideration for it as something permanent. The delusion gets magnified when one identifies oneself with the objects in the world outside. Darkness is hate for all who harm oneself or one’s family or torture or hate one’s body. Binding darkness is the fear of death.

This consciousness is not a series of sparks of nerves and neurons but a limited formation of the integral consciousness as such, acting as the perceiver.

Ignorance of the true nature of consciousness is the factor of limitation on account of which the knowledge becomes shorn of wholeness. It is of two types, one in considering the real self as the not-self and the other in taking not-self as the real self.

Conditioning of consciousness to limitations of individuality is bondage. The limitation is threefold, caused first by self-concealment, the second by the space-time continuum and the third by ideation.

Penetration into the shades of meaning of words by the listener brings feelings of sorrow, pride, joy and passion to his mind and not only deprives him of the inner integrality of consciousness, but also turns him extrovert.

Exposure of the child indiscriminately to various happenings around it proves confusing to it and arouses in it fantasies and fears which are quite avoidable.

Under the scheme of Yoga, faculties of right discernment and constant awareness should be developed in the child right from the very beginning. This, if followed properly, would give rise to the kind of wisdom which would withstand the onslaught of forces adverse to it.

Entry into pure consciousness is transformatory of one’s being by bringing constancy within and dynamism without, as also by giving rise to virtues such as compassion, love, non-violence, etc.

The veilment ideation is five types, namely, sense-ideation born out of pleasures of senses, parental conditioning, religious conditioning, societal conditioning and political conditioning.

These ideations are acquired from an early formative age. Of these conditioning Matrka or Vac is the presiding deity. She is called Matrka because she is unknown that brings about knowledge in limited form. Such knowledge is subtle or in a concretely expressed form because words are the basis of all limited knowledge hence one is deprived of the inner non-difference since without ceasing for a moment one’s knowledge is turned outward.


Ideational limitations can be overcome through the practice of mantra yoga as also through right thinking and proper discernment.

One automatically seeks to be in tune with the ananda inherently present in the integral consciousness, but gets derailed in his search for it due to the limitations of his consciousness and starts expecting for it from somewhere outside himself.

Such a conditioned individual is called in yogic terminology atman, jiva, citta-pramatta, pasu, anu, puryastaka, citta, etc.

Yogic techniques played an important role in ancient Indian education which emphasised that the body is the temple of the consciousness and should be respected, maintained properly. Thus, life is a privilege offered to an individual to enjoy and grow in consciousness and by no means is a state of bondage to groan under nor is a curse to suffer nor is it given to throw away carelessly.

Tract on Sex

Desire for sex arouses commotion in the mind on account of its responsibility to carry onward the process of creation. It needs to be brought under constant awareness instead of being sought to be inhibited.

Total inhibition of sex has been an impossibility even in the case of Vedic seers as per the testimony of Lopamudra, the wife of seer Agastya as well as of Cudala wife of Shikhidvaja. Lopamudra envisioned man as abounding in the desire for sex.

At the time of sexual intercourse, there is brought about an excitement and the final delight that ensues at orgasm betoken the delight of Brahman. This delight is that of one’s own Self. It has not come from anything external.

Man and woman are only an occasion for the manifestation of delight. Even in the absence of either of them, there is a flood of delight simply on account of memory in full measure of sexual pleasure in the form of kissing, embracing, pressing, etc. Thus it is evident that the delight is inherent within.

It is the delight of the flash of turiya – the transcendental fourth state of consciousness. Everybody experiences the fleeting emergence of this state as a sudden and powerful as flash of lightning whenever one delights in any sensation. Though this bliss appears only for a fraction, one should vitalise oneself with it through more and more awareness of that bliss which exists within.

The sensations which pour into consciousness, either through outer senses or the mind, as memories or imagined forms are influxes of the dynamics of consciousness which arouse consciousness and heighten its inner vitality.

Therefore, one should meditate on the condition of this joy, only then one would become full of great bliss by being permanently established in the transcendental Fourth state of consciousness.

Free sex results in deviation from the path of yoga. Inhibition of the desire for sex ends in the formation of complexes. Instead of inhibition, it needs to be sublimated.

Formation of complex leads the individual to doom, while dissolution of it results in emancipation.

Tract on Depression & Its Remedy

Depression is an offshoot of desires remaining unfulfilled in spite of intense longing for them.

Its remedy lies in the vital reverting to its root which is consciousness in all its immensity.

On ascendancy of determination to this end, the sense of guilt, as the cause of depression becomes subsided.

Meditation on the boundless consciousness incarnate conceived as aditi can redeem one of one’s depressive psychoses to its last trace.

Vices like lust, anger, greed, perplexity, enmity, jealousy, etc. are hindrances in the restoration of the individual to his innate nature which is pure consciousness.

Interiorisation of consciousness is the way to ascend its state of infinity. Restoration of oneself to the universal self through meditation, results in the dissolution of complexes, removal of depression and attainment of redemption.

Tract on Buddhi And Manas

When the individual consciousness faces objects, it throws its light on the latter. The light is reflected back by the object, giving rise to sensory image. Thus, it is the Consciousness itself which assumes the form of the object in one’s perception of it in the world outside.

