Mysteries of Mind

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Book Agency
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/006756/1

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MYSTERIES OF MIND YUVACARYA MAHAPRAJNA

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND YUVACARYA MAHAPRAJNA Trans'ated into English by KL. GOSWAMI Published under the auspices of JAINA VISHVA BHARATI, LADNUN-341306 RAJASTHAN, INDIA Dm Today & Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers

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COPYRIGHTS (c) TODAY & TOMORROW'S PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS NEW DELHI First Published 1982 Edited by : MUN DULAHARAJ (Hindi Edition) MUNI MAHENDRA KUMAR (English Edition) ISBN: 0-8806 5-223-3 Distributed in USA and Canada by : SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS 7310 El Cresta Drive HOUSTON, TEXAS 77083 Composed by : B.N. PRINTERS 4240, Budh Nagar, Rampura, Delhi-110035 Printed at : Mohan Printing Corporation, Padam Nagar, Delhi-110007 Published by : Shri R.K. Jain : Today & Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers, 24-B/5, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005

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CONTENTS Page 26 73 1. New Dimensions of Perception 1-81 Search for existence: Right vision Development of the force of resistance-Selfdiscipline The playground of consciousness - Freedom from self-negligence Transformation of personality-Equanimity 37 Development of energy-Tapa 45 The upward flow of energy 54 Spiritual joy Search for truth II. Awakening of Energy 82-165 Awareness of responsibility 82 Awakening of energy-Value and purpose Guidelines for arousing energy 97 Analysis of the gross and the subtle 107 Relief from mental tensions 117 Mental balance 125 Spiritual pilgrimage 133 Let us search truth ourselves 143 Struggle for freedom 152 Consummation of Sadhana 159 88 166-242 III. Mental Training The third area of consciousness - Equanimity Development of mental powers and their use 166 171

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Page 179 186 193 201 209 Mental powers and Samayika The bliss giving flow of energy Acquisition of a new personality Mental health Preksa meditation and the training of the mind The journey of consciousness : the unknown destination The secret of the life of the spirit Spiritualism and ethics Preksa meditation - Five principles of mental training 217 226 234 238

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PREFACE It takes a long time for the seed to grow into a tree. If it did not sprout, we will be deprived of the benefits we receive from the tree. We get flowers, leaves, fruits, shade and fuel only when the seed has sprouted and grown into a tree. Consciousness also has to perform a long journey before it can attain its highest development. If it remained dormant, we shall not be able to receive from it that which we expect to receive. Friendliness, peace, sympathy, goodwill, equanimity and synthesis are the consequences of aroused consciousness only. In order to arouse consciousness we have to carry our energy to the upper parts of the body. When it descends into the lower parts of the body, it excites sex-consciousness. Knowledge and consciousness can be developed only when energy is carried upwards. Meditation is an attempt to carry energy upwards. The present book deals with some of the aspects of the upward movement of energy. Pasa meditation camps are being organised from time to time. These camps provide exercises in meditation as well as discussions on the subject of meditation. This book is a compilation of such discussions. It includes discussion which took place in the camps organized in October 1977, March 1978 and June 1978. The practice of meditation introduces the practitioner to his self. He establishes direct contact with what happens in him. Discussions on meditation are much helpful in this respect. Knowledge of physiology and anatomy is essential for a physician as well as for a meditator. Their purposes may differ. Knowledge of the body is essential for the meditator in order that he may be able to perceive its parts and touch and activate every cell of it with conscious ness.

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vi Knowledge of psychology is as essential for the meditator as it is for the psychologist. Unless the preksa-meditator knows the different strata of consciousness, he cannot activate the powers of the psyche. The purpose of meditation is to arouse and develop the powers of the psyche. Knowledge of karma sastra is as essential for the meditator as it is for the philosopher. The meditator cannot subdue the waves produced by the fruition of karma without a knowledge of the nervous system. Preksa meditation makes the mind wakeful. The wakeful meditator can feel all the waves of excitements and passions arising in the nervous system and render them inactive through perception. We are aware of the power of thoughts, but we are unacquainted with the power of perception. Thinking tires knowledge-tissues whereas perception energises and activates them. Perceptive consciousness is natura). In whatever part of the body it enters, consciousness releases the current of vital energy in it. The flow of the current of vital energy in sufficient quantity arouses the dormant centres of consciousness in the body. The process of the arousing of the consciousness-centres has been briefly touched upon in this book. Acarya Tulsi was kind enough to comment upon the discussions in the camps on the closing days. These comments will be separately published. I have been highly benefitted and inspired in my discussions on meditation by the Acarya. Muni Dulaharaja took great pains in compiling the discussions in the form of the manuscript copy of this book which I appreciate. On the basis of the views expressed by the readers on our books on meditation published recently, the interest evinced by them in reading them, and their efforts for implementation of the ideals contained therein, we feel that bright possibilities are emerging in this field. I wish that every human being may be blessed with the feelings for spiritualism. Let everybody know his 'self' and realize it. I once more bow reverentially to the Acaryasri and wish that the path of the humanity at large may be illumined through his guidance. Marwar Ranavasa August 15, 1982 -YUVACARYA MAHAPRAJNA

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INTRODUCTION Practitioners come to the sadhana camps empty-handed and return with their hands full. We may also say that they come to the sadhana camps with their hands full and return empty-handed. Both the statements are correct. Practitioners join the camp after having emptied themselves of all that is to be relinquished and return full of spiritual strength. Spiritual exertion is a means of emptying the mind and also of providing a lot of energy to the participant. That which is unwholesome has to be discarded and that which is wholesome has to be preserved and enriched. Every participant in the camp for exercises in preksa meditation must wholeheartedly adopt the following guiding principles of preksa meditation. They should recite these loudly : 1. I present myself for exercises in preksa meditation. 2. I have adopted the path prescribed for preksa medi tation or spiritual sadhana. 3. I accept the merits of insight. 4. I accept the merits of spiritual experiences. Bhava kriya, the psychic counterpart of material action, is the beginning of perceptive meditation. It means three things : 1. To live in the present moment. 2. To do things wakefully, and 3. To remain constantly self-watchful. Most of our life is spent in involvement in our past deeds and in worries regarding the future. Ninety percent of our lives is covered by the awareness of the past and

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viii of worries about the future. Only ten percent of them is spent in the present. The past is no more real and the future has not yet materialized. The past is mere memory and the future a thing of imagination. The present alone is real. We spend very little time in living in the present. Mostly we remain entangled in the memories of the past and in dreaming what is likely to happen in the future with the result that we lose our grip on the present. We cannot retain it. The fact, however, is that whatever happens in life happens in the present only. But we are not wakeful about this fact. Bhavakrija means living in the present. The second meaning of bhavakriya is to do deeds wakefully. We do things half-heartedly or with half of the mind engaged elsewhere. Work done with only half of the mind in it is never done completely. In this way we lose a lot of our energy. Things done half-heartedly do not produce tangible results. We should physically as well as mentally engage ourselves in our deeds earnestly and sincerely. While doing deeds the mind and the body should cooperate with each other. The third meaning of bhavakriya is to remain constantly wakeful. The practitioner should remain fully conscious of the ideal he wants to achieve. Purity of heart is the precondition of meditation which aims at arousing the dormant energy in us. The practitioner should be constantly wakeful about these. The second principle of praksa meditation is not to remain inactive but to remain active. Most of our life consists of reactions rather than of actions. Most of our actions are mere reactions. Take for example the wearing of clothes. We wear clothes as a reaction against cold or as a reaction against being indecent. Eating food is a reaction against hunger. Eating, drinking, clothing etc. are not voluntary actions but reactions. What we need is to live a life of actions rather than one of reactions only. Every man has his own free and independent life. This free life can be maintained only by actions done freely or of one's own free will. A life of reactions is not a free and meaningful life. It is a

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denial of freedom. We should be free and conscious agents rather than toys which simply react. Action and not reaction is the watchword of sadhana. ix The mind of the modern man is not free. He simply reacts to situations and circumstances. He does not act. Actions done under the impact of emotional situations are also reactions and not actions. The entire activities of the sense-organs are reactions. We hear and see things under the influence of our predilections. Instinctive actions are also reactions. Friendliness is the third principle of perceptive meditation. The whole behaviour of the practitioner should be governed by the spirit of friendliness. He should maintain the esprit de corps. His actions should be the expression of the developed attitude of friendliness towards every living being. Even when bitten by a snake, he should behave with it in a friendly way thinking that it has bitten him out of ignorance. This is possible only when he does not react to a situation but acts wakefully. Compassion for all living beings is the consummation of the spirit of friendliness. 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' is a philosophy totally incompatible with the spirit of friendliness. He alone who has become conscious of his free existence will avoid reacting and will act of his own free will. Restraint in matters of food and drinks is the fourth principle of preksa meditation. Food not only affects health, it also influences the mind, meditation and consciousness. Mostly we eat unnecessary things. Food habits are governed by social and geographical conditions and traditions and customs. Eating too much or more than what is necessary produces deformities because it cannot be properly digested. Most of it goes waste. It accumulates poisonous waste-products in the intestines. It affects our minds and thoughts adversely. It also clouds our consciousness. If the nervous system is not trimmed and clean, mind and consciousness will not remain pure and our energy will not be increased. If a looking glass is not clean it will not reflect anything clearly. The reflection of consciousness will be obstructed if the nervous system and the intestines have been blocked and the light of consciousness will remain hidden within the body. Those who have

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developed a strong liking for delicacies and who keep their minds unclean will always remain careless about what they eat. For them the pleasures of the palate are supreme pleasures. Those who want to use their minds the least, those who want to activate the energy lying dormant in them, those who want to put their powers to maximum use and those who are ambitious to do great deeds will never be careless about and negligent in matters of food. Enlightened men eat only to nourish their bodies and not to satisfy their palate. The practitioner of sadhana has to walk on a selected path. His aim is to activate his energies, to achieve something commendable, and therefore, he must know what kind of food produces what kind of consequences, The fifth principle of perceptive meditation is to speak very little or to remain completely silent. We have to speak because we live in a society. Language is an instrument of social communication. But sadhana, being a personal affair, needs little speaking. I do not mean that the practitioner should never speak in his life-time. He should certainly avoid speaking too much or when it is not needed. Even when he has to speak, he should speak very little and that too softly. He has to communicate mysteries, and therefore, he shou speak very softly and preferably in the ears of the listener as if he is talking something secret. The entire life and behaviour of Bhagavan Mahavira is an example of complete silence. He spoke very little. I do not mean that he did not speak at all. That is why his actions remained undisturbed and he could preserve immense energy. Some people take the vow of silence, but thoughts rise thickly in their minds and they are unable to control them. They write out thousands of pages to express themselves. This goes against the very vow they have taken. Their entire energy is spent in writing or in making physical gestures. This is a foolish waste of energy. The above-mentioned principles of prekna meditation, when practised, give the practitioner a lot of gain, In sadhana the practitioner should be very clear about his aim from the very first day on which sadhana begins.

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The first step in sadhana is the purification of the mind. The mind is polluted by passions. The current of knowledge cannot flow freely in a polluted mind. As soon as the mind has become pure, the curtain obstructing the manifestation of knowledge is lifted and the self is enabled to see through the mind. We experience a state of calm when the mind has been purified. In such a state the mind becomes balanced and full of the feelings of friendliness and joy. Joy manifests itself as soon as the taijasa energy is released in the mind of the practitioner. Tejo lesya gives joy, padma lesya produces calm and sukla lesya eradicates passions. Our aim at present is to purify the mind and not to attain joy. Joy is not the ideal. It is a support. We will have to go ahead. We should contemplate before we begin to meditate. Bhavana is a shield which protects us on all sides. It does not allow external influences to disturb us. How to build the shield? It can be built by reciting the sacred word Arham in a sitting posture. While reciting it, we should imagine that a glow of light is spreading all around us, that it is growing stronger and that a shield of light is in the making. In the course of a short time the practitioner will begin to feel that a shelter is being built around him which is two three feet deep. Bhavana is the base of yogic practices. To sum up, the prerequisites of the practice of preksa meditation are: 1. To accept the five principles of preksa meditation, 2. To build the image of the ideal, and 3. The application of bhavanaa. xi

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LECTURE ONE SYNOPSIS * O patient one ! Try to understand the root and mani festation of suffering. * You will see that those who lack self-knowledge become a prey to suffering. * I say : Look at the tortoise and its shelter. The tortoise has his mind in the opening in the shelter which is covered with sevala and lotus leaves. It is not prepared to enter into its hole because it is inclined towards the open sky. I know that in order to live a successful life you would like to have : Health Longevity Joy Peace * There is no peace without discernment. There is no joy without peace. There is no health without joy. There is no longevity without health. In order to obtain this you have to begin your life anew and in a new style. For some time you will have to follow the footprints left by others and then you will have to fly in the sky where there are no footprints. This new phase of your life is not a phase of thinking but of perceiving and not one of argumentation but of experience. * Self-discipline is a sadhana (exertion) which results in immunity from the influx of fresh deeds into the soul. Tapa (penance) is a sadhana (spiritual exertion) which results in a complete eradication of the effects of past deeds.

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND * Renunciation of activity is a sadhana which results in the attainment of spiritual powers. * Conscious dissociation from past deeds produces discern ment and intuitive knowledge. * Mostly people live a life of delusions. Lack of discernment is a deep-rooted torpor which makes us self-forgetful. * Deployment of the forces of delusion : * The first line of defence --- passions. * The second line of defence-sleep. * The third line of defence- lack of self-discipline, way wardness of the sense-organs and the mind, and their fickleness. * The fourth line of defence - lack of discrimination regarding what is beneficial and what is not, perverted vision and lack of wisdom regarding joy and suffering. * The attainment of discernment is the first assault on the defence lines of delusion. We have assumed attachments and aversions to be our natural tendencies. We have assumed anger also to be our natural tendency. * Pride, deceit. greed, hatred, fear - we have assumed these to be our natural characteristics. This is delusion. * Discernment enables us to understand their real nature. * How can attachment which produces pain be the characteristic of the soul ? * How can aversion which produces pain be the charac teristic of the soul ? * How can anger rhich produces pain be the characteris tic of the soul ? * The exercise of Kayotsarga (abandonment of the body). * The body is an insentient entity. The self is not the physical body. * Breath is an insentient entity. The self is not breath, * The sense-organs are insentient entities. How can the the soul be the sense-organs ? * The mind is material. How can the self be the mind ?

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SYNOPSIS * Speech is a material process. How can the self be speech? * Man can see his real existence only after he has cut himself off from the above. The self lies beneath them. * Five resultants of Right Perception : * Peace, Sense of freedom. Non-attachment, Tolerance, Dedication to truth. * The soul perceives itself : * Vibrations of breath- a part of the soul. * Vibrations of the body-a part of the soul. * Vibrations of the mind--a part of the soul. * Vibrations of feeling - a part of the soul. * After these the aura, then perception of prana (vital energy) and then perception of consciousness. * Who is the perceiver ? What is the object of perception ? * Consciousness is divided, and, therefore, subtle consci ousness is the perceiver and gross consciousness is the object of perception.

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:1: SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE : RIGHT VISION We have begun a pilgrimage today. We have also chosen a path for it. Every one walks on some path or the other. We too have been doing so. Every path is paved with footprints, but ours is a path which has no footprints. Footprints on a path suggest that someone has already walked on it and we are tempted to follow the footprints. The absence of footprints on our path means that we are not going to follow anybody. Ours is a path without footprints, and, therefore, there is no question of our following anybody. Thoughts leave their traces on the mind. Actions which we had done in the past have also left their traces on our minds which assume the form of habits or predilections. Words which we speak or hear also do the same. Thoughts, actions and words disappear but the traces they leave on our minds remain active. There is no possibility of our following or imitating anybody because we have chosen a path which has no footprints. Those who walk on other paths get attached to their own way of life, and, therefore, leave their traces and footprints behind them and others of the same nature imitate and follow them Their lives are lives of indulgence. On the other hand, those who walk on this path which we have chosen for ourselves are aspirants who have given up all kinds of attachments, and, therefore, have not and will not leave any traces or footprints behind for others to imitate. The pilgrim on this path will have to rely on his own resources and exertion. A path on which there are no footprints is the best path because it is free from all the traces of the past which might divert the attention of the pilgrim. Our only aim in walking on this path is to gain insight.

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE: RIGHT VISION Therefore, let us see; let us look within. Let the soul see itself. This may appear to be something queer. What is the soul which perceives itself? Who is the seer and what does he perceive? It is a perplexing question. The answer is that when the soul becomes divided, one part of it becomes the seer and the other part the object of perception. See your breath. See your mind. See your body. See the life-force in you. See your aura. I am sure you would like to know if your breath is your soul. Perhaps you would also like to know if your body is your soul. You may very well ask if your mind or the aura which surrounds your body and which is generated by your body or the vital force in you is your soul. If you thought over these questions a bit seriously, you will come to the conclusion that your breath, your body, y mind, the aura emanating from your body and the vital force in it are your soul. If the vital force in the body were not the soul, we will not be able to distinguish between a living and a dead body. If the living body were not the soul, we shall not be able to distinguish it from dead body. If the mind were not the soul, there will be no difference between thinking and non-thinking beings. Every one of these is, therefore, the soul. We cannot understand the body correctly if we did not feel and understand breath. We cannot understand the mind without understanding the body. We cannot perceive the aura around the body without understanding the body. We cannot understand the vital force until we have seen and known the aura. We cannot come across the conscious substance which is the end of our journey until we have known and understood the vital force. This is the span of our journey. We will have to traverse the entire course in the very order given above in order to arrive at the stage of selfrealization, at that which is the subtlest, i.e., at our Existence. Breath is the first window through which you can perceive the soul. It is by passing through this window that the journey towards the self begins. It is a journey within. It is a journey towards self-perception. Normally we are accustomed to looking outwards only. It is the nature of the mind to run towards the external world only. Breath is the first door you have to enter into before the journey within

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND begins. When the mind begins to follow the in-going breath, we begin to enter into our being. Breath is the soul. The body is the soul. The mind is the soul. We can reach the fag end of our journey through them only. It is a delusion to desire to see the soul directly. The soul which is the supreme reality, the supreme existence and the subtlest entity cannot be an object of perception by the gross sense-organs. To say so will be a great mistake. To say that we should try to see the soul through the soul means, firstly, that we should first engage the mind in perceiving the vibrations of breath. Secondly, it means engaging the mind in perceiving the vibrations of the body and sensations. Thirdly, it means watching one's own thoughtprocesses. Once you have gone through these three stages, Vou will encounter the aura around the body and get a chance to perceive it. The somatic and extra-somatic atmospheres in the midst of which we live art full of vibrations. Those who have happened to see the aura feel that in doing so they were floating in an ocean of vibrations whose expanse they are unable to imagine. Having seen the aura we will be able to come in contact with the vital force. It is the vital energy which is the source of all the internal and external vibrations. Breath is not the soul. The body is not the soul. The mind and the aura are not the soul. It is the vital energy which soaks breath, mind and body in the soul so much so that they become the soul. The body which comes in contact with the life-force and becomes permeated with it becomes alive and a part and parcel of the soul. When the vital force comes to establish a relationship with the mind, the mind becomes activated. The vital force when it comes to be associated with breath, activates the latter. Breath begins to vibrate because of this association. It is the vital energy which makes the heart throb, the breath vibrate, the mental processes begin and the spectrum of the aura radiate. The ever-flowing stream of consciousness is the source of the vital energy. Vital energy inducts life in the entire structure of the body and transforms everything which is non-soul into consciousness.

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE: RIGHT VISION To understand breath is the first stage in the process of sadhana which culminates in the perception of the soul. To understand the body is the second stage. To understand the thought-processes is the third stage. To understand the aura is the fourth stage. To understand the vital force is the fifth stage. Self-realization is the end of these stages. When I speak of seeing the soul through the soul, I mean proceeding from the gross to the subtle. Nobody who has not understood the gross can comprehend the subtle. Every stage of our pilgrimage is a stage which leads us to the comprehension of the subtle. Ordinarily we keep ourselves confined within the four walls of sensations, but once the mind has been properly trained, we begin to sense the subtle also. An untrained mind can only feel the gross sensations. As soon as it has become refined and subtle, the stream of consciousness begins to reveal itself. The beating of the heart and the circulation of blood and air in the body keep it working like a huge factory. And we remain unconscious of what is happening in the body. The reason for this is that we are incapable of seizing the sensations. It is only when we watch very carefully that we are able to see how much the body is seething and throbbing with activity. It is only when we perceive the body that we come to know that the pulse and the heart are beating and that the blood is circulating in it. Our minds have become so gross that we are unable to comprehend subtle things. We can comprehend subtle entities through the subtle mind only. Sadhana consists in refining the mind and making it subtle. The more the mind becomes refined and subtle, the nearer shall we arrive to our subtle being or Existence. Grosser sensations will then disappear and we shall be in a position to comprehend more subtle or finer sensations. What is the consequence of comprehending the mind ? It results in self-discipline. We have chosen a path which has no footprints. There is no question of following and imitating anyone. Once our walking has gathered momentum, we will begin to command a comprehensive and disciplined orientation or vision. The mind will then stop wandering about outward things. It will fix itself on one point only and a one-pointed consciousness will emerge. That is self-discipline.

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8 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND one. Our journey is a very short Let us not be apprehensive. The journey as well as the distance we have to cover are very short. They appear to be long and arduous only so far as we do not see things in the correct perspective. Ordinarily we do not know how to see. The journey is short and the goal you have to reach is that state of your being in which you have simply to perceive and know and to do nothing else. In other words you become a perfect seer and knower. With the achievement of this state, your journey will come to an end. Yours is a short road, a short journey and that too in a single vehicle which is the current of the vital force in you. We live between two entities, the state of being a knower and a seer and the taijasa body or the current of the vital force. When the current of the vital force begins to flow in a direction against the state in which the practitioner feels himself to be a knower and a seer only and nothing else, his journey and the road on which he travels become very long and the distance which he has to cover becomes longer and longer. He becomes overwhelmed with one obstruction after another. He comes to feel as if he is lost in darkness and sees no ray of hope anywhere. King Bharata sent his envoy to Bahubali with the message: "You live in Taxila and I in Ayodhya. There are We hills, forests, rivers and many more things between us. live miles apart from each other. All these are immaterial because we do not have tale-bearer between us. In the absence of such a person we are nearer to each other although physically we are miles apart. If there is nothing between the soul as a knower and spectator par excellence and the current of the vital force to disturb both, there will be no distance between the two. If delusion or attachment intervenes, they will stand apart and the current of the vital force will begin to flow in the opposite direction. Existentialism as well as spiritualism imply two things: One is Knowledge-perception and the other is Energy. The former cannot come into operation without the latter. According to the Kamasastra, knowledge and perception cannot be acquired until the effects of antaraya karma (obstructive

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE : RIGHT VISION karma) have been completely washed off. Knowledge and perception in their purest form do not operate in a relational context. They are absolute. Even when the effects of actions which by their very nature delude knowledge and perception have been eradicated, right knowledge and right vision are not possible until the energy released by the cessation of antaraya karma (obstructing karma) has been amalgamated into the process of Knowledge and Perception. Without this amalgamation the eyes cannot see, the ears cannot hear and the mind cannot think. The mind becomes deranged as a result of the absence of energy in the brain. If the vital energy has been cut off from the brain-centres connected with the organs of perception, even an otherwise healthy eye will not work. And this is true of all the other sense-organs as well as of the mind. Paralysis of a particular part of the body means that the circulation of blood in that part of the body has ceased. Cessation of the circulation of blood means cessation of the flow of vital energy. That part of the body in which the circulation of vital energy has stopped becomes inactive. Knowledge and perception become dissociated with vital energy. Before the delusion which clouds knowledge and perception has been removed, they must first be rescued from antaraya karma (obstructing karma). Energy is generated only on the cessation of antaraya kurma. There can be no activity without vital energy. The most important thing to be considered is the direction in which energy is flowing. If the direction is wrong, it has to be changed. Without this there can be no transformation of personality. Every one would like to transform himself, but this transformation is not possible without changing the direction of the flow of vital energy. Religious scriptures and the acaryas (religious leaders) did not expound the principles of religion, sadhana and yoga as mere exercises in metaphysical thinking. Some people believe that religion and philosophy have only interpreted it instead of attempting to change it. This is evidently a wrong view. Sadhana which does not attempt to change life cannot be acceptable, for in such a case the philosophy of religion cannot claim to be a spiritual philosophy in the true sense of the term. Here I am not talking of changing the social

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10 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND system. Spiritual philosophies were perhaps not meant for changing the world, least of all the social system. And yet it cannot be asserted that spiritual philosophy is not capable of changing the life of the individual. It does bring about a new orientation in man's thinking which results in the transformation of his personality and nature. This transformation is so complete that the person transformed begins to wonder if he is the same person he was earlier or if his body has been possessed by a new spirit. The distance we have to cover in our journey is a short one. The tail end of our journey is the state of being a seer and a knower. This state can be achieved by diverting the current of the vital force towards it. There is no other means of achieving this end. What we have to do during the journey is to understand the nature of vital energy and how to divert its course. There are some who do not desire to achieve this end. It does not seem to be attractive to them. They desire to have health, longevity, joy and peace of mind. Every one who lives in a society desires to be healthy and to live a long life. He knows that he is going to die one day, but he would like to postpone death for so long as it is possible. At the same time he does not like to live a life of misery. He likes to live comfortably and peacefully. But can he have peace without being wise? Is it possible to live a long, healthy and comfortable life without the peace of mind ? No, it isn't. The path of such people is the reverse of what we have prescribed. The order of their preference is health, longevity comfort and peace. But they will have to reverse the order of their preference. Peace will come only through discernment, comfort through peace and longevity and health through comfort. . Viveka (discernment) means to analyse, to separate. It implies the rejection of the idea that everything is like everything else. We will have to understand the path we are treading carefully in order to understand discernment. One of the stages we have to reach in our journey is the attainment of discernment. The order of the stages is : sravana (hearing), jnana (knowledge), vijnana (discernment), pratyakhyana (renunciation), samyama (self-discipline),

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE RIGHT VISION Samvara (stopping the influx of karma into the soul), tapa (austerities), nirjara (eradication of the effect of past actions) akriya (non-action) and siddhi (emancipation). Vijnana means discernment i.e. the capacity to distinguish between what is desirable and what is not and what is to be taken up and what is to be discarded. This faculty will illuminate the entire path that we are traversing. It comes into operation after sravana and jnana have been attained. It dispels ignorance which does not enable us to distinguish between what is desirable and what is not. We cannot enter into the stage of pratyakhyana (renunciation) until we have become enlightened by discernment. Having arrived at this stage, we will automatically give up what is undesirable. Dissociation with what is undesirable naturally results in self-discipline. Self-discipline leads to the state in which there is no further influx of karma. This state is called samvara. Self-discipline is the means of attaining a state in which foreign matter which obstructs our spiritual progress does not enter into us. The next stage of our spiritual progress which is called tapa (austerities) begins after this. We now begin to depend on our internal resources. A commotion begins within us. By means of tapa we achieve the next stage of our spiritual progress. This stage is called nirjara which means the complete eradication of the adverse effects of past actions on us. Both samvara and nirjara are not means but ends to be achieved. Samvara is achieved by means of self-discipline and nirjara by means of tapa (austerities). When the adverse effects of the deeds we are doing and of the deeds we had done in the past have been fully washed off, we arrive at the stage where there is no further action. The deeds had been things external to the self. The stage we have arrived at is the stage of akriya (non-action). Our entire restlessness as well as Our actional tendencies cease and we achieve a state of complete stability. We become fixed in ourselves as it were, and nothing from within or without can disturb us any more. This state is the state of the emancipation of the soul which is technically called siddhi In this state the soul becomes the seer and the knower par excellence. The pilgrimage we have undertaken is a pilgrimage to attain this end. The real nature of our 11

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12 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND being manifests itself in this state. It consists in complete perfection, freedom from all kinds of external intervention and self-knowledge. The first lighthouse which illumines our spiritual journey is discernment. Preksa Meditation (Perceptive Meditation) and anuprekna (Contemplative Meditation) by the seeker for the self are meant for kindling the light of discernment without which the traveller cannot proceed even a single step forward. Between the current of vital energy which keeps us living and the state of being a knower and a seer lies the deep and impenetrable Unconscious. No spiritual progress is possible until the barriers of the Unconscious have been breached and crossed. Emotions, delusion, desires and lack of discernment are the four defence lines of the Unconscious. The mere conquest of our likes and dislikes or attachments and aversions are not enough to achieve the state of self-realization. We will have to launch a well-planned assault on the Unconscious. Lack of discernment is the deepest line of defence which we will have to do away with first. The remaining three lines of defence are not very deep and strong and will be very easily broken. An assault on the first line of defence, i.e., lack of discernment is an assault on the very roots of our sorrows and afflictions. The first question we have to answer is how to mount the assault. What is to be our strategy? What exercises have we to do? What is the plan of our sadhana ? We have to begin with two kinds of exercises : the exercise of viveka-pratima (exercise in discernment) and kayotsarga-pratima (exercise in the abandonment of the body and full awareness). These exercises have to be performed for three to six months. When these have been done, we will be able to kindle the light of consciousness. Viveka-Pratima (the exercise in discernment) Keep sitting or standing in the posture of kayotsarga. Keep your mind calm. Avoid all kinds of thinking and just go on watching or experiencing the situation you are in. While thinking you are just on the surface of your being. Thinking does not take you into the depths of your being. Thoughts which you think are like the ripples which come and go. Once

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE: RIGHT VISION 13 you have begun to sink into the depths of experience, you will feel self-absorbed. In such a state anger will no longer disturb and torment you. Ordinarily when we are angry, our anger becomes associated with and gathers strength from our vital energy. But once we have begun to watch anger objectively instead of feeling it subjectively, it becomes cut off from vital energy and consciousness. It becomes something alien to our existence, a past event not connected with us any more. The emotion of anger melts away as soon as introspection begins. In this way a sort of transformation takes place in us. This transformation does not take place at the level of the conscious mind which is a material entity. It takes place at the level of the Unconscious mind. When you are not thinking but experiencing your real existence, you will come to realize that anger, pride, greed, attachments and aversions are not the characteristics of your existence but ripples on the surface of your mind. In the depths of your being which you experience directly you are alone. This is the process of discernment. Go on eliminating anger, pride, greed, hatred etc. one after another and when this elimination has been done, what remains is your real individual self illuminated by the light of discernment. That is samyak darsana or right vision. When the Gordian knot of the deep Unconscious has been cut, discernment becomes operative which brings the practitioner face to face with his self. For thousands of years man has been eager to know "who am l" and has failed to get an answer to this query. The answer is suggested by what is known as viveka pratima (the exercise in discernment) and it is 'I am that?. One should not apply his discernment as a human being but as a statue. One who is engaged in the search for the self must discern by becoming calm, stable and motionless like a statue. The concept of viveka pratima expressed in a figurative form is very much helpful in self-search. Kayotsarga Pratima (Exercise in the abandonment of the body and self-awareness) Kayotsarga means abandonment of the body. There is a term muyacca or mstarca in the Acaranga Sutru It means the death of the body. It means that one cannot attain

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14 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND dharma (perfect stability) until one dies. It is a very significant idea. The awakening of discernment is the first prerequisite of dharma (stability) which takes place only when one has been emancipated from the bondage of the body. Kayotsarga is the process of this emancipation. If you desire to live a real life, take your body to be as good as dead. The process of kayotsarga matures when a living being's attitude towards his body changes and when he comes to feel that he has physically died. Kayotsarga is the process of death. It means making the body completely relaxed and immobile, so much so that it comes to have no inclination to be active in any way. Vibrations in the body and breath are the two symptoms which show that the body is alive. Once these two have ceased, the body dies. In kayotsarga the vibrations of the body and breath become very feeble. It so appears that breathing has stopped. A calm body and feeble breathing imply the abandonment of the body. Kayotsarga is a process through which we arrive as the awakening of discernment. We come to feel that the body and breath do not belong to us and that our self is entirely different from them. Breath and existence, existence and breath, body and existence, existence and body, body and soul, soul and body--this duality is maintained by the Unconscious in the form of a false identity. Breath and body are separated from existence or the soul by this false identity. Once it is clear that the body with all its characteristics has been abandoned by us all the tendencies and impulses of the body come to a stop so much so that sometimes we begin to feel as if the body has disappeared. This is not something unnatural. It does very often happen in the practice of kayotsarga which is the process of arriving at this sense of distinction. A spiritual practitioner once approached an acarya (preceptor) and complained that he was not able to get rid of his delusion, pride and egotism. He went on showering question after question on the acarya who listened to him with a calm mind. Then he asked the practitioner not to disturb him with his questions any more. He exhorted the questioner to perform an exercise in which he should go on thinking that the body and the soul are two distinct entities.

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SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE: RIGHT VISION IS The practitioner departed and engaged himself in the exercise earnestly and vigorously. Then he again came to the preceptor who asked him if he had any more questions to ask. The practitioner replied that he had none and that all his doubts had been removed. There are doubts and misgivings in us only till we stand on the plane of the intellect. Once we have ascended on the plane of experience they subside. Hearing what others say about knowledge and knowledge itself are a matter of intellectual concern. Vijnana or discernment stands on a higher plane. Sadhana or self-exertion begins with the rise of discernment and leads to experience. The practitioner has to perform a number of exercises before he can arrive at Truth. Viveka-pratima and kajotsarga are the two means of achieving Right Vision. Let us now consider what the consequences of discernment or enlightenment are. Discernment produces the following: 1. Calmness. You cannot achieve calmness without making a distinction between what is desirable and what is not. Right Vision enables you to make this distinction. 2. An earnest desire for freedom or emancipation. He who desires to be emancipated would never like to be conditioned in any way. There is no peace in a conditioned life which is not free from attachments. 3. Detachment in every walk of life from the beginning to the end as well as not to be attached to any path. 4. Karuna or compassion and freedom from all kinds of cruelty. This develops the spirit of friendliness towards every one. 5. Dedication to truth and freedom from all kinds of falsehood. An enlightened person who has the power of discernment will achieve Right Vision which enables him to perceive his real existence.

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LECTURE TWO | SYNOPSIS * One who seeks emancipation brings his wanton sense-organs under control. * One who seeks liberation should keep his eyes fixed on his ideal and should not allow has mind to be attached to things opposed to enlightenment. * Do not allow yourself to be an instrument and keep the substantial means you adopt pure. * Once you are in a position to distinguish between what is desirable and what is not you will automatically dissociate yourself from the latter. * Retracing from the past and renunciation of the future : * Renunciation of the future results in samvara (the stopp ing of the influx of actions into the soul)--then the purification of the soul from the effects of past actions. * Rehabilitation of consciousness. * Renunciation is the second assault on the effects of the Unconscious. * Samyama (moral discipline) exists between pratyakhyaha (retracing from the past) and samvara. * Moral discipline leads to the achievement of renunciation and results in samvara- it is an exercise in the achievement of samvara. * Aspects of the practice of moral discipline : * Abstinence from the objects of sense-pleasure. * If by chance you come in contact with the objects of sense-pleasure, do not allow attachments to influence you.

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:2: DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORCE OF RESISTANCE SELF-DISCIPLINE There are two sources of human existence : Energy and Consciousness. The former illumines the somatic and extrasomatic atmospheres in the midst of which human beings live. Consciousness can be utilized only by means of energy. It does not require energy for its own existence, but it needs energy in order that it may be of some use to us. The human brain too cannot be of any use to us except through vital energy. Our sense-organs are associated with consciousness, but they are of no use to us unless they are activated by the vital force. Consciousness cannot be operative unless it has been energised in a wholesome way. The development of energy runs parallel to the development of consciousness. It can take place only through pratyakhyana or renunciation. The first consequence of the enlightenment caused by discernment is the spirit of renunciation. The discernment of an enlightened person gives him the capacity to distinguish between what is beneficial and what is not. The term pratyakhyana means to give up. This is brought about by the application of energy. Will-power is one of the forms in which energy manifests itself. When we see one person sitting and another walking, we naturally ask as to what makes the first walk and the second sit. Why are not both either walking or sitting? The answer is that it is the will-power which makes them behave in their own way. Human conduct is governed by the human will. Sitting, speaking, keeping silent, eating, resting etc. are governed by the will. Once there was a lot of philosophic thinking in ancient India. People asked whcther the air was a living being. Some

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18 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND said that it was, others denied it. The former attributed life to the air on the ground that it moved. It, therefore, logically follows that if motion gave life to air, why should it not give life to matter also because matter also has motion. On the other hand there were those who asserted that a thing could not be a living being simply because of its motion. Then there were those who opined that the motion of air was a self-propelled motion. That which moves because of its own force is a living being. That which moves because of the application of an external force is not a living thing. Pudgala or matter was such a non-living substance. When threw you a stone, it will move. When you fired a loaded gun, the bullet will move. These movements are not self-propelled movements. They are caused by the application of an external force. Only a living being can move because of its own willpower. Desire and will are the essential characteristics of a jiva or living being. Living beings are distinguished from nonliving beings on the basis of these. The most tiny living beings, whether they are earth-beings or plants, possess desire and will. Energy has three forms: will-force, concentration and controlling power. The nervous system is the source of the energy which we possess. A living body without the nervous system is meaningless and without any value. The nervous system has two parts sensory nerves which accumulate knowledge without which there will be no activity and motor nerves. The centres of consciousness and power lie in the nervous system. Let us remember that consciousness and power are the two entities to which we owe our existence. The gross body is the medium through which energy and consciousness function. Even the finest vibrations of the body are connected with the gross body which is the medium of their expression. This medium is the nervous system. The sensory nerves express consciousness and the motor nerves express the vital energy. When the body is pricked with a thorn, the event is immediately reported to the brain centres by the sensory

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORCE OF RESISTANCE nerves and the motor nerves are ordered to remove the thorn. The entire nervous system has a great importance in sadhana. It is essential for the practitioner to understand the functioning of the nervous system. We often renounce things. This renunciation leads to self-discipline. Does self-discipline directly follow from all kinds of giving up? We also employ our will to renounce things. This does result in some kind of discipline. This discipline has got to be strengthened and stabilized. Much more than mere renunciation is needed to materialise this. It is true that self-discipline is a precondition of achieving that state of the mind in which further inflow of activity is stopped. Will-power has other functions also. Self-discipline has got to be strengthened and stabilized. It is also true that the control of future actions results in the stopping of further actions or karma in the present. But in order to strengthen and stabilize self-discipline we have to clean our hearts and to remove all the dirt that has accumulated in it in the past. This scavenging of the heart has two aspects : one is operation of instrumental causes and the other is the operation of substantial causes which bring in the dirt. In the course of the practice of self-discipline various agencies begin to disturb our minds. For example, if some one abuses us, the mind becomes disturbed. If somebody praises us, this, too, affects the mind. Words, forms, tastes and smells go on disturbing the mind ceaselessly. This causes a set-back to our practice of self-discipline. Can we escape from all this? The practice of self-discipline is an excercise aimed at making ourselves immune from the desire for objects by renouncing them. It is not a difficult task. It is quite easy. When a playful child disturbs its mother, she gets annoyed and loses her patience so much so that she slaps the child. The slap restrains the child from further disturbing the mother. But the annoyance and anger of the mother which resulted in the slapping of the child leave their traces on the nervous system of the mother. She develops a predisposition in her, and whenever a similar occasion arises, she again slaps the child as a matter of habit.

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20 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Instrumental factors or nimitta play a very important role in our lives. Renunciation by itself cannot stop habitformation in the nervous system. Addicts to intoxicants know it very well that addiction is not a desirable thing. But when the hour for taking intoxicants comes, the entire nervous system becomes so much restless that it compels the addict to take intoxicants even unwillingly. The nervous system is a great agent which spoils us. Things external to us (nimitta) as well as the nervous system are the instrumental causes which bring about man's fall. There are thinkers who hold that instrumental factors alone determine the course of man's life. They do not consider any other factor except these to be the determinant of human life. But even these thinkers are confronted with the question as to what controls the brain-centres. There are some who hold that the brain-centres are controlled by the nervous system. This is correct to some extent but it is not a complete answer. The basic factor (upadana) which governs and controls the nervous system including the brain-centres does not lie in the nervous system but in the subtle body, and the subtle body derives its entire force from the soul. It is necessary to guard ourselves against the agencies which are instrumental in disturbing and disrupting us. We should avoid indulging in activities which are habit-forming. It is necessary to be careful in this respect. This is what is called pratyakhyana (renunciation). But it is much more important to be careful about the forces which come from within. It is necessary to purify the depths of our being which contains the upadana or substantial causes of our disturbanThe mere control of instrumental causes does not provide a permanent solution of our problems. The external world will not disappear if we simply closed our eyes. We cannot keep our eyes permanently closed. The eyes are the openings through which the rays of our consciousness pass to enlighten the world outs.de us. Why should we keep them closed? Why should we stop the activities and functions of the nervous system? Why should we forcibly stop the mind from performing its natural functions? ces. It is true that the control of instrumental causes gives us

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORCE OF RESISTANCE 21 temporary relief from the adverse effects they produce in us. But such a measure will not succeed in making us permanently immune from these adverse effects. Our efforts should be directed towards freedom from the adverse effects of the nimitta or instrumental causes of these effects. It will be wholly wrong to make ourselves permanently invalid or paralysed so that all further activity on our part is stopped once for all. Our attempt should be directed towards keeping the sense-organs, the nervous system and the brain as healthy and wholesome as to enable them to collaborate with us in our spiritual progress. Some people out of sheer ignorance take up such spiritual exercises which do them immense harm. Instead of being given to real austerities, they adopt austerities which are so only in name. They reduce their bodies and render the nervous system so weak that their exertion becomes a retrogressive affair rather than a real spiritual progress. Austerities in the real sense of the term have the purpose of developing the vital force. There can be no real development of consciousness apart from the development of vital energy. Both must run parallel to each other. The purpose of austerities is not to weaken but to strengthen vital energy. To think of reducing vital energy is a mistake and it must be avoided. Reduced vital energy defeats the very purpose of religion. We have to keep the centres of vital energy active. The main problem for the practitioner is how to avoid the adverse consequences produced by the instrumental agencies. The way out is the control of the operation of the substantial causes. Human beings are living a mechanical life today. The invention of computers has proved that man is a mechanical being. Each and every thing which he can do is being done by computers. Computers compose poems, frame questions and answer them. They solve the most complicated mathemetical problems, memorize, predict future events, think, offer criticism, perform analyses and distinguish one thing from another. What is then the difference between man and the machine? The difference is that the human being has a soul

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND which the machine does not have. And that is also the difference between the living and non-living beings. Mahavira was asked if the soul breathed and he replied that it did not. Then he was asked if the soul thought and he replied that it did not. Then again he was asked if the soul ate and drank and he replied that it did not. Then the question was raised : "How can you say that man has a soul ?" If the soul did not do any one of the things mentioned above, no human being can be said to possess a soul. If there were no soul, nobody could practise self-discipline and purify the depths of his being wherein reside the substantial causes of his actions. The mechanical conception will have to be given up. Mechanical activities are of a peripheral nature. They are in no way connected with consciousness. They happen on the outer circles of consciousness. In order to understand the dividing line between living and non-living beings, we will have to descend deep into our being where we neither eat nor drink, neither think nor analyse and where we are simply seers and knowers and nothing else. It is there that we will come across the substantial causes of our actions. When we have arrived at this depth our mechanical life comes to an end and we will come face to face with the essence of self-discipline. Selfdiscipline implies that state of the soul in which it is a spectator and knower par excellence. It is the awareness of this fact which keeps us self-disciplined. Self-discipline and selfrestaint will suffer a set-back if we lost this awareness. There are two theatres of the operation of consciousness: objects of sense-satisfaction and soul-perception and selfknowledge. Consciousness sometimes operates in the first theatre and at other times in the second. During the mechanical process of life, consciousness tries to seek and enjoy objects which provide sense-pleasures. This is the external orientation of consciousness. The operation of consciousness in its own realm means its being engaged in its own substantial basis or its being selfabsorbed. It means its arriving at the state of self-perception and self-knowledge after breaking through the network of mechanical processes, thinking and breathing. The state of self-perception and self-knowledge is the native operational field of consciousness.

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORCE OF RESISTANCE 23 Self-discipline cannot be imposed from outside. Substantially it lies within us. The influence of external things begins to subside as soon as the soul has arrived at its native state. In this state, nothing will be able to influence it. External influences will continue until we have arrived at this state. Man's cravings and his restless tendencies and inclination will attract external influences only so far as he is not himself. The first principle of the search for self-discipline is to connect consciousness with the state of self-perception and self-knowledge. The second principle is to see with the eyes, hear with the ears, taste with the tongue without any kind of indulgence and attachments and aversions. It means simple and pure perception with the help of the sense-organs. It means perception par excellence unalloyed with likes and dislikes. The first principle implies immunity from all kinds of external influences. The second implies the freedom of consciousness from all kinds of preferences. This becomes possible when we have become embedded in our own substantial nature. Otherwise we shall not be able to train ourselves in self-discipline which means freedom from attachments. How to arrive at our substantial nature? What is the technique of arriving at it? Let us for the time being leave the external influences alone. Let us consider the question whether the responses of the nervous system are genetic or hereditary. The habitual responses of the nervous system can be changed through what is called bhavana in ancient lore and suggestion in psychology. The application of bhavana to bring about changes in the habitual responses of the nervous system has proved to be highly successful. The brain centres connected with the senseorgans through a process of suggestions make responses in a controlled manner. First, we should locate the brain-centres connected with particular tendencies and impulses and then through successive suggestions given in an ordered way bring about the desired changes in the nervous responses. The tissues connected with knowledge are very delicate, and, therefore, the suggestions should be very carefully and mildly given so that they may be favourably accepted and the desired responses obtained

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24 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND There is no sense in repeating sacred formulae. Repetition of formulae can be fruitful only if the repetition is accompanied by bhavana or suggestions. One may go on repeating the formula "This world and the body are transient" for years and years together, but it will produce no effect unless it is accompanied by the mood associated with the transience of the world or unless it acts as a suggestion which brings about the feeling of transience. This feeling or mood has got to be imbibed by one who repeats the formula. Bhagavan Mahavira coined the word tanmurti. It may be explained in the following manner. When somebody moves or walks, there are two factors involved in it. One is the person who walks and the other is the movement. Mahavira insisted on removing this duality. The person who walks or moves should not be conscious of the fact that it is he who is moving or walking. He should be wholly and solely absorbed in the act of moving or walking and forget himself. In other words, he should become one with motion and be conscious of nothing else except the rhythm of his movements. This transplantation of consciousness from the ego to the rhythm of motion is called tanmurti. This is one way of arriving at our real (substantial) being. There is another way, another experiment and that is to become an uncommitted spectator of one's tendencies. Do not try to stop your tendencies and inclinations. Leave them alone. Let the thought processes, whatever their contents, come and go. But instead of indulging in them be a mere spectator of them. The effects of our past actions and experiences accumulated in the subconscious mind must one day or the other find their expression. Let them express themselves. We need not try to repress them. There is no harm in their manifestation. This expression is called vipaka in ancient literature. This vipaka should be watched by us in a disinterested manner like a mere spectator instead of being repressed forcibly. The only thing needed on our part is that we should not indulge in it with any kind of attachment or aversion. Let anger, craving, greed, delusion, murderous thoughts, revenge etc. rise in your mind freely. But do not associate yourself with them and do not be influenced by them any more. Be neutral and disinterested. Watch them like a

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE FORCE OF RESISTANCE 25 spectator watching the scene of a drama. If you could develop such an attitude, it will bring about a great transformation in you. Old habits of the mind will change and a new consciousness, a new orientation of your self will emerge. Some people ask as to what is achieved by perceiving breath. Breath is not God, and, therefore, why should we contemplate on it? What purpose is served by watching breath? The answer is that watching the breathing-process is not an end in itself, but a means. It is like walking on a rope suspended in the air. It is a risky game, no doubt. At every step there is the danger of falling down on the ground. However, it is an exercise in watchfulness. It is an exercise in keeping the mind alert. Once the mind has become completely trained we will make our performance successful. We will be able to watch our own performance in the same way in which we watch a film on the screen. There is yet a third way called pratisamlinata or the counteracting of the lures of the sense-organs. We shall discuss it later on.

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LECTURE THREE SYNOPSIS * One who is not wakeful due to his being rooted in passions fears everyone. * One who is wakeful fears none. *The ignorant always sleep, the enlightened always keep waking. * Do not allow your strength to remain hidden. * Knower-Spectator - Be a spectator only. Keep waking. We are breathing in; we are breathing out. There are vibrations. Thoughts are rising and falling. Craving appears and disappears. Anger is rising and subsiding. Insight becomes operative in a state of thoughtlessness. We are habituated to doing something or the other, and, therefore, it is difficult to be inactive. *Freedom from infatuation : The continuous use of consciousness. The continuous association of consciousness with karma (action). * Viveka or discernment : Clear vision.

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SYNOPSIS 27 Self-discipline, feeling of pleasure-experience of enlightenment. Freedom from infatuation-continuity of the feeling of pleasure. Equanimity -- At the height of the feeling of pleasure. The natural light of knowledge. Dissociation from past actions. Moral Conduct Renunciation of future actions. S * Criticism of the fruition of present actions - discernment.

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:3 : THE PLAYGROUND OF CONSCIOUSNESS FREEDOM FROM SELF-NEGLIGENCE Once a traveller came across a demon. The demon asked him if he could compose a metrical verse containing the phrase "What a wonder' as the last phrase of the line of the verse. The traveller who was an intelligent man composed the following lines : Day by day men pass into the abode of Death, And yet those alive wish to live eternally. What a wonder ! If I were to compose such a verse, I would say : We possess infinite strength and yet we beg And show ourselves to be wretched. What a wonder ! We possess infinite strength and yet we are ignorant of this fact. We are not wakeful because we are lost in passions and, therefore, we show ourselves to be wretched everywhere. We cannot keep sitting continuously even for a single hour. We cannot bear heat. We complain of headache when we sit down to meditate. It is a wonder that inspite of our possessing limitless power we are SO wretched. It is a wonder because we are forgetful of the strength we possess. We are unaware of our powers because we are not wakeful. This non-wakefulness is like an ironcurtain which hides our spiritual wealth. We have become cut off from this wealth. When consciousness is not able to manifest itself, our energy also remains dormant and vice versa. Both are inseparably connected with each other. The progress of the one depends on the progress of the other. In the absence of the manifestation of consciousness, we remain unaware of the vast spiritual wealth we possess and because we are unaware

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THE PLAYGROUND OF CONSCIOUSNESS 29 of the energy we possess, we are unable to make use of consciousness. The result is that consciousness has become estranged from energy. The most important step in sadhana is to unite consciousness with energy. This union is called Yoga. However, it is not possible so far as consciousness remains encircled by ignorance and rooted in the passions. Yoga comes into being as soon as the circle of ignorance is broken. Pramada (infatuation) has several forms. It produces intoxication or madness in the mind of man. It makes consciousness dormant. It renders energy ineffective. Sleep is another form of pramada. During the state of sleep, consciousness and energy remain dormant. Another form of pramada is the rise of passions. In a state of anger, both consciousness and discernment disappear. Sloth or sluggishness is yet another form of pramada. It results in lack of enthusiasm in spiritual exertion. People are unenthusiastic in self-exertion or sadhana because they are not self-wakeful. We have, therefore, to bring about a change in our mentality in order to become self-wakeful. In this respect consciousness will be of great help to us. First of all, we have to be aware of the fact that we have an inexhaustible source of energy in us. This awareness will give us the conviction that our energy can be utilized in our spiritual progress. We have to be familiar with the powers we possess before they can be put to use. There were fourteen purvas (original scriptures of the Jains). They were repositories of knowledge and enlightenment. One of them was entitled Virya Pravada. Its subjectmatter was the sources and applications of energy. It discussed no other subject. The book is not traceable today. It described the powers inherent in living and non-living or conscious and unconscious beings. Like living beings, nonliving beings also possess infinite energy. The book described various kinds of energy possessed by non-living beings. The energy contained in matter, space and time is infinite. The energy possessed by non-living beings can be of great use to living beings also. I would make a few observations in this connection. Certain places have wonderful energy. One place enlivens

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339 30 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND the mind. Another saddens it. One place introduces calmness in the mind. Another removes mental restlessness. Yet another place excites the mind and makes it violent. Similarly time has its own energy. What can be done at one time cannot be done at another time. Meditation performed in the morning is more undisturbed than meditation done in the middle of the day. The mind remains more stable in the winter than in the summer. The medical science of Ayurveda prescribes different kinds of medicines according to different seasons. The herb known as haritaki (turmeric) is to be taken for different purposes in different seasons. The energy contained in Time can increase or reduce the energy contained in matter. Matter too has its own energy. Knowledge of this energy is highly beneficial. Spiritual practitioners in the ancient times knew very well which objects were helpful in which kind of sadhana. They knew which materials were helpful in stabilizing meditation, yogic postures and the mind. Unfortunately this ancient wisdom has been lost and practitioners are unable to take advantage of it now. There are two kinds of energy of the sense-organs, actual and potential. We are acquainted with the former but not with the latter. The latter is far greater than the former. We are acquainted with the powers of the sense-organs. We see things with the eyes. But the eyes have their own limitations. They can see things up to a certain extent only and that too if there is no obstruction. This is the actual power of the sense of sight. If we could develop the power of sight we might see things situated at a great distance. Television works with such a power. This power can enable us to see things inspite of obstructions. It enables us to see gross as well as subtle things. are far There are two kinds of powers which we possess, physical powers and spiritual powers. We are acquainted with the former but not with the latter. Spiritual powers greater than physical powers. We are acquainted with the powers of the sense-organs. It is on the strength of the senseorgans that we can see, hear, feel heat and cold etc. Do the sense-organs possess only that much of power with which we are acquainted? No, they possess much more. The power

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THE PLAYGROUND OF CONSCIOUSNESS of the eye does not lie merely in perceiving things which lie near us. It is much more. Those experienced in sadhana 31 know this. The actual power of all the five sense-organs is limited. It can, however, be further developed. There are and have been persons who possess and possessed unlimited potential powers of the sense-organs. The arhats, the tirthankaras and kevalis were possesssors of extra-ordinary power of the sense-organs. One who makes his body light and subtle and develops his mental powers extra-ordinarily is known as a manokami. He can achieve whatever he desires in no time. There is no time-lag between his desires and their fulfilment. If he desires to eat some thing, he need not put it into his mouth. He can satisfy his hunger without actually eating anything. Any one can develop such powers although it is not an easy task to do so. Gods satisfy their hunger imaginatively. They do not eat material food. Those who possess vaikriya bodies (counterparts of material bodies) also do not eat material food. Such persons possess immense potential powers. Others may also develop such powers. The sense-organ of speech also has actual and potential powers. When the tirthankaras speak, their voice can be heard at a distance of four yojanas (about eight miles). Their speech can assume the form of several languages at the same time. This is quite natural for them. Others may also develop such powers. Ksirasrava labdhi (literally to taste milk) and madhvasrava labdhi (literally to taste honey) are the two powers associated with speech. When a person possessing the former power speaks, the hearer feels as if he is actually tasting ksira or milk. When the person possessing the latter power speaks, the hearer feels as if he is actually testing honey. These powers may be acquired by others also and are not the special privilege of any particular person. A certain king approached his preceptor and asked, "The gods live an eternal life. Do they not feel life to be boring?" The preceptor replied, "The gods live a happy life, and, therefore, time does not become a burden to them. Those who lead an unhappy life feel time to be boring." The king again asked, "How is it possible to forget the sense of

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32 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND time? "The preceptor asked the king to sit down for some time and to listen to him. He delivered a long lecture to the king. It was such an interesting lecture that the king became absorbed in it. The preceptor then asked the king, "For how long have you been listening to my lecture ?" The king replied that the lecture had begun only a few moments ago. The lecture was so engaging that the king had lost the sense of time. This is an example of the power of speech. The human body has two wonderful powers. Let us take the example of Bhagavan Mahavira. He kept standing in meditation like a statue for four months at a stretch without stirring or speaking or eating or drinking anything He did not even brush off mosquitoes which perched on his skin. It is also mentioned that he meditated in the same way for a whole year. Bahubali also stood motionless in meditation for full one year at a stretch. Creepers which stood by his side grew thick and covered it. It is difficult for us to keep standing for an hour or two. Is there any difference between the powers we possess and those possessed by Mahavira and Bahubali? The only difference is that they were acquainted with their powers whereas we do not know ours. We have lost contact with our powers and consciousness. They were conversant with the technique of developing their powers, but we are not. That is why it appears strange to us that Mahavira kept standing for four months and Bahubali for a year. If we trained ourselves, we could also do the same. That is the secret of sadhana. The development of tolerance is a kind of self-discipline. There are some who will be the least perturbed even in the midst of terrible afflictions. They would simply watch the afflictions without allowing them to influence their minds. Self-discipline would make them disinterested spectators of what happens to them. One of the forms in which spiritual powers manifest themselves is self-reliance. Good sadhakas would not like that others should extend a helping hand to them because dependence on others would disturb their sadhana. Another factor which is a hindrance to sadhana lack of patience. People expect immediate returns from their selfexertion. They would like to know the outcome of sadhana

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THE PLAYGROUND OF CONSCIOUSNESS 33 before hand. There is a fixed time table prescribed for every kind of sadhana. There is no question of returns until the required time has been spent in self-exertion. But a weak practitioner, unless he has been assured of the returns, will begin to waver and give up the exercise. Forbearance is another form of spiritual strength. The practitioner of self-discipline should not be perturbed in adverse circumstances. A stone thrown into a pond disturbs the water. There are innumerable people who throw stones into the pond of life and disturb its waters. A sadhaka will not be able to perform his sadhana if he becomes disturbed and loses his patience. He must develop the strength which patience and serenity give. Serenity is the manifestation of spiritual strength. We should develop this strength and see to it that no disturbance coming from any direction is allowed to disturb us. There are several forms of spiritual strength which serve as an armour to protect us from all kinds of harm. Without the shield which spiritual strength provides consciousness will not be able to maintain its purity. Our journey, the aim of which is to arrive at the source of infinite energy, is a short one. If we did the right effort we will be able to achieve this aim. What are the means of achieving this aim ? Let me suggest one. It is called tanmurti yoga. There are two kinds of meditation : meditation on one's own form and meditation on some form other than one's own. The practitioner should first decide what he wants to achieve. If he wants to achieve the state which is called vitaraga (a passion-free state of mind), he will have to perform the first kind of meditation i.e. meditation on one's own form. No other meditation will be suitable for this purpose. Meditation on the vitaraga form is the only means by which we can reach the state of pure consciousness. Meditation on this form will result in spreading illumination around the meditator like the light emanating from a lamp placed on the head of a man in a standing posture. With this illumination the meditator begins to experience the purity of his consciousness. The entire energy which manifests itself in the course of meditation has got to be diverted towards and concentrated

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34 on the aim which the meditator has chosen, whether it is the powers of the mind or those of speech or those of the senseorgans. THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The practitioner must first decide what exactly he wants to achieve. Suppose, he wants to achieve an ideal physical strength. An ideal has no form. However, the practitioner will have to build a symbolic image representing his ideal in his mind. For example, the mythical Bahubali is a symbol of ideal physical strength. Once the symbolical image of Bahubali has been formed in his mind, the practitioner should meditate on this image. But evidently there is a distance between the practitioner and the ideal which he wants to achieve. The purpose of meditation is to obliterate this distance. The distance will go on progressively disappearing in the course of meditation. The meditator will be ultimately absorbed in the symbolic image he is meditating upon. In other words, he will be transplanted into the ideal. will become Bahubali. He Complete relaxation of the body i.e. kayotsarga is an essential condition of this kind of meditation. The body of the meditator will have to be completely immobilized so that it becomes as good as dead. A complete absorption in the ideal will bring about a transformation of his energy and he will ultimately come to feel that his body has gained immense strength. To summarize, the following points should be kept in mind: 1. A decision about the ideal to be achieved. 2. To form a symbolic image of the ideal in the mind. 3. To divert the entire energy generated in the state of meditation towards this ideal. 4. To become absorbed or transplanted into the ideal. This is how energy can be developed. We may choose either mental or physical or speech energy. The method mentioned above is also the method of achieving rddhis (spiritual powers) or labdhis (yogic achievements). There is no hard and fast rule in this respect. Sometimes people achieve success even without observing any rule at all.

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LECTURE FOUR SYNOPSIS * One who knows the nature of doubt knows the whole world. One who does not know the nature of doubt does not know anything about the world. *The aspirant for emancipation should break the chain of attachments and aversions with the help of enlightenment. *Such an aspirant is said to have crossed the ocean of life and to have become free and detached. *By hearing or knowing or by chance some point of consciousness begins to expand and the first ray of existence bursts forth. *The first ray of undefiled consciousness - clarity of vision. * The second ray of undefiled consciousness-experience of happiness and light. *The third ray of undefiled consciousness-constancy of the experience of happiness-manifestation of everlasting enlightenment. *The fourth ray of undefiled consciousness- acquisition of the original source of happiness-acquisition of the original source of everlasting illumination. * Knowledge of the distinction between individuality and existence leading to the transformation of the individual. * Formerly the two in pleasure and sorrow appeared to be pleasing but now only happiness attracts me. * Sometimes I felt pleasure and at other times sorrow due to the effects of past actions, but now I feel indifferent to both. * Formerly I felt consciousness at times only, but now I am possessed perpetually by consciousness only.

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36 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND * In a state of unconsciousness the mind and actions strayed away from each other, but now they have become united once for all having a full knowledge of actions. * Formerly I possessed knowledge, but now I have become embedded in knowledge. * Consequences of discernment - neutrality, * Consequences of neutrality-disinterestedness. * Consequences of disinterestedness - equanimity. * The practice of transformation : * The continuous stream of discernment. * The ascent of energy. * Watching consciousness.

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:4: TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONALITY - EQUANIMITY Even a slight manifestation of consciousness is a pointer towards man's existence. It activates his insight and brings discernment into operation which pierces the ignorance surrounding consciousness. It is the manifestation of enlightenment which is the characteristic of man's existence. It encourages the practitioner to go ahead. A new experience is born with the manifestation of the light of existence. The first manifestation clears the vision and the second results in the feeling of joy which had remained hitherto unfelt. A third manifestation of enlightenment stabilizes the feeling of joy which will never be extinguished. A fourth manifestation brings the practitioner face to face with the centre of consciousness resulting in the highest kind of joy from which the practitioner never likes to return to the murky world of ordinary life. Discernment produces self-discipline; self-discipline, in its turn, destroys self-forgetfulness; and the disappearance of self-forgetfulness brings in complete freedom from passions. This is the orderly march to freedom. The march begins with man's consciousness of his existence. Self-exertion, austerities and meditation have no meaning for man unless and until he has first become aware of his own existence. The practice of self-exertion begins after this awareness. An austere life and meditation follow it. A glimpse of his existence makes man restless and impatient with his present life. It is this restlessness and impatience which force him to concentrate his mind, and, therefore, they have their own value in sadhana. Till now the practitioner had been governed by his wanton mind. From now onwards he becomes the controller and driver of his

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND mind. The whole field of the body is there for the operations of the mind. There is nothing wrong with the mind. Let it play as it pleases. With the advent of discernment and insight the entire orientation of the mind changes. It becomes transformed. The mind which had earlier been our master, has now become our slave. It is discernment which makes the practitioner the master of the mind. This basic change does not make the mind inactive. It continues to be active. The purpose of self-exertion is the transformation of personality. Prolonged self-exertion, austerities and meditation will be a sheer waste of time and energy, if they do not bring about a transformation of the practitioner's mind, nay his entire personality. Otherwise the practitioner will begin to waver and give up hope and finally become disillusioned. In such a case he will abandon sadhana. Faith in the efficacy of meditation, austerities, and selfexertion can be sustained only by the dividends they pay, i.e., by the transformation of personality they bring about. Not only the practitioner but others also should be convinced that such a transformation has taken place or does take place. At least the practitioner should be self-assured, otherwise he will lose faith in sadhana. What is this transformation of personality? Let us be clear about it. Human life is characterized by a succession of joys and sorrows. We have become so much accustomed to this succession that we are not prepared to think that a different kind of life is possible. But once right perception, insight and discernment have been developed in us, the duality of joys and sorrows is broken and we become exclusively inclined towards joys only. We become convinced that there can be a life without sorrows also. The dual current of joys and sorrows comes to be replaced by a single current of joy. The ultimate result of the enjoyment of the pleasure of the world is sorrow. The saturation point of worldly pleasures brings in sorrow. We bear sorrows with the hope that the next round of experiences will bring joy in the same way in which the dark night is followed by the bright day. This perception undergoes a basic change once discernment produces better judgment and clears our vision. With the clarity of vision the

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TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONALITY-EQUANIMITY dual process of joys-cum-sorrows changes into a single process of joy. 39 Human life is also characterized by the dual process of knowledge-cum-ignorance. But with the dawn of discernment ignorance disappears. Knowledge alone rules the realm of sadhana. Sadhana is not governed by the dual authority of knowledge and ignorance but by the indivisible authority of knowledge. Human life is also characterized by the duality of strength and weakness. With the emergence of discernment, weakness also disappears and the practitioner becomes wedded to strength or energy. With the disappearance of inertia man's spiritual progress gains a new momentum. In such a state there is no more doubt or misgiving. There are no alternate courses for the practitioner of spiritual exertion, but only a single and straight course. This is the first stage of the reconstruction of the sadhaka's personality. There can be no sadhana without the transformation of personality. Unity of experience is the second stage of the transformation of personality. Before this transformation takes place the practitioner's experience is divided between joys and sorrows. He does not have a unified experience of joy. With the appearance of the second glow of consciousness, the flow of energy in him begins to gather strength and experience begins to be characterized by joy only. This is a new experience. He had never known that there can be joy even without his being associated with things other than the self like external objects, instruments and influences. When his experience becomes enlivened by consciousness, when he begins to exercise self-discipline and when his personality becomes reconstituted, he comes to feel and know that joy need not be associated with things other than the self and that spiritual joy is supreme. Human beings have to suffer the consequences of their past deeds. Happiness is the consequence of good deeds done in the past and sorrows are the consequence of bad deeds. Moreover, we are happy when we get things which we like and unhappy when we are faced with things which we do not like. But once we begin to act in the light of pure con

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40 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND sciousness or in an enlightened way, we become dispassionate and neutral with regard to both joys and sorrows. Neither joy attracts us nor does sorrow cast its shadow on us. Bhagavan Mahavira successfully went through many an affliction. Other practitioners of self-discipline also did the same It is possible to do so on the level of ordinary consciousness ? Is it possible to experience such afflictions with a smiling face ? Perhaps not. But with a dispassionate attitude of mind one finds himself to be above joys and sorrows. Consciousness alloyed with feeling keeps us at a lower level of experience. At a higher level of consciousness man becomes a mere spectator of joys and sorrows without being affected by them. He becomes capable of bearing the greatest afflictions. From where does this tolerance come ? Its source is discernment. Discernment enables us to make distinctions. This ability reaches its highest peak in equanimity. We go on entering into the depths of experience as the chisel of discernment goes on chopping off the layers of evil accumulated on the mind. We are raised above sense-feelings. Freedom from dependence on the senses is called equanimity. Those who live on the level of the senses may be tolerant and may go on enduring afflictions. But equanimity is higher than mere tolerance because it is achieved by those who have raised themselves above the level of the senses. Those who have attained spiritual experiences after having abandoned sense-feelings adopt an attitude of neutrality in matters of pleasure and pain. This neutrality is the result of a second transformation of personality. But this state is not the final state of spiritual experience. The practitioner has to go beyond this state. He has to be extremely careful. He has to be constantly self-watchful in order to keep the flow of consciousness uninterrupted. He has to keep the flame of consciousness stable and ever-burning. His experience does not remain stable and he is often attacked by inertia. The inter-play of consciousness and inertia continues. It is only when the third ray of consciousness bursts forth, when experience becomes deeper and deeper and when discernment becomes more and more effective, that the inter-play of inertia and consciousness comes to an end. Then the eternal light of wake

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TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONALITY-EQUANIMITY fulness begins to shine in him without interruption. Before this light has begun to shine, the mind and actions remain apart because there is no connecting link between the two. They do not cohere and there is no co-ordination between them. With the dawn of enlightenment the autonomies of the mind and actions comes to an end and they become harmonized into a single current. This is called the unification of knowledge and conduct. Philosophical thinkers are divided into two categories : those who emphasize the primacy of knowledge and those who emphasize the primacy of actions or conduct. This distinction first came into existence in the field of sadhana and from there it was transferred to the field of logic. Knowledge and conduct then came to be completely separated. It, however, does not hold much water in the field of sadhana any more. We cannot keep knowledge detached from conduct. They form a unity. To speak of the two as separate is a matter of emphasis only. When the emphasis is placed on one, it does not exclude the other. However, in the course of time they came to be looked upon as separate. This gave birth to two distinct schools of philosophy. In a state of enlightenment, the mind and the instincts go hand in hand with each other. The mind remains involved in each action and every action becomes a rational action. Every activity of the body becomes conscious activity. Even instinctive activities take place under the auspices of consciousness. The enlightened man is always wakeful. He keeps the mind associated with every action he does. His mind never remains alienated from action. This wakefulness is the consequence of the third stage of the transformation of personality. Thinking and doing become a unity. With the further progress of sadhana and self-consciousness a fourth transformation takes place. It brings about a dispassionate attitude of mind. The practitioner arrives at the state of vitaraga. His consciousness becomes undefiled. The influence of the passions on his mind disappears. The self does not remain conditioned by external influences and comes to itself. The practitioner becomes centred in the self. His relationship with external things ceases. He becomes selfpropelled. He develops pure and unconditioned knowledge.