It is in distinction of the objects reflected in consciousness that there is formed the sense of “I”, making the Consciousness concentric and limited to it. Conversely, the sense of “I” itself may be taken as instrumental in the reflection and consequent formation of the image of the world outside. The sense of “I” is the seed of the idea of jiva created in the midst of the all-encompassing consciousness.

Citta is really Cit, consciousness as such, carved out of the source through the operation of the sense of “I” known as ahankara.

The same sense acts as manas while oscillating indecisively between alternatives. The factor of decisiveness in the “I” sense is known as buddhi.

The “I” sense seeking to have an actual feel of the world outside gets channelised diversely in the form of the senses.

Individual consciousness and objects in the world outside are extensions of consciousness. If they may appear as illusory, that is due to consciousness being all-in-all.

Citta is the screen being reflected on which consciousness assumes the form of manas and buddhi.

Manas and buddhi are centres of storage, association, organisation and operation of sensations, perception, thoughts and ideas.

Consciousness itself reflects on its own objectivity and contracts itself down to the level of an object of thought and then assumes the form of an individual consciousness as a thinking subject.

Each wave that rises and reaches its peak finally to fall on the surface of consciousness, this happens when the individual consciousness is intent on the objectivity, which is the domain of physical objects.

The extrovert consciousness is discursive while the introvert is reflective.

Each thought that rises in succession can be transcended, if the individual consciousness lays its focus on the gap between the two risings.

The yogi, however, achieves this by withdrawing awareness channelised outside through the sense-mind and the senses.
Focussing of the awareness at the navel or the heart via the passage of inhalation and exhalation; leads to the development of sense of detachment towards objects of the world outside.

Being thus detached from its association with objects in the external world, manas participates by gradually raising the awareness to the level beyond thought constructs that leads eventually to the realisation of consciousness in its boundlessness which is the ultimate end of the discipline of yoga.

Modifications or vrittis such as pleasure, passion, anger, greed, fear, happiness, are veils shrouding one’s true nature.

A yogi becomes conscious of them at the point of their rising and, if aroused at all, manages to transcend them altogether.
He achieves this through the application of constant flow of consciousness in coordination with the rhythm of the breath from the moment of its emergence, movement up to cessation.

Tract on Satsang or Association with the Enlightened

Company of the wise or enlightened helps in one’s quest for one’s fundamental nature as also in the mitigation of the psychological distress coming in the way of the quest.

In yogic sadhana, it is much more useful than such practices as charity, austerity, pilgrimage and performance of religious rites on account of its direct bearing on that sadhana.

One should strive to be in the company of the wise and enlightened, who has realised the truth and from whose heart darkness of ignorance has been dispelled.

The aspirant needs to approach such an enlightened guide in a right and positive attitude of mind and heart so as to make best use of the contact with him. Approached thus, he is most likely to remove the doubt, like the sun dispelling the darkness.

Satsang, however, needs to be followed by proper action as per the instruction of the wise lest it gets reduced to a sheer pastime.

Tract on Brahmacharya

Brahmacarya is the process of making manas and prana tend towards Brahman, the Reality characterised by consciousness as well as existence and bliss.

Instinct for sex has the potentiality of getting sublimated into the universal creativity.

Brahmacarya is a pre-requisite of acquisition of real knowledge.

Sheer abstention from the act of sex is no brahmacarya at all.

Complete abstention from sex is also not possible without manas and prana getting associated with Consciousness.

Tract on Kundalini

Kundalini is the creative freedom of unity consciousness -- consisting of the union of the three levels of existence viz., unity consciousness, unity in diversity and diversity, i.e. advaita, dvait-advaita, and dvaita.

She being the supreme consort of Consciousness emits the entire universe out of her womb, beginning with the power of the Will right up to the gross object of perception. As the goddess presiding over those subjects to the incessant round of transmigration, she creates for the ignorant a world of diversity and illusion, while on the other hand is the bestower of unity-consciousness to those who have overcome ignorance.

This vitality which is the inner urge of Consciousness emanates all things that constantly pours out from the heart of Consciousness and resounds within It as the highest form of speech -- paravak.

In her supreme form, kundalini is known as para kundalini -- one with integral consciousness as its innate bliss. She is the heart of Consciousness that contains the entire universe within itself as the pure awareness which encompasses and transcends subject, object and means of knowledge. It is this bliss of cosmic Consciousness – jagadananda -- which the yogin experiences when he attains liberation. As such, she is the universal vibration through which the universe is created and destroyed.

She is a great ocean endowed with countless attributes. Spanda, pulse or throb of Consciousness being her nature, she empowers the senses and mantras with consciousness.

As the dynamics of Consciousness, she empowers mantra. From her all mantras are created and to her they return. This mantric energy gives life to all living beings, and is the essence of all consciousness which is increasingly, manifestly apparent to the degree which it perceives itself in the pure awareness.

Basically mantra denotes vacaka and manifests initially as diverse and once it has performed its function it becomes one with its denoted object which is the pulsing radiance of the reflective awareness of unity consciousness.