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND There is no difference between freedom from passions and pure knowledge or kaivalya. As a matter of fact kaivalya means freedom of knowledge from infiltration by passions. It means the rehabilitation of consciousness. Once consciousness has been rehabilitated, inertia disappears from it once for all. Disappearance of inertia results in a dispassionate attitude of the mind which in its turn frees consciousness from further defilement. Kaivalya means the emergence of pure consciousness. Once we get a glimpse of our native existence, we begin to command discernment which is the pre-condition of the regeneration of man. Discernment enables us to develop a neutral attitude of mind. It is the first result of the perception of our real existence. Neutrality of the mind is the second result. Neutrality means two things : indifference and to see things from a close quarter. Only he who is neutral can see things in their true light. He who is not neutral is unable to do so. He becomes attached to that which is pleasing and opposed to that which is not. Attachments and a versions produce a defective understanding which does not give us a correct picture of things. Indifference means not to pay attention to or to discard. The neutral man is neither inclined towards pleasing things nor disinclined towards unpleasing things because he commands mental equilibrium or the sense of equality. Discernment produces neutrality, neutrality produces indifference and indifference brings about a balanced mind. A complete reconstitution of personality is the tail-end of sadhana. It implies a surrender of the empirical self or personality. This surrender leads to the emergence of man's real and unqualified existence. The boundary of unqualified existence of the self begins where the boundary of the empirical self ends. Having crossed the boundary of the empirical self we enter into our pure existence or in other words the self becomes rehabilitated in its own existence. It becomes the sole emperor of its realm. This is the outcome of sadhana. It is, however, difficult to achieve it. Time is divided into three categories : the past, the present and the future. The Jainas use the term pratikramana (withdrawl) with reference to the past, pratyakhyana (renu

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TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONALITY-EQUANIMITY nciation) with reference to the future and alocana (introspection) with reference to the present. Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutras, says that miseries which are likely to happen are to be avoided. The effects of deeds done in the past cannot be said to be undesirable because they have already been experienced and have become spent up. The deeds being done in the present are yet to mature, and, therefore, one should try to observe such deeds mentally. They cannot be stopped because man has to live, and, therefore, he must act. The effects of such deeds are yet to manifest themselves and have not been experienced. It is the future actions whose effects are yet to be experienced which are to be withdrawn from. They alone can be said to be undesirable. Thus one should mentally withdraw himself from past deeds, mentally observe himself from what is being done in the present and avoid future deeds. One need not regret what he had done in the past. The only thing he has to do with reference to the past is to withdraw the soul into its natural habitat. Present deeds are to be critically evaluated and watched. The greatest danger comes from future actions and they have to be avoided if they are likely to be undesirable. 43 The transformation of personality is impossible without avoiding the undesirable consequences of future deeds. There is no meaning in sadhana, if it does not bring about the transformation of personality. The practitioner has to disperse mental inhibitions. At least something has to be done in this respect. I am not talking about the ideal of vitaraga (passionlessness). Anyhow, this ideal has got to be kept in mind. Some kind of inner change has got to be begun. We do experience the succession of joys and sorrows, but the attempts to discipline the self can reach fruition only through the experience of pure joy. The habit to see life as a succession of joys and sorrows will then begin to break. It is very difficult to remain constantly self-watchful which is possible only after a long practice. Such a practice should, however, be undertaken not carelessly but carefully. One should resolve to act self-watchfully at least for an hour or two daily. He should walk or stand still with the consciousness that he is standing or walking. The mind and actions should go together. The integration of personality is

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND impossible without such a conscious attitude. Sometimes we feel joy and at other times only sorrow. One should divert his attention from sorrows and try to feel joy only. The practice of equanimity is a difficult task. We should not expect immediate results. We are not fully developed and free from the effects of our deeds, and, therefore, sadhana cannot be expected to bear fruits in a day or two. Anyhow, we should at least attempt to keep our knowledge as pure as possible. We should avoid the operation of feeling. The development of the sense of equanimity means the purity of knowledge. This is the initial process of the transformation of personality and if we cannot enter into such a process there is no sense in talking about it. The potter places a lump of shapeless clay on the wheel and as soon as the wheel begins to revolve, the fingers of the potter begin to give shape to the clay. The clay will not take the shape of a pot unless this initial process has begun. The aim of the practitioner should be to give a new form to his personality. Unless the clay has been transformed into a pot, it will not be able to hold water. The transformation of personality is the consummation of the process of sadhana.

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LECTURE FIVE ! SYNOPSIS * It is difficult to collect epuipment for a battle. * One who engages himself in self-exertion will have to face struggles. * One can avoid future actions for achieving the status of a spectator only after discernment has begun to be operative. * Once the ideal has been clearly visualized, one gets rid of what is undesirable. * Once the desirable thing has been achieved, the practi tioner would like to remain self-disciplined, wakeful and calm, but the infiltration into him by alien tendencies will still continue and he will have to employ several means to get rid of this infiltration. Self-exertion is an exercise in discernment or dissociation. * Distinction between the soul and the body. * Distinction between desires and the soul. * Distinction between inertia and the soul. Distinction between the emotions and the soul.

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: 5: DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY-TAPA (AUSTERITIES) Kayotsarga (abandonment of the body and self-awareness) is an exercise in discernment. After we have analysed an object thoroughly and distinguished one part of it from another, what remains is the existence of the object which is transcendental and supreme. In order to arrive at ultimate truth we have to make analyses and distinctions, distinctions between the body and consciousness, between desire and consciousness, between infatuation and consciousness, between excitement and consciousness and so on. Consciousness is distinct from the body, sleep, desire, self-negligence (pramada) and excitement. The sense of this distinction is the starting-point of the journey towards self-realization. We enter into the realm of the spirit or our real existence by means of disciplining the body, hands, feet, speech and the sense-organs. Self-discipline is the means of attaining the self. Kayotsarga (abandonment of the body and self-awareness) is the first step in this direction. The grossest means of self-realization is the human body. Breath is a part and parcel of the body. There are three sources of our actions: mind, body and speech. Breath is not an independent source. It is included in the body. The self-exerting spiritual practitioner has to achieve kayotsarga and to bring the fickleness of the body and mind to an end. How is this to be achieved? How is the fickleness of the body to be controlled? So far as vital energy continues to circulate in the body and so far as the mind keeps the body active, the natural tendencies of the body cannot be controlled and it cannot be stabilized. In other words, kayotsarga cannot be achieved so far as the vital energy and mind are active. In order to achieve kayotsarga the mind will have to

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DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY-TAPA be engaged elsewhere. It will have to be eliminated from the body. Therefore, we will have to divert the mind inwards and drop it into the ocean of consciousness. In our worldly experience, consciousness remains hidden like a flame in a closed vessel. Once the mind has been soaked in consciousness or absorbed in the flame of consciousness, the body will become calm and stabilized by itself. The vibrations of vital energy and the restlessness of the mind are the causes of all the activities of the body. If vital energy and the mind are canalized towards consciousness, the body will become calm and stabilized, for it will be cut off from the sources of its activities. It will become abandoned. The body cannot be abandoned and its activities cannot be stopped until the mind has not been yoked to that state of consciousness in which the self becomes a spectator and a knower par excellence. 47 Kayotsarga can be achieved in two stages. The first is complete relaxation of the body and the other is its stabilization and abandonment. Realization is not abandonment. Abandonment of the body means a clear experience of the separation of the body from consciousness. In such an experience one comes to feel that the body and consciousness stand apart and are quite distinct from each other. In figurative language it means that the bird which had been encaged has flown away into the open sky leaving behind the cage. This happens when the mind has become completely immersed in the self. Then the hands and feet, the sense-organs and speech become fully restrained. The process of the abandonment of the body is a twoway process. It is an internal as well as an external process. Firstly, we have to restrain the hands and feet, the senseorgans and speech. Secondly, we have to sit in such a physical posture which will divert the flow of the mind and vital energy towards the self. If the mind could be inverted and made to catch a glimpse of our real existence, every particle of the body will become calm. There will be no need for further effort. The fickleness of the body will automatically disappear and the soul will manifest itself in a manner in which it had never done before. The practitioner's personality will become completely integrated. There has been a lot of talk about such

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48 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND an integration of personality but few have actually experienced it. There are some who believe in the existence of the soul. There are others who deny it. Mere belief in the existence of the soul cannot be logically justified. Its existence so far as it is a matter of belief can be easily disproved. We believe that the soul exists because we have been told that it does. Belief is not knowledge. Direct knowledge of the soul is a matter of personal experience which can be had in a state of kayotsarga which is a door through which we can enter into the soul directly. Once we get a direct glimpse of the soul, kayotsarga becomes achieved of its own accord. Spiritual experience means experience of our real existence, of pure consciousness and of that state in which the soul remains a pure spectator and knower. We perceive and know things but our perceptions and knowledge are not perfect. Curd mixed with sugar is neither pure curd nor pure sugar. Its taste is neither that of pure curd nor that of pure sugar. It is quite different from both. Consciousness is also in the same plight. We are neither able to perceive pudgala or matter nor consciousness exclusively. Our empirical experience consists of a combination of both. We have accepted empirical experience to be valuable and cling to it. If we could perchance get a glimpse of pure consciousness, we will find it to be incomparable and will never like to discard such an experience. It will madden us. We would be prepared to make the greatest sacrifice to retain it. We would take it to be all in all. That is the way in which spiritual experience works. But the path which leads to the experience of the self is a thorny path beset with great difficulties. The distance we have to cover is no doubt a short distance, but we will have to do a lot of struggle to traverse it. Moreover, it is a winding path. While walking on this path we will have to activate the faculty of discernment. It is here that we become conscious of the value of pratyakhyana or renunciation and of the distinction between what is desirable and what is not. It is again here that we get a glimpse of our real existence. It is here that we enter into the process of renunciation. It is true that what we try to relinquish is not ready to relinquish us. Renunciation or pratyakhyana and discernment do not

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DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY -- TAPA 49 mean merely giving up things. Discernmect does not become operative unless both the desirable and the undesirable are actually present before us. Discernment chooses that which is desirable without which pratyakhyana is meaningless. Once the choice has been made, that which is desirable begins to exercise a pressure on us and that which is undesirable begins to disappear without any effort on our part to discard it. The spirit of renunciation becomes active of its own accord. Man will become a dead entity if this choice is not offered to him. Only a moral choice is a step in the direction of selfrealization. Renunciation is not a negative attitude. It is a rational process of abandonment. It is through reason that mankind bas preferred the railways to the bullock carts and the aeroplanes to the railways. It is natural for man to choose what is progressive in place of what is retrogressive. Reason is a natural property of man. The spirit of renunciation reveals to us the value of moral discipline and attracts us towards it. The practitioner prefers to live in the world of the spirit and becomes inmersed in it. The glow of consciousness becomes so attractive to him that he does not like to revert to the darkness of the empirical world. But a glimpse of this new horizon brings about a fierce struggle in the mind of the practitioner. The influx of alien matter in the soul, natural tendencies and emotions begin to resist the expansion of consciousness. Attachments and a versions begin to cast their ominous shadow on the mind of the practitioner. Self-negligence and passion for material objects take up arms to resist the new development. Inertia becomes entrenched against it. A fierce battle ensues within the practitioner. This battle provides great opportunities for him and he must take his chance. The Acaranga says : "The opportunity for this struggle is a god-sent boon and it does not come time and again. It is a rare opportunity." The practitioner can achieve his real existence through this struggle only. He comes to realize that the rehabilitation of the soul as a seer and knower par excellence is much more commendable than the watching of breath and the activization of the centres of consciousness, fasting and moral discipline. He leaves these exercises behind and steps up to a higher level of consciousness. Once he has upgraded himself to this

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50 THE MYTERIES OF MIND higher level he comes to know that his path is no more winding and thorny. But for those who have not attained this stature, the struggle is a life, and death struggle. They cannot proceed even a single step forward until they have conquered all the enemies whose combined attack seems to be baffling. This struggle takes place only at an advanced stage of sadhana and not in the beginning when the influx of alien matter in the soul and man's natural tendencies are not so hard-pressed as to offer fierce resistance. Their resistance increases in intensity with the advancement of sadhana and in the face of the practitioner's determined assault on their lines of defence. They counter-attack like an enraged cobra terribly hissing and striking when cornered. They will behave in their normal way and peacefully if they are not challenged. But once the practitioner has challenged them with the intention to uproot them from their base which they have been rooted in for centuries in the past, they become fierce. It is at this juncture that the practitioner is in dire need of a guide or guru. If he does not get a guru, he is likely to lose heart and withdraw from the battle. The practitioner has to exercise great restraint and patience at this middle stage of sadhana. The practitioner has to adopt several means to bring the battle to a successful end. He has to be fully prepared from the very beginning of sadhana. The following are the means he has to adopt : 1. To watch breathing. 2. To watch the body. 3. To watch the psychic centres. 4. To give up eating. 5. Fasting. 6. Eating very little. 7. Exercises in physical postures. A fully-equipped practitioner will never lose the battle. He will continue to advance even in the face of fierce opposition. A scientist engaged himself in an experiment for thirty years. His thesis was that by chewing food instead of swallowing one becomes less sadist. It appears to be a strange thesis.

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DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY-TAPA Tendencies which have become deep-rooted in us become active as soon as they get favourable occasions. If the circumstances in which they become active are changed, they can be easily controlled. Food not only nourishes the body, but also influences the sense-organs and the mind. The process through which it is digested is an important process. There will be no intestinal trouble if the digestive process goes on smoothly. If it is disturbed, it not only harms the body, but also affects the mind adversely because it poisons the apana air in the stomach which produces restlessness and harmful tendencies in the mind. Poisoning of the apana air also produces aggressive tendencies. A properly chewed food is easily digestible and keeps the mind free from the tendency to do harm to others. The scientist's thesis referred to above, therefore, seems to be quite rational. Discipline in matters of food is a kind of tapa or austerity. Keeping the stomach light and abstaining from spicy food are also austerities. The practitioner who does not season himself with these austerities will fail. 51 To take precaution in matters of food by means of fasting etc. as mentioned above is an integral part of sadhana. It does not mean giving up food entirely, nor is it desirable to be careless in this respect. We should neither eat too much nor too little, for both are injurious to physical and mental health. We should adopt the middle path. Neither should we weaken physical energy nor encourage laziness. A balanced diet is absolutely necessary, for after all we have to use the body also as an instrument of sadhana, and, therefore, physical health has to be maintained carefully. A practitioner who had been engaged in sadhana for a long time once came to meet me. He told me that he had a glimpse of his existence for the first time that day, that his vision had given him a great joy and that there was no greater meditation than the one which results in the perception of the self. I tried to remind him that the path of sadhana was not a straight but a circuitous path. It is not possible for a practitioner to achieve success in a short time. He will have to pass through several stages before he achieved his aim. If we asked a practitioner who happens to be passing through the initial stage of sadhana to see the spectator-knower or

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52 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND the flame of enlightenment or the rolling waves of consciousness within him, he would not be able to do so all of a sudden. He will see only bones, flesh and fat in the body and not the spectator-knower within him. He will complain that there is no flame and no ocean of consciousness there. We have, therefore, to encourage the practitioner and persuade him to proceed slowly and step by step. He should first watch the gross sensations and then the subtle ones. It is difficult to penetrate into the gross boby, but once the practitioner has crossed the gross body, he will come across the subtle body. This subtle body is made of energy and is, therefore, called the taijasa body (electrical body) or the abhavalaya (the aura) or a mass of electrical energy from which emanate waves of different colours. Next comes the last and the subtlest body known as the karina sarira. It is in this body that the effects or particles of our deeds gather, become mature and assume an active form to manifest themselves in the gross body and influence our behaviour. Our behaviour is the reflection of the karma body. The roots of our deeds lie in the karma body. It is on the basis of what happens in the subtle body that we can predict when the gross body is going to die or suffer from this or that disease. The diseases from which the gross body suffers first strike their roots in the subtle body. They sometimes take a long time to manifest their symptoms in the gross body. The causes of death also first appear in the subtle body. The subtle body is always seething with all kinds of vibrations and waves. The practitioner will have to contact all that is happening there. For this he will have to make his mind very subtle and sensitive. If he succeeded in doing so, he will be able to go beneath the subtle body and get a clear and definite glimpse of the soul which is a seer and knower only. He will see a spectrum of light in his heart and will come across an ocean of consciousness. called self-realization. But he will have to pass through a number of stages before he can arrive at this realization. In the beginning he will find everything hazy, but his vision will go on becoming clearer as he proceeds. Ultimately he will enter into a state where there is nothing to be perceived and

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DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY-TAPA 53 experienced except his own soul. The duality o the seer and the seen and the knower and the known comes to an end here.

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LECTURE SIX SYNOPSIS * Having known the connecting link of the ephemeral human body, man should renounce sex-indulgence. * Perform kayotsarga with the knees bent upwards and the head bent downwards. * The aim of our pilgrimage : ascent of consciousness. * Sexual desire and the craving for tasty objects are two basic tendencies. * Consciousness remains trapped in the sex-centres. * This is the centre of arta-raudsa-dhyana, meditation and adharma lesyas (evil coloration). * The navel is the connecting link. * The beginning of the ascent from the heart. * When the upward journey has begun, natural tendencies will continue to be operative, but being deprived of the strength which energy gives them, they will become calm and will not bear fruit. * Steady sitting expends less energy. * Tapa is the main propelling force in the journey upwards. * Additionl storing of energy. * The upward trend of energy.

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:6: THE UPWARD FLOW OF ENERGY The soul is a thick flame. A lady asked, "If it is a flame, what colour is it ?" The soul is a thick flame. A gentleman asked, "If it is a flame, why can't we see it like a burning lamp ?" If the soul is a flame, it should have a colour and should be visible. But neither has it colour nor is it visible. A certain man entered into a room. An electric lamp was burning there. Within a few moments the light went off and there was complete darkness. Nothing was visible. Another man who was standing outside the room asked, "Who is there in the room ?" The man inside the room replied, "It is me." How did he see himself? If the soul is not a lamp, how did he see himself and said, "It is me ?" We may be situated in a completely dark underground cellar but we can see ourselves and assert "It is me." This self-consciousness can never be extinguished. The soul always keeps its lustre like a burning lamp. The mere assertion "It is me" is sufficient proof of the existence of the soul like a burning lamp within us. A single ray of it is sufficient to enlighten us. If we travel towards this lamp and if the energy contained in our body also begins to flow in the same direction, we will one day certainly come face to face with it. We will know it directly whether it has a colour or not and whether it shines like a lamp. We may never be able to perceive the soul but we are never doubtful about its existence. We do see some of the rays emanating from it, although most of the flame remains invisible to us. We can easily infer from these rays that the soul does exist. This inference will change into an actual

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56 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND experience at the end of our journey. That which appears to be a mere reflection will change into a clear vision. Let us, therefore, begin our journey. Let us begin an upward journey. Let us carry our consciousness, our vital energy and our pranu upwards, for these are the means of achieving our ideal. The path of this journey lies within the body itself. There are two centres in the body. One of them is called the centre of consciousness and the other the centre of sexenergy. The former is situated in the upper part of the body which extends from the navel to the head and the latter in the lower part of the body below the navel. Our consciousness remains confined about these centres where it becomes thickly concentrated and its flow becomes forceful. The sexcentre is the chief source of energy. The entire consciousness and energy remain collected around this centre, particularly around the navel and the plexternal organ. There is very little energy in and about the knowledge-centre because the modern man is more inclined towards sex. His entire energy and consciousness have become concentiated near the sexcentre. He pays more attention to and shows greater interest in the sex-centre. Psychologists tell us that the sex-instinct produces greater tension in man than any other instinct. We experience tension due to fear, anger, jealousy and other emotions only seldom. The tension produced by the sexinstinct is also very heavy. It has very deep roots. it may be said that the base of krsna lesya, nila lesya and kapota lesya, the three inauspicious colorations of the soul lie somewhere here. Every one of our tendencies has its base or centre in the gross body from which it manifests itself. The centres from which these colourations manifest themselves lie somewhere between the sex-centres and the area in which the apana air collects. These are also the centres to be meditated upon in arta and raudra meditations. It is these centres which feed our likes and dislikes, restlessness due to feelings, cruelty, jealousy, hatred ele. They atlect consciousness collected around them and excite our emotions. The vital energy which we possess manifests itself in various forms. It has ten forms. When it is associated with the sense-organs, through which it manifests itself, it assumes

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THE UPWARD FLOW OF ENERGY 57 the form of the five pranas according to the sense-organ it employs as the instrument of its expression : prana associated with the sense of touch, prana associated with the sense of taste, with that of smell and with that of sight. Vital energy produces will-power when it becomes associated with the mind. It strengthens the body and speech. It is in this way that vital energy has been classified into ten forms like the ten currents of a single river. It activates breath and brings about longevity. When vital energy begins to flow downwards into the sex-centre, the sex-centre becomes the centre of man's entire existence, of his body and of his consciousness. Thoughts which hover around consciousness tied to the sex-centre become soaked into krsna lesya or nila lesya or kapota lesya. Thoughts associated with adharma or inertia and all the changes which arta or raudra meditations bring about find a congenial atmosphere around the sex-centre. Inability to restrain the sense-organs is a characteristic of krsna lesya. The tendency to give a long rope to the senseorgans is born somewhere near the sex-centre. The concentration of consciousness around the sex-centre is the effect of krsna lesya. The truths which the Jain thinkers tried to expound in the light of the six colourations of the soul have been expounded by the Hatha Yoga school of philosophers in the light of the cakras or plexuses and glands in the human body. Both the schools have framed their own definitions. There is no basic difference between these schools except in matters of definition. According to the Hatha Yoga there are three cakras in the upper part of the body and three in the lower part. The muladhara, svadhisthana and manipura cakras are situated in the lower part of the body below the heart and the anahata, ajna and sahasrara in the upper part of the body above the heart. When the muladhara cakra remains inactive, it produces excitement. When the syadhisthana cakra remains inactive it produces sexual excitement. When the manipura cakra remains inactive it produces jealousy, hatred, cruelty etc. This also applies to the three inauspicious lesyas which take

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58 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND place in the same centres or cakras. It is from these centres that consciousness descends downwards. Jain acaryas have constructed the model of lokapurusa. They have represented the universe in the form of a purusa or ideal man. The body of the lokapurusa is divided into three parts, the upper, the middle and the lower. Divine beings reside in the upper part, human beings in the middle part and infernal beings in the lower part. The seat of the emancipated souls lies in the upper part which is situated above the heart. Gods and emancipated and perfected souls live in the upper part, human beings in the middle part and hell lies in the lower part below the waist. Dharma lesyas or auspicious colorations of the soul take place in the upper part whereas adharma lesyas or inauspicious colorations in the lower part of the body. Deha-preksa or perceptive meditation of the body begins by concentrating the mind on the heart. There is a reason for this. In meditation we first carry the vital energy upwards. Once this energy has been developed, three will be no harm if it is carried downwards. But if consciousness happened to be bogged down in the lower parts of the body, it would produce serious consequences. If we are earnest about having a perception of ultimate reality, or of the light of consciousness, we will have to perform an ascending journey. We will have to carry the vital energy upwards in order to get rid of the baser instincts. With the ascent of the vital energy a marked change in the operation of the baser instincts will begin to take place. The ascent of vital energy is the first step in sadhana. It is also called tapa (austerities). Tapa consists in collecting the vital energy and driving it upwards. But there will be a great commotion before it turned upwards. The paths of all great revolutions are paved with commotions and explosions. But if sufficient energy has not been stored, there will be no commotion. If we want to collect energy we must be parsimonious in spending it. Otherwise there will be no commotion. Anyhow, we have to push up vital energy. The first kind of tapa is fasting. A fasting and hungry practitioner will be able to collect enormous energy. Even the food we eat produces energy but it can only maintain the

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THE UPWARD FLOW OF ENERGY 59 body. It simply activates the cells of the body and is not sufficient enough to bring about commotions in consciousness for which we need subtle energy. Subtle energy can be produced by tapa and bhavana (contemplation). If the practitioner avoided drinking water during a period of fasiing, he will produce extra energy. We can also produce energy by remaining exposed to heat. Every deed we do needs energy. The more the action, the more the expenditure of energy. Physicains prescribe rest to the patients so that they may gain energy. Rest enables us to collect energy. It is on this basis that the practitioner is called upon to restrain his body, mind and speech so that he may collect as much energy as possible. How to push vital energy upwards ? Various sitting postures help us in collecting energy. Ordinarily we do not understand and appriciate the value of sitting cross-legged or the lotus-like sitting posture or of sitting with the knees bent upwards. In sadhana the sitting postures have been recommended for specific purposes. They enable the practitioner to push his energy upwards by exerting pressure on the body. Somebody told Mahavira that he wanted to understand the practice of brahmacarya or celebacy. He was advised to perform kayotsarga or relaxation and restraint of the body in a standing posture because this posture carries vital energy upwards and the blood-stream downwards. Sarvangasana, sirsasana, vrksasana and padmasana postures push vital energy upwards. All the physical postures recommended for meditation are meant to serve the same purpose. The upward movement of energy brings about the transformation of personality which happens with a sudden bursting of energy. For the ordinary practitioner there is a dividing wall between the three auspicious lesyas and the three inauspicious lesyas which it is difficult for him to pierce. This wall gives way with the explosion of energy and the emergence of consciousness. As soon as this has happened the practitioner comes into an area illuminated by the three auspicious lesyas i.e. the tejolesya, the padmalesya and the suklalesya. He becomes more and more enlightened. The science of Ayurveda says that the heart is the seat of the soul as well as of energy. It is from the heart that the upward movement of energy begins. This movement begins

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60 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND when the practitioner becomes illuminated by the tejolesya at the conclusion of arta-raudra meditation and at the beginning of dharma dhyana. He then enters into the enclave of the padmalesya or yellow coloration of the soul. His consciousness begins to expand and he begins meditation on the red colour and the ajna cakra. The next object to be meditated upon is is the sahasrara cakra which belongs to the field of sukla dhyana or meditation of the white colour. There is perfect harmony in this meditation. This is a completely illumined area and once the meditator has entered into this area, mental tendencies calm down and the pollution of the soul comes to an end resulting in the purity of the heart. Dharma lesya (auspicious coloration) is the entrance door of the spiritual realm. It should, however, be noted that all the inauspicious colorations of the soul do not disappear all of a sudden. They disappear by and by. Tendencies which were active in the past and the influx of their effects into the soul exert a continuous resisting pressure on the practitioner, but they do not reach a point of fruition any more because the sex-centres have no more active energy left in them. It has become transferred to other centres. In such a state sex, jealousy, hatred and likes and dislikes become totally ineffective. The fruition of action, its capacity to produce effects on the mind, depends upon circumstances favourable to it. Unsupported by instrumental causes it succumbs and fails to produce effects. One of the consequences of the ascent of vital energy is that the force of tendencies and impulses becomes spent up. In the course of the self-exertion of the practitioner they disappear completely. All this is brought about by tapa or austerities. The practitioner is advised to shake off his body, the actional tendencies and the entire karmic body. He is called upon to uproot his natural inclinations, attachments and aversions, passions and all the foreign matter which has entered or is in the process of entering into his self. Hunger, fear, sexuality and thc acquisitive tendencies are associated with the desire for sensual pleasures. Anger, pride, deceit and

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THE UPWARD FLOW OF ENERGY 61 greed are mental tendencies. Tapa or the upward flow of vital energy negates all the above-mentioned eight tendencies. There is, however, one thing which should be noted. The tongue and the palate are closely connected with the sexcentres. In all the methods of meditation, the practitioner should keep in mind that restraint of the tongue and the palate is a necessary condition of stopping the operation of all the physical and mental tendencies. If the practitioner, while he is meditating, feels that his wind is restless, he should upturn his tongue and fix it on the palate. While doing so he will feel several strange sensations and these will restrain his mind. With the tongue becoming stable, all the natural tendencies of the body and the mind will calm down. Authors of works on sadhana have emphasised the necessity of restraining the tongue. This is a meaningful emphasis. One who wants to restrain sexual tendencies must restrain his tongue. Out of the five organs of sense two are said to be tough and difficult to conquer. They are the sense-organs of touch and taste. The former is directly connected with the sex-centre and the latter only indirectly. Restraint of sexual tendencies and that of the tongue go hand in hand with each other. Once sensations which the tongue produces have been stopped, sexual tendencies will also come to a stop. The organ of taste produces much obstruction in the ascent of vital energy. But once vital energy becomes dissociated from the tongue, the obstructions begin to disappear. Craving for delicacies is the result of nila lasya. But once this has been stopped, auspicious tendencies become operative and helpful in the ascent of energy, in the purification of mental tendencies and in dharmya and sukla meditations and in bringing about the transformation of personality. This is the outcome of tapa or the practice of austerities. The practice of austerities produces three results : 1. More and more accumulation of vital energy, 2. The least expenditure of vital energy, and 3. Upward movement of vital energy.

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62 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND At the height of all this the practitioner becomes enlightened. The awareness of this is me' develops into an experience of the luminosity of the conscious self. In such an experience the ego disappears. All the rays separately emanating from conciousness become consolidated into a single glow. The distance between the practitioner and the glow disappears and the former merges into the glow. He achieves the identity of his self.

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LECTURE SEVEN * See, the universe is vibrating. * One who knows the secret of indulgence in sense-pleeasure also knows the secret of how to dissociate himself from them. One who knows the secret of dissociation also knows the secret of indulgence in sense-pleasures. SYNOPSIS * Every object goes on changing. * There are two kinds of vibrations: natural vibrations -vibrations of consciousness in the soul and vibrations caused by external agencies -- vibrations of karma particles or of the subtle body-vibrations of taijasa or vital energy. * Vibrations in consciousness are the subtlest-vibrations caused by karma particles are subtler --vibrations of vital energy are subtle-vibrations of the gross body are gross. * Vibrations which cause delusion are the most numerous. * Vibrations of breath are produced by energy: electricity produced by friction- the currents of electricity in the brain. * *The life of the living being depends on the vibrations of vital energy. Sensations opposed to vasana (accumulated desires). * Combination of positive and negative energy. * Combination of prana and apana airs. * Combination of the positive energy of the tongue and the negative energy of the palate. * Vibrations which produce spiritual experience. * Devotional recitation of mantras (charms) and the upward movement of energy-supreme non-attachment or vairagya

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64 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND ---Vibrations caused by fixing motionles eyes (preksa) on the end point of the nose-the arousing of taijasa or kundalini. * Majja or grey matter-level of the unconscious mindbindu (point) connected with the subtle body. *The entry of vital energy in the susumna channel produces joy and calm in the mind-the beginning of spiritual vibrations--self-absorption. * What are joys and sorrows? Joys and sorrows are the products of the mind or consciousness yoked to the vibrations. Vibrations of delusion: * Emotional excitement, fear, grief, hatred, accumulated desires and despondency. * These are cast away by opposing vibrations.

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:7: SPIRITUAL JOY Substance is constant as well as variable. If it were only constant, there will be no need for action. It undergoes transformations because of its very nature. New entities are born and the old ones destroyed in the process of its vibrations. The soul also is constant as well as variable like other substances. It produces two kinds of vibrations : natural vibrations and artificial vibrations brought about by external agencies. The natural vibrations of the soul take place ceaselessly. Artificial vibrations are produced by external agencies, which are of various kinds. Karma (action) is one of them. Prana (vital energy) is another. Human beings are subject to three kinds of vibrations : vibrations of t soul, vibrations of karma and vibrations of vital energy. The whole universe is a sea of vibrations. One part of it is no doubt constant, but even it is subject to continuous transformations. Another part of it is eternal, but that also undergoes modifications. Everywhere there is a flux of change and vibrations. It is a Herculean task to search out something wbich does not vibrate. The vibrations of consciousness are the subtlest. Those of karma or the subtle body are subtler. Those of prana (vital air) are subtle. Those of the gross body are gross. When we feel the vibrations of the gross body, we take them to be joys and sorrows. It is not possible to go beyond them and to search for joy. So far as we live on the level of empirical consciousness we cannot imagine anything beyond it capable of giving joy. Breath also vibrates. Its vibrations produce eletricity. Vital energy is the controlling force of life. It is called ayusya prana. It also vibrates and causes further vibrations in all

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66 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND the pranas, in the sense-organs, in the mind, in speech and in the body. There are ten pranas. Every one of them vibrates in its own way. The entire composition of life depends on their support. There are cight karmas (actions) and each of them vibrates in its own way. The vibrations of moha (delusion) are the thickest and most numerous. Emotions, excitements, fear, sorrow, grief, hatred, unwholesome change, sex-desire etc. are vibrations of delusion. They happen ceaselessly and do not stop of themselves. It is due to them that we sometimes feel joy and at other times sorrows. Some of them produce joy while others produce sorrow. What are joys and sorrows ? Let us understand them clearly. We experience joys and sorrows when the mind becomes connected with the vibrations. If the mind did not do so, there will be neither joys nor sorrows. When the mind becomes yoked to pleasing vibrations, we experience pleasure. When the mind becomes yoked to unpleasant vibrations, we feel sorrows. If we did not connect the mind with the vibrations, there will be neither joy nor sorrow. There are vibratious caused by external agencies. Prana vibrations and karma vibrations are externally produced vibrations. There are several other causes of these vibrations. One of them is thinking Memory also produces vibrations. Let me tell you an anecdote. Once four persons came to see an old lady. She offerred to them butter milk. After some time the men departed. When the lady saw in churning pot to her great surprise, she found a dead snake in it. She thought that the guests might have been poisoned and died. After a few months the same guests again visited the old lady. She was surprised to see them alive. She spoke to them about the dead serpent in the churning pot. On hearing this the memory cells of all the visitors became active. They felt as if they were drinking poisoned butter milk and died of fear. It was not poison but memory which killed them. Thinking, memory and imagination produce vibrations. Some of them are pleasant and others unpleasant. Cults of devotion and recitation of charms (mantras) had been based on the theory of vibrations. People believed that a particular

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SPIRITUAL JOY 67 kind of sound was capable of producing a certain kind of vibrations. In recitational exercises formulas are recited loudly in order to produce a certain kind of vibrations. Mauna japa (silent recitation), prana japa (contemplation on vital energy and a very subtle recitation of a formula together with it) or repetition of the rhythm of vital energy are attempts to produce vibrations, gross as well as subtle. The theory behind the recitation of magical charms is the theory of vibrations. The makers of these charms knew what kind of charm will produce what kind of vibrations. The structure of the mantra sastra (discipline of magical charms) came to be developed on this theory. Hundreds of books came to be written on the discipline of inantra sastru. Magical charms came to be prescribed as curatives of various physical and psychical ailments. A system of magical treatment of diseases came to be built up. Magical charms were believed to be efficacious in increasing the energy of the body. Charms, it was believed, could bring about monetary gains. There were preventive charms which could ward off future calamities, produce joy and destroy grief. Sound produced vibrations which in their turn could change the course of natural events. Different kinds of experiences also produced vibrations. Even meditation produces vibrations. There were as many samvaras (measures to be adopted in stopping the influx of the effects of actions) as there were asraras (influxes). There were different kinds of bondage and appropriate methods of release from them. There were as many medicines as there were diseases. There were various kinds of agencies to produce various kinds of vibrations. That is why different devotional cuits, faiths and ideologies of knowledge and action came into vogue in India. Whatever path one might have adopted, his only aim was to produce vibrations capable of destroying unfavourable vibrations. When these vibrations came to be properly investigated into, it resulted in the formulation and development of all kinds of theories. One of them was the theory of opposites. According to this theory vibrations could be stopped by producing an opposite kind of vibration. Bhavana is one of the means of producing vibrations and of entering into subtle experiences. Much could be achieved by producing counter

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68 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND vibrations. For example, the opposite of anger is calm, that of pride is humility, that of deceit is simplicity and that of greed is contentment. We can put an end to one kind of vibrations by producing counter-vibrations. It is quite pertinent to ask as to why we should cat in order to satisfy hunger when the vibrations of hunger could be subdued by counter-vibrations. This seems to be quite natural and logica). Bhavana may also play the same role in relieving us of hunger. It should, however, be remembered that the theory of counter-vibrations is applicable on the level of consciousness only. Bhavana is not applicable to the body but to the realm of psychology only. Some vibrations affect the body or pudgala only while some have only a psychological application. For example, vibrations caused by delusion are concerned only with consciousness. Vibrations of karma which produce auspicious as well as inauspicious feeling affect pudgala only. Hunger cannot be quenched by producing counter-vibrations, but delusion can be removed. The theory of counter-vibrations came to be developed in the field of spiritual practice. Practitioners are called upon to perceive and know the presence and ripening of vibrations which will result in the production of counter-vibrations which in their turn will subdue former vibrations of despondency, hatred, grief, anger etc. Vibrations connected with all kinds of craving are sexvibrations. They can be subdued by counter-vibrations. Some vibrations are connected with the enjoyment of external objects while others are connected with internal or spiritual joy. Electrical energy which resides in the brain produces sexvibrations when it begins to flow downwards. The vibrations give us comfort which is received not from physical objects but from the vibrations themselves. These vibrations can also be produced artificially without affecting their quality. Energy which flows downwards towards the sex-centres produces sex.vibrations which give comfort. In order to produce counter-vibrations to oppose them, we will have to carry the descending energy upwards. This needs a lot of restraint. Electricity which resides in the brain is positive energy whereas electricity which resides in the sex-centres is negative. When vital energy begins to flow into the sahasrara

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SPIRITUAL JOY 69 cakra, it will produce vibrations congenial to the self. It will make us feel a joy we had never before experienced. As compared with this joy, pleasures born of sex-vibrations are very insignificant. One who has risen to the level of spiritual experience will never wish to relinquish it. He will remain self-absorbed for hours and hours together and will not feel dejected even when the state of spiritual experience comes to an end. On the other hand he will feel much more exhilarated and stronger People have often asked what joy is. Joy implies the fusion of positive and negative energy. Spiritual joy is the product of the fusion of the positive energy of the brain and the negative energy of the sex-centres. This fusion produces strange vibrations. The human nervous system is the seat of knowledge and consciousness. Consciousness pervades the entire body. The portion of the body which extends from the lower end of the spinal cord to the brain is the chief centre of consciousness. It is in this area that consciousness manifests itself. This is also the seat of citta, mind, sense-organs, feelings, counter feelings, knowledge etc. They find their expression in this area only. It is also the storehouse of energy. It is also the centre of the fibres of sensory and motor nerves. Man knows how to push his energy downwards only. He does not know how to push it upwards. The same energy which is flowing downwards can be directed upwards. The downward flow of energy from the brain implies man's entry into the material world. The upward flow of the energy of the sex-centres implies man's entry into the world of the spirit. The former gives us a taste of material pleasures whereas the latter gives us a taste of spiritual joy. These feelings are conditioned by the direction towards which energy is flowing. The upward flow has been termed as internal sexenjoyment or love of the self or intercourse with the soul. It may, however, be asked whether it is possible to have intercourse with the soul which is not a material entity and is invisible. The answer is that there is a centre in the body where intercourse with the soul is possible. The human body is composed of seven substances. The seventh is sukra or virya (semen). It has been said that the

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70 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND release of a single drop (bindu) of virya invites death. The retention of a single drop invites life. What is bindu ? Vital energy of the brain is called bindu. This bindu is situated in the sahasrara cakra. When energy enters this area, it brings about intercourse with the soul. The statement that the dropping of a single bindu causes death and its retention preserves life thus seems to be a correct statement. The vita! force when it flows downwards causes death and when it begins to flow upwards brings life, eternal life. This is the ascending path, the path of the progress of the soul. This ascent remains arrested while the vital energy becomes confined to the lower parts of the body. The idea of the gradation of the gunasthanas or stages of spiritual progress of the soul implies the upward movement of the vital force. When energy flows downwards, man remains confined into the first, second and third gunasthanas. Then begins the uprising of energy. It passes from the susumna channel to the centre of the brain and arrives at the stage of pure knowledge and self-realization. The path leading to pure knowledge as well as journey to it is short. The entire journey is an ascending journey only. This ascending journey needs the support of faith (sraddha). What is sraddha ? When consciousness flows into the sahasrara cakra and becomes absorbed in it, the resultant state is called sraddha. Sraddha is a great craving, a great thirst. It is such a tremendous thirst that it cannot be quenched even by drinking the entire waters of the oceans. It is born at the level of the unconscious mind. The upasaka or spiritual aspirant is one whose very bones and marrow are soaked in religion. The term asthi bas two meanings, the bones and the spinal cord. How can love of religion be sustained in the bones and marrow ? Are the bones and marrow in any way connected with sraddha and bhavana ? Maija also means the thicker parts of the brain and the spinal cord. The essence of religion lies in sraddha entering into the spinal cord and the brain. It literally enters into the spinal cord and the brain and gets embedded there. Then only is it capable of bearing fruit. It bears fruit only when it has entered into the unconscious mind.

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SPIRITUAL JOY 71 A wavering sraddha which often changes its course is not sraddha in the real sense of the term. A certain man once fell in love with a woman. He administered to her a magical herb as a result of which she became enamoured of him. She lost interest in every body else and became mad after him. Her family became very much upset. They called a magician who said that the woman's passion for her lover had become so much deeprooted that unless it was removed she will continue to be infatuated with him. The magician then applied a charin and eradicated her infatuation. It is not easy to extract the desires which have become embedded in the unconscious. The susumna channel and the sahasrara cakra are two powerful centres in the body. Experienced practitioners have attached great importance to them. When the faith that spiritual joy is the greatest joy takes root in the unconscious mind. the practitioner begins to feel the vibrations in the psyche which are vibrations of positive energy. Somebody asked Bhagavan Mahavira : "What do we achieve from religious faith ?" The latter replied: "Religious faith brings to an end all kinds of curiosity." When spiritual vibrations begin, all curiosity about the material vibrations comes to an end. One of the methods of stopping curiosity about the sex-centres is to push up the energy collected in the sex-centres. The practitioner has to resolve and to pull the nerves of the area of the apana upwards. If this is done for fifteen or twenty minutes or for half an hour, the vibrations which produce spiritual joy will begin. The electricity in the tongue is negative, whereas that in the head is positive. If you touched your palate with your tongue, you will feel a strange pleasure. This will produce in you the state of self-absorption. The fusion of positive and negative charges of energy and bhavara produce spiritual vibrations. Material vibrations go on disappearing gradually as the spiritual vibrations become intense. It appears to the practitioner as if he is entering into the most valuable experience. The subject which we have discussed above is not a matter of argument. It refers to experience. Mere reasoning, however fine it may be, cannot take the practitioner to the

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72 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND depths of experience. He will have to practise and exert himself to attain experience. There are bound to be difficulties in his exercises. At times his progress may suddenly come to a dead stop. However, there is only one path which leads to the desired end. All kinds of material pleasures taken together cannot compete with the joys of the spiritual world. Talks about the joys of the spiritual world may appear to be attractive and they may also create doubts and misgivings in the minds of the listeners who may begin to weigh one alternative against another. Language is a very defective instrument even if it is used by men of perfect knowledge or even by the tirthankaras, not to speak of ordinary practitioners and it may produce doubts. The testing ground of both - faith and scepticism is experience. There is no other ground. The only aim of sadhana is to enable the practitioner to feel the vibrations we have discussed above and to convince him that spiritual joy is not dependent upon agencies external to the soul. One who has known the internal vibrations also knows external vibrations and vice versa. He cannot become interested in internal vibrations until he has known the external vibrations. He comes to realize that the former are more joy-giving, faultless and profitable.

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LECTURE EIGHT SYNOPSIS * One who has understood himsa (injury) to be terrible will not commit any sin. * One whose mind is in a state of equilibrium will not commit any sin. * One who sees unity behaves in a uniform way. * One who behaves in a uniform way understands unity. * Let us begin the search for truth by searching ourselves and our life. * Breathing keeps us alive, the mind and empirical cons ciousness keep us going and consciousness enlightens us. * See with your closed or open or half-closed eyes-- see the end-point of the nose, objects and vibrations. * You will gain insight, the status of spectator, equality and neutrality. * What to see ? * Those who are prone to anger will see anger. * Those who see terror will see the maturing of anger. * Those who are equanimous should see equality. * Those who experience nothing but the self should per ceive the pure soul. * Those who see the supreme should continue to see the supreme. * Those who have given up desires should perceive inaction. * Those who see the body should go on perceiving the body. * * * *

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: 8: SEARCH FOR TRUTH One who has decided to engage himself in praksa meditation (perceptive meditation) takes the vow of perceiving truth. The ultimate aim of meditation is the search for truth. One who does not meditate cannot pursue truth. We are surrounded by all kinds of truth and some of them are so subtle that it is not possible to see them with the bare eyes. These subtle truths cannot be comprehended even by the gross mind. They do not become the objects of empirical consciousness. It is only with insight, the subtle mind and subtle consciousness that we can perceive them. Nor can we make the vision subtle and seasoned except with the help of meditation. Consciousness lies buried under layers of attachments and aversions. It cannot be refined until these layers have been removed. That is why the practitioner engages himself in the search for truth. This search begins with self-perception. He does not scareh truth outside himself but within. Let us begin with perceiving the breath. Breath is the first pre-requisite of life. Breathing keeps us alive, therefore let us begin the search for truth with breath-perception. We live because we have a body, and, therefore, the body is the second object of our perception. Life depends on the activivities of the mind like thinking, search for alternatives and reflection. Therefore we will have to try to perceive thoughts, mind and reflection as the objects of preksa meditation. Consciousness lies at the base of our existence. Everything is driven by it. It drives our body, mind and breath. The entire universe stands on the base of consciousness, and, therefore, let us make consciousness the object of perceptive meditation. The more we perceive, the more do we find to be worthy of being perceived. There are four main areas of

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SEARCH FOR TRUTH 75 perceptive meditation : (1) Breath, (2) Body, (3) Mind (Citta), and the intellect and (4) pure consciousness or the soul. It is in all these areas that truth has to be perceived. What is the importance of breath in the search for truth? It has a great importance. When we are breathing in, our breath draws into the body several substances. Those who have practised breathing for yogic purposes know that it draws in vital elements in several forms which constantly present themselves to the perception of the practitioner. These forms can be perceived by open as well as closed eyes. I have been wondering for a long time as to why great value has been attached to aumkara (the letters A, U and M combined together). Practitioners have taken this combination to be the symbol of God. Why? I read a number of works to understand the secret. We can understand the limitations of books. The information they provide is a limited information. Anyhow, I came to understand that aum is a powerful fundamental charm. It has infinite magical properties. The sound we produce while pronouncing it has several consequences. I could very well understand this. But I failed to understand that which I wanted to understand. Ultimately my exercises in meditation revealed to me the secret. It became clear in my experiences. When the practitioner tries to master prana or the vital force, he finds that innumerable vital particles which remain spread in the atmosphere around the human body begin to take various shapes and forms. These particles are so numerous that it is impossible to count them. Moreover, they go on continuously changing. The last form they assume is the replica of aum presented to the eyes of the practitioner. I did not read this in any book, but it came as an experience. Aum is a specific form of the vital energy. When vital energy begins to gather force and enters into the body, it assumes the form of aum which is a specific form it takes. That is why so much importance has been attached to it. The entire course of our life including our tendencies is governed by vital energy. Without it the human being will either be an emancipated soul or dead as a stone. Emancipated souls do not vibrate. They perceive vibrations of cons

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76 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND ciousness only. A dead stone produces neither vital vibrations nor the vibrations of consciousness. Speaking, walking, seeing the movements of the sense-organs, the mind and the intellect are functions of vital energy. Vital energy remains active at the base of all these. The sense-organs do not possess consciousness. Combined with vital energy they become conscious. The mind is an unconscious entity. Vital energy produces consciousness in it also. The physical or gross body which is an unconscious mass also becomes conscious under the impact of vital energy. Breath is a great source of vital energy. We not only inhale chemical substances but also vital energy. A firm resolution in the practitioner makes the inflow of vital energy stronger. During breath-perception its strength increases. Breath is, therefore, a great source of vital energy. All the miraculous demonstrations we see are the outcome of vital energy. Heavy vehicles can pass on the human body when it becomes charged with vital energy without the help of which it will be crushed under the weight of the vehicle. Breath contains enormous power. Only a small part of this power is expressed in breathing. The soul contains limitless power. It is proved by the act of breathing. In ordinary circumstances we cannot perceive breath because we do not know how to see. There is nothing like knowing and seeing in ordinary experiences. We simply think and argue. It is only intellectual exercises which we do in our ordinary life The world of empirical experience consists of these only. The level on which we breathe is the lowest stratum of consciousness. Its basic stratum is a long way away from us. The soul is an independent and free substance. A free substance possesses its specific characteristics which differentiate it from other substances. Substances cannot be classified and arranged in order except on the basis of this differentiation. Consciousness is the characteristic of the soul in comparison with other substances. The independent and free existence of the soul cannot be established if other substances also possessed consciousness. This can be done only on the basis of the

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SEARCH FOR TRUTH specific characteristic which the soul has and that characteristic is consciousness. 77 Seeing and knowing are the fundamental nature of consciousness. Awareness and knowledge belong to the native existence of the soul. These faculties may be conceived as two separate faculties or they may be combined into a single faculty. In the state of its pure existence the soul does nothing else but see and know. When it becomes removed from its centre, its circumference becomes infiltrated with alien matter and it becomes difficult to clean it. It is easy to infiltrate but it is difficult to clean. As soon as the soul becomes infiltrated by pudgala particles and has become governed by attachments and aversions, seeing and knowing come to an end. What the soul can now do is to think, reflect and contemplate. People think that man to be great who thinks clearly and cleverly and gives a clear advice. On the other hand, he who sees and knows remains a man of unknown identity. Who would be able to recognise him who remains hidden in his own self? Thinking, arguing and reflection are weapons to confute the opponent. We go on inventing new arguments to render the arguments of the opponent futile. This process continues an infinitum. There is no end to arguments. One set of arguments follows another. The entire intellectual life of mankind consists of arguments and counter-arguments. This breeds rivalry and enmity in man. On the other hand, those engaged in the search for truth show nothing but friendliness towards others. Rivalry and enmity come into vogue when we are not engaged in the search for truth but in analysing and classifying it. Thinking and reasoning are not the instruments for the search for truth but for twisting and falsifying it. Those who have enough of these weapons can conquer the whole world and those who do not possess these become vanquished. In the philosophical works composed during the middle ages there is ample use of the metaphors of conquest and defeat. You will seldom come across an instance in which the search for truth has been mentioned. The search for truth is incompatible with conquest and defeat. Conquest and defeat are relevant to the capture of the state or material wealth. One who is engaged in the search for truth knows neither conquest

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78 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND nor defeat. The original meaning of the term darsana was to see or to perceive. In the course of the time the art of seeing or perceiving disappeared giving place to dry logic. Direct perception came to be superseded by inference. Indirect knowledge took the place of direct knowledge. This process resulted in the development of mutually-opposed schools of philosophy. Intellectual battles never end. They end when philosophy based on insight or direct perception begins. They come to an end with the awakening of consciousness. Breath perception is the first step in the direction of spiritual attainments. It is a very important step leading to a flight of further steps. What is noteworthy in this connection is that it is not important as to how much we walk, but the direction towards which we are walking. The practitioner has to distinguish between what the right direction is and what is not. If he chose a wrong direction he will go astray and will never be able to achieve his aim. On the other hand even a single step in the right direction will be highly valuable and he will be able to complete his journey in a shorter time. Breath perception brings thinking and reasoning to an end and trains the practitioner in the art of right perception. Right perception is the opposite of thinking and reasoning. It brings about a state of thoughtlessness. Sarira preksa or body perception is the second step towards self-realization. One may ask as to what the sense is in perceiving the body. What is to be seen within the body? These questions will subside once we have started perceiving the body. There is much to be perceived within the body. You may go on seeing and seeing and there will be no end to it. The physician examines the body in order to diagnose the disease. He has to examine the body very carefully. He feels the pulse of the patient and employs delicate instruments to examine the working of his body. It is after a thorough examination that he is in a position to diagnose the disease. Mere thinking and reasoning are no substitutes for a clinical examination of the patient. Meditation is also helpful in examining the inner working of the body. Instruments are also equally helpful. Meditation is a form of perception. A rich man had employed a man to watch his premises in the night. One day the watchman came to his master and

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SEARCH FOR TRUTH 79 said, "I understand that you are going on a journey by train tomorrow. Please postpone the journey because if you undertook it tomorrow, you will be harmed." The master remarked, "You are a simpleton. I have a very important business to attend. I have to attend a very important meeting of the officers of my concern and it will take important decisions. Everything has been planned beforehand and if I failed to attend the meeting, no decision will be taken. I must go." The watchman again said, "I appreciate your point but I have a stong reason to dissuade you from taking the journey. Last night I dreamt a dream in which I saw the train you are going to board meet an accident. Please don't go." Feeling what the watchman had said to be a bad omen, the rich man decided to postpone the journey. The next day there was news that the train in which he was to travel had met an accident and that a number of its passengers had died in the accident. The rich man called the watchman and offered to him a handsome reward but at the same time he dismissed him from his job saying: "I had employed you for watchwork and not for sleeping and dreaming." Wakefulness implies seeing. To see a thing directly is a definite proof of its existence. All other indirect proofs belong to a lower category. Inference, memory and scriptural testimony are proofs of lesser authenticity. The scriptures have been accepted as authentic only on the ground that their authors had directly perceived truth. If they had not done so, the testimony of the scriptures will be unacceptable. Inference too has been counted as a testimony for the reason that it is based on earlier perception. It had been seen that fire produced smoke. On this basis whenever we see smoke we say that it must be produced by fire. The entire structure of knowledge stands on the basis of direct perception only. In body-perception we have to see what is happening in the body. The body is active at every moment. We have to perceive its activities. We will be able to understand the hidden as well as apparent truth about the body only by perceiving it. Then comes the question as to how we are to see the body. What method of perception shall we employ?, There are three methods of perception : seeing with open eyes, seeing with half open eyes and seeing with closed eyes. The eye is only one of

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80 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND the means of perception. You can perceive even with closed eyes. Insight comes into operation when the eyes are closed. Insight has a wider perspective than that of the eyes. It commands a deeper penetration. That which cannot be seen with the eyes can be seen by insight. We do see things with the eyes. This kind of perception is called animesa preksa or perception with a fixed gaze which is also capable of seeing in depth. If you gazed at a face for half an hour, you will be able to see thousands of its facets. Ultimately the face will assume the form of a bright flame. This is not a hearsay but an actual experience. The third kind of perception (preksa) is seeing with half open eyes. In this perception you have to fix your half open eyes on the lower end of the nose. If you did so for half an hour or so, you will have strange experiences. You will come to see that the lower end of the nose which is a lump of skin and flesh has become a shining object. Preksa or perceptive meditation reveals to us newer and newer sights and experiences. When you begin to perceive, you cease to think and vice versa. There are three kinds of perception : cursory, concentrated and full. Cursory perception is accompanied by thinking. In concentrated perception there is very litile thinking. Full perception takes place in a state of thoughtlessness. It is perception in depth. A certain man felt that it was very cold and began to tremble. His companion advised him to cover his body with a piece of cloth. The man covered his body with a very thin piece of cloth. But it failed to warm his body. When he complained, his companion reprimanded him saying. "You should have been intelligent enough to cover your body with a piece of thick cloth or with a woollen cloth. How can a piece of muslin ward off the cold ?" This applies to perception also. Perceiving and thinking cannot go together. If you want to perceive something, do not think. This can be possible only when you are perceiving in depth. Then comes the question as to what you are going to perceive. You may perceive anything good or bad. If you are under the spell of anger, try to perceive your anger also. One who can perceive anger can perceive pride also. Anger is the

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SEARCH FOR TRUTH most primitive tendency of man. It seizes every one. Pride, on the other hand, manifests itself only seldom. There are several things like pride and anger which you have to perceive. The last is grief. It, too, has to be perceived. You should also see perceptual judgments of other mental processes. See the consequences of anger. See joys and sorrows. See pleasure and pain and their vibrations. See breath. See the body. See equanimity, neutrality and unity or identity. See lonely men and pure consciousness in which there is no other object to be seen except the seer and the knower. Do not exercise preferences in matters of seeing. Likes and dislikes are relevant to thinking only. They do not apply to perception. You may perceive anything which comes before your eyes. Ultimately you will arrive at a stage where there is nothing left to see. This is the ultimate end of perceiving. At this stage you will perceive pure consciousness which is the fag end of knowledge and perception. The spiritual journey of the practitioner ends here. There is no awakening except through exercises in perception. There is no freedom from negligence except through right perception. Self-watchfulness sharpens the intellect. It sharpens memory and strengthens discernment. Perception is the basis of all these faculties. Let us, therefore, learn the right method of perception and supplement it by contemplation.

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LECTURE NINE SYNOPSIS * Only that muni can pursue his path who looks at the world of sensual pleasures and himsa (injury) with a discerning eye and not with a worldly attitude. * Awakening of self-consciousness is a great responsibility. *We find fault with others only until we have become spiritually enlightened. Enlightenment makes us fully conscious of our responsibility. * Spiritual exertion develops insight. Insight removes misunderstanding and achieves the truth. * There is joy within us and it is more valuable. *There is health also within us. * You are capable of longevity.

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:9: AWARENESS OF RESPONSIBILITY One who takes to self-exertion and endeavours to attain full consciousness and awakening has to take great responsibilities. These responsibilities are the greatest responsibilities in the world. They are greater than those of a monarch who rules and administers a vast empire. How does a practitioner who leads the life of a recluse and looks within himself only shoulder such responsibilities? This appears to be unbelievable and strange. The life of sadhana is not a life of thinking and reasoning. It is a life of experiences and a life of practising perception and knowledge. Let me elaborate this point. We always make others responsible for the joys and sorrows we experience. It is natural for us to shift our responsibilities on others. We would never try to find fault with ourselves. We always try to save our own skin. But the practitioner who has achieved an awakened state of mind holds himself responsible for all the acts he has done. He holds that it is because of his own fault that others have become his enemies. This is a great thing. He alone who has experienced the world of the spirit can have this courage. Generally people do not do so. When a political regime changes, its successor finds all kinds of faults with its predecessor. This is because man's life has always been confined to the external world. The spiritual practitioner's life, on the other hand, is a life of the spirit; he dwells within himself. That is why he never finds fault with others. The first achievement of self-exertion is the courage to find fault with one's own self rather than with others. The first and the foremost thing which a spiritual practitioner does is to remove his own misunderstandings and doubts.

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84 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND It is ordinarily believed that to close one's eyes is to refuse to see or to be engulfed in darkness. It is as good as to go to sleep. Closing the eyes has a different meaning for the spiritual practitioner. It means to remain wakeful. It means looking within or into the depths of his being. Ordinarily we believe that the source of joy lies in the external world. The spiritual practitioner has no such misunderstanding. He believes that the source of joy lies within himself. Those who have never experienced the inner world run after the external world. Once you have started looking within, you come to feel that the joy which the inner world gives cannot be found elsewhere. The inner joy is self-absorbing and the spiritual practitioner cuts himself off from the external world. He becomes so much self-absorbed that he forgets his empirical self. One who has never endeavoured to enter into himself will never know what is happening there. That which happens within cannot be logically explained. It can only be experienced. It is better to keep silent before those who are ignorant of the spiritual world than to argue with them. The second consequence of self-exertion is the removal of misunderstandings and illusions. Like the physician, the spiritual practitioner employs the method of elimination also. He first discerns and then renounces. Discernment means analysis and renunciation means giving up. Renunciation brings in its wake the awareness of self-discipline. Self-discipline means to live within i.e. to speak as little as possible, to walk and do as little as possible. This encourages the concentration of the mind of the practitioner. He who commands the power of concentration does not come under the influence of external things. He becomes more or less immune to external influences. He develops a resistance to them as well as to evil influences coming from within. Physical and mental health are a condition of a happy life. One who is not careful about his mental health cannot be careful about his physical health. In spiritual practice health does not concern the body only. Mental health is much more valuable than physical health. Spiritual exertion

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AWARENESS OF RESPONSIBILITY 85 is capable of maintaining both kinds of health. It cures internal as well as external diseases. We desire health, longevity, joy and peace. Spiritual exertion gives us all these. It may, however, be asked as to how spiritual exertion gives longevity. The biggest reason for a short life is the subconscious attachments and a versions. All kinds of mental excitements reduce life. They eat into the very vitals of the body. Spiritual exertion puts an end to this kind of pollution. It extols renunciation of attachments and aversions. It aspires to achieve a state of equality and neutrality. It teaches indifference to future vibrations and avoidance of likes and dislikes. It calms the subconscious mind and results in longevity. The spiritual consequence of self-exertion is the awakening of the mind. Its practical consequence is the strengthening of vital energy. Long breathing produces friction. Friction brings about an increase in vital energy. Kayotsarga or the abandonment of the body strengthens the power to distinguish and brings to an end physical sloth. It develops the tendency to remain serene in the midst of joys and sorrows. It activates consciousness and develops insight. Let us be clear about body-perception. Some people think that the body is useless. It is a lump of flesh and bones. They do not see anything valuable in it. They, however, forget that the body has a soul which is characterized by knowledge, perception and consciousness which are very valuable things. The most valuable thing in the world lies within the body. Body-perception brings about biological and chemical changes in the body. Chemical changes affect the glands and control the nervous system. They break torpor and activate consciousness. The soul manifests itself only through the body. He who does not want to perceive the body and the centres of consciousness situated within it will never be able to realize his existence. He who is not aware of his existence will never realize his responsibilities.

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86 Practical * Perception of long breathing awakens vital energy. Achievements of preksa dhyana (perceptive meditation) : Spiritual Develops insight. Arouses will-power. * Perception of normal breathing cleans the nervous system. * It brings about chemical changes and affects health favourably. * Kayotsarga removes physical and mental inertia. * Anupreksa (contemplation) produces subtle energy and changes behaviour. Physical * Anupreksa gives health. * It develops the power of resistance. *It predicates the germs of disease. *Rest. * Improvement of health. THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Breaks torpor and develops consciousness. Develops discernment and indifference towards joys and sorrows. Develops insight and delusion resulting from actions. Mental Health. Self-discipline. Thins down anger etc. Negates involvement in action. Improvement of health.

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LECTURE TEN SYNOPSIS * Three things leave the body when it dies : * The soul * the karma body * the taijasa body * One of these is formless and the other two have forms. * The body is continuously changing. * Life is a chain of succession - body from the jiva, virya (energy) from the body, yoga from virya, self-negligence from yoga and karma bondage from selfnegligence. Two fundamental substances which produce the entire universe - Body with jiva and body without a jiva. * Three constituents of the awakening of energy-Perceptive meditation on long breathing, perceptive meditation on normal breathing, perceptive meditation on subtle breath ing. * Breath connected with prana (vital force), prana connected with subtle prana and subtle prana connected with subtle body. * Breath control, the key to the whole process of perceptive meditation. * There are several conducting centres in the body. Concen tration on these centres brings about a development of various powers.

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:10: AWAKENING OF ENERGY-VALUE AND PURPOSE Ever since man began to think, he has been thinking about the basic substance of the universe. Records of this thinking for the last five thousand years are available. Truth is unlimited and the search for it will never end. Let us think of an event which happened two thousand five hundred years ago. A wise muni (ascetic) named Kesikumara paid a visit to King Pradesi. In the course of their conversation the king observed : "Sir, there is no soul. Consciousness does not exist as a substance. The body itself is the soul. The body and the soul are not two different-substances. That alone which is directly perceived by the senseorgans is true. We can perceive the body directly. This body itself is the soul. The unconscious alone is real. It is replete with energy. Consciousness is a by-product of a combination of various unconscious elements and it disappears suddenly leaving behind unconscious elements. Nothing like consciousness exists." Supporting his thesis with an example he further observed : "Take for example a child whose energy has not yet been developed. He cannot mount an arrow on the string of a bow. The selfsame child can shoot an arrow across a long distance when he has grown up and has collected energy in his body. If the body and the soul were distinct from each other and if the child had a soul, he would not take such a long time to handle a bow. If it had a soul, it would be the selfsame soul when the child grew up. Therefore the body and the soul are not two distinct entities." Muni Kesi replied: "I agree with you. There is some truth in what you have said. But I would like to ask one thing. Suppose that the bow is broken and so is the string. Can anyone mount an arrow on such a bow even if he were

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AWAKENING OF ENERGY-VALUE AND PURPOSE 89 grown up, strong and clever ? If the bow and the string were not broken, any young man can shoot an arrow from them. It is not because the child's soul is different from that of a young man or that the former cannot shoot an arrow and the latter can. Both possess the same soul. However, the weapon which the child wields is a broken weapon and, therefore, it cannot shoot the arrow. The weapon of the young man is in workingorder, and, therefore, he can shoot the arrow. The two bows are not the same. That makes the difference and not the soul." Let us understand the moral of the anecdote. Human life is composed of three elements-the soul, the body and energy. The agamas adopt the analogy of the tridanda (a bundle of three sticks) to explain the same idea. The soul is a long way away from us not physically but metaphorically. It is embedded so deep in us that it is not visible with the physical eye. We are unable to sink into that depth. Although our life is composed of the soul, the body and energy, we know only that which is gross i.e. the body. We do not know that which is subtle, nor do we try to know it. We do not try because we have never known the soul. You do not know anything about a person you have never met. This holds good about the soul also which we are unable to know because it is too subtle. Philosophers have not been able to agree on the existence of that which is too subtle to be known. Is there something beyond that which we are able to contact with the sense-organs? Thus there arose two mutually contradictory views: (1) That which is knowable falls within the range of the sense-organs and (2) That which is unknowable happens to be outside the range of the sense-organs. The former is known through the instrumentality of the sense-organs whereas the latter remains unknown because there is no instrument with which it can be known. Philosophers opposed to this view held that what cannot be known with the help of the sense-organs can be known by other means, and, therefore, it is wrong to call it unknowable. It can be known only when we do not employ the sense-organs to know it. Logical reasoning and arguments will not do in this respect. And yet it is pertinent to ask as to how we can know that which the

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90 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND sense-organs, logical reasoning and arguments fail to grasp. What, then, are the means through which the unknown can become the subject of knowledge ? The answer given was that the existence of the hitherto unknown can be accepted on the testimony of those who command super-sensual vision or insight and have, by virtue of this, known the unknown. Such seers have known the truth and we can also know it through what they say. We are also unable to know all the truths of the physical world through the sense-organs. Physical scientists have invented thousands of delicate and fine instruments which have enabled us to go beyond gross things and to know things which are subtle. We cannot look into our bodies with the help of the physical eyes. Now we have X-Rays which can penetrate into the depths of the body. X-Rays are also a super-sensual instrument which reveals to us the tiniest atoms whirling in the depths of the body. The human body is a gross entity no doubt, but there live within it wonderfully subtle elements. The human brain is only two percent of the entire human body. There are billions of neurons in this brain. Everyone of these neurons is an independent unit. There are billions of cells in the human body. Each of them works in its own way and generates energy, Old cells go on dying and new ones are born every minute. Every cell bas in it traces of past experiences. These traces are reflected on the cells by the subtle body. The cells retain the reflections on them. There is a vast network of knowledge-tissues in the human baby. If they were spread out on the earth, they would occupy a space of one lakh square miles. The earth we live on is only twenty five thousand square miles in dimension. The knowledge-tissues occupy four times the space of the earth. These tissues pass electrical currents. The structure of the human body is a gross structure. Our kowledge of the human body is limited. We are still unaware of its subtlety. We cannot know the subtle body without a thorough knowledge of the gross body. If we do not know the subtle body, we cannot know the soul. Our aim in sadhana is to arouse our dormant energy and to activate the sources of our physical, mental and spiritual energy.