In this process, first, the bindu which is the energy of the supreme speech, paravak, unfolds as the pasyanti, which is free of the sequence and distinction that obtains between words and their denoted meaning.

This happens when the light of consciousness, replete with the supreme resonance, paranada comes to prominence after the bindu; unfolding power of the action penetrates and assumes the nature of the subtle inner being of the vital breath. The vital breath or prana is the first transformation of consciousness.

The second stage is the madhyama – the inner speech of thought. The basis of which is the intellect and the other faculties of the manas. It is called madhyama because in this state the succession of words and meanings are indistinct and are not articulate speech but are clearly apparent as thought-constructs.

Finally, vaikhari develops with the organ of speech as its basis and consists of words articulated in a clear sequence. It is through this process that all speech and thought are vitally linked with absolute Consciousness as well as mantras.

This development finds a parallel in the progressive rise of kundalini -- the supreme power that lies dormant in the conditioned or partial veiled consciousness.

In her creative aspect, she veils the integral Consciousness and manifests as the absolute while in her destructive aspect she reveals the nature of integral Consciousness. This destructive power of para kundalini withdraws diversity into the unity consciousness and thereby creates a universe at one with consciousness.

Carries out this function in her aspect as Malini -- the highest state of which is the experience of the undivided light of consciousness present in all the letters and phases of cosmic process they represent.

Creative form of her is matrika which is full of the supreme effulgence of consciousness that pervades the entire universe of letters.

As the supreme emissive power, visarga sakti of consciousness that arouses integral Consciousness from the rest it enjoys in Its own nature and unites with it to give rise to the body of letters. At this stage, kundalini is described as the supreme resonance of reflective awareness eternally manifest as the single phonemic power, varna which is the undivided essence of the energies of all letters. This is the unstruck sound of anahata and the supreme hamsa -- the source and resting place of the life of every living being. She is known as hamsa on account of her intimate association with vitality and breathing.

As the supreme form of speech and the source of all lower orders of speech, she is also the supreme form of breath, the vehicle through which speech is generated.

It is in this form, she rests in a potential state in the body and sleeps at the muladhara which is situated at the base of the genital organs, coiled like a snake around sivabindu. This is the form in which cosmic energy resides in the body.

When she awakens, the individual consciousness unites with universal consciousness and man discovers his cosmic nature.

The world of diversity is withdrawn and a new world of uninterrupted blissful experience is emitted, thus, she is the vital link that unites the microcosm with the macrocosm. Permeating at both the levels, she makes the transition from individual to universal consciousness possible. She is the creator of all gods, worlds, mantras and categories of existence.

The unconscious rise of kundalini from muladhara where she rests as the supreme form of speech is actually a movement from the supramental state to that of articulate speech. This process is constantly repeated whenever one speaks; only the yogin is consciously aware of it. This movement kundalini, in all its phases is spontaneous and universal deployment of emanation for an ordinary person while for the yogin it occurs through the agency of his will.

Unconscious rise of kundalini thus marks the emanation of the energy of the letters as the forces which bind individual consciousness. While the conscious rise of her, marks the dissolution of these binding forces and the creation.

Kundalini is beyond the bounds of scriptural injunction, -- wrapping herself inwardly around the bindu and slumbers there in the form of a sleeping serpent and is aware of nothing at all. She can only be awakened by the resonance of supreme awareness. Pierced in this way, the subtle power of kundalini is aroused. When aroused in such a manner, she is accompanied by brilliant sparks of light and sound like black bee.

The immortal kundalini now straightened and further agitated by rising is called rekhini that absorbs both points of subjectivity and objectivity, converting them into their true nature.

The rising of the kundalini is the awakening of the wheel of matrika because which was earlier unconscious movement of the wheel now becomes conscious process of creation and withdrawal.

The yogin whose kundalini has arisen, all that he thinks, utters, hears, speaks or reads is experienced as a liberating mantra. Thus this matrka sakti is the power of action of Consciousness which liberates the yogin while bounds the ignorant in the ocean of the constant fluctuating world.

Kundalini is known throughout the ages by different names, namely, She is Aditi, Usas, Vac of the Vedas, Uma Haimavati of the Upanishads, Para Prakrti of the Bhagavadgita, Shakti, Uma, Bhairavi, Tara, Kali, Tripursundari, Bagalamukhi of the Tantras, Lakshmi of Vaisnavas , Maya of Sankara, nitya-vibhuti of Ramanuja,.

Indrani, Rudrani, Parvati, Saraswati, Radha, cidrupini, Vimarsa, manomana, pratibha, svatantrya, aisvarya, sphuratta, amrta, sara, hrdaya, spanda unmani, citi-sakti etc. are Her synonymns.

Tract on Cognition

Objects are fabrications of the light of consciousness. Cognitive process involves rise of determinate cognition, which is preceded by the indeterminate.

This indeterminate has four stages, viz., tendency to rise, commencement of the process of rising, completion of the process of rising and discharge of its causal function.

Ordinarily a perceiver is not conscious of these four stages of his consciousness. Each perceived object is a momentary collocation of a number of variegated manifestations.

This world of limited manifestations is experienced in two ways, unveiled and partially veiled.

In unveiled experience the external objects are perceived or apprehended as merged in the cosmic consciousness and in partially veiled as external objects.

In between these two experiences, there are innumerable forms of experiences which are different from one another.

In the manifestation, both individual subjects and objects are manifested universally as in the case of aesthetic experience of drama and poetry.

At empirical level or ordinary experience, they are manifested as individuals.

When this power of consciousness is active, it reacts to the external objects, to perform different perceptual and physical actions. This knowledge is simply an affected state of consciousness. Shifting of attention from one object to another is not usually taken notice of. One act of knowledge fades into the next.

These acts of knowledge are so interlinked to each other that it is not possible to say exactly when one act of knowledge begins and the other ends.

It is overcome when we become aware of the gap between any two items arising in each succession of determinate knowledge, and we are thrown to our true nature.

Process of knowing rises like two waves, the subjective and the objective in the sea of cosmic consciousness.

The subjective wave has the capacity to receive the reflection while the objective to appear as the object of it which leads to its cognition.

The act of knowing consists not in bringing the subject and the object closer to each other culminating in the identity of the two. What actually results out of unification of the two is pure consciousness.

The process of memory is the power of consciousness, which can retain the effects of the external stimuli received at the time of perception and is able to revive them at the time of subsequent perception of a similar thing so as to make the unification of the experiences of the present and the past possible.

The process of differentiation is that function of consciousness which makes out each manifestation as either subject or object.

When all projections get dissolved, there arises the true nature of consciousness.

Since manifestation is the very nature of consciousness, it is natural for it to assume all possible forms. This nature of consciousness differentiates Itself from what is not self.

Now, if the Consciousness appears in all perceptible forms, it may be seem to be of transitory nature. This apprehension loses its ground as soon as one realises the all-comprehensiveness of consciousness since there is nothing apart from consciousness which may require to be represented by it.

It is by virtue of getting manifested that what is inherent in consciousness appears as different from it like our own ideas at the time of imagination or dream.

Just as nothing is lost nor anything gets added to the sea with the rise and fall of waves even so there is no substantial loss or gain to the Consciousness due to the manifestation of forms.

Each manifestation subsists in Consciousness as its inherent attributes, in the same way as our ideas subsist within us before being expressed.

The terms “real” and “unreal” are inadequate to define this relationship between consciousness and its manifestation.

Therefore, consciousness is beginningless, endless and independent of all what appears as other than it. It contains within it all that is in existence by virtue of being existence as well as itself.

Hence, manifestation is its illumination like sun of the sun, which sees and knows through the agency of the individual. As such, there is nothing which can know consciousness except for consciousness itself.

Therefore, the knowledge of consciousness is an act of consciousness looking at consciousness.

This holds good on all levels of existence, be it perceptual, mental, ideational or spiritual.

Perception is made possible only when consciousness operates on the sensory data via manas. Even the non-being owes its existence to consciousness on account of being just ideational.

The nature of consciousness is thus self-luminous, self-conscious and free from limitations of time and space.

The process by which one can know one’s true nature is move within oneself even at the time of perceiving of an object in the world outside. This is the yogic process, i.e. being constantly conscious.

Tract on Prana, Nada and Kundalini

Currents of Prana are the expression of the vibration of consciousness.

The extreme grossness that the currents assume is called susi or cavity and serves as a channel that connects different parts of the body together.

The physical gets interlinked in itself as well as with the vital on account of the breath serving as an agent of the vital.

The vital derives its power of connectivity from consciousness which is an undivided continuum of being and becoming.

The reality in all its formations is interlinked by a contiguous chain whose contiguity rests on the immutable law of the universal force of consciousness constituting the basis of the unity of all things.

Discontinuity in the experience of the unity of consciousness is the result of disruption in the flow of this force by factors, mental, vital and physical.

These turbulences disturb the unity of consciousness by splitting it up into disparate elements.

This marks a transition from continuum to process.

The dynamics of consciousness becomes manifest in the unending cycle of creation and destruction stretching from the infinite to the infinitesimal.

The process of differentiation among organic beings starts with the emergence of the vital breath from Consciousness.

In its descent from the higher regions, consciousness gives life to the mental, sensation and motor reaction to the body through the nadis which serve as a channels through which it takes the form of nada, the vitalising resonance of awareness.

The body of the individual thus becomes the temple of Consciousness along with head as the treasure-chest of it.

Nadis are the channels of consciousness serving as the base of the latter in its operation on the mental, vital and physical planes.

These are principally ten in number and radiate in a circle from the navel.

From the navel these travel to all parts of the body branching out into 72,000 and permeating the body and ensuring free circulation of the vital breath to every part of the organism.

Each one of the branches is as subtle as a part of hair divided lengthwise into a thousand.

These have a fluid of several colours flowing through them.

The fluid is the bearer of sensations, motor reactions as well as of memories.

Of the ten primary channels, three are the most important for the practice of Yoga.