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AWAKENING OF ENERGY -- VALUE AND PURPOSE 91 The first thing we have to do is to acquaint ourselves with the subtle body otherwise we will not be able to energise know the subtle world we must first know the gross world fully well. We have to pass from the gross to the subtle. We take the support of breathing while meditating. This is the first step. The journey from the gross to the subtle begins with this step. We breathe in as well as breathe out. By no other means can we come in contact with the somatic and the extra-somatic worlds. The mind presents a complex problem. It is so subtle that it cannot provide us with any support. As a matter of fact we will have to take care of the mind instead of the mind taking care of us. The mind is like the proverbial boy who tried to catch the lock of hair at the back of his head in his shadow. While he was playing, he saw the shadow of his body before him. He ran after the shadow to catch the lock of the hair. The more he moved towards the shadow, the farther did the shadow go ahead of him. He failed to catch the hair. A man who stood by the boy told him that he would not be able to catch the hair in the shadow in that way. He should put his hand on the back of his head and catch the hair there. The boy did so and saw that his hand had caught the hair in the shadow. The mind is like the hair in the shadow. The more we try to control it, the more does it evade us. When we try to stop the mental processes, they become more active. The more we try to control them, the more do they go out of control. Thousands of people tried to control the mind but failed to do so. Having failed they gave up the very idea of controlling the mind. Even the psychologists are of the opinion that the mind cannot be stabilized for more than five minutes. The acaryas of Yoga have, however, found a method of controlling the mind. Breath is the means of controlling the fickleness of the mind. By controlling breath, you can control the mind. That is why we have taken breath as the basis of our exercises. Breath travels outside the body as well as inside it. It is like a lamp which illumines the somatic as well as extrasomatic atmosphere in the midst of which man lives. To use a metaphor, let us place the mind on the chariot of breath so that it may enter into the body. In other words let us become

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92 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND introverts. That is the essence of spirituality. The mind has got to be yoked to breath. That is the first step of energising ourselves. Now let us consider the question of energising the body. In order to answer this question let us understand the nature of energy. Every object of the world, whether small or big, contains energy. There is no substance which does not possess energy, and a thing which does not possess energy cannot be called a substance. Philosophers have discussed the nature of sat (that which exists) and asat (that which does not exist). Asat is that which has no activity. Sat is that which has activity. There are two terms, vrksa-kusuma (a flower on the tree) and akasa kusuma (a flower in the sky). The first is a real object while the second is a thing of imagination. The flower on the tree is real because it has activity whereas the flower in the sky is unreal because it has no activity. An inactive object has no energy whereas the active one has. Energy is the characteristic of sat. Is energy the characteristic of living beings also? That which has energy as well as consciousness is called a living being. Atoms have energy but they do not possess consciousness. The soul has both energy and consciousness. Human beings. combine in themselves both. We have feeling also and that is the consequence of consciousness. We have experiences and feeling and also energy. An atom has so much energy that, if it is split, it can burn the entire universe into ashes. The soul also has infinite energy. It has an infinitely larger concentration of energy than what the atomic particle contains. Consciousness is also infinite. The human being has a combination of both in him. Man who possesses such a fantastic store of energy can work wonders, not to speak of leading a truly religious life or of controlling the mind which are the preliminaries of sadhana. Our sadhana does not aim at controlling or arresting the mind but with doing away with the mind completely or with rendering the mind completely empty. Living beings are divided into two categories: those who have mind and those who do not have. The former have cognitive activity whereas the latter do not. The human being has a mind and cognises. He has a highly developed mind.

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AWAKENING OF ENERGY-VALUE AND PURPOSE 93 However, sometimes he enters into a state in which there is neither cognition nor non-cognition. He relinquishes his mind. His mind ceases to function. In such a state what remains in him is consciousness. This state is the consequence of an explosion of energy or we may say that it is an achievement due to energy. The development of energy depends on the effort we put in. Every kind of sadhana aims at the development of energy and the expansion of consciousness in the practitioner. Dormant energy does not produce any effect. So far as a poisonous snake lies peacefully, no body is afraid of it. But once it has becomes aroused and enraged, the entire atmosphere becomes surcharged with fear. When fire breaks out, it makes everyone terrified. Dormant energy is like extinguished fire, Once it is activated by the practitioner, he begins to shine like burning fire and begins to live a special kind of life. our only aim is to arouse the dormant powers of the practitioners. The activizing of energy gives us extraordinary experiences. If there is any potential disease in the practitioner, it becomes manifest due to the arousing of his energy and meditation. It is very difficult to control energy once it has been aroused. A practitioner once came to meet me. He told me that he had read some of the literature written by me and that he was doing recitationl meditation as well as other meditations intensely. He had, however, certain difficulties in the course of his exercises. He would become restless and feel as if he had gone mad. No doubt he felt a great joy in meditation and it was difficult to give it up. What worried him was that when his energy became aroused, he found it difficult to control it. He would sometimes go mad. He was correct. Let us discuss his difficulty in three stages. The first stage is the activization of energy. In undertaking this task the practitioner should seek the guidance of some expert, otherwise the consequences may be dangerous. Only an expert can take care of the practitioner in a critical situation. The second stage consists in controlling aroused energy, What is needed is to change the exercise in such a way that . it becomes congenial to the practitioner.

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94 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The third stage consists in the use to which the aroused energy is put. The aroused energy produces several consequences. Sometimes the achievements lead the practitioner astray. He becomes enamoured of the miracles of sadhana and forgets his aim. Sometimes he becomes ambivalent because of his strange experiences and loses inspiration and enthusiasm. People often ask the practitioners about the miracles they had seen during their exercises. I would like to warn you that there is nothing like a miracle. To speak of miracles is a complete fraud. Whatever happens during sadhana happens according to the laws of nature. Those who are ignorant of the workings of nature attribute such happenings to mysterious powers who are supposed to produce miracles. As a matter of fact whatever happens during sadhana happens in a natural way and according to the laws of nature. We believe that our bodies are solid. Every solid object, if it rises above the ground, makes us wonder-struck. But if we examined the so-called solid objects, we will find that they are not solid. Cold and heat will not penetrate into a body which is solid. A solid body does not sweat. The entire universe, not to speak of the human body, can be hammered into a small ball. There are very few solid things in the world. Our bodies are composed of innumerable atoms. There is empty space between every two atoms. We experience this in the course of perceptive meditation. Once the gains of our meditative exercises have been consolidated, we would come to know that the human body is not solid. It is like a mass of cotton or like a mass of sea-foam. The idea that our body is solid will appear to be false if in our perceptive meditation we have begun to concentrate only once on a single cell of the body. The concepts of the solidness and identity of the body break down as soon as we have achieved substantial progress in our exercises. These exercises make the body light, so much so that it becomes capable of lifting itself above the ground on which we are sitting. Here there is no miracle. There are eight kinds of touch: cold-warm, smooth-rough, light-heavy and hard-soft. Out of these, smooth-rough and cold-warm are basic touches. The remaining four are produced by combinations. Lightness and heaviness are not the

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AWAKENING OF ENERGY-VALUE AND PURPOSE . 95 natural characteristics of objects. They are products of physical combinations. Gross combinations of atoms and our experiences thereof produce the feelings of lightness and weight. Once the combinations are changed, lightness and weight will disappear. Bigness or smallness or lightness or weight are not the basic characteristics of physical objects. Therefore, we should not wonder if an object raises itself up in the air. Magicians produce several kinds of miracles. These appear to be miracles to those who do not know the art of magic. Even ordinary men who have mastered some of the rules of the art of magic can produce these so-called miracles. If you wrote something on a white sheet of paper with a certain kind of chemical fluid, the characters of your writing will not be visible. But as soon the paper has been soaked in water, they will become distinctly visible. This may appear to be a miracle, but anyone who knows the rules of the gam will not think so. The first kindling of fire in primitive times must have appeared to be a miracle. Men who stood before it might have wondered how there were light and heat in the fire. They might have thought the kindling and extinguishing of fire to be miracles. For us, however, there is no miracle in them. Meditation does not produce miracles. Sadhana is not a matter of wonder. Self-exertion is not a magical practice. They are practices according to the rules of nature. Those who have understood the nature of the soul, of bodily energy and the instruments of sadhana know how nature works through them. As the ordinary man is ignorant of these rules, he takes them to be miracles. Yoga is not a miracle, but a rational and simple process of spiritual progress. There is nothing supernatural or unnatural about it. Everyone has a tongue, speech and body and he works with these mediums. What the practitioner needs to know is the causes and methods by which dormant energy can be aroused. He has to render a sort of 'operation' of those causes which keep energy dormant and inffective. Once these causes have been removed and their operation has been carried out a state of physical and mental balance will be achieyed and that is yoga.

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96 . THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The human body is extremely useful. But the practitioner need not always bank on the body for yogic purposes. Ultimately he has to abandon the body. What is, therefore, required is a balance between the use of the body and its abandonment. You have to speak as well as remain silent. You have maintain a balance between the two in sadhana. This applies to the mind and thinking also. Yoga is the striking of a balance. This balance kindles energy and stops its unnecessary expenditure. Inaction stops the waste of energy and brings about an increase in it. The arousing of energy means two things :1. Acquaintance with one's inherent powers which are very subtle, and 2. A balance between the sources of energy.

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LECTURE ELEVEN CONTENTS *The universe and everything in it are compounds-there is nothing in it which is not a compound. * Knowledge is infinite, language has limits, experiences are infinite. * Formal existence-formless existence. *Subtle formations -structure of pudgalas with four sense contacts. *Gross formations-structure of pudgalas with eight sense contacts. * Very subtle, complex and wonderful structure of the cell. *Cells of the karma body-millions and billions of cells in a space of one square inch. * It is one thing to get knowledge; it is difficult to sustain its impact. Science is concerned with the activities of the gross body. Science does not say why these activities take place. The taijasa body is the connecting link between the gross and subtle bodies. Language is a material medium-the yoking of language is a conscious activity. The mind is material-the yoking of mind is a conscious activity. The body is material--the yoking of body is a conscious activity.

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: 11: GUIDELINES FOR AROUSING ENERGY The modern age has set new records in surgery. A lot of scientific research has been done by dissecting and vivisecting the bodies of animals and plants which had never been done before. Some such research might have been done in the past also, but its records are not available. Surgeons have cut open each and every part of the body and have examined and known it. Nothing about the body is anymore unknown. After a very minute examination of it they have not come across anything in the body except its parts. In ancient time Prince Pradesi conducted some research in connection with the soul. He wanted to perceive the soul directly. He weighed the living body and again weighed it when it was dead. He did so in order to ascertain the weight of the soul. Modern scientists have also done something like this with the help of very delicate instruments. These experiments have changed some of the old notions to some extent. Pradesi had no surgical instruments with him. He could not arrive at any conclusion. He conducted another experiment. He cut the human body into pieces. He thought that if there were anything like a soul in the body, it will escape from one of the pieces. He went on watching the pieces, but nothing which he had expected happened. Experiments had been done in the past and they are being done now also. But the question- 'whether there is a soul in the human body' - still remains unanswered. Does the soul have weight? Is it visible or does it remain invisible? These questions have yet to be answered. The Kirliyans of the Soviet Union took photographs of the aura or halo surrounding the human body, The aura is not visible with the eye.

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GUIDELINES FOR AROUSING ENERGY It needs a very sensitive lense to photograph it. The Kirliyans came to the conclusion that every living body is surrounded by an illuminated atmosphere which comes from the body itself. Dr. J. C. Trust also took photographs of the aura. On their testimony she hinted that the human body contained something other than itself. This added a new dimension to research. Photographs of the subtle body have also been taken. Photographs of the living body taken just after its death recorded a few bright and dim items on the photographic plate. The bright items were probably the reflection of the taijasa body which is a subtle body. Three things quit the human body after its death : the soul, the karma sarira and the taijasa sarira. The last two never get separated from the soul. They remain attached to it until it has become completely emancipated from bondage. They quit the dead body together. They have been with the soul since time immemorial and may remain with it eternally. They will never be estranged from each other. The soul while quitting the dead body will not leave them behind. They will accompany it. The karma body has not been photographed like the taijasa body. Why is it so ? According to the Jaina doctrine the karma body cannot be photographed. There are three entities : the soul, the subtle body and the gross body. The subtle body is comprised of the taijasa body and the karma body. The soul comes first, then karma body, then the taijasa body and last of all the gross body. The atoms which constitute the gross body are gross atoms. We can have a glimpse of them. The taijasa body is subtler than the gross body and the karma body is still subtler. Then comes the soul which is the subtlest, formless and immaterial. If these bodies and the soul are viewed in an ascending order, we will proceed from the gross to the subtle, from the subtle to the subtler and from the subtler to the subtlest. You can see the gross body. You can also see the taija sa body. It is difficult to perceive the karma body. We may succeed in perceiving the karma body, but it is not possible to perceive the soul because it is formless. The formless cannot be the object of perception. You can see only that which has a form.

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100 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Every atom of the gross body has been subjected to the process of perception. Bones, flesh, marrow and blood have been seen and examined. The next realm is that of subtle centres, of instincts and of natural tendencies. Once this realm has been reached there remains no question of not taking the existence of the subtle body for granted. Those who commanded super-sensual knowledge had actually perceived the subtle body. Scientists have also succeeded in perceiving the taijasa body with the help of delicate and sensitive instruments. However, the difficulty of perceiving the soul has not been surmounted as yet. Scientists are still trying to probe into the mysteries of the soul, but they have not reached any definite conclusion. We can admit the existence of the soul on the testimony of the seers of super-sensual realities. Sadhana consists in penetrating into the subtle body through the gross body. First of all we have to perceive and understand the vibrations of the gross body, the chemical and biological changes happening in it and the glands and their fluids. The human body constantly undergoes changes. Old entities disappear and new entities are born. Let us try to understand the source of all these changes. We will have to begin with the gross body. Then we will probe into the subtle body also. This task can be achieved only when we have developed our powers so much that we may be in a position to pierce the taijasa body, the aura, and lostly the karma body without the help of physical instruments. We have also to observe the consummation of the karma processes in the karma body. And after all we have also to experience that state of our being in which the perceiver, the act of perceiving and the object of perception become one and the same thing. In this state the soul becomes a pure perceiver. It is a state of pure consciousness, the deepest stratum of our being or existence. To achieve this state we have to collect a lot of energy and virya. Some body asked Bhagavan Mahavira : "From where does self-negligence come ?" "It flows from yoga (action of mind, speech and body)."

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GUIDELINES FOR AROUSING ENERGY 101 "From where does virya come ?" "It flows from the body." "From where does the body come ?" "Son, it comes from the jiva." There can be no further question. The jiva produces the body, the body produces virya, virya produces yoga, yoga produces self-negligence and self-negligence produces the bondage of karma. That is the order in which the world process goes on. The assertion of the Vedanta school of philisophy that the unconsciousness is produced by the conscious seems 10 be correct in a way. Bhagavan Mahavira asserted that the jiva produces the body or consciousness produces the unconscious. Both the assertions are correct from the relative point of view. They are relative assertions based on their own assumptions. Who is the creator of the body ? The jiva alone is the creator of the body and it creates the body of its own accord. If there were no jiva, there will be no body. Sarira paryapti (potential body), ahara paryapti (food potential), language, mind and breath are produced by the jiva only. All these are material entities constituted by pudgala particies but not created by pudgala. Pudgala ( atomic ) particles spread across the sky can be converted into language, mind, breath, and body. It is the jiva which converts them. The jiva is a great creator. It creates gross entities out of of subtle entities. It is the creator of all kinds of subtle and gross things. All the pudgalas, whether subtle or gross, which are being used by man are nothing but the evolutes of jiva. What we eat is nothing but the physical form of the jiva. Whatever we eat, wear, sit or sleep on is the body of the jiva. There are two categories which we have to consider : 1. The body with jiva, and 2. The body without jiva. Although the entire world-process has been set in motion by the jiva, the jiva itself remains hidden behind a curtain. Proponents of the doctrine that God created the world also hold

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102 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND that God himself remains hidden behind a curtain. You may substitute the word jiva for God. Both the views can be synthesised by saying that the jiva created the world and as a creator he is God. The fundamental nature of the jiva is to see and know. The practitioner has to arrive at this state of the jiva which is for the time being hidden from him. He needs tremendous energy to achieve it. Both muscle and machine need energy, otherwise we cannot make any kind of progress. Sitting in a single posture for a long time needs energy. Sadhana and long meditation also need energy. The question to be considered next is how to arouse energy. What are the guidelines for arousing energy. Breath-perception is the first step towards the arousing of energy. Dirgha-svasa-preksa or long-breath-perception is an important exercise. Let us first understand the nature of breath. Breathing is a very deep-rooted process. Let us understand its roots. Breath is connected with prana ( Life principle ), prana is connected with paryapti or subtle prana, subtle prana is connected with the karma body which is the root of breath. When the soul after it has relinquished one body enters into another body, it has two bodies attached to it, the taijasa body and the karma body. The soul travels with both of them from one body to another. In the first moment of its birth in a new body, it draws its sustenance from the karma body. This sustenance is called oja ahara ( drawing in energy ). We cannot live without energy. Once the energy collected in the body is spent up, the body dies. There can be no prana without energy. It is the life-energy which keeps the body alive. The new-born soul accumulates in the very first moment of its birth the energy required for its life. Then begins the building up of the gross body. The whole development of the gross body, its nervous system, its glands and plexuses etc. are not original substances but derived or secondary substances. Their essence lies in the karma body. The gross body is the carrier of all the potential of the karma body, its energy centres as well as consciousness. If the potential of the karma body is limited to a single sense-organ, the gross body

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GUIDELINES FOR AROUSING ENETGY 103 will develop only a single sense-organ i.e. the sense-organ of touch. Its physical structure will not have provision for the remaining four sense-organs. The sense-organs of sight, hearing, smell and taste will not be formed. If the karma body has the potential for two or all the five sense-organs, there will be an equal number of sense-organs in the gross body. If the karma body has the potential for the development of the mind, the gross body will develop a brain, otherwise not. Animals which do not have a mind do not have the spinal cord and brain also. If the gross body has a spinal cord and a brain, it must have a mind also. Thus the building and development of the gross body has its roots in the subtle body. We may call the gross body a reflection of the subtle body Physiologists have analysed the glands situated in the human body. When the hormones in the Thyroid gland are not in a balanced state, the body will remain a dwarf. The whole of development of the body, brain and mind which results in the body becoming long or beautiful or ugly or deceased or healthy or intelligent or otherwise depends upon the secretions of the glands. It is the glands which determine the development or deterioration of the gross body. Karma has been divided into cight categories. One of these is what is called nama karmu. It has several functions and divisions. It is due to nama karma that the body becomes dwarfish or tall. The beauty or ugliness of the body, the sweetness or hoarseness of its voice etc. are determined by the potential of nama karma. Sadhakas in their deep meditation have contacted the subtle body and analysed its subtleties. Scientists have not yet succeeded in any such attempts. They have analysed and explained the gross body only. Let us undertake a comparative study of the scientists and those of the spiritual practitioners. The study will reveal that both of them say the same thing. The spiritual plane is higher than the physiological plane. Observations made by the spiritualists are based on their study of the karma body, whereas those of the scientists are based on a subtle analysis of the gross body which is a reflection of the former. But both of them have adopted the same language. A body and its reflection in a mirror cannot be two unconnected things. The reflection in

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104 the mirror is the reflection of the body which stands before it and of no other body. Scientists have explained the reflection, whereas the karma sastras have explained the origin of the reflection. Physiologists speak of the secretions of the glands, karma sastras speak of the same thing as the saturation of juices (rasa). The subtle body produces secretions through the glands. This secretion drives and influences all the tendencies of the living body. Having understood these tendencies and how they work we can pass on to the subtle body. The purpose of sadhana is to enable the practitioner to enter into the subtle body through the gross body and to come face to face with the enzymes processed by the karma body. It is the modification in the manifestations of the soul which activates the karma body. The practitioner has to know and understand these subtle transformations of the soul. THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The gross and the subtle bodies are only instruments of bringing about the transformations of the soul. The practitioner has to understand the substances which transform themselves and the instrumental causes which help in the fruition of the transformations. He has also to understand the forms which the changes take. The mind and the soul go on transforming themselves ceaselessly. If these tranformations take place in the context of the centres of pure consciousness and flow towards them, they become auspicious. On the other hand, if they tend towards the centres connected with suppressed desires, they become inauspicious. Centres of consciousness which excite the tendencies of anger, pride, deceit, greed, hunger, fear, sex and acquisitiveness, produce evil consequences. It is necessary to conduct research in these areas so that we may know where to engage the mental processes for good or bad. The knowledge gained from such research will enable us to control our instincts and tendencies and to bring about auspicious lesyas and to avoid the inauspicious ones. Nothing can be finally said in this respect until enough research has been done. We need such scientists who are not only experts in the areas of their own scientific interest but who have also faith in spiritual matters. A scientific scrutiny of all the constituents of the body as well as of the transformations of the soul and

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GUIDELINES FOR AROUSING ENERGY 105 their association with our natural tendencies will open new horizons of knowledge. I once happened to read a book written in a mixture of the Gujarati and Rajasthani languages. It discusses some interesting facts. It may be a compilation of facts borrowed from other works. The author observes that the navel symbolized by the lotus has several petals. When the soul undergoes transformations in association with a particular petal, it produces the tendency to anger. Association with another petal excites the tendency to deceit. Association with yet another petal excites sexual tendencies and so on. When the transformations of the soul pass from the navel to the heart, also symbolized by a lotus, they produce the feeling of equality or equanimity, develop knowledge and activate good tendencies. If these transformations influence the perception centre, they develop the capacity to grasp the entire literature of the fourteen Purvas (original Jaina Scriptures). When they touch the knowledge centre, they develop the capacity for pure knowledge. Their contact with another centre develops the capacity for avadhi-jnana (clairvoyance.) The basis on which these observations have been made cannot be ascertained. But it is clear from the information collected in the book that there are various transmission centres in the human body. It is possible for us to make consciousness manifest itself by concentrating the mind on these centres and to reconstruct our personalities. We have already stated that breath is connected with prana which in its turn is connected with paryapti or subtle prana. Breath comes into being in the very first moment in which the life of the human organism begins. Prana needs subtle prana which in its turn needs subtler prana. This last prana is obtained from the sky. Prana keeps circulating in the organism as well as in the whole of the sky. It sustains the life of the organism. The organism gets this sustenance by means of breath. It draws its sustenance like oxygen, nitrogen etc. by breathing. In the language of karma sasrta we obtain prana or vital energy through breath. Two Jaina scriptures, Bhagavati and Prajnapana, raise the question: "When does the jiva obtain its sustenance and from

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106 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND howmany directions ?" The scriptures maintain that the jiva draws its sustenance from all the six directions viz. east, west, north, south, and the upper and lower directions. The scriptures do not refer to the food we take by mouth. They also do not refer to the sustenance we draw through the pores of the hairs. They speak of prana as the sustenance. The jiva draws its sustenance always from outside itself continuously. Breath is a powerful means of drawing sustenance. Let me repeat that breath is connected with prana, prana with subtle prana and subtle prana with the subtle body or karma sarira. The practice of long breathing aims at arousing our dormant powers. Perceptive meditation on long breathing is a very significant exercise. It is a clue to the entire process of collecting energy. Perceptive meditation on long breathing is an attempt to arouse all the sources of energy. This meditation has very wide implications. Through this exercise we draw in tremendous energy. It also enables us to tap the central source of energy in us. A sudden explosion of energy enables us to achieve many things. Perceptive meditation on regular breathing is also a means of collecting energy. Sama vrtti breathing means drawing in air through one nostril and releasing it through another. In this exercise the mind is yoked to breath. Psychosomatic scientists have come to the conclusion that special consciousness centres can be activated by samavrtti breathing. It develops in the practitioner the capacity for super-sensual knowledge also. Through it the practitioner can also attain the power of clairvoyance. Breath is useful in several other yogic exercises. There are meditations on long breathing, regular breathing and subtle breathing. The entire structure of sadhana is based on breath.

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LECTURE TWELVE SYNOPSIS * Absorption-Concentration. * Several actions together-one action at a time. * Intransigence-Synthesis. * Anger-anxiety-despondency-fear-peevishness. * Desire-- it is better if it were so-memory-imagination. * Development of patience. * Therapy at the level of the conscious mind. * Therapy at the level of the unconscious mind. * Let us shape the reflection and not that which is reflected. * Breath perception -- to live in the present moment. * Body perception-- to live in the present. Tensions disappear if one lives in the present. * Breath perception--to live in equality. * Body perception- to live in equality. Tensions disappear if one lives in the present. * Main causes of tensions -- to live in the present and the future. * Curiosity, absorption, desire, arta-rudra meditation. * Emotions like anger etc. produce tensions.

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:12: ANALYSIS OF THE GROSS AND THE SUBTLE All the living beings in the world are combinations of various elements. There is no living being which is not a compound. Neither can consciousness be manifest except through the body, nor can the body be created except by consciousness. All the living beings in the world combine in themselves a body and consciousness. Nothing like pure consciousness is available anywhere. It is an ideal to be achieved in the future. Body and consciousness have been together since time immemorial. The question as to how long and why they have been together has remained unanswered. The simplest answer is that their association is beginningless. It seems that the jiva and the body have entered into an agreement to the effect that they will never quit each other and will continue to live and work together without interfering with the substance of each other. The body cannot pollute the essence of the soul and the latter does not withdraw from the area of the former. To know is one thing and to tell others what you know is quite another. Language is a medium of expression and communication. What we express or communicate is determined by the limitation of language. The scope of knowledge is infinite but that of language is limited. Whatever is expressed in language is, therefore, of a limited scope. Language by its very nature cannot express the infinite. The infinite cannot be compressed into the finite. Leave alone the infinite, language cannot express even the experiences we gain in day to day meditations. Therefore, whatever we say about these experiences remains incompletely expressed. That is why we are forced to give expression to these experiences only symbolically and metaphorically. We cannot

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ANALYSIS OF THE GROSS AND THE SUBTLE 109 express them fully. Experiences cannot be externalized by means of language. There does not seem to be any medium of communicating experiences. The experience of joy is reflected on the face. Anger makes the face stern and the entire body constrained. And yet the sternness of the face and the constraint of the body do not give a complete expression to anger. There are two principles, the jiva (living being) and life. The jiva has consciousness. At the same time it is formless. Consciousness is the dividing line between the jiva and that which is not jiva. In other words, that which has consciousness is jiva and that which does not have conciousness is not jiva. The next thing is formless existence. We are not familiar with the term "formless' because we live in a world constructed by the sense-organs. We are familiar with this world and the sense-organs only. The mind, the senseorgans and the intellect cannot comprehend the formless. Only those who went beyond the sense-organs, the mind and the intellect could comprehend the formless. Even those who possessed visual intuition and knowledge of other minds were incapable of comprehending the formless. Those who reached the heights of visual intuition declared that there is a formless substance in the world. This substance has neither colour, nor smell, nor taste, nor touch, but it maintains its identity and does not disintegrate. It has no structure. Although it penetrates space, it does not become an obstruction. It cannot be struck. This formless substance pervades the whole universe. It is omnipresent. This formless substance and consciousness are beyond the reach of the sense-organs. They cannot be known by the sense-organs, the mind and the intellect. They cannot be comprehended by these instruments. We need a different medium to know thein. It is not surprising that people refuse to accept the existence of formless entities because they cannot be understood with the help of the intellect. Such a refusal is quite

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110 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND natural. What is really surprising is that people do not try to understand these entities by means other than of the intellect. The intellectual powers of such people are really undeveloped and attempts to sharpen the intellect will have to be made. Attempts will also have to be made to sharpen memory. In such a situation the knowledge of those who command supersensual powers remained and still remains beyond the purview of the intellect and memory. We can know our body with the help of the sense-organs and the intellect. We can perceive it with the help of the intellect. The human body has been subjected to a searching analysis in the past as well as in the present. Descriptions of each and every part of the body are available today. Ancient descriptions of the body were based on perception and inference. Modern descriptions are based on scientific investigations and experiments. The human body is an unconscious entity and has a form. It is perceptible with the sense-organs and hence the description of its component parts is possible. Every cell of the body has by now been examined and its structure described. Our eyes do not give a complete picture of things. According to Dr. Hook if you see the cork stopper on the mouth of a bottle with the help of a microscope, you will find a number of nets in it which are not visible with the bare eye. Similarly you will see innumerable cells in a living body with the help of a microscope which will not be visible otherwise. Let us now pass on to the subtle body. Material structures are of two kinds, gross and subtle. The subtle structures are called catusparsi (four sense contacts) pudgalas and the gross structures are called astasparsi (eight sense contacts) pudgalas. Gross structures can be perceived with the eyes or instruments, but it is very difficult to perceive subtle structures. Psychology has divided the mind into three parts, the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the unconscious mind. The subtle body lies beyond these three parts. Investigations conducted in the cells have the gross body as their starting point. The subtle structure of the cell is a wonderful structure. It is a very complex one. There are eleven lac seventy thousand five hundred cells to one square inch in the

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ANALYSIS OF THE GROSS AND THE SUBTLE 111 body. All the hereditary characteristics of the body are maintained and looked after by very tiny cells. When a cell disintegrates, it passes on all the work it had been doing to a newly-born cell. This transfer of functions in the cells is a wonderful process. How does all this happen? Physiology has not yet been able to reveal the mytery. Different kinds of cells produce different kinds of proteins and maintain their heterogenity in nature. All these seemingly wonderful processes can, however, be explained in the light of the karma body. This is the subtlest body. It imposes uniform patterns on the gross body and its constituents. The entire system works according to its inherent laws. The whole world of the atoms is a self-propelled system. The structures of karma pudgalas have innumerable constituent particles which are found sticking to the soul. If an attempt were made to assess the numerical strength of the particles which constitute the karma body, you will find billions and billions of particles to a square inch. The subtle body is a self-acting body and it controls itself as well as the gross body. It has eight parts or departments with their separate functions. One of these departments is concerned with knowledge. It controls the volume of the manifestation of knowledge i.e. how much knowledge should be allowed to manifest itself and how much should not, Our body too has a system. Intolerable pain makes us unconscious. Tolerable pain does not do so. Nature provides an escape from intolerable pain. The system of knowledge is also self-sufficient. It works according to its own laws. It determines the knowledge of the jiva and decides how much knowledge should be allowed to manifest and how much of it the jiva can carry. These systems are built and enforced by the karma body. A transgression of the system turns an individual mad and renders him unconscious. Every individual gets his share of knowledge according to its capacity, neither more nor less. Knowledge which is beyond its capacity cannot be sustained by it. . We often read in the newspapers about men who have

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112 THE MYSTBRIES OF MIND knowledge of their past lives. He who possesses such knowledge remains perplexed because he knows the good or bad deeds he had done in the past. It is so because he is not able to bear the burden of the memories of his past life. Sometimes we come across those whose 'third eye' has opened. Such men are capable of anticipating what is going to happen in the future, distant or immediate. They is likely to know when they are going to die or what harmful event is going to happen. All the worries of the future begin to hover over their mind, and because they are not capable of standing all these, they become perplexed and restless. If we accumulate knowledge which we are not able to carry, it will upset our mental balance. An increased voltage of electricity, if the insulation system is weak, will produce danger. We cannot sustain an increased volume of knowledge if the insulation of the mind is defective. It will undo the recepient. Hence the need for balance. The system according to which knowledge manifests itself determines howmuch of it can be sustained by the recepient. In the language of the ancient scriptures the knowledge-obscuring agencies increase or decrease according to the increase or deciease in the volume of obstructing karma (antaraya). Only that amount of knowledge can be turned into practice which is the outcome of a balance between the amount of knowledge and man's capacity to sustain it. A disciple-once asked his preceptor : "What can we achieve with the help of the sense organs?" The preceptor replied, "The achieveinent depends on the reduction in and eradication of the clouds which obscure knowledge and perception and the karma which obstructs the progress of the soul." Obstructingkarma and antaraya work as an insulating device for the human mind. It will, therefore, be wrong to think of achieving anything only by removing the screen which obscures knowledge and perception. We cannot under-estimate the insulatory role which antaraya plays in the mental processes, Knowledge and perception work according to the system into which they have been placed, whereas the obstructing-karma is concerned with man's capacity for knoviledge. The latter watches howmuch ignorance and delusion have been reduced

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ANALYSIS OF THE GROSS AND THE SUBTLE 113 in the mind of man. Too much reduction will upset the balance and the mind will crash. The production of atomic weapons is the result of a breakdown in man's mental balance. Similarly, we should accumulate energy in proportion to the reduction of the delusion which surrounds us. Delusion decreases in proportion to the development of knowledge and perception and the balance of the mind. The development of a passionless state of mind also takes place in proportion to the balance of mind. The systems of knowledge, perception, antaraya and delusion are self-sufficient systems and are essential to the composition of the subtle body. The subtle body is divided into four areas; nama (body-making karma ), gotra ( statusdetermining karma ), ayusya ( lengevity-determining karma ) and vedaniya ( feeling-determining karma). Nama is the biggest area or compartment. It builds the gross body. The subtle body cannot manifest itself except through the gross body, and, therefore, it must build the latter. The number of the sub-departments of nama karma is very large. One of these is the body-building department. It is a department of creative artists. It builds the cells. It demolishes the defunct cells and replaces them with new ones. It also demolishes the worn-out parts of the body and replaces them with new ones. It is always watchful and active. It determines the structure and functions of the various parts of the body. The complexion of some bodies is fair whereas that of the others is dark. What determines this complexion ? It is determined by the guna sutras ( chromosomes ). There is a subdepartment of nama karma called varna nama karma (determinant of complexion ). It determines the form and complexion of the body. The discovery of genes brought about a revolution in the field of biological studies. Traces of all the past actions on the subtle body flow into the genes and manifest through them in the gross body. Imagine an unknown man sitting in a dark room for an hour or so. By an analysis of the atmosphere of the room we

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114 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND can establish the identity of the man even after he has departed from the room. Dogs are used in tracing criminals because they can apprehend them with the help of their sense of smell. Scientists have developed a system of smell-analysis. This method is being applied in tracing out criminals. All this is done on the basis of the odour which the body of the criminal emits. It is said that the bodies of the tirthankaras emitted a sweet odour like that of the red lotus plant. It is supposed to be a special characteristic of the bodies of the tirthankaras. Every living body emits some odour or the other, pleasant or unpleasant. It has been mentioned in ancient works on sex that some women emit an odour similar to that of the pink lotus plant. Such women are called padminis. It has been stated that various arts can be learnt and mastered through the bodies of such women. Odour flows from the bodies of living beings through their palms, the bottoms of their feet and through their sweat. An odour which spreads in the atmosphere gives a clue to the whereabouts of criminals. That is why burglars when they commit burglary wear hand gloves and socks to avoid detection. However, the particles of odour are so subtle that they pass through the texture of the gloves and socks and stick to the floor and walls of the room into which the burglars had entered. One category of nama karma is what is called gandha nama karma (smell). It is through the mechanism of smell that the odour manifests itself. Other categories of nama karma are rasa nama karma ( taste), and sparsa nama karma (touch), etc. We have ceased to be familiar with these concepts. Once it was believed that there is a network of nama karmas-atapa nama karma ( heat ), udyota nama karma (light) paraghata nama karma (stroke), svasocchvasa nama karma (breath) sarira nama karma (body-buliding ), gati nama karma (motion) etc. What was the purpose behind this elaborate classification? It may, however, be noted that all these categories of nama karma are connected with the body. If we try to understand this classification with reference to the glands, it will cease to be mysterious. The glands perform their functions not only in the gross body but also in the

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ANALYSIS OF THE GROSS AND THE SUBTLE subtle body. What happens in the subtle body may be transmitted to the gross body also. The subtle body is the controlling agency of the gross body. It controls breathing. It also controls insight. The function of the sense-organs is also controlled by the subtle body. It also controls the entire energy which we possess. Our potential for aggression and self-defence are controlled by the subtle body. And all this happens mechanically. 115 Scientists are familiar with what happens in the gross body, but they are unable to explain why it so happens. Most of our problems will have been solved if we knew that gross body is caused and controlled by the subtle body. The sarira nama karma builds innumerable kinds of gross bodies. The gross body composed of bones, flesh and blood is one of them. Then we have the taijasa body (energy) which brings about all the activities of the gross body. The next is karma sarira which we have discussed above. The taijasa body serves as a connecting link between the gross and karma bodies. When I speak with a microphone before me, the waves of the sound I produce travel far and wide. These waves are transmitted by electricity which serves as a carrier. Whatever activates the gross body comes from the taijasa body. The subtle and karma bodies will not be able to function without electricity. The taijasa body is an active mass of electricity. We obtain prana through breath. The karma and subtle bodies will not be able to receive vital breath except through the taijasa body. The taijasa body is a transmission link between the karma and gross bodies. In the same way the energy stored in the subtle body cannot be transmitted to the gross body except through the medium of the taijasa body which also transmits the powers of language and the mind to the gross body from the karma body. Language, mind and body have the tendency to be yoked to other entities. This yoking takes place when the taijasa body begins to function and carry things from one place to another. Words and their combinations are the result of the yoking of language to the

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116 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND taijasa body. Language, mind and the gross body are meterial entities. When they become connected with the vital force through the agency of the taijasa body, they become conscious. Language develops a conscious characteristic through yoga. Mind becomes conscious through yoga. The body gains consciousness through yoga.