Out of these three, the most important is susumna which extends from the brahmarandhra or cavity of Brahman to the genital region like the central rib of a leaf.

It is through this nadi that the vital-force of consciousness moves down throughout the body, and through it rises up again as the prana kundalini.

The purpose of its upward movement is to get restored to its original status in consciousness and reunite the microcosm with the macrocosm.

Susumna nadi is also known as cinnadi and jnanasutra, the string of consciousness.

To the left and the right of susumna run ida and pingala nadis for descent and ascent of breath and sustenance of life.

When the vital breath travels through the susumna on the level of consciousness, the yogin enters into the cidakasa resulting in the expansion of his awareness.

By fixing his attention on the void between the breaths, the yogin experiences expansion of consciousness in the midst of the two.

The process of descent gets then reversed as the bodily consciousness merges into thought, thought into mind and mind into the Heart of consciousness.

The irregularity in the movement of the breath is thus eliminated.

Then the yogin breathes freely with mindfulness and experiences inner peace, citta visranti.

Penetrating deeper into the primeval source of energy permeating the breath, the kundalini rises upward and the two breaths combined are sucked into the susumna.

On the completion of this process, the yogin is taken effortlessly to the highest level of consciousness, along the passage of breath having got transformed into the dynamics of the space-time continuum.

The triad of nadis gets unified and the yogin becomes one with the power of consciousness, the source of the flow of breath.

The vital breath appears as prana and apana with the function of exhalation and inhalation. Since it imparts life, it is known as prana. It is the first manifestation of consciousness.

The main characteristic of prana is to rise upward and give rise to sound.

Functionally diversified, it is known by different names such as prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana.

Fixing of consciousness on different pranas results in the experience of ananda or delight of various kinds.

When mind rests only on the subject of experience, then the ananda experienced is known as nijananda.

The delight experienced by contemplation over the absence of all objects of experience is known as nirananda.

Contemplation jointly on prana and apana leads to the delight of parananda.

When one’s attention rests on samana, there is the delight of brahmananda.

Having dissolved all knowledge and objects of knowledge in his consciousness, the yogin, resting in the udana, experiences the delight of mahananda.

When the yogin’s consciousness rests on the vyana, the delight experienced is known as cidananda.

After experiencing these kinds of delight or ananda, the yogin realises his prana-sakti in its fullness, and has the experience of jagadananda which is integral.

It flashes all around as sheer consciousness, manifesting itself as knower, means of knowledge, and object of knowledge.

The yogin’s consciousness expands in the experience of the nectar of bliss of the absolute sovereignty in which there is no need of meditation or yoga.

This exercise on prana is known as pranasandhana or pranayoga and is quite different from pranayama, if the latter is taken in its literal sense of an exercise of breath control.

Prana in its subtle form is known as nada or varna. It is neither produced nor can it be stopped by anyone.

It is called varna since all the letters of the alphabet lie latent in it. From this imperceptible anahata nada originate all the letters of the alphabet.

This nada is experienced through intensive awareness.

Through intensive awareness the yogin becomes mindful of the subtle sound emanating from the movement of his breath.

Through the unification of the sound sa produced by exhalation and ha produced by inhalation in the same continuation, there is born spontaneously the mantra hamsa, and is known as ajapa-japa.

Bindu represents the individual consciousness while apana or incoming breath stands for aditi or dynamics or throb or heart of consciousness. Prana, the outgoing breath, likewise represents daksa or integral consciousness. In Tantras, they represent jiva, Sakti and Siva respectively.

This mantra is repeated in every round of expiration and inspiration. By awareness of this process, prana and apana become equipoised.

Then arises kundalini which lies at the base of the spine. By the rise of kundalini a number of pleasant sounds are heard.

The yogin, however, is advised not to get indulged in the hearing of these sounds. Instead of that, he is expected to focus his attention on the anahata nada itself.

Through concentration on this nada, his limited consciousness gets dissolved and he has the experience of pure consciousness, visuddha caitanya.

The awakened kundalini pierces the cakras, namely, the muladhara, svadhisthana, manipura, anahata, visuddha and ajna successively and enters finally into the sahasrara and makes the yogin experience the ambrosia of immortality.

Nadis and cakras are not anything gross physical. These are extensions of prana and form part of the pranamaya kosa.

Cakras are seats of the vital energy. They are called cakras because they are concentric. They serve as centres of distribution of prana in the pranamaya kosa and through it in the physical body.

Nada is subtle at the stage of madhyama and gets further subtilised to the extent of inaudibility after reaching the stage of pasyanti.

Pasyanti is called so because here nada gets transformed into jyoti, light, and is revealed as such to the inner eye of the yogin.

Visibility of the Light has the pre-requisite of cessation of all the vikalpas of mind resulting in one’s restoration to one’s true nature.

Hamsa is the manifestation of nada serving as the basis of life while pranava stands for its unstruck form known as anahata.

Intensive awareness of pranava results in the audition of nine nadas manifesting in succession as bindu, ardha candra, rodhini, nada, nadanta, sakti, vyapini, samana and unmana.

While samana represents the stage of realisation of the essential self, unmana stands for the access to consciousness in its omnipresence.

Reaching this stage of culmination, yoga becomes sahaja, spontaneous.

Yoni mudra is the technique of access to the anahata nada. It lies in closing the ears with the thumbs and exercising the will power for hearing the sound emanating from the depth of consciousness known technically as heart.

According to Maitrayani Upanisad, this sound bears resemblance to that of river, ball, tin-pot, wheel, croaking of frogs, rain and to one heard in a closed space.

The anahata is also called Sabda Brahman and serves as the basis of realisation of the Reality in Its highest ontological sense known as Para Brahman.

Here all the experiences of the yogin merge into the highest form of bliss like juices sucked from various sources and deposited in the comb by the honeybee resulting in its transformation into the honey.

Nada sadhana has been called nadanusandhana and surati sabda yoga by Sankara and Kabir respectively and also is the secret behind of the Zen Koan -- the sound of one hand clapping.

Thus, prana, nada and kundalini are interrelated with one another.

Tract on Teacher of Yoga

Teacher of yoga is distinct from the rest of his clan. He needs to be potent enough to strike at the root of consciousness.

He needs to be gracious towards all indiscriminately. It depends on the receptivity of the person concerned whether the guru’s shower of grace benefits him or not.

He acts as the supervisor and guide of the student in determining the course and direction of the flow of the student’s consciousness towards the particular object after it is withdrawn from diffusion.

He is one who removes the ignorance of his disciple by teaching him the true nature of reality and revealing to him the pervasive oneness of consciousness.

This he accomplishes mostly via a particular mantra imparted to the disciple for being kept burning, as it were, constantly in the psychic horizon of him.

The right teacher is he who himself has realised the Ultimate Reality; anyone lesser than that does not deserve the title.

An unworthy teacher is not only unable to raise the seeker to higher levels but also obscures and clouds further his consciousness with doubts.

In the quest for the integral consciousness, the seeker may be led from one teacher to another until he gets fully satisfied.

Just as a bee desirous of nectar, goes from flower to flower, so an aspirant of knowledge may have to go from teacher to teacher until he gets fully satisfied in his quest.

A true teacher is an embodiment of integral consciousness which annuls the diversity into the supreme unity in respect of all the three aspects of the reality, that is, existence, consciousness and bliss.

It is only through such a teacher that the reality gets revealed and one recognises oneself in one’s essential being.

The guru can remove false identification of the seeker with things in the world outside, that is, paurusa ajnana provided the aspirant has already got rid of his intellectual ignorance to a considerable extent through his own effort.

Both sorts of ignorance, however, are removable only through the grace of the Supreme Teacher seated in the interior of consciousness of the seeker himself.

It is only towards the end that the aspirant comes to discover that the real teacher is none other than He Himself who is seated in the inmost chamber of consciousness beaming out sometimes as the supernal light.

Coming to this end, the realisation comes that it is the integral consciousness itself which assumes the form of the teacher and the aspirant.

Thus, the real dialogue between the teacher and the taught is held within the consciousness itself playing the role of both the parties of the dialogue. By means of this dialogue consciousness enlightens the consciousness itself.

As consciousness acts in the capacity of both the subject and the object, it can play the role of both, the teacher and the taught.

Thus, at the highest level of sadhana, the Teacher infuses this awareness into the disciple directly so that he rises in an instant to the recognition that he and the teacher are one.

Until that highest state of yogic sadhana is attained, however, the difference between the teacher and the taught is not only inevitable but also needs to be treated as most cherishable by evoking in the mind of the taught due regard for the teacher as his guide and saviour.

Tract on Detachment

Senses tend to move outward since they draw their food from outside.

Manas follows the senses in their involvement with their respective objects while Buddhi follows the indications of manas.

The organs of senses suffer constantly a conflict between joy and sadness and vice versa, lust and detachment and vice versa. Opposites are always in conflict.

The yogin does not get himself entangled in the conflict, but remains relaxed during their risings and becomes a witness to this war. He does not permit his consciousness to waver on either of the sides.

Attachment to objects of senses, manas and buddhi is the main obstruction on the path of Yoga.

Before understanding how one can become detached, it is essential to understand the functioning of the mind.

Mind is somewhat antithetical in its behaviour inasmuch as the more we seek to make it detach itself from a particular object, the more it seeks to cling to the same.

Accordingly, one may get more and more deeply engrossed in attachment while seeking to detach oneself from a particular object, even or notion.

Conversely, he may become completely detached from the same in the midst of his deepest attachment.

This is how the mind works and yogins are perfectly aware of it.

The Upanishads are of the view that one should develop detachment in course of attachment and hence enjoyment.

This can be done through the development of self-awareness in course of enjoyment.

Withdrawal of the focus of attention from the diversity instantaneously is a difficult proposition. A rare example of it is seer Vamadeva, who realised in one stroke the unity of multiple principles of existence.

The gradual assimilation of the diversity into one’s consciousness takes place in two ways, through cittam jyohomi or layabhavana – meditation of dissolution, or through meditation on the fire of consciousness.