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LECTURE THIRTEEN SYNOPSIS *Removal of mental tensions leads to the arousing of energy. * Tensions produce emotions. From passions to tensions, from tension to passions, hence imbalance. * What is pleasure? What is pain? * That which results in pleasantness is pleasure. That which results in unpleasantness is pain. * Tension and emotion are one and the same thing. * Where there is tension, there is emotion. emotion there is tension. * Tension is the root cause of sorrows. *Three chief causes of disease: * Body * Mind * Food * Renunciation of objects and its consequences. * Mental balance means freedom from attachments and aversions and a state of equality. * Ignorance is the cause of mental and physical disease. * Not knowledge alone, but direct contact. Where there is

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:13: RELIEF FROM MENTAL TENSIONS Exercises in the yoga camps are comprised of breath perception, body perception and kayotsarga (abandonment of the body). What is the purpose of these exercises and what do we achieve from them ? The greatest problem for the modern man is that he is over-pressurised. He suffers from tension and strain. When our body is light, our experiences become wholesome and when the body is tense, they become exacting. This applies to the mind also. A tense mind is uneasy and a relieved mind feels easy. Every one wants to lead a comfortable life. He likes to feel light. The initial achievement of sadhana is the feeling of being light. It means relief from pressures and tensions. The modern man is a patient of mental and physical tensions. He lacks in peace of mind. He is always restless. Having done exhausting labour he needs rest and calm. When one shoulder of a man carrying a heavy load becomes tired, he * shifts the load to the other shoulder so that the tired shoulder may get a little rest. Sometimes he puts the load down and stops to rest. Our activities are an alternation of work and rest. We are thus constantly in need of rest so that we may feel that there is no burden on us and no tension in our mind. We know that we have a body and that we work and labour with it. We also know how to give rest to the body. We work with the mind also but we do not know how to give it rest. We think but we do not know that state of the mind in which there is no thinking. We do not know how to get rid of thinking. Once we have begun to think, it becomes difficult to stop the process of thinking. All this is due to the fact that we have not yet known the value of thoughtlessness.

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119 When we are tired, we lie down to rest. After a little rest the body becomes relaxed and fresh. Sleep also produces relaxation and freshness in the body. But these devices do not give relaxation and freshness to the mind. The mind goes on thinking and feeling tense even in sleep. We dream also. The mind remains entangled in the dreams and does not get relief. Sometimes we go on dreaming throughout the duration of sleep. Dreaming is not sleeping. When we arise from sleep, we complain that our sleep had been disturbed by dreams. In such cases, even inspite of a long sleep, our mind remains tired and tense. The fact is that we do not know how to give rest to the mind. RELIEF FROM MENTAL TENSIONS Breath perception is a means of giving rest to the body or of going to sleep so that it may become light and free from thinking. We can give rest to the mind if we know how to live in the present moment. We spend most of our life in living either in the past or in the future. We live very little in the present. Our mind remains too much engrossed in memories of the past or in weaving webs of imagination as regards the future. It is unnecessarily caught in the snares of memories and imagination. It gets little time for living in the present moment. It is because we want to preserve the past that we are lost in memories of it. We like to remember all that we had in the past and feel that we cannot live without it. In the same way we are busy thinking of the future and feel that life will become impossible without planning it. It is on this account that we are not interested in what the spiritualists tell us. They advise us to give up all the memories of the past and all the anxieties about the future. They exhort us to do away with every concern with the future and to bring life to a standstill. What they say is that we should not be burdened with memories of the past and futile plans of the future. We should not spend too much time in them but only a reasonably short time. The mentality to remain absorbed in them is undesirable. What are dreams? Memories and expectations which visit our minds while we are awake assume the form of dreams in sleep. Thus we remain caught in the web of memories and expectations and anticipations day and night. The purpose of

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120 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND sadhana is to extract us from these webs. They produce nothng but physical and mental tensions. They lead the mind astray. Random memories bring in their train sometimes anger, sometimes pride and sometimes greed with the result that our minds become surcharged with all kinds of emotions and we cannot even have our meals. All this happens because we do not live in the present. We have not learnt to live in the present moment. To live in the present means that we should keep our minds fully engaged in what we are doing at the moment. No memory should be allowed to haunt our mind while we are engaged in our work whatever it may be. When we sit down to have meal, we should have it with the whole mind in it. When we walk we should not think of anything except walking. We should tie the mind to the act we are doing at the present moment. There are men whose minds are wandering elsewhere while they are having a meal. For such people eating becomes a mechanical activity which does not give them any joy. The spiritualists tell us that we should do nothing but eat when we are at the dining table. The whole mind should be kept busy in the act of eating. The atheists also say the same thing. They exhort us not to leave the present moment to anticipate what is going to happen in the future. It is out of sheer ignorance that we relinquish present pleasures and run after those which we anticipate. There is nothing wrong with the atheists when they insist on living in the present moment. There is no harm in remembering the past and anticipating the future when it is necessary in order to make plans for the future, otherwise we would not be able to live a profitable life. But we should not do so when it is not necessary because it will produce tensions. The process of time is a dialectical process. The present will resist an encroachment on it by the past or by the future. It wants to push both out of its domain. The present wants to preserve its identity. Why should we try to disturb the process of time when we do not like others to disturb us. We should not mix up the present, past and future. To live in the present means to give rest to the mind. .Breathing is an event which happens at the present moment

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RELIEF FROM MENTAL TENSIONS and not in the past or in the future. We perceive it only when it is taking place and it takes place only in the present moment. We should also practise living and being in the present moment. When we are in the present and are watching what is happening at the present moment, attachments and aversions are totally absent from our minds. Where there is no imagination, there is neither attachment nor aversion. Where there is no memory, there are no attachments and aversions. The present moment is the moment of pure consciousness. Here there is neither love nor hatred. We neither regret past experiences nor are we worried by the future. Our life consists of a single moment only and that moment is the present moment. 121 Breath perception means to live a life of equanimity or serenity. It means to live in a moment free from passions. It automatically reduces tensions. Body perception does not mean perceiving only the outer form of the body. It also means perceiving the constituents of the body and their formations. Above all the practitioner has to perceive what is happening in the body at the moment when it is being perceived. He has to perceive the pleasant and unpleasant feelings rising and falling within him. He is also to perceive the feelings of joy and sorrow. He is also to perceive the chemical changes happening in the body. He is to perceive what is happening in the outer body. He will also perceive if there is an itch in the skin which he will like to scratch because the itch is an event. He will also perceive perspiration which is also an event. He would also perceive the feeling of heat and cold which happens at the present moment. Whatever happens in the body as an event in the present moment is to be perceived with a dispassionate mind and without indulging in it or without feeling it to be repugnant. He is to see the present moment in order to take advantage of it in sadhana. Body perception develops the sense of equanimity. It enables us to live in the present moment without attachments and aversions. This exercise will relieve us of tensions. There are three kinds of tensions: physical tensions, mental tensions and tensions born of imagination or moods. Every human being remains exposed to these tensions. The practice of kayotsarga is very useful in warding off physical

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izs THE MYSTERIES OF MIND tensions. The relief you get by a two hours' sleep can be got by half an hour's cxercise in kayotsarga. Mental patients are administered electrical shocks to make them go to sleep. A twentyfive minutes' sleep brought about by electrical shock is equal to a six hours' natural 'leep. Half an hour's exercise in kayotsarga is capable of giving that much of rest which a two three hours' sleep can give. It makes the practitioner feel a lightness which natural sleep cannot give. Meditation is a very good remedy for mental tensions. Let us meditate on a single subject. During the meditation we will live in the present moment. The tension will automatically subside. The meditator will begin to feel that he is growing lighter. Too much thinking produces mental tension. Thinking is also a disease. There are people who remain absorbed in thoughts for nothing. They feel that thinking is the sumum bonum of life. If you do something for a specific purpose, it is commendable. But purposeless thinking is not good. It makes the mind heavy. We can get control over such a situation by meditation. We should think only as much as is necessary. We should stop it as soon as it becomes unnecessary. Once we were camping in Ujjain during the four months of the rainy season. We had drawn up the plan of compiling and editing the Jaina agamas (original scriptures). I realized that it was a tremendous task. It required a lot of time and labour, and, therefore, we had to draw up a time-table. We were busy in other matters also. I thought of a way out. I divided the working day into three parts. One part was to be devoted to self-study, another to research work and the third to personal sadhana. I decided to devote three hours every day to the compiling and editing of the scriptures. I also decided that as soon as the time fixed for a particular work was over, it should be immediately stopped and forgotten so that the next engagement could be taken up without any hang-over. When the whole day's work was done, it should be taken to have been finished and I was not to worry about what was to be done the next day. This time-table enabled me to work on

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RELIEF FROM MSNTAL TENSIONS 123 without, in any way, feeling tired although a lot of energy had to be put in the work. Freedom from memory enables one to collect energy, and to reduce its expenditure. A switch-over to the next work thus becomes rest. Thus I saved a lot of energy. * Moreover, as soon as the time alloted to a particular task was over, I believed that whatever I had to do had been done. If I remained worried by what was to be done, it will produce mental tension. There will be no end to these worries and my mind will continue to be tense. Nobody is able to finish his life's work by the time he dies. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, remarked at the time of his death that his wishes had remained unfulfilled and that he could not do what he had wanted to do. This is the fate of every one. Those who do not live a life of the spirit do feel frustrated at the time of their death. Why should we worry? Will worrying be of any use to us? Unfinished work remains unfinished; you cannot help it. Those who live a life of the spirit choose to die in a state of samadhi (self-absorption). They die with perfect satisfaction. They feel that they are leaving nothing unfinished at the time of their death. They feel that their life had been a happy journey. On the other hand those who do not live a life of the spirit always suffer from all kinds of tensions. They die a miserable death. They carry a bundle of miseries on their shoulders throughout their lives. They create troubles for their survivors also. How far is it reasonable to carry a bundle of anxieties on our shoulders and make our hearts heavy ? Sadhana is a means of changing this kind of life. We can, through meditation, feel that life lived in the present moment is an ideal life. The third kind of tension is emotional tension. It is a problematic tension. It is also caused by arta and raudra meditations. We have already discussed the theory behind these two meditations earlier. Let us understand it practically. Arta dhyana means to try to achieve that which has not been achieved and to remain absorbed in achieving it. The attempt to achieve that which is pleasant and to avoid that

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i24 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND which is unpleasant produces emotional tension. The man who does so is always worried and he will never be able to get rid of his worry. If he becomes estranged from that which is pleasant, he will again and again try to achieve it. He will always be worried lest that which is umpleasant should happen again. He will always be worried lest that which is a pleasant should be lost. This produces anxiety neurosis. The fact is that we cannot always retain that which is pleasant and avoid that which is unpleasant. We pass through both kinds of experiences. They are characteristics of human life. Getting together and estrangement are chance events and nobody can remain unaffected by them. Anxiety neurosis never allows us to experience even a single moment's relief. Raudra dhyana also produces emotional tension. It creates mental complications and produces aggressive tendencies. It makes us revengeful. Traders in the past were not so worried as they are today. The mind of the modern businessman remains worried all the twenty four hours. He is always worried by the anxicty to hide his malpractices. One who tells lies can never get rid of lies. This is the position of raudra dhyana. It is a terrible position. The emotional tension generated by raudra dhyana happens in four situations which involve aggression, lies, theft and acquisitiveness. Physical tension is a problem of the modern world. Mental tension is a still more acute problem. The most acute problem is emotional tension. These three tensions produce terrible consequences. Dharmya dhyana is the method of getting rid of this situation. The practice of this meditation relieves one of the undesirable effects of arta and raudra dhya nas and the emotional tensions they produce. Dharmya dhyana and sukla dhyana are the means of retaining mental balance and of keeping the practitioner within the limits of his own being. We perform colour meditation on tejo-lesya, padma-lesya and sukla-lasya. Meditation on teju-lesya enlightens us and gives joy. Meditation on padma-lesya purifies the heart. Meditation on sukla-lasya removes passions and gives peace.

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LECTURE FOURTEEN SYNOPSIS * The spiritual attitude implies looking into the soul. * Three forms of the soul: bahiratma (the outer soul), antaratma (the inner soul) and paramatma (the supreme soul). * Three forms of the psyche: the conscious, the subconscious and the unconscious. * The greatest achievement of religion--spiritual journey. * Fearlessness is the essence of all religions. Means of the reconstitution of personality : * Physiological definition-activization of the unconscious mind. * Spiritual definition--activization of the spirit. * Limitations of sermons. * Limitations of means.

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: 14 : MENTAL BALANCE The first principle of sadhana is the pursuit of knowledge and moral conduct. Whatever attempts men make are aimed at freedom from misery. Imagination, expectations and actions also have the same aim. Spiritual exertion also aims at the same thing. Self-exertion is meaningless if it does not aim at freedom from miseries, for nobody will pursue it. It has often been suggested that we must do something to get rid of misery instead of sitting in meditation with closed eyes. Why should we sit idle ? Idleness will not procure material object without which we cannot get rid of misery. For those who say so, meditation is idleness. How can it free us from misery ? It appears to be a contradiction in terms to say that we can get freedom from miseries through idleness. It is true that producive labour alone can give freedom from wants. Only food quenches hunger. Hunger and cold are unpleasant and food and clothing alone can give freedom from them. If spiritual practitioners disown this truth, they will be called visionaries. Is not self-exertion an unprofitable endeavour ? Is not spiritual life a figment of imagination ? The modern age insists that we should lead a realistic life. It does not encourage playing hide and seek with truth. It calls upon us to enjoy life. If we do not struggle to get rid of wants, we will be living in a fool's paradise. We must understand and appreciate this truth. It, therefore, seems natural to ask as to what efforts we are making to get rid of hardships and wants. Religious-minded people and those engaged in sadhana exhort us to practise religion in order that we may be free from miseries. What does self-exertion provide us with ? It is incapable of fulfilling the needs of life. How can it, then,

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MENTAL BALANCE 127 give us relief from griefs and miseries? The spiritual practitioner is a destitute. He owns no property and wealth. He does not exercise any authority and commands no power. Does he not talk with his tongue in his mouth ? These questions are raised by those who believe that only material objects are capable of giving us happiness. Spiritualists, however, fail to understand the correctness of this view. According to them material objects may cure patients of their diseases, but how can they give us happiness? For example, when one feels hungry, he eats some thing and his hunger is pacified. But does eating give him happiness? Perhaps not. Throughout our lives we go on eating some thing or the other to pacify hunger. But we confuse the pacifying of hunger with happiness. Eating some thing simply cures us of the disease of hunger. When the mind of an addict to intoxicants becomes restless, he drinks and forgets his restlessness for the time-being. But do drinks give him happiness? Till intoxication lasts, he remains unaware of the pain in his intestines. Once the effect of intoxication has subsided, he again feels the pain and again drinks. What he really gets is temporary relief from pain which is not happiness. Spiritualists have defined happiness as a process which ends in joy. That which gives relief for the time-being, but the consequences of which are painful, cannot be said to be capable of giving joy. Joy is a continuous process which has no end. In other words that which gives us freedom from pain and the consequences of which are also joyous is called happiness. Soldiers when they win a battle, feel happy. Does their victory result in happiness ? On the other hand, it results in all kinds of griefs and sorrows. These griefs and sorrows are shared by the victors as well as by the vanquished. The devastation caused by wars lasts for years and years together. The effects of wars are the most unhappy. That which results in pain cannot give happiness. Let us try to understand this in the light of whether self-exertion is a source of joy. Tensions produce miseries and excitements. To be tense means to be impulsive and vice versa. Tension saps energy.

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128 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND One who suffers from emotional tension becomes peevish and quarrelsome. He becomes a nuisance to society. Mental tensions upset physical balance also. They not only produce impulsiveness but diseases also. They increase blood-pressure and all its consequences. Freedom from tensions means freedom from passions like anger, pride, deceit, greed etc. Tensions excite passions and passions produce further tensions. This vicious circle continues indefinitely bringing in its trail all kinds of miseries. Ancient works on medicine speak of two kinds of diseases: those caused by external causes and those produced by man's own deeds. There are three causes of diseases: vata (air), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm). When the body sustains an injury, it is said to have been caused by external factors. A disease born of the accumulated effects of previous deeds is said to have been caused by karma. Then there are mental diseases. Psychotherapists speak of psychosomatic diseases which are a combination of mental and physical diseases. Works on ancient medical science speak of adhi (mental disease) and vyadhi (physical ailments). A large number of diseases is caused by mental factors. We misunderstand them to be caused by physical weakness and germs etc. Actually these are caused by mental causes. Psychosomatic diseases are very much complicated and have become quite wide-spread these days. If we want to get rid of them, let us remember the ancient aphorism "Let the soul seek truth in itself." We cannot get rid of diseases if we ourselves do not search truth in our own selves. It is necessary to remove our own ignorance. Food also causes diseases. We are very much ignorant in matters of food. If this ignorance were removed, we get rid of a number of diseases. Moreover, there will be no mental diseases if we knew the nature of the mind and of the faculty of thinking and how to engage the mind. Food increases as well as reduces pain. Food articles have nutritive as well as harmful properties. This is also the view of ayurveda. No food article is wholly nutritive or harmful. It is the quantity of food which is health-giving or harmful. For example, arsenic is a medicine as well as poison

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MENTAL BALANCE 129 according to the amount of it which we take. A lot of poison enters into our bodies with the food we consume. It is the quantity of the medicines which produces harmful or agreeable consequences. Many things which we eat give us temporary relief or pleasure. Their long-term effects are, however, harmful. Ignorance in these matters causes a number of miseries. Pleasures which the enjoyment of natural things give often turn into pain. If this ignorance continued, it will increase the volume of our miseries. Some of us might feel that sadhani is a dry and unprofitable business. This view is the result of our associations with the objects of the material world. The truth, however, is that there can be no emancipation without getting rid of the limitations imposed upon us by natural objects. We are under the wrong impression that the bondage which our craving for material objects impose upon us is a matter of joy. The general trend of thinking in the modern world favours increased production of material commodities which alone is supposed to keep society contented and happy. The spiritualists, on the other hand, declare that there can be no contentment and happiness without getting rid of the limitations imposed upon us by material objects. Thus there are two views. There are advocates of the enjoyment of material objects and the advocates of spiritual enjoyments. The modern man suffering from nervous tensions is not able to appreciate the spiritual view. But once he begins to practise medita tion, his nervous tension begins to subside, glandural secretions become balanced and the mind becomes calm and he experiences joy. His delusions disappear and the encirclement by material objects ends. The whole trouble with the modern man is that, instead of taking full advantage of the spring of eternal joy within him, he runs after perishing pleasures which material objects offer. Once an old woman was found searching for a needle. She had dropped it in her room, but she was searching for it on the road outside. A few children saw her and asked as to what she was searching for. The woman replied that she had dropped a needle in her room and as the room was utterly dark she thought it advisable to search for it on the road. Acarya Bhiksu told a story to illustrate the same

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130 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND thing. A man suffering from visual disorder went to a physician. The physician gave him an ointment which he was advised to apply to his eyes The patient returned home and applied the ointment to his back. When asked why he did so, he replied "I am doing so because when I applied it to the eyes I began to feel a burning sensation." He felt no such sensation when he applied the ointment on his back. I would like to tell you another story. Once a camel and an ox happened to be together. The camel was suffering from some disease and he was to be stamped with a red hot rod of iron. A veterinary surgeon came and instead of stamping the camel he stamped the ox. When asked as to why he had stamped the ox, he replied that he had done so because his hand could not reach that part of the camel's body which was to be stamped. We too behave in the same way. You can very well imagine what are going to be the consequences of our foolishness, It is difficult to imagine howmany mutually contradictory actions we do in our life. We laugh at others when they do such things but we unconsiously do the same things ourselves. For example the spring of joy lies within us but we search for it outside ourselves. We behave like the old woman referred to above. Sadhana puts and end to such foolish conduct. It calls upon us to seek happiness within ourselves. It does not dissuade us from using material things so far as they are necessary. Man needs two kinds of things. He needs things which fulfil his material needs. He also needs things which are capable of giving him joy and happiness. Spiritual exertion does not satisfy our material needs. Happiness and joy, on the other hand, can be achieved by spiritual exertion only. And yet we entertain delusions. We confuse spiritual satisfaction with material satisfaction. If material objects were capable of giving us happiness, the modern man could have been the happiest creature in the world. Our productive potential has risen skyhigh and yet we are unhappy. Science and technology have made us more unhappy. The more the material wealth we command, the more unhappy do we

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MENTAL BALANCE become. It is the wealthy people who become insane, lose their sleep and commit suicide. It is they who have to take tranquillisers to get a sound sleep. Unlimited production and consumption of material commodities is the root cause of our mental imbalance. We have to do some serious thinking on this subject. Industrially advanced countries tell us that they are capable of relieving us of all kinds of miseries. But even these countries have lost the sense of direction. They have gone astray and are groping in the dark. They themselves badly need mental balance and peace of mind. 131 Of course, we have to satisfy the needs of the body and to support our families. The desire to satisfy these needs is a natural desire. We do not deny this fact. As a matter of fact we have never done so. But, at the same time, we have never accepted sadhana as a pastime or recreation. Sadhana has a purpose. It gives us encouragement, it makes our vision clear and provides us with permanent values of life. The practitioner of sadhana is always active He labours to provide himself with the means of life. At the same time he is aware of the fact that he has to avoid miseries which accompany his activities. He wants to shield himself against the reactions to his actions. He dissolves his delusions and attempts to obtain right vision. He is clear about what leads to misery and what gives happiness. That is why he is capable of maintaining his mental equilibrium. Emotional imbalance is the special characteristic of the modern man. He is awfully perturbed. His experiences are continuously punctuated by sweetness as well as bitterness. Sometimes he commands self-confidence and at other times he loses it. This is the result of mental imbalance. Mental balance implies freedom from attachments and aversions. It also implies a sense of equality. Preksa meditation brings about a sense of equality. In it the practitioner feels pleasurable as well as painful sensibilities. But he tries to strike a balance between them. He tries to maintain and strengthen his equanimity. He aspires to be a pure spectator and to command pure knowledge. The practice of self-exertion does not disturb the ordinary

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132 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND give-and-take of life. What is does is to wash off the dirt which has become accumulated in our hearts. One who has achieved some advancement in sadhana will never deceive anybody. He will never harbour the feeling of enmity towards anybody. Besides intellectual convictions, he has experienced a higher state of mind. He values spiritual experiences more than anything else. He aims at reconstituting his personality.

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LECTURE FIFTEEN * Friendliness towards every one is the basis of a happy life. * Anti-thesis-Ida, Pingala, Smooth, Rough. *Mind, No-mind. * Activity weakens energy-Renunciation preserves energy, * Control of thinking and feeling. * SYNOPSIS * Two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. *The right hemisphere controls the left part of body. The left hemisphere controls the right part of the body. * Importance of the left hemisphere-language potential, mathematics, argumentation, reflection, analysis, planned activity, time series etc.

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: 15: SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE We have begun a spiritual journey. It is a journey hitherto unknown. We are not familiar with the path we have to walk on. It is a new path and we are trying to make ourselves familiar with it. A spiritual journey is a journey into the depths of our being. The word adhyamma is a combination of two terms. The first is adhi which means inside. The other is atma which means the soul. From time immemorial man has been living outside his soul. He had never had the occasion to enter into it. He has developed a liking for all that exists outside it. He has been thinking that all that is valuable exists outside him and that there is nothing inside him. Even if there is a soul in him, it is merely an enjoyer of things which exist outside him. It is a receiver. If there were anything valuable in him, the soul will not seek sustenance from things which exist in the world outside. Man receives his physical, mental and spiritual sustenance from without because he feels there is nothing in him from which he can draw it. This has been his common experience. Till now he has been scrutinizing every atom which exists outside him. He has found vitamins and proteins to be valuable. In short he puts a value only on things existing outside him. We have begun a new search today. Ours is a journey into the soul. It is a spiritual journey. We have begun walking and searching within ourselves. Ours is a significant journey, a meaningful search. It signifies a change of attitude, a change of values. It signifies that there is nothing valuable outside us. It implies a new experience which tells us that whatever is valuable exists inside us. The value of outward things is nothing as compared with the value of things within There is a whole ocean of values seething and surging us.

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SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE 135 within us and whatever values exist outside us are only a few drops thrown out by the inner sea. The essence of our experiences and of that which gives value to them lies within us and that is the Supreme Being. It illumines the entire universe. If this being were to go to sleep, the entire universe will be changed into a meaningless mass of darkness. While performing our journey we will go on reciting : "Let the soul see itself; do not encumbre it with a medium of perception." It means that the soul will perceive itself, by itself and not through any medium of perception. Those who take this journey as freshers will find it difficult. They might be beset with difficulties. They might naturally ask whether there are two souls, one which perceives and the other which is the object of perception. When we say, "Seet he soul," does it not mean that the soul which is the object of perception is different from the soul which perceives it ? This question is quite natural. It is the nature of man to divide. There are divisions in the field of business, and commerce, in religion and in politics. The tendency to divide brought about a division in the spiritual world also. We cannot but see the soul divided. We are dualists. This dualism troubles and confuses us only until we have begun our spiritual pilgrimage. It will disappear once we have started on our journey. Once we have completed the journey, it will disappear once for all. We usually look at what is outside us. We have become so much enamoured of things outside us that even the soul has become an extrovert. It has assumed an outward form with the result that our entire attitude has become inclined towards the world outside us. The soul which had hitherto remained within us has begun to identify itself with the world outside it. It has begun to superimpose itself on the world of objects other than itself. Logicians tell us that if we want to see a lamp, we do not need another lamp. In order to see a shining object we do not need another shining object. Light is self-revealing. It would be stupid of us if we burnt a lamp to see the sun. The soul which shines like the sun needs no material medium

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136 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND to be seen. Our difficulty is that there is a curtain between the inner soul and the supreme soul and between both of these and the outer soul or the reflection of both on the outer world. We have to tear it asunder. It consists of the passions of delusion which clouds perception of knowledge and of antaraya (obstructing karma). It is very difficult to remove this curtain and see the Supreme. There is a huge distance between the soul tending outwards and the Supreme. The space between the two is filled with fantastic obstructions and it is a Herculian task to remove them. These obstructions are not material obstructions which can be seen by the eye. They are highly refined and subtle and it is very difficult even to feel their existence. We have no means of perceiving the subtle. That is why we are not fully aware of it. When we are called upon to perceive subtle entities, we become overwhelmed with the long path we have to traverse in the course of our spiritual pilgrimage. But let us not be disheartened. Let us proceed. By and by we will realize that we are coming nearer and nearer to our goal. We should persevere in our attempts with hope and enthusiasm. Anyhow, we need a light to illumine our path. This light is the light of pure consciousness. It will not allow passions and likes and dislikes to interfere with us. We will be able to live through moments in which attachments and aversions do not disturb us so that we may freely walk on the path illuminated by the light of pure consciousness. Let us have patience and confidence in ourselves. With the help of this light we will be able to see that supreme light which never flickers and is never extinguished. Readiness to undertake spiritual exertion is the greatest religious achievement. If religion does not inspire us to exert ourselves, it is a hoax, an illusion and an opiate. Unfortunately religious people in the modern world do not pay any attention to the need for spiritual exertion. They do preach spiritual and moral values like goodness, selflessness and altruism, honesty, morality, purity of conduct, friendliness, non-violence, abstinence from theft etc. These values are no doubt beneficial. But inspite of these sermons human beings have not changed much. They have remained what they were. The sermons have failed to reconstitute

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SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE 137 the human personality. They have remained words empty of meaning. A rat and an owl were friends. The rat complained to its friend that a cat had become a menace to it and it did not know how to get rid of the menace. The owl suggested that the rat should become a wild cat to frighten away the cat. The rat became very happy to hear this but it did not know how to become a wild cat and asked its friend to tell it how it could become one. The owl replied, "Do not expect me to do everything for you. I have suggested the way out of your difficulty. That is all I can do for you. It is your job to become a wild cat." Something like this is also happening in the field of religion. Preachers often tell us lightheartedly to do this and to avoid that. It is dejecting to see that they do not suggest the practical means of becoming what they want us to become. The truth is that they simply mislead us. Unless religion tells us the methodology of transforming ourselves into good and ideal beings, we are bound to lose faith in it and to eschew it. That is the reason why people have become atheists and disdain religion. They find preachers preaching all sorts of irresponsible things without the strength of conviction. This situation is a great challenge to those who profess religion much more to those who want to make it popular and convincing. It is expected of religion that it should provide us with a clear-cut plan and method of practice to enable us to transform ourselves in a scientific way. We have to be convinced that religious practice is capable of making us happy, confortable and peaceful. The challenge to religion can be successfully mel in this way oply. Thirty years ago Acarya Tulasi made a significant observation : "Thousands of people throng to see and meet us. They come to us from far-off places. They venerate us and feel that there is something in us which can give them peace and self-confidence. Shall we not fail in our duty if we did not give them something positive ? We will be simply exploiting them if we did not give them any returns of the veneration they show to us." The acarya was very serious when he made this observation. The result was the launching of the

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138 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND anuvrata movemont. This movement aimed at bringing about a spiritual transformation in the entire religious Order of which he happens to be the acarya. The main question to be considered is how to transform life and how to give it a turn towards self-realization. The greatest step in this direction is to allow the soul to perceive itself. There can be no transformation of personality until we started looking within. In this connection I would like to refer to a book entitled 'Glands : The Invisible Guardians' by Dr. Kapp. The author is not a spiritualist but a physiologist. He says that the glands of our body become deformed by anger, quarrelsomeness, jealousy, fear, attachment, repulsion etc. These passions force the adrenal gland to do extra work due to which it becomes exhausted. The same thing happens to other glands also. Work produces exhaustion. If you overload a cart, the bullocks which pull it become strained and exhausted. This happens to machines also. If they are strained, they break down. When our feelings and predilections become overactive, they put additional pressure on the glands as a result of which they begin to function abnormally. Their energy decreases resulting in physical imbalance. That is why it is desirable to restrain our passions and impulses. This has to be done in an intelligent way. Religious practice is a method of achieving this end. We need a religion which is not based on fear. Bhagavana Mahavira exhorted us to shed fear. That is the starting point of the religion he advocated. Ahimsa (non-injury), truth, non-covetousness etc. are subsidiary things. The central thing is freedom from fear. Mahavira exhorted us not to be afraid of old age, death and enemies: Fear produces various deformities. The adrenal gland is the most affected by fear. Fearlessness is the core of all religions. Mahavira said, "One who is not fearless cannot be a votary of ahimsa, truth, celebacy, non-covetousness etc." It is fear which compels man to commit violence and theft, to tell lies and to accumulate riches. It is fear which has resulted in the invention and stockpiling of all kinds of weapons. Nations

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SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE 139 are afraid of each other, and, therefore, they seek protection in armaments. Fear causes more fear. From the weapons made of stone we have come to atomic weapons capable of devastating the entire world. We cause injury to others and kill them out of fear. We tell lies because we are afraid of telling the truth. It is fear which is the root-cause of all kinds of malpractices in trade and commerce. It is fear which makes us accumulate riches and wealth. It is the cause of all kinds of evils. Freedom from fear means freedom from all kinds of evils. We need a religion which is not based on fear. We should not be afraid that we will go to hell if we relinquished religion. If one adopts religion for the fear of hell, he is not a truly religious man. Like fear temptations are another cause of deforming religion. Religion has been forced to commit suicide as it were. People have forgotten the essence of religion and have begun to look for returns from it like heaven where they will be lovingly received and garlanded by handsome fairies and wealth and comfort in this world. Mothers create a sense of fear in the minds of their children from the very beginning of the latter's life by threatening them that if they did this or that, they will go to hell. This develops complexes in the minds of the children and they become cowards. It creates a sense of inferiority in our minds. As a matter of fact religion has nothing to do with fear. It begins where fear ends. The sole aim of religion is nirjara or a state in which there is no fear and in which all the etfects of the past have been controlled and eradicated. It is through religion that we can attain pure consciousness. Self-exertion and religion enable us to eradicate predilections, fear, and temptations and to lead us to spiritual quietitude. The main question before us is how to affect a complete transformation of our personalities. This can be done by making the subconscious conscious or in other words to arouse the soul. Let us consider the method of arousing the soul or of making the subconscious mind conscious. The structure and system of the glands in our body come under the category of the subconscious mind. They affect the brain also and are

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140 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND more valuable than it. We have to activate this system. It is by activating it that we can get rid of fear and all kinds of ordeals. Physiology has not yet been able to hit upon the method of activating the glandular system. The spiritualists have suggested a practical method. Breath perception, body perception, self perception and meditation on the lasyas or colorations of the soul are methods of a harmonious acceleration of glandular activity. If we meditate on the glands which are the centres of consciousness, they will become active. Their activity will destroy fear and other emotions and open a new field of joy, enthusiasm and vigour for us. One of the participants in the sadhana camp told me that he had a strange experience in his meditation which he had never had before. He felt that his glands had become active. I told him that what he had experienced is called apurva karma. A purva means what has not happened before. Karma means a state of the mind. Apurva karma means a state of mind which has never before been experienced. A practitioner experiences this state of the mind iwice in the course of his meditations. It first happens when right perception has been arrived at. It happens a second time when the practitioner ascends the ksapaka sreni or a special stage of medi tation which leads to sukla dhynaa (meditation on white colour). The practitioner passes through these two stages which along with other stages are arranged in a heirarchical order one above the other. Meditation on the centres of consciousness is the only means of spiritual progress. Body perception is not an unimportant exercise. You may very well ask as to what the sense is in perceiving the body which is only a heap of flesh, bones, glands, nervous complexes etc. If the practitioner perceived only these, he will certainly remain an extrovert. He has to go deeper so that he may perceive the glow of the soul beneath the physiological contents of the body. Most of the practitioners do not dive so deep into the body.

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SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE Another practitioner complained that when he settled down to meditate for the first time, he felt as if he was wasting his time. The time wasted in meditation could be profitably employed elsewhere. Sitting idle with closed eyes for an hour or so is certainly not a profitable job. A profitable job is one which produces tangible results. For example, eating food satisfies hunger. The pursuit of knowledge enables one to collect useful information. What does one get from meditation? The meditator will not be able to say what he had achieved. 141 There are thousand of research-centres financed by industrialists where various investigations are being conducted by highly qualified scientists. The financiers do not know the nature of the work being done in these centres and its complicated nature. The research workers are often faced with perplexing problems the solution of which needs a lot of time and energy. The directors of these centres cannot appreciate the difficulties faced by the research workers. For example, the uncertainity of a single technical word takes enormous time and energy to fix an exact meaning of it. The research workers have to do a lot of hard thinking before they can arrive at some definite conclusion. The directors, on the other hand, go by how much work has been done and they assess the value of the work in terms of the investment which has been made and the monetary returns the work brings. Such an attitude is harmful in sadhana. Those engaged in sadhana have a long way to wade through and they often lose patience. I sincerely believe that each and every true practitioner gains some thing or the other if he is sincere. Those who have participated in the sadhana camps have come to develop a strong hunger for spiritual experiences and would like to continue their exercises. The search for the self is a great endeavour. It is the basic instinct of man and is bound to produce substantial results. Breath perception, body perception, perception of normal breathing, lesya meditation and kayotsarga are the

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142 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND means of transforming personality. Didactic sermons exhorting people to be religious are certainly unprofitable. Experience is the only valuable thing. If the practitioner observed the rules of his game, he will certainly experience the expansion of his consciousness and his self-exertion will enable him to gain control over his passions and emotions.

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LECTURE SIXTEEN SYNOPSIS *The practitioner has to fight a battle against the enemies which lie within himself. *The battle begins after the practitioner has declared a truce between himself and the external forces of the enemy. * The battle between Bharata and Bahubali was a battle between the forces of delusion and those of consciousness. * Bahubali was a practitioner of sadhana but Bharata was not. * The power of Preksa. * Preksa is a struggle to look deep within. * A knowledge of strategy and tactics leads to success. * Sraddha means will or pull. *Combination of sraddha and dedication. * Dedication begins with the declaration: I seek shelter * in the Arihamta, I seek shelter in the siddhas (emancipated souls), I seek shelter in the sadhus, I seek shelter in the discipline taught by the kevalis (souls possessing pure knowledge). * Obstructions in sadhana-delusion, idleness, laziness. * Ten and ten make sixty-this is blind faith. * Ten and ten make twenty-this is knowledge. * Four guidelines of success-valour, will, dedication and devotion to truth.

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: 16: LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES We have begun the search for truth. It is the greatest pursuit of life. Among all the living beings man alone is capable of this search. He alone has a highly developed brain, glands and centres of supersensual knowledge. That is the reason why he alone is capable of the search for truth. It is encouraging to note that he is conscious of his powers and has consciously engaged himself in the search for truth because he is the embodiment of truth and knowledge. Bhagavan Mahavira said, "Search Truth Yourself." Our search is a twofold search; it is a search for Truth and it is a search for the self. The Truth we search cannot be put to The world of any use by anybody else except by ourselves. In the world the spirit is different from the temporal world. of the spirit he alone who searches for Truth can put it to use and enjoy supreme bliss obtained from self-realization. There is a saying: "He alone who searches for Truth can obtain it." He who does not search for it shall never get it. The achievements of scientific researches are put to practical use for the entire society. Achievements of spiritual exertion, on the other hand, are the personal achievement of him who has exerted himself. Others can not derive any benefit from them. These achievements may be described in language, but, unless one has exerted himself, he can not derive any benefit from the descriptions. One has to walk alone on the road which leads to Truth and self-realization. Successful practitioners of sadhana have tried to communicate their experiences to others who have derived some benefit from them, but not much. Spiritual experiences cannot be transferred to others. Every one has to exert himself independently to gain them. Whatever has been spoken or

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LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES 145 written by those who gained spiritual experiences became sruti or written or spoken literature which can be understood, interpreted or discussed by theoreticians, but it could not and can not lead anybody to direct experience. Spiritual experiences are not social experiences, but personal experiences gained by personal exertion. Of course, sruti is useful because it prepares the background for sadhana. But this background serves no purpose unless the practitioner has exerted himself. Unless he has personally entered into these experiences, he cannot say whether they are true or false. He will have to stand on his own legs. It is no use citing the Agamas or the Gita or the Grantha Sahab or the Koran or the Bible to prove that spiritual experiences are genuine experiences and reveal truth. Mere intellectual conviction is not experience. Unless a theory has been translated into practice through experiments, it can not yield any tangible results. It is only be who has experienced truth can say this is truth and I have known, perceived and experienced it.' The field of self-search is also a field of scientific research. Every practitioner will have to think and exert himself scientifically. There is no other way to ascertain truth. Whatever truth or truths Acarya Tulasi has discovered cannot be claimed by his followers as their discoveries. They will have to gain their own experiences in their own way. They cannot borrow them from their preceptor. The search for truth is a long and complicated process of scientific experiments. To say 'search truth' is not enough. Mahavira added the word 'yourself' to this exhortation. He amended it thus : 'Search truth yourself.' It may very well be said that there is no laboratory for experiments in the search for truth. It is true that we need a well-equipped laboratory for this search. The hunan body is the biggest laboratory in the world. No scientist has at his disposal such a huge laboratory. It is a wellequipped laboratory. It has all kinds of epuipments for the search for the self. It contains the finest gadgets and instruments like microwaves, electronic instruments of high frequency etc. These are self-propelled units. But as they

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146 have been lying idle, they have become rusted. It is our job to remove their rust and to utilize them. They are capable of revealing truth. THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The process of self-exertion goes on revealing bits of truth as we proceed on. One of these bits is the feeling of friendliness towards every living being. The purpose of sadhana is not to produce weapons of destruction. Its purpose is to produce means of doing good to others and to extend the area of friendliness. If we did not undertake the search for truth, we are likely to become a prey to the ever-increasing feeling of enmity. But once we have entered into the world of the spirit, we begin to feel that we have no enmity towards anybody. Sometimes difference of opinion breeds enmity. We take him to be an enemy who behaves differently from us. We take those whose culture and civilization differ from ours to be our enemies. We take those to be our enemies who refuse to behave in the way we expect them to behave. Let us remember the truth that there is nothing in the world which is not opposed by something or the other. Where there is thesis, there is antithesis also. Not only that. Where there is no antithesis, there is no thesis as well. Life is a dialectical process. Bhagavan Mahavira, after a great self-exertion, came to the conclusion that there are many facets of truth. He called this by the name anekantavada or the doctrine of multiplicity of approaches to truth. This doctrine is an admission of the value of differences and opposition. It asserts that both thesis and antithesis are true in their own spheres. We have to admit both or to deny both. We engaged ourselves in the exercise of samavrttisvasa. One of the nostrils inhales air and the other exhales it. The Hatha Yoga speaks of Ida and Pingala. There are three currents of vital energy (prana): Ida, Pingala and Susumna. The current of prana which flows into the body through the right nostril is called Ida. That which flows into the body through the left nostril is called Pingala. The current of vital energy which flows in the body through the spinal cord is called Susumna. The Ida current is said to be

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LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES 147 associated with the moon. It is cold and has an even flow. Pingala is said to be associated with the sun and is hot. The susumna current is neither hot nor cold. Ida and Pingala are the opposites of each other. The former is cold and the latter is hot, and yet they are mutually complementary. If they were not so, life will come to a standstill. They are governed by the principle of the unity of opposites. They are a model of friendliness and we may learn a lesson from them in the give-and-take of life. The exercise of samavrttisvasa is also an exercise in friendliness. Ida's coolness and Pingala's heat are necessary for us. Both are useful. If we felt heat while inhaling through the right nostril, we should stop it and begin inhaling through the left. By doing so we will begin to feel cold. If the left nostril is inhaling and we want to avoid the feeling of cold, we should begin inhaling through the right nostril. This will make us feel heat in the body. The svara sastra (the science of breathing) discusses this process at length. Inhaling through one nostril produces calm whereas inhaling through another produces excitement. Both have their corresponding effects. One is useful in peaceful activities while the other is useful in exciting work. Both function in their own way without interfering with each other. According to the Jain a doctrine pudgala (matter) produces four sense-contacts or sensations, cold, hot, rough and smooth. These are the four basic sensations. Every material object produces these basic sensations. It is because of these effects that it is useful for us. Cold and heat on the one hand and rough and smooth on the other are pairs opposing cach other. Still they are found together in every single structure. We find all things in the world in mutually opposite pairs. There can be no creation without pairing. Pairing may be viewed as the unity of opposites. Electricity is also a unity of opposites, positive and negative. When the opposite currents unite, they produce light. These opposites are not like enemies which destroy each other. They behave like friends and cooperate with each other. The entire worldprocess is useful to us because of its internal contradictions,

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148 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The brain is the most important part of the living body. It has two parts, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere controls the right hand and right hemisphere controls the left hand. The former controls the whole of the right-hand part of the body and the latter the entire left-hand part of the body. Each part of the body and its activities are controlled by that part of the brain which is situated in its opposite part. The material world is a combination of opposites. Why should we, therefore, think our opposite numbers to be our enemies? Friendliness is a compromise between mutually opposed entities or forces or a synthesis of opposites. If we thought friendliness to consist only in behaving nicely and in working together, we will confine it into very narrow limits. In such a case only few people will be friends and the ideal of friendliness towards all remain an empty ideal. The positive aspect of friendliness consists in not being unfriendly towards those also who differ from us in opinion as well as in conduct. This will encourage in us an unlimited attitude of friendliness and we will be friendly noi only towards septient beings but towards insentient beings also. The success of democracy depends upon effective opposition. A democratic government will not be able to function successfully without the opposition. Government without an effective opposition will become wayward and autocratic. The opposition remains watchful of what the government does. Thesis and antithesis, the positive and the negative, are essential characteristics not only of the material world but also of the spiritual world. Mahavira's doctrine of anekantavada is not a mere intellectual proposition. It is a doctrine of practical synthesis. In the course of his self-exertion, when he was trying to attain a state of ahimsa, he came to feel a sense of friendliness towards all and realized that he had no enemies. The feeling of enmity is the result of false consciousness which makes the mind inhibited with a single idea or point of view. He, therefore, propounded the doctrine of the many-pointedness of truth and insisted on the need for synthesis in our relations with others.

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LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES 149 The second stage of the search for truth is the utilization of breath and the mind in self-exertion. People often ask how to put a check on and control the mind which is absolutely fickle. The truth is that the mind is not lonely and does not work independently. It is being constantly fanned by other forces. If there is a strong wind, a flag mounted on a building will begin to flutter. You cannot stop the fluttering of the flag so long as the wind blows. If it snows, the air will become cold. You cannot make the air cool so long as the temperature is high. There are two things to be considered in connection with the mind : (1) The working mind and (2) The empty mind. There are two states of the working mind : 1. Mind employed or engaged in the activity we are doing. 2. The wayward mind which remains busy elsewhere rather than in the activity we are doing. In both these states the mind remains active. These two states come under the category of the working mind. There is another category in which the mind does not at all work. It remains empty. Like the empty mind the body can also be carried into a state in which it becomes immobilized. Both the mind and the body can be abandoned. In the state of abandonment they will not work and will become as good as dead. A female practitioner told me that while she was engaged in breath perception, she felt only the vibrations and rhythm of breathing and the feeling of having a body completely disappeared. Sadhana does produce such a kind of lightness in which we do not feel that we have a body. There is an anecdote about a Zen meditator. He was meditating. When his meditation reached a state of consummation, he felt himself absolutely light. Suddenly he got up and shouted, "Where is my body ? Will someone please search it out ? It so happens in meditation that the meditator becomes so light that he ceases to feel his body. Instead of feeling the body he begins to sense that a swarm of atoms is whirling all around

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150 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND him. This is a state in which the mind ceases to function and becomes defunct and this results in the abandonment of the body also. The body also disappears from the meditator's consciousness along with his mind. Let us understand the states of mindfulness and mindlessness together. While the mind is working, the practitioner should think of abandoning it. But it is necessary to gear it to a different base so that instead of wandering from one object to another, it becomes fixed on a single object or point, or in other words it becomes one-pointed mind. The object on which the mind is to be fixed for a long time should, however, be a pure object and it should be made to flow in the direction of this object only. All the currents of the mind should be collected together into a single curreni. Breath-perception is a device to concentrate the mind on the process of breathing. The flow of breath and that of the mind should go hand in hand with each other. And we should try to retain this state for as longer a time as possible. Let us watch the process of breathing and let the mind also watch it. Let the mind run on the heels of breath. It is breath which supports life and breathing is an essential activity of life. Unfortunately we have mostly neglected it. We do not know long breathing. It takes time to practise it. Let us not forget that breathing is a natural activity of the body and a very easy activity. In the practice of long breathing we have nothing to receive from outside the body. Breath is there in us and we have simply to catch it and practise breathing. I We should practise breath-perception, body-perception and practise normal breathing by watching it as much as we can. Whenever we get a little time, let us employ it in perceiving breathing. Let us carry the mind up and down and watch each and every particle of the body. In doing so we do not need the assistance of any thing outside the body. We need not choose any particular time or place for it. We can do it any time, even while walking or sitting or moving in a vehicle. There will then be no complaint that the mind is

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LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES 151 wandering about and that it is difficult to control it. This is the first stage. The second stage consists of emptying the mind. This will lead you to a state of happiness and joy. A concentrated mind ceases to be fickle. In the course of lasja meditation the meditator comes to see a glow of light. He perceives something dazzling. The world within hin begins to vibrate, shining colours begin to appear before his eyes and he enters into a state in which the mind ceases to function and becomes as good as dead. So far as the mind functions, we remain conscious of time. The sense of time disappears as soon as the mind has been emptied. An hour appears as short as a minute. A state of mindlessness is free from the sense of time. In this state we do not remain confined within space. We become free from the limitations of space and time. A state of mindlessness is a state of thoughtlessness. But it is not easy to attain this state. It is attained by self-exertion. It needs a lot af patience and practice. The modern man is impatient. He wants to reap the crop before it is ripe. He wants immediate results and returns. This attitude is a great obstacle in sadhana. A genuine sadhaka eschews hurry. A certain gentleman who had put on shoes too tight to wear easily was walking on a road. A passer-by saw him walking uneasily and asked what was the wrong with him. The gentleman replied. "How does it concern you?" Pointing out at the tight shoes the passer-by again asked, "From where did you procure these shoes ?" The gentleman, seemingly annoyed, replied. "I plucked them from a tree." Jokingly the passer-by remarked. "You could have very well waited till the shoes became ripe." Unripe sadhana is fraught with difficulties. Success in sadhana takes a long time to achieve. The state of mindlessness cannot be achieved in a hurry. A steady mind, a pure ideal and a one-pointedness of the currents of the mind will certainly bear fruit. Above all, the practitioner will have to rely on his own experience. Said Mahavira "Search Truth yourself."

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LECTURE SEVEVTEEN SYNOPSIS * Freedom from nervous tensions * Means : Kayotsarga. * Wakefulness * Means : Breath-perception and body-perception. * Change of heart * Means : Perception of consciousness centres. * Tendency to seek solutions of problems within one's self * Means : Practice in introversion, self-perception. * Solution of complex problems * Means : A ten minutes' concentration on Ananda (joy) centres (yellow colour). * Relief from mental excitement * Means : A ten minutes' concentration of white colour in the knowledge centres. * Relief from mental strife * Means: Channelization of mental processes into the Susumna (spinal cord). * Idleness, laziness, inactivity * Means: Concentration on the red colour in the Darsana (perception) centres.

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:17: STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM Anupreksa (contemplation) is a struggle, a battle. First we have to fight against the place we sit in, then against the seats on which we sit, then against the clothes we wear, then against our bodies and last against the karma body. We have to fight against anger, pride, deceit, attachments, aversions, jealousy etc. The initial struggle is a struggle against external enemies. The front then changes and the practitioner begins to struggle within himself. Once the internal struggle begins, the practitioner becomes immersed in the feeling of friendliness. He has to be friendly towards everything outside him. His external struggle ends in a truce. He cannot struggle on two fronts simultaneously. He can fight on a single front only, either on the external front or on the internal front. If he fought on two fronts, he will be defeated. If he desires victory, he will have to fight the external and internal enemies by turns. The battle which he has to fight is like the battle between Bharata and Bahubali. Bharata was the emperor of a vast kingdom and commanded a huge army. Bahubali, on the other hand, was the king of a smaller kingdom and the forces at his disposal were very small. The battle is an allegory. Bharata is a symbol of the forces of delusion and ignorance and Bahubati symbolizes the emergence of consciousness. Bharata demanded of Bahubali that he should accept the former as his overlord which he refused to. He declared that he would preserve his independence and sovereignty at any cost. Mankind has always been subjected to delusion. But strong willed men like Bahubali have always resisted it. They always forced the forces of delusion to retreat. The practitioner of sadhana will always maintain his independence and

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154 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND will not accept subordination to any power on earth. He would awaken the Bahubali in him. He would refuse to be overwhelmed by the forces of delusion and ignorance. He would join battle with them. What is needed is a strong will and determination. A strong determination and an equally strong devotion to truth made Bahubali victorious over his adversary. The practitioner always remains wakeful and eschews self-negligence. He will never surrender before the forces of delusion. Bharata had a ring-shaped weapon called Cakra. It had been coveted even by the gods. The practitioner of sadhana also has such a weapon with him. It is the weapon of preksa or the power of perception or perceptive meditation. Preksa dhyana is a powerful meditation. He has nothing else to do except to perceive. When the battle between Bharata and Bahubali reached a stalemate, the armies stopped fighting. It was decided that Bharata and Bahubali should fight a duel. He who won the duel will be declared the victor. One of the conditions laid down for the battle was that the combatants will not weild any other weapon except their eyes. They would go on starting at each other's eyes without twinkling them. If in the course of this staring, the eyes of any one twinkled, he will be declared vanquished. The practitioner of preksa meditation also uses his eyes as a weapon. Preksa means looking within with wide open and fixed eyes and with an unprejudiced or empty mind. When we start looking within, we come across anger, pride, deceit, conceit, likes and dislikes, craving for sensual pleasures and mental disorders seething and surging in our hearts. The practitioner has nothing else to do except to watch them, to perceive them. In the course of a prolonged perception, they will disappear by themselves. Perceptive meditation is a great weapon. It is a sharp and deep-penetrating weapon. In perceptive meditation we employ will and feeling. We also meditate on lesya or coloration. These devices make the practitioner immune from external influences. It is said that the future wars will be fought not on the geographical plane but on the psychological plane. There will

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155 STRUGGLE OF FREEDOM be no armies. The human mind will be made so powerful that it would cripple and demoralize the enemy situated at a distance of thousands of miles away. Experiments are being done to develop such powers in the mind of man. Both success and failure in these experiments are fraught with grave dangers. The practitioner of sadhana has also to develop his mental powers so that the forces of his enemies may be rendered helpless. His enemies are delusion and ignorance. He will have to employ perception, feeling, word-perception and mental waves and will have to exert himself on all these. And above all, he will have to be self-watchful. The most important thing is the method of sadhana. A correct undersianding of the methodology of sadhana will remove all kinds of doubts and misgivings. There are several instruments for perce.ving, graphing and measuring breath. But one may wonder how far these instruments can enable us to perceive the soul? How can the soul be attained by means of perceiving breath ? How can we reclaim the soul by perceiving the dirty body? The practitioner is likely to become confused and ambivalent. Once a traveller was travelling in a dark night. Somebody had given him a lantern to find his way. The traveller saw that the light of the lantern could illumine a distance of four or five feet only. The distance he had to cover was miles and miles long. He began to wonder how the light of the lantern will be able to guide him through all this distance. The practitioner who has understood the technique of preksa meditation is like the traveller mentioned above. If he has understood the technique of preksa meditation, even a small light can take hini to his desired end. If he did not move, the light will illumine only a short area. But if he started walking, the light will travel along with him right up to the end of the journey. A mere theoretical knowledge of the technique will not do. The traveller will have to exert himself in the exercises in meditation. There is another difficulty. One may ask as to what will the consequence of body-perception be. We breathe all the twentyfour hours. What is the sense in perceiving the breathing process ? Why should we not try to perceive something new? Why should we not perceive multi-storeyed buildings

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156 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND and roads paved with glass? There is nothing wonderful in the breathing process. Such thoughts distract the mind of the practitioner. He relapses into a state of delusion and forgets that he has to exert himself for self-realization. He will have to divert his mind and re-engage it in the task of self-transformation. It takes time to achieve success. Sometimes the practitioner has to continue exerting himself for the whole of his life, nay even for a number of lives to achieve success. What the practitioner needs is a change of faith before he begins sadhona. Sraddha means a push, will and determination Devotional surrender or dedication also plays an important role in it. There can be no success without dedication. There is no place for reasoning in sadhana. Even an insignificant man can become great by the sheer force of dedication and even a great man becomes insignificant if he lacked dedication. We produce the sound Arham in the beginning of our exercises. We dedicate ourselves completely to the ideal symbolized by Arham. We orient ourselves completely towards the ideal and make it the receptacle of our faith. The sound Arhum begins to vibrate in the atmosphere and produces an echo. After this has been done, we begin the exercise. We express our dedication to and faith in the ideal at the end of the exercise also and pronounce the sacred formula : 1 surrender myself to the Arihanta, to the sadhus and to the truths comprehended by the kevalis. This pronouncement expresses a complete dedication to the ideal. The Arihanta is not a person. The siddha is not a person. The sadhu is not a person. Dharma is not an object. The term Arihanta symbolizes the highest stage of the development of the soul. It symbolizes the ideal of equality. It symbolizes the ideal of purity which is the highest accomplishment of the soul. Dharma means a complete dedication of the self to the ideals of knowledge, supersensual perception and spiritual conduct. Prince Konika got engaged in a battle. In the course of the fighting he came to realize that he would be defeated. He, therefore, surrendered himself to Indra. It was now for Indra to fight the battle on behalf of Konika. No enemy could stand

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STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 157 ment. before Indra and Konika became victorious. Once we have surrendered ourselves to truth, we gain unlimited strength. There are other difficulties in sadhana. These are presented by infatuation, inactivity and laziness. They attack us on behalf of delusion time and again. There are two kinds of weapons, weapons which strike the enemy directly and those which strike him indirectly. Tanks and guns strike the enemy directly. Spies, especially charming and enticing female spies, attack the enemy indirectly. Innumerable female spices are engaged in collecting information about the enemy. They have become indispensable for every government. Delusion is an enticing weapon used against a practitioner. In a state of delusion we feel as if we have gained every thing and that nothing remains to be done. In such a case we lose the sense of direction. Bhagavan Mahavira said : "Selfnegligence produces fear." A self-negligent man is always afraid of something or the other. He idles away his time and loses his opportunity. There was a king. He wanted to appoint a minister. He interviewed a few persons. He made them sit in a room and said: I will now lock the room. I will appoint him as my minister who would open the door and come out. Every one wondered how to open the locked door. They were in a quandary. Six of them sat idly. The seventh was a clever man. He thought that there was some secret in what the king had said. He went to the door and pushed it forcibly open. The king had made a fool of them. He liad not locked the door. He wanted to test these men and to know who among them were men without initiative. Six of them became deluded and thought that the door could not be opened. The seventh man had initiative and succeeded. The path of sadhana is beset with delusions which mislead the practitioner and render him inactive. It is initiative which leads him through delusions. According to the Jaina tradition Jambu Svami was the last man to become emancipated. No body after him has been able to gain Avadhi-jnana and Manahparyaya-Jnana. This tradition had a deluding effect with the result that people stopped taking any interest in Yogic practices.

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158 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND A few years ago we were engaged in the preparation of the book now published under the title Manonusasanam. We were discussing the method of Jaina sadhana known as Jinakalpa. We wanted to clarify what was meant by supersensual knowledge. Acarya Tulasi remarked, "I do not want to show dis-courtesy to those Acaryas who have opined that there have been no achievements in this field, but I must say that this opinion has done harm to the Jaina tradition by discouraging its followers so much that they became apathetic towards sadhana." Acarya Tulasi was correct. When there is no effort, there can be no achievement. A man once borrowed sixty rupees from a friend. After some time he came to pay the debt and paid his friend twenty rupees only with the remark : "I think I have paid to you the entire debt." The friend replied : You had borrowed sixty and have paid only twenty. Forty are still due to me from you." He also reminded the debtor that thirty and thirty made sixty. The debtor replied, "No, ten and ten make sixty. I have paid you the entire debt. I do not ind if you go on thinking that thirty and thirty make sixty. Keep your opinion with you." There is no remedy for intransigence. Let us, therefore, correct our opinions with the help of knowledge. We have to control our body as well as our mind. The mind is always active, has many tendencies and wanders here and there. We have to control it and reduce its activities. This can be done through Kayotsarga. This process of Kajotsarga is a process of balancing our powers. Let us not decrease our energy. For this purpose we have to maintain our health so that we may remain enthusiastic in our endeavours. Mahavira said, "Fight with the soul. There is no use fighting with external enemies. Fight with delusion and ignorance. The opportunity for such a fight comes only seldom. Only a few can avail of this opportunity." The practitioner who fights with his soul with self-confidence and hope and never retraces his steps will certainly raise his consciousness to the highest level.

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LECTURE EIGHTEEN SYNOPSIS * Two areas of consciousness - 1. Sense-consciousness 2. Mind-consciousness. * These areas are an inter-connected duality. * There are five dualities : * Gain and loss * Pleasure and pain * Life and death * Praise and blame * Respect and disrespect * Equanimity is the third area. * This is the tail end of spiritual development. * This is consciousness with duality.

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: 18 : CONSUMMATION OF SADHANA The beginping and the end are parts of a single process. They do not happen simultaneously but are inter-connected. The beginning comes first and the end last. Before we begin something, we have an idea of what is going to be the outcome of our effort. Those who begin it without having thought of its consequences are not wise. The spiritual pactitioner should also have an idea of what is going to be the outcome of his exertion. Sadhana cannot be planned and performed without such an idea. Freedom from all kinds of tensions is the first ideal to be achieved by sadhana. A practitioner who enters sadhana, devotes bis time to it, and begins to exert himself will come to feel that his tension is being reduced. It is a fact that kayotsarga is a foolproof means of reducing and eradicating tensions. Tensions disappear as soon as kayostarga has begun. The two cannot go together. Those who have practised kayotsarga or relaxation of the body, who have tried to give up being egocentric and who have tried to break the Gordian knot of mental complexes have felt that their bodies have become light and free from physical tension. What is important and significant is the lessening of the burden of the mind. This is evident achievement of the practice of kayosarga. The Acaryas (preceptors) of Yoga are of the opinion that those who join sadhana must be given some experience in the beginning of it. Such an experience strengthens their faith in sadhana. A guru who simply preaches is not a real guru. The function of the true coach is not to explain but to give the practitioner a feeling and an experience.

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CONSUMMATION OF SADHANA 161 Talks and discussions play a minor role in sadhana. The main thing is whether the coach can enable the disciple to have his own experience. Sadhana is the practical aspect of self-knowledge. In scientific investigations theory has to be tested by experiments or experience. If the practitioner is burdened with a theory from the very beginning, he will be confused in practice. Our minds are already overburdened with all kinds of theories. An additional burden will add to their confusion. Sadhana aims at making the mind and the body light. It is direct personal experience which matters. The practitioner must investigate, experiment and experience every thing in his own way. Theory is meant for giving a particular direction so that the mind may become clear of all doubts and misgivings. Practice is more important than theory. Theory is grey; ever green is the tree of life. Kayotsarga is the first step in sadhana. It aims at reducing tensions. The second stage consists in wakefulness. The mind has to be enlightened. An enlightened mind will function in the most satisfactory way. In the process of Body perception we try to invert the mind. However, it is the nature of the inind to wander ainilessly. But once it has been enlightened. it can be easily controlled. It is not by its very nature wakeful or self-conscious. The self cannot be manifested unless the mind has been enlightened. When the mind sleeps every thing else sleeps. When the mind is enlightened, everything else becomes enlightened. During a terrific bombardment in the second world war an old woman was found working and sleeping in the most natural way. She had no fear and worries. People asked her how she could have a peaceful sleep in such a situation. She replied that the God within her was always wakeful, and therefore, there was no need for her to be watchful. The fact is that an enlightened mind has no worries. It needs no support and care from others, Theoritical knowledge does not necessarily give birth to wakefulness. The practitioner has to exert himself in the correct direction. Svasa preksa (breath perception) is an effective means of becoming wakeful. The practitioner should patiently follow the inhalling and exhalling process of

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162 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND breathing. Only a wakeful mind can do so. It keeps a watch on whatever goes in and out. It becomes so alert that no breath can go in or out without its notice. The mind and breath should run parallel to each other in mutual cooperation. Two companions cannot walk together if one It never of them sleeps. Breathing is a continuous process. comes to a standstill so far as the body is alive. Anyhow, the field of breathing is a limited field. The mind, on the other hand, commands a much wider area. The span of breathing is narrow. It extends from the end of the nose It to the lungs only. The mind works in a far wider area. can go round the world in less than a second. Its speed is tremendous. It is, therefore, very difficult to yoke it to the breathing process. It can not be confined to a narrow and short path. But it is, however, not an impossible task. The mind is always active and conscious, but once it goes to sleep even for a short while, it losses the company of breath. Breath perception is a powerful means of remaining wakeful and it does not allow the mind to wander or sleep. Self-negligence becomes impossible, once the mind has been disciplined. Change of heart is the third consequence of sadhna. is very difficult to bring about a change of heart. Innumerable attempts have been made to bring it about. There is a vast literature on the subject including the life histories and pronouncements of great men. And yet the problem remains unsolved. It is true that change of heart has taken place in a few instances. However, these instances are very rare. The hearts of those who have been singing praises of the change of heart have themselves remaind unchanged. A poet once told his wife that he was going to compose a poem which will set the entire world ablaze. His wife sarcastically remarked: "Let the world alone. Let me first see if your composition can burn the fire with which I cook food." One who thinks of reforming the world can not reform himself. Preaching can change neither the heart nor the world. One who sets others to laughter himself remains sad. Grimaldi was the greatest humourist of Britain. Once he went to a physician and said to him, "I am very unhappy and sad because I have been suffering from all kinds of It

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CONSUMMATION OF SADHANA 163 worries." The doctor examined him and asked him a number of questions and then observed : "I have understood the nature of your ailment. I would not prescribe any medicine but would advise you to pass a week's time in the company of Grimaldi." Grimaldi was surprised to hear this and remarked "I am the Grimaldi who sets the whole world to laughter, but you do not know how miserable I am." Poets, writers and political leaders are engaged in the task of changing the world. Unfortunately they are not prepared to change themselves. Religious leaders are also trying to make a god of man and they have been prescribing various means of divinizing man. Alas, they have failed. I do not wish to undervalue what they say, but it is a fact that they have not cut much ice. The main thing is to bring about a change in our instincts and tendencies without which the personality of man can not be reconstituted. It is not a theoritical but a practical problem. It is self-exertion which brings about a change of heart. Change of appearance is not change of heart, Once a magician turned a mouse into a tiger. Puffed up with its new appearance, the mouse began to walk here and there. Suddenly a cat appeared on the scene. On seeing it the mouse became afraid and ran away. The heart of the mouse had not changed inspite of a change in its appearance. The aim of sadhana is the trasformation of personality. It is not a means of changing appearances. Perception of the centres of consciousness is a means of bringing about this transformation. There are several centres of consciousness in the body. In the course of our exercises we try to perceive one or two or three of these centres. Sometimes we concentrate on several centres together. These centres become active as a result of our concentration on them. A change occurs in their secretions. Formerly they had been unseen agents of the karma body. After we have concentrated on them, they become our agents. This introduces a comprehensive change in our activities. A change in the secretion of the glands brings about a change of heart. This happens in the natural course.

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164 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND A chain smoker once attended a sadhana camp. He was advised to give up smoking because it produces diseases. He retorted: "What for are the cigarettes then made ? There are innumerable objects in the world to be enjoyed by man. If we gave them up, the industries which manufacture them will have to be wound up and this will result in unemployment on an unprecedent scale." You can not make such people understand anything. This man attended the camp regularly and practised meditation. In the course of time a sudden change took place in his heart. He developed a strong aversion to smoking, so much so that he would feel uneasy if somebody smoked a cigarette in bis presence. This is an example of the change of heat which cannot be brought about by preaching Preaching is necessary so far as one has not become an adept. Once you have acquired the skill and have become a spectator (Dssta), you need no sermons. Sermons, preaching and sayings are meant for the unadept, for those who do not possess insight and knowledge. Preksa meditation begins with an exercise in perception. The watch word of sadhana is: "See your self". We always see others, not ourselves. Preksa meditation prepares us to see our own self. Scientists speak of three dimensions, Length. Width and Height. A fourth dimension has now been added to them. It is Time. The human personality also has three dimensions, Memory, Thinking and Imagination. A fourth dimension may be added to them and that is Perception. It is man's nature to perceive. It is a natural process. Exercise in perceiving the centres of consciousness opens the fourth dimension in our personality. This results in the transformation of personality. Sadhana does not yield fruit in a short time. It is not a magic wand. It is only the beginning of a long process of spiritual transformation. As we progress in sadhana the mind begins to become one-pointed and the area of our interests changes. A ten days' or a month's sadhana does not make us detached from our impulses and cravings. Let us not live in the fool's paradise. Sadhana takes time to mature. In order to achive the fourth dimension, a lot of self-exertion is needed. Self-exertion, faith, time

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CONSUMMATION OF SADHANA 165 and continuity of practice are the conditions of success in sadhana. The fourth achievement of sadhana is the capacity for searching solutions of our problems in our own self. The more we look within, the more do we become detached from the world outside us. Politics is the art of perceiving others. Spiritual exertion is the art of perceiving the self. Politicians hold others to be responsible for our evils. A successful politician saves his own skin by throwing all sorts of blames on his opponents. The spiritualist, on the other hand, is one who holds himself responsible for all sorts of evils. He would never point out the evils in others. Self-perception negates perceiving others. The spiritual practitioner always depends on s own internal resources. Ignorance of our own spiritual powers compels us to seek external resources. If we knew this we will never go astray. Whenever we become a prey to inactivity, laziness and infatuation, we should begin to concentrate on the centres of perception in our body. By doing so we will come to feel refreshed in a very short time. The means of getting rid of ignorance, infatuation, add inactivity and laziness lie within ourselves. We need not seek them in the external world. Sit in an easy posture and concentrate on the red colour like that of the rising sun in the centres of perception in your body. Within ten minutes you will feel refreshed and active. Mental excitement can be subdued by concentrating on the orange colour in the knowledge centres for ten minutes. One can get rid of all kinds of sex desires by concentration on the light centres situated in the middle of the forehead and by making the breath touch the throat. These are some of the means of concentrating the mind on the centres of consciousness. The solution of all our problems lies within us.