Method of dissolution is a form of contemplative awareness through which the outward movement and progressive differentiation of consciousness is reversed in successive stages.

The yogin meditates on the deployment of consciousness as it emerges from itself through the flux of perception ranging from the level of pure awareness to gross objects.

He visualises in his body the emergence of lower elements from the higher and thus strengthens and extends his unifying awareness.

He moves from gross elements – the physical body -- to pure sensations, from sensations to the senses and mind, etc. back to their primeval source with the result that finally the mind gets dissolved.

He rises from the embodied subjectivity of the waking state to the Fourth State where he is at one with the all-pervading which initiates the creative vision of consciousness.

The second method is meditation on the fire of consciousness which involves visualisation of the fire of consciousness, arising from the toe of the right foot and traversing throughout the body as also the latter’s getting burnt by it.

After the burning of the body what remains, is only the undifferentiated consciousness witnessing things and happenings with a perfect sense of detachment, saksibhava.

Developing the witnessing state is the real detachment, wherein consciousness is no more fettered by fluxes and rests in its tranquillity and bliss.

Tract on Space and Time

Time is a formulation of Consciousness.

There are two ranges of Consciousness, the Temporal and the Non-Temporal.

Aditi, the infinite Creatrix, is the consciousness responsible for bringing the non-temporal to the range of the temporal.

The universe is her wheel rolling on the path of time so as to serialise the manifestation of consciousness in temporal succession.

This serialisation of the unmanifest into the manifest is a shift from being to becoming.

The creative dynamism of consciousness, thus, assumes the form of energy in action in the world outside.

Thus Consciousness projects its content diversely on the screen of the universal canvas owing to its tendency of creative manifestation.

It creates the diversity of manifestations, giving rise to time through serialisation.

Time and Diversity are two sides of the same coin. Time is marked by succession of events while the diversity is created through the operation of the tool of succession on the canvas of space.

Due to this sort of relationship between Time and Diversity, all that is objectively manifest is conditioned by Time.

Aditi, as the source of the creative dynamics of Consciousness, is the eternal status beyond time as well as succession in time.

Affirming externally as an objective reality the succession and non-succession both she bears within herself, settles the universe in the space-time continuum and brings forth and dissolves the universe well within herself.

One, who knows this, gets firmly established in Yoga by virtue of having got intimated himself with the supreme unifying principle operating behind the temporal succession as well as the spatial diversification.

In Time is recollected the Timelessness and in the axle of the wheel of Time lies embedded the Immortality.

A yogin reaches the Timelessness by taking hold of the string of Time and is able to dwell in the non-spatial by having found out the source of space.

One of the tools at his disposal for accomplishing all this is his breath as the cycle of his breathing determines his sense of time to a great extent.

The three breaths – inhalation, exhalation and the one that rises in the midst of the two correspond to the past, present and future.

These correspond also to the cycle of perception consisting of the events of sense and object contact, sustenance and dissociation.

Thus, perceiving and breathing are enacted with reference to the passage of time in the three tenses.

In fact, all cycles of creation and dissolution are intimately connected with the rising and sustenance of the vital breath in the body. If the rising and sustenance of the vital breath can measure the span of an individual’s lifetime, equally well they can help in explaining the process of creation and dissolution on the universal scale.

Prana sadhana or pranayama is, thus, a means of recognising the role of the vital breath in the dynamics of Consciousness in course of its manifestation.

While exhaling, the yogin turns outward to objectivity allowing relative contraction in his subjectivity.

When he inhales and rests internally, differentiations vanish to a great extent.

The processes of incessant expansion and contraction are going on spontaneously in the vital being of the yogin.

Through tapas of awareness, the vital breath, he realises the nature of consciousness that transcends time and at the same time remains associated with the cycles of creation, sustenance and dissolution.

Besides awareness of the breaths, another technique he uses for transcending time is to withdraw all the energies of his senses and mind, and establish them firmly in his own nature and free himself of the sense of the passage of time.

Plunging into the essence of time by transcending the past and the future, he enters into the state of timelessness of incessant expansion and contraction of his consciousness, grasps the fleeting instant of the present and frees himself eventually of it as well.

By virtue of having its axis in consciousness, time in spite of creating countless universes, remains all the same intact throughout until the end of the creative process as the dynamics of consciousness.

Though Time creates endless universes yet it is not wearied, says the Veda.

It cannot be analysed either. Though we may divide it, still it survives indestructibility.

After the cosmic dissolution, it rests in the Consciousness with the potentiality of creation hidden in it.

Tract on Mantra

All mantras as well as gods are formulations of Consciousness. These are meant for getting restored exclusively to self-consciousness.

Mantroccara means an upward movement or articulation and conveys different meanings according to the yogin’s level of practice.

At the krIyopaya or individual level, it is the recitation of mantra in harmony with the movement of the breath and its height, it is the upward moving current of vitality through susumana.

At the jnanopaya, it is the persistent force of awareness that impels individual consciousness and merges it with the universal consciousness.

While at the icchopaya, it is the exertion that impels the cycles of creation and destruction.

Basically mantras are resonance of prana-sakti, the spanda, pulse of consciousness, which is portrayed as the strength inherent in one’s own nature that empowers the senses and mantras with integral consciousness.

Yogin experiences mantric energy through the rise of kundalini which is stimulated by the power, bala inherent in consciousness.

The yogin repeats his mantra mentally in conjunction with the breath. Unless it is in harmony with the breath movement, it can bear no fruit.

Therefore, he should seek to fix his attention on the centre between the two breaths where they, along with the mantra, arise and fall away.

In this way the two breaths work against each other like two fire-sticks made of consciousness and bliss.

This process generates the fire of consciousness which rises as the ascending breath in the central nadi, susumna that leads upwards to the supramental plane, unmana of the universal vibration of consciousness.

The lunar current of the descending breath, corresponds to the object-centred awareness and is fixed in one place by uniting it with the ascending solar breath, representing awareness centred on the means of knowledge.

This in its turn is united with the subjective consciousness as the upward moving breath rises.

The ascent of this breath is in harmony with the unfolding of the centre at the individualised level of consciousness and takes place by virtue of the power of the atmasakti.

The vibration of its movement is the true arising of mantra known as uccara.

It is the spontaneous recitation of mantra which occurs in contemplation through the union of the upward moving breath and the resonance or silent nada of consciousness that marks the merger of the vital breath with the consciousness.

As individual consciousness is the union of consciousness and awareness, this rising unites the three aspects of mantra, namely, consciousness, speech and breath.

Mantras recited without the conjunction the consciousness; speech and breath are ineffective and mere articulated sounds.

Success in mantra is achieved through self-effort, which is the greatest possible aid to attain the goal.

It is heralded by the cessation of the diversified awareness as subject, object and means of knowledge.

A yogin applies his awareness to catch hold of the initial moment in which he is intent on contemplating mantra. The initial unfolding of his thought, charged with the power of mantra, is the point where he achieves oneness with the deity it symbolises.

Tract on Meditation

Meditation brings harmony to the physical, vital and mental. On the physical side, it removes many ailments through a change in the chemistry of the body.

In deep meditation, one is likely to smell uncommon fragrance, sees fantastic figures, colours, and lights and hears unheard sounds as well as sees waves of light out of which sound begins to flow. When one gets fully established in meditation, one awakes in the higher consciousness which transcends space-time continuum as also causal relationship.

Anchoring on the Infinity known as shakti, facilitates elevation to higher consciousness. She is to be meditated upon since she is the source and final resort of Creation.

Our body is the the house of Consciousness along with head as the treasure-chest of it. Nerves hundred and one get branched into seventy two thousand. Each one of the branches is as subtle as a part of hair divided lengthwise into a thousand. These according to Yoga have a fluid of several colours flowing through them. The fluid is the bearer of sensations, motor reactions as well as memories. The nerve extending from the pelvic centre to the top of the head, and called susumna, is the most important amongst them, since it is the bearer of higher consciousness having withdrawn attention from sensations carried by other nerves.

It is imperative for the student of Yoga to meditate on and awaken the consciousness borne by the susumna nerve having withdrawn attention from the functions of other nerves. This course of meditation spans from the pelvic centre up to the saharara through intense focussing on each cakra coming in the way successively.

Vedic seers seem to have meditated particularly from the heart plexus up to the sahasrara as is evident from their frequent use of hrida manisha on crucial epistemological points.

One whose meditation is directed exclusively to the sahasrara deserves to get immortalised. He has thus managed to exclude from the perspective of his consciousness, everything except for the Consciousness itself. This final state of meditation is indicated by the term samadhi since here the agent, object and act of meditation all the three factors involved in any instance of cognition get merged in the Consciousness.

Sahasrara is the treasure chest of the Divine safeguarded by the physical, vital, and mental sheaths are meant for safeguarding this divine sheath.

Directing the consciousness involved in the functioning of the brain to the heart results in the access to the sheath known as vijnanamaya. It is seer Atharvan who is said to have discovered how this meditative unification of heart and mind leads to the experience of bliss of Consciousness – ananda.

The five sheaths, namely, physical, vital, mental, supremely conscious and blessed are placed in an order gross to subtle as also from the outer to the inner. Sheaths from the subtle to the gross are distinct stages in the course of manifestation of consciousness on the universal scale.

The course of manifestation was retraced through deep meditation by Sage Bhrigu, the son of Varuna.

Asanas are a great help in the penetration of the physical.

Pranasandhana, likewise, is meant specifically for the penetration and transcendence of the vital. So does pratyahara in regard to the mental.

Vijnanamaya, on the other hand, is penetrated through reflective awareness of the witnessing consciousness. It opens the gate of the citadel of consciousness and bliss, know as anandamaya and forming the point of culmination of the yogic sadhana, the consciousness at this level is all-inclusive Consciousness.

The state of all-comprehending blessedness is known as Bhuman as unfolded by sage Sanatkumara to the divine sage Narada.

It is also the golden sheath bathed in light as envisioned by seer Narayana.