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LECTURE NINETEEN SYNOPSIS * An energised mind accompanied by the consciousness of duality produces misery. * Consciousness of duality produces tension. Tension pro duces mental deformities and diseases. * The main part of mental therapy is the lessening of tensions. * Let the feeling of equality and self-awakening continue indefinitely. * Consciousness of duality is the fertile ground for emotions and impulses. Griefs and problems grow in this ground. Three major inspirations from consciousness free from duality : * Man by his very nature shuns problems and miseries. * Supersensual tendencies of the brain. * Experience of freedom. * Consciousness free from duality is called Samayika. * Attainment of consciousness free from duality is the grea test aspiration. * Results of Samayika : * Control of mental processes. * End of problems. * Beginning of a life free from problems and grief.

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: 19: THE THIRD AREA OF CONSCIOUSNESS EQUANIMITY We are fortunate that we are human beings. We are capable of developing our powers. We possess the potential for developing sense-consciousness, mind-consciousness and pure consciousness. Every living being has sense-consciousness. It is found among the most undeveloped living beings also. Living beings having two or three or four sense-organs also possess sense.consciousness but man alone is capable of developing it in an unprecedented manner. Living beings other than man do not possess this capacity. This is also true of mind-consciousness. Living beings other than man and animals also possess a mind but man alone can develop his powers. The possibility of this development is not available to other living beings. Man is engaged in developing mental powers in all directions. Memory, thinking and imagination are the functions of the mind. All these faculties point towards the great potential of the mind. The mind is the most powerful organ. Its powers are infinite. Memory, imagination and thinking are not the only powers of the mind. It has more powers than these. We can know these powers only when they manifest themselves in the course of the development of mental processes. So far as we remain circumscribed by memory, imagination and thinking, we shall not know the further possibilities of the development of the mind and its powers. We have drawn a circle around the mind. We do not want to cross this circle. It is not possible to assess the potentials of the mind without breaking this cordon. The mind can know the thoughts of other minds also and influence them.

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168 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND It can send and receive messages to and from other minds also. It can act on plants. Both conscious and unconscious beings can be affected by the mind. The mind can move objects and transplant and transport them. A trained and energised mind can do all these things easily. How to train the mind ? How to energise it? Let us consider these questions. The only way to energise the mind is to change the orientation of our life. It is not possible to change the course of life without changing the breath process. Breath or prana is the most powerful instrument of our powers. Life depends on breath. We live because we breath. Let us, therefore, keep the lamp of life burning. There arc lights which keep burning for centuries and centuries together. Ordinarily lamps keep burning for a limited time only. Oil lamps burn for a few hours. But men have burnt lights which will never be extinguished. An Italian peasant was once working on his field with a spade. All of a sudden it stuck on a particular spot. When the soil of the spot was removed, it was found that there was a door beneath the soil. The peasant broke the door open. When he tried to enter into the door, he found that a light was burning within. He suspected that there might be a ghost there. But when he went near the light he saw that there was no lamp but only a flame. It was not a man made flame but an eternal flame because it was not produced by a lamp. There is an eternal flame burning within us also. There are innumerable lights burning within all the living beings also. They will never be extinguished. Among the fuels which keep these lights burning the first is breath. The lights are the centres of energy. Those who have not practised breath perception will never be able to reach the centres of energy. So far as memory and thought processes continue, these lights can never be perceived. It can be said with con fidence that the Tirthankaras and men possessed of knowledge and those accomplished in sadhana had burnt such lights with the fuel of breath only. Such an achievement is possible even today. Breath control and the turn we give to the breathing process are the preconditions of success in sadhana.

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THE THIRD AREA OF CONSCIOUSNESS-EQUANIMITY 169 It is necessary to develop vital breath in order to develop the powers of the mind. Breath, vital energy and mind have got to be merged in each other. They form a continuous chain. When even a single link of the chain is broken the entire process gets disturbed. We cannot catch the mind directly, but we can catch vital energy through breath and the mind through vital energy. Once we have succeeded in controlling vital energy, our personality begins to undergo a transformation and we can control the mental processes. Samavika is a necessary condition for the development of mental powers. There can be no mental development without it. The state of serenity cannot be attained without it and even that small part of it which we have somehow attained begins to retard. Samayika and mental progress form an inseparable pair. Both depend on each other for their respective development. Samarika is the third area of consciousness. There are five kinds of duality in human life : gain and loss, pleasure and pain, life and death, praise and blame and respect and disrespect. Spiritual practice and astrology are based on these concepts of duality. The science of omens also depends on them. Astrologers forecast life and death, pleasure and pain etc. in the light of the movements and positions of the planets. Such forecasts are made by the science of omens and breathing also. The outcome of man's life also depends on these pairs. A deep understanding of these pairs removes the dualities we experience in life. Spiritual exertion begins to grow at this stage and becomes consummate when consciousness becomes free from duality. Ordinary life is run by mutually contradictory forces. It is natural for the mind to feel grief in adverse circumstances and joy in favourable ones. Unfortunately we have taken these experiences to be the nature of human life. Joys and sorrows appear to be the natural characteristics of man's existence. We do not know that there is another aspect of the mind which is beyond emperical consciousness. The entire course of our life runs within the limits of sense-consciousness and mind-consciousness. Spiritual life comes into being only after these

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170 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND limits have been broken. A third area of consciousness comes in our view only then. All duality comes to an end in this area. Once the self has entered into this area the five dualities mentioned above cease to exist. It is a balanced state a state, of equillibrium, of equality and serenity.

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LECTURE TWENTY SYNOPSIS * When as a result of the painful feeling of duality, one aspires to perceive conscious reality and to experience freedom, a new chapter in the search for truth opens. This is called Samayika. * The more we gain self-experience, the more does the feeling of equality develop. * The more the distance between meditation and selfexperience, the more the flow of thoughts and ideas. The the distance, the lesser the thoughts and ideas. When there is no distance, the thinking process comes to an end. * We continuously modify existence. When we become absorbed in this process, we become transformed according to our ideal. * Ignorance+power=journey towards evil * Knowledge -+ power --journey towards bliss * Four bases of transformation : * Imagination * Will * Concentration * Absorption * Two aspects of mind :--- * Restlessness +One-pointedness * Karma body, the biggest spring--the remaining springs.

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: 20 : DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL POWERS AND THEIR USE The purpose of sadhana is to perceive, know and feel the soul. It needs tremendous energy, nay an explosion of energy to remove all the hurdles blocking the path of selfrealization. There are two powerful means of self-realization : mental powers and vital force. In other words the practitioner has to develop his mental powers and to collect energy. The mind and breath have to be yoked to each other, otherwise to perceive and realize the self will become impossible. The mind is very powerful and has a great potential. This potential can be activated by training. There are two minds, the trained and the untrained. There can be no development of the mind without training because the intrained mind sleeps. Unless this sleep is broken, mental powers can not be released and utilized. Once the mind has been trained, it can cause iniraculous events to happen. The releasing of mental powers through training is however, not a spiritual matter. It does not amount to spiritual awakening. Even those who have no faith in self-knowledge, self-perception and purity of conduct, can arouse their mental powers. It is all due to training and any one can be trained to do so. Anybody can make his body rise above the ground. There are eight siddhis or magical achievements. One of them is Anima. It has the power to make the body so light that it can float in the air. This is also one of the methods of yoga but there is nothing spiritual about it. All the siddhis are of an order inferior to the spiritual order of thing. These are achieved through the exercise of the muscles of the body and through the release of mental powers.

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DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL POWERS AND 1HEIR USE 173 Rupakosa was a dancing girl in the court of Magadha. She had been trained in the art of dancing and music by Acarya Kapiladeva. She became so much accomplished in dancing that she could dance on the points of needles thrust into a heap of grains. Not a single grain in the heap would be disturbed when she danced on the needle points. There are dancers who would dance on a heap of grains with such an ease as if they were dancing on a platform. This is not a miracle. When a dancer becomes accomplished in reducing the gravitational force pulling the body, the body loses all its weight. A space traveller also enters into a state of weightlessness when he crosses the gravitational field surrounding the earth and begins to float in space. In such a state the body can be carried anywhere. A disciple of Bhagavana Mahavira had the following dialogue with him : "On what support do things stand ?'' "Objects do not stand on any support. They exist as they are by themselves." How can this be? We stand on the earth. Plants and trees are also supported by the earth. There are two ways of thinking, the practical and the transcendental (Niscaya). From the transcendental point of view physical objects stand on their own legs. According to this view the gravitational force is a relative force. As soon as it ceases to operate, physical objects do not need the support of other objects. The pot is supposed to hold water. This is correct from the practical point of view. But as soon as the gravitational force ceases to operate, the water in the pot will not need any support. The pot and the water will remain where they are without any support. In other words they will remain in their own independent existence. To say that the pot holds the water is an emperical statement. In the absence of gravitationi force everything exists in itself. Mental powers are aroused by training and practice, of course, the practice has to be correct and prolonged. There are thousands of methods of arousing the dormant Powers of the mind. One may choose any method he likes.

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174 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND A practitioner decided to switch on and switch off electric light in a bulb with the help of mental powers. He practised and his will power became so strong that he succeeded. Anyhow, such powers have no spiritual value. One can do good as well as bad to others without any physical aid but only with the aid of his mental powers. He exertes himself and succeeds. An ascetic once went to beg food. He entered a house. The lady of the house gave a cold shoulder to him. The ascetic became enraged and cursed the lady saying, "Go, be burnt into ashes." The lady retorted with a smile, "I am a hard nut to crack. I am a devoted wife and your curse will have no effect on me. The mental powers of a devoted wife are far stronger than those you possess." There was an archer renowned for his archery. His achievements went into his head and he began to boast of them before a friend who advised him to meet his guru. The former went to the guru. The guru took him to the top of a hill. A flock of birds was flying high up in the sky. The guru said to the archer, "See. I will show to you my powers." He then showed to the archer his feat in Animesa Preksa (gazing at an object without twinkling the eyes). He gazed at the birds for some time and all the birds fell dead on the earth. Through Animesa prekna you can down flying birds and stop moving heavy vehicles. Anyhow, these are not examples of the application of spiritual powers, They are examples of the application of mental powers only. Even the spiritual practitioners need the powers of the mind but for other purposes. But in both cases the method and process of arousing mental energy remain the same. The only difference is that the purposes for which it is aroused are different. The spiritual practitioner walks on a different path where impurity of heart, speech and body find no place. The practice of arousing mental powers is not a complicated practice. However, certain conditions have to be fulfilled The first condition is the relaxation of the body. This is called kayotsarga without which mental energy cannot be aroused. No energy can be aroused in a state of physical tension. A tense mind and a tense body are hindrances in tne

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DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL POWERS AND THEIR USE 175 manifestation of mental energy. Relaxation of the body means the subduing of emotions and impulses which obstruct the manifestation of mental energy. The second condition is to stop the waste of energy. Usually every one of us wastes energy. We go on thinking on one thing or the other even when it is not necessary. The brain does not get even a minute's rest. It works even during sleep. It is active in dreams. This is a tremendous waste of energy. The mind is always active. It does not stand still. The body too does not remain without activity. If one sits in a particular posture several parts of the body begin to ache. We are not accustomed to remaining stable. We believe that there will be no development of the mind if the body and speech did not remain active and that activity alone gives us strength. This a complete reversal of truth. The truth, however, is that energy can be aroused only when the mind, body and speech are completely suspended. Energy can not be aroused if they remained active. I do not plead that they should not be used at all. What I mean to say is that energy can be aroused if we used them the least. Our nervous system has two parts. One of these is autonomous and the other is activised by forces other that itself. The autonomous part is the least used. It is the other which is the most used. That is the reason why our energies lie dormant. The activised part which is driven by the brain and the spinal cord keeps our energies dormant. When we control it and decrease its activity, the unconscious mind gets an opportunity to become active. Increasing the activity of the unconscious mind means the arousing of energy. In the course of our practice the spring of energy becomes active in the unconscious mind. The third principle is to give a new direction or orientation to the vital breath. Once this new orientation has been brought about and a new direction has been given to it, the practitioner begins to move towards it. A new horizon is opened before him and he comes to know something which he had never known before. By concentrating the mind and by giving a new turn to the breathing process the practitioner comes to have a direct knowledge of a new reality which he did not have earlier.

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176 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Concentration of the mind and a new channelization of the vital energy not only enable us to enter into new spatial realms but also to travel in time other than the present i.e. the past and the future. The practitioner can transcend the limitations imposed on him by time and space. It is for the practitioner to decide what exactly he wants to achieve. If his aim is very high, he will no longer be interested in small things. Ramakrisna Paramahamsa said to Vivekanand, "You are short of financial resources. Go to godess Kali and seek her help." Vivekananda went to the temple of the godess, stood before her and began to meditate. He did so for a number of days. He could not speak to the godess about his difficulty. After a few days Ramakrisna asked him, "Did you pray to the godess to get rid of your financial difficulty ?" The latter replied that his financial difficulty was such a small thing that he felt shy to speak of it to the godess. Great spiritual practitioners never had the intention to produce miracles. Only those who did not practise selfexertion and belonged to a mediocre category took interest in miracles. They remained satisfied with pleasing and impressing the masses. Their sadhana aimed only at giving boons or inflicting losses on others. It was with this yardstick that they measured their powers. Such practitioners create a sense of awe among the masses. It is awe which compels the ignorant to seek their help. These practitioners do not lead a happy life but miserable in the end. Ultimately they begin to denounce their art. Speculators often tell people not to take to the dirty business of speculation. They begin to criticise themselves and say that it was due to their weakness that they speculated. Those who try to employ their mental powers in achieving trifling material gains fare no better. Attracted by small Siddhis or supernatural powers they turn away from their grand aim. It is due to our inclinations that we choose either spiritual exertion or miracles. The journey to miracles is an external journey whereas the journey to self-realization is an internal journey. Mental powers can be aroused by both the journeys. The difference between the two is a difference in direction and in the use to which we put our mental powers.

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DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL POWERS AND THEIR USE 177 Spiritual sadhana is the supreme sadhana. In sadhana mental powers are developed for spiritual purposes only and not for producing miracles. As a matter of fact self-realization is the greatest miracle. There is no other greater miracle. It is the greatest achievement man is capable of. The seeker of the self does not see anybody else except himself. He is an ananyadarsi. Our dictum is : see the self through the self. Breath perception is also self-perception. Breath is a part of the soul. It is propelled by the soul. If there were no soul, there will be no breath. Body perception or perceiving the constituents of the body is also self-perception. All the vibrations of the body are the vibrations of the soul. We perceive them in order to perceive the soul. Only a highly developed practitioner is capable of perceiving the soul. The manifestation of mental powers is the precondition of self-perception. Perfect calm and complete relaxation alone can arouse mental energy. It can be aroused by vacanagupati (speech control), manugupti (control of the mind) and kayaguppi (control of the body). Physical rest under the advice of a physician means keeping one's body stretched on a bed. According to the spiritual view complete rest or relaxation means making ihe mind, body and speech go to sleep. The physician advises rest to the body only. The spiritual practitioner is advised to give rest not only to the body but to the mind and speech also. Sometimes physicians advise their patients not to speak. But the physician does not advise bringing the mind to a stand-still. The spiritual practitioner practises complete immobilization of the mind, body and speech. Once they have been immobilized all the impulses and emotions come to an end. The fourth area is bhavana (feeling). Exercises in bhavana are very difficult. Bhavana means the orientation of the mind in a different framework of reference. Until the mind has been seized by the self, it is incapable of manifesting its energies. Bhavitatma is a very important term in the Jain scriptures. It is a mysterious state of the mind. It means mind possessed by the self. It means to be in the mood of the self. It does not mean simply thinking oneself to be some body else. It means controlling and putting the stamp of the

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178 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND soul on all the tissues and cells participating in the apparatus of knowledge. There are billions and billions of living cells or neurons in the body. They control the tendencies and impulses of the body. An idea which comes in contact with the neurons can be easily materialized. It is very difficult to understand their workings. They lie scattered across the brain in billions. They are highly useful in arousing mental powers. Naturopaths advise us that if we suffered from constipation, we should sit in easy posture and give a suggestion to the knowledge tissues to open the bowels. The knowledge tissues will become active. This will make stool pass. Auto-suggestion plays a very important part in mental development. Sammohana (deluding) can be brought about by the knowledge centres working under suggestion. What is needed is to plant our desires and tendencies into the knowledge tissues. Once this has been done the knowledge tissues will become active and make us achieve what we want to achieve. Let us merge our desires etc. into the knowledge tissues to create new things and to replace old ones with them. We have to establish our identity with them. That is the process of self-transformation. That is also the method of arousing mental powers.

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LECTURE TWENTYONE SYNOPSIS * Six traits of the human personality : * Geographical traits--formal characteristics. * Heriditary traits--it carries heriditary characteristics from its birth onwards. * Social traits --- progress and enlightenment. * Physical traits --- it is the medium of the feelings of con tentment and discontent. * Para-psychological traits - it draves and controls all the aspects of personality. Samayika, process of the transformation of personality. * Samayika--process of emptying. Samayika - process of abandoning the past personality and the acquisition of the new personality. * * *

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:21: MENTAL POWERS AND SAMAYIKA Human life flows into two mutually opposed directions. When it tlows in one direction it becomes replete with energy and when it flows in another it becomes deplete of energy. Both repletion and depletion create difficulties. If too much energy is aroused, it becomes a problem. If energy remains dormant, it also becomes a problem. An aroused energy accompanied by the consciousness of duality becomes a serious problem. It can not be retained without making consciousness free from duality. Otherwise it will become destructive. Magicians who call ghosts know that they will deinand sacrifice. If the magician fails to offer something to the ghost, it will finish him. If he offers something, the ghost will become his servant. The same situation occurs when the practitioner has aroused his energy. It he is able to fulfil the demands of his aroused energy, it will become serviceable to him. On the other hand if he fails to fulfil the demands, he will be consumed in the energy. So far as the consciousness of duality persists, nothing can be achieved. The practitioner will continue to be tossed between joys and sorrows. He will never be able break this vicious circle. The awareness that inspite of possessing iinmense powers, he lacks peace of mind, is prone to excitement, harassed and surrounded by all kinds of problems will eat into his very vitals. The weak think that they are harassed because they are weak and accept misery as a part and parcel of their lives. But a man who commands power will not think so. He will be sandwiched between the pride of power and wretchedness. Power is not all in all. We need other things also.

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MENTAL POWERS AND SAMAYIKA 181 Life is a synthesis of and compromise between several elements. A joyous life needs four factors : knowledge, perception freedom from passions and power. A full life can be possible when all these factors manifest themselves simultaneously. When this happens one begins to feel that his life is free from weakness. disturbance and excitement and that it is not an empty dream. Let us, therefore, devote ourselves to the attainment of all these factors. We should not be votaries of mere knowledge or mere perception or mere passionlessness or mere power. Passionlessness energises consciousness. Activization of consciousness increases energy. Increased energy brings about a state of passionlessness. The full development of personality is the result of a combination of these four factors. A single sided development is not beneficial. We cannot deny the importance of power, but the development of power without the simultaneous freedom of consciousness from duality is not beneficial. Power creates and encourages duality. Awareness of duality produces tensions. Passions and impulses find a fertile ground in the awareness of duality. All kinds of excitements take place in a state of tension. There will be no passions, excitements and cravings when there are no tensions. They appear only when the mind and body are tense. Predilections produce tensions before they become active. Tensions cause mental disorders and diseases and even mental derangement. Mental disorders have invaded the world on an unprecedented scale. Psychic disorders have become an ever recurring phenomenon in the modern world. The psychosomatic method of treating patients has revealed one interesting fact. A large number of physical diseases is caused by psychic factors. The root cause of several bodily diseases lies in the mind of the patient. This is the general trend of medical thinking today. The number of patients of mental diseases has become so large today that it seems impossible to cure all of them of thelr diseases. Psychiatrical cases have multiplied by leaps and bounds. Electric shocks, tranquillisers and sedative drugs are being used in huge quantities to calm the minds of all sorts of lunatics. These methods are helpful in reducing

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182 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND tensions. Two questions crop up in this connection: Are these remedies not harmful to the general health of the patients? Is not electricity going to replace drugs and medicines? Medicines and drugs produce dangerous reactions in the patients and even damage some parts of their bodies. They even create complications in the minds of the patients. The biggest problem is how to stop dangerous reactions both physical and mental in the patients. Let us consider the value of preksa meditation in the above context. Can preksa meditation take the place of medicines and drugs? The question can be answered in the affirmative. The small experiments that we do in the course of the exercises in this meditation can achieve that which medicenes and drugs can not. The question we have to consider is how to give rest to the minds of the patients or in other words how to stop the thinking process. Kayotsarga, more than any other method of treatment, gives complete rest to the brain and comfort to the nervous system. Neither medicines nor electricity can do so. Meditation can bring the mental processes to a halt. Preksa meditation is svasa preksa meditation (meditation on breath). When the mind is engaged in perceiving the body and its constituents, the external framework of reference of mind comes to disappear. If we could engage ourselves in preksa even for half an hour, we shall be certainly benefitted. It is capable of achieving much. Emperor Bharata achieved great powers through preksa meditations. One day, having washed himself and having put on his clothes, he went into the adarsagrha made of glass. The looking glasses in this house reflected every object. Bharata saw a number of reflections and one of them attracted his attention. He cast a long glance on it without twinkling his eyes. Preksa meditation began. He became lost in meditation while watching his own reflection in the glass. After perceiving his gross body for some time, he began to perceive his subtle body. He perceived in his subtle body the fruition of his past deeds (karma). It was a new and strange world he perceived. He kept his gaze fixed on the reflection and whatever modifications it assumed. He perceived the auspicious turns in his mind and lesyas and

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MENTAL POWERS AND SAMAYIKA 183 colourations in his unconscious mind. A stage then arrived at which he perceived his consciousness completely revealed. The alien matter which had clouded his vision and all the shackles which had kept his self bound suddenly disappeared. He finally entered into a state of pure knowledge and perception. His old personality became transformed into an entirely new one. In other words, he was spiritually reborn into a new life. In place of Bharata Cakravarti he became Dharma Cakravarti. This was the highest achievement of his life. The traditional version of this event mentions that Bharata first entered into the mental state in which there is a feeling of the transitory nature of the world. When this feeling became mature, Bharata became a kevala jnani (possessor of pure knowledge). But the jambudvipa prajnapti says that during the course of his perceiving his own reflection Bharata sank into a deep experience after having passed through innumerable conglomerations of karmas and entered into a state of pure knowledge. This brought about a new phase in his life. The history of body perception is an old history. It began in the primitive age in which Dharma ruled supreme. In the course of time the tradition became lost. It is being reconstructed now. There is nothing new in the world. That which has grown old assumes a new form. When what has been lost to memory leappears, it is called new. The first experiment in preksa meditation was conducted by Bharata. This experiment remained hidden for a number of centuries. We have reconstructed it. It is a simple process of meditation. A complicated and difficult process of sadhana does not become popular. Man by his very nature avoids that which is difficult. Preksa is a simple form of meditations. The consequence of preksa meditation is the development of the feeling of equality and of consciousness free from duality. This is a new phase of consciousness. The feeling of the duality of gain and loss, pleasure and pain which disturbs, deforms and defiles the mind comes to an end in this phase. Pain and grief are the products of the dialectical operation of the opposite forces of life. A dear son who

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184 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND does not earn and often suffers losses makes his father disgusted with and enraged by him. His love for the son becomes suppressed by anger. This is because the father's mind is coditioned by the experience of pleasure and pain and loss and gain. If he has three sons and only one of them earns, he will be more attached to and affectionate to the earning son. He will disregard the other two and become averse to them. The awareness of duality creates many problems which have no end, Power and knowledge when opposed by ignorance and passions often fail. If we desire to become free from grief and sorrows and other problems, we will have to put an end to the sense of duality. No body likes perplexing problems. That is why he is eager to do away with the feeling of duality. There will be no end to grief and sorrows so far as duality continues Hence the need to get rid of them. There is a natural inclination in man to look beyond meterial objects and pleasures they give. Those who live a life of poverty and want to remain unaware of this inclination; their energies are solely directed towards earning the material means of life. But those who have tasted material pleasures show an inclination to see beyond the material world. Pleasurable experiences are always followed by painful situations and unpleasant feelings. The more one acquires material amenities, the more does he realise that a sea of worries lies ahead. Hence bis search for lasting joys which can bear fruit only by a unity of experience. Every body remains surrounded by an aura or a circle of light. This light is visible around material objects also. Every non-living object or gross body also emits rays of light. This is the principle on which photography works. A man even when he has left the place he had occupied can be photographed at the place he has left in absentia. If the light around men and objects were not there, the object or the man can not be photographed. We can not see the aura. However there is a method of perceiving it. Sit down in a dark room in which no ray of light can enter from outside and try to perceive your hand. You will not be able to perceive it, but you will certainly perceive a faint glow of light around it. If

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MENTAL POWERS AND SAMAYIKA 185 you raised both of your hands, you will see light passing from one to the other. There is another well known method. Let two persons sit in a dark room at a distance of twelve thirteen feet from each other. They will not be visible to cach other. But if they are naked they will be able to perceive each other's aura which could not have been perceived in the light. The same holds true about the inclination towards consciousness which is an immaterial entity. When the darkness (ignorance) caused by sensual pleasures becomes thick, one comes to feel a strong desire to go beyond em rical experience and to experience a state of undivided consciousness. This consciousness is called samayika. It results in a complete restraint of mind and its fickleness. A new life then beings in which there are no anxieties, grief and sorrow.

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LECTURE TWENTYTWO SYNOPSIS * The currents of enrgy and feeling, when they flow together, produce mental health. * The principles of the development of the feeling of equality are also the principles of gaining of mental health. * Let us know ourselves, our strength and weakness. * Let us take the responsibility of our deeds. * Let us be dedicated to Truth (universal laws). * Let us develop tolerance. * Let us be in our true form. * The parametre of personality. * It is a device of testing the value of personality and mental health. * It has six testing-points : 1. Dress - how we dress ourselves and how much do we remain self-conscious. 2. Behaviour in different situations. 3. Thoughts -- how far are we amiable and amicable. 4. Reactions - how do we react to situations. 5. Feeling of equality - hope, dejection and sociability. 6. Power of taking decisions -- on the personal as well as social levels.

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: 22 : THE BLISS-GIVING FLOW OF ENERGY The process of arousing energy is an important experience of life. One who is unable to step forward in this direction is incapable of doing anything. An incapable man is a wretched man. His wretchedness will never come to an end. He will remain an object of pity throughout his life. It is strong men who have done something good or bad in the world. Weak persons have not achieved anything. Possesion of strength is the first sign of success in the world. But it is not enough to be strong. Knowledge combined with strength gives us a full life. If an ignorant man became powerful, he will misuse his power and meet evil consequences. The life journey of a powerful man who commands knowledge also is a happy journey because it is a new journey never taken up before. It changes the entire process of lite. A powerful but ignorant man will always cause trouble to others. As a matter of fact, such a man causes trouble to himself also. He will mislead others towards false ideals. He will himself pursue false ideals. Attached to unreal things, he will cheat others. He will deceive himself also. On the other hand knowledge combined with power turns the entire effort of man towards a blissful life. Such a man tries to know and attain truth which is his self. He can under no circumstances be harmful to others. Once you have started making efforts for knowing and perceiving the sell, you will begin to come nearer to such a truth where there is no ignorance and self-negligence any more. If you are really very earnest in self-serch, your self will never sleep. The progress of wakefulness produces some strange experiences. The enlightened man says, "Brother anger, now

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188 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND go away and seek some other abode. Do not expect anything here. Brother Pride, you should also depart now. Mother Deceit, you have nothing to do here. You may also leave. Brother Greed, please quit and go anywhere you like." Anger, pride, deceit and greed remain active only during the time when we are not wakeful. Once we have become wakeful. they disperse. They are like burglers who enter a house while the owner is sleeping. They run away as soon as he is awake. Spiritual experiences change the course of life, and turn it towards bliss. Samayika is an exhelerating experience. It is an enlightened experience. It is bliss. The self-experience, the more the samayika and vice versa. Experience of the self and experience of things other than the self are mutually opposite experiences. They can not go together. Two parallel lines never meet. Only an enlightened person says, "I am performing samayika." There can be no samayika without enlightenment. Awakening and torpidity punctuate human life continuously, one after the other. It is therefore, necessary to ask how enlightenment can be made lasting. How can a spark be changed into a permanent glow of light ? Will power and a release of mental energy stabilize enlightenment? What we need above all is atonement. Atonement is the first and foremost prerequisite of the feeling of equality. The spiritual traveller travels towards the unknown. The path on which he travels is a path never known by him before. The ideal he wants to achieve is an ideal he has never realized before. The direction towards which he is travelling is a direction unknown to him. He therefore, needs a support and a guide. Compasses guide the ships on the high seas. spiritual traveller also needs a compass. The practitioner, before he puts his foot on the path he wants to walk on, prays for atonement and says, "O Lord ! I present myself to you. I want atonement with you so that my journey may be successful." The practitioner performs samayika by keeping the Lord as a witness. He wants to im bibe the highest spiritual force. There is no use accepting an unatoned person as a guide for such a peron is bound to mislead him into indiscipline. The

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THE BLISS-GIVING FLOW OF ENERGY 189 guidance which he will give result in a violent exploitation of others. It is, therefore, desirable to seek such a guidance which will inspire and lead him to the correct ideal of atonement with the supreme self. The ideal of paramatma, the highest soul, never lets him down. When the soul of the practitioner identifies itself with the supreme spirit, his life acquires a new hue. Atoneis, therefore, a great prize. Having won it he gets rid of evil tendencies once for all. His former association with evil tendencies and deeds had kept him distracted and confused. Samayika begins with the feeling that the world we live in is qualitatively different from the self. He has realized that his association with objects and activities opposed to his self results in misery. We experience a state of sanayika only when we take things other than the self to be entirely different from and opposed to the self. Anger, pride, deceit and attachments and aversions which have become mixed up with life never allow samayika to take place. They simply lead to false consciousness. But once their alien nature has been understood, conciousness takes a turn for the better and having got rid of evils, the practitioner attains a state of samayika. The first power of the mind is imagination. Only a man of imagination can achieve great things. The practitioner is time and again warned not to give a loose rope to the faculty of imagination during meditation. However, we need imagination when we are not meditating. Meditation needs a state of thoughtlessness. Thoughtlessness and imagination are not basically opposed to each other. Imagination is however, a hindrance in meditation. In ordinary life it is a very useful faculty. It is also useful in the progress of meditation. Before he sits down for meditation the practitioner must have a clear inage of the ideal he wants to achieve The arhat is an ideal and the practitioner should draw a clear image of of the arhat in his mind. He has to fix this image in his mind. Meditation has the power to transform the meditator according to the ideal he has imagined for himself. It is the medium of transformation of personality. It is also a medium of acqiring all sorts of powers, good as well

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190 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND as evil. Such powers can be acquired by the concentration of the mind also. Will is the next power of the mind. It strengthens contemplation. Will is another name of Bhavana. If the practitioner has a strong will, he begins to feel himself to be what he wants to make of himself. Will produces such vibrations in the thought process which bring about a transforma: tion of personality. It also produces vibrations in the sky which bring us nearer to our ideal. Sometimes we hear that God revealed himself to such and such a person. How does such a revelation take place ? The practitioner who has formed a clear image of Mahavira becomes Mahavira. Those who had clear images of Rama and Krsna became Kama and Rrsra. The nature of revelation is determined by the kind of image we form in our minds. The god we see is the god whose repliea we had formed in our imagination. The replica becomes the god revealed to us. This happens due to the vibrations caused in the sky by the practitioner's will power. These vibrations produce the image the practitioner contemplates. This is how we have revelations. We have to utilize both will and imagination in sadhana. The third power of the mind is concentration. We have to utilize this power also. We have to concentrate the entire energy of the mind on the ideal. This will not allow the mind to go astray. Mental processes which do not flow towards a fixed direction defeat the purpose of sadhana. We can become what we want to become only when the mind begins to flow in a single direction. Let us, therefore, walk on a straight path. One who beats about the bush can not achieve success. A combined and correct application of imagination, will and concentration of the mind leads the practitioner into a state of meditational selfabsorption. Samayika is our ideal. We are meditators. There is a long distance between the meditator and his ideal. It can be measured in terms of our restlessness or in terms of concentration. The more the restlessness, the longer the

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THE BLISS-GIVING FLOW OF ENERGY 191 distance. The more the concentration, the shorther the distance. There are two planes of the mind, the plane of restlessness and the plane of concentration. The restless mind refuses to concentrate on a single point. The concentrated mind, on the other hand, is a one-pointed mind. It does not stray. It is, therefore, necessary to reduce the restlessness of the mind because it always keeps the ideal at a distance from us. There are two states of knowledge : knowledge and meditation. Both come under the category of knowledge. Changing consciousness is knowledge whereas fixed consciousness is meditation. Meditation is knowledge but all knowledge is not meditation. Every form of meditation is knowledge. There is no form of meditation which may be spoken of as ignorance. Only that consciousness is meditation which is fixed on an ideal. It is very difficult to shorten the distance between the meditator and his ideal. Attempts to shorten this distance are often fraugth with difficulties. The meditator often becomes distracted and loses his concentration. In such a state the mind becomes entangled in external things and the image of the ideal becomes dim and hazy. Sometimes it is lost. The distance can be reduced only when the mind constantly flows towards the latter. As soon as the meditator frees himself from restlessness, the ideal begins to move nearer him. When it becomes achieved the meditator becomes absorbed in and one with it. Absorption means unity with the ideal. In such a state every thing other thap the ideal disappears. They earlier personality of the meditator becomes transformed into a new personality. The emperical self or the ego disappears and the true self is realized. The state of samayika is a state or unity. The meditator becomes samayika itsell. The duality between the meditator and the ideal comes to an end. Having arrived in this state the meditator has nothing else to do. His entire life becomes samayika. The ideal of equality materializes itself. This process can be utilized for purposes other than samayika also. Whatever the ideal, it can be realized by it.

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192 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The purprse of preksa meditation is the attainment of full consciousness. We begin this meditation by first perceiving the bones of the body, then the flesh, marrow and blood and then other constituents of the body. We perceive all the dirty material accumulated in the body. Why should we be called upon to perceive these things when our aim is the attainment of full consciousness ? It may be mentioned that perceiving these things of the body is inevitable in the process leading to self-realization. We have to pass through these perceptions before we can perceive the soul. The ideal is not remote from the body. It is inherent in it. A crocodile once took a monkey for a pleasure trip across a lake. When they reached the middle of the lake, the former told the latter that it wanted to eat its heart. The clever monkey remarked that it had left its heart on the shore of the lake. Samayika is not like the heart of the monkey which could be separated from the body and left in some remote corner. The meditator's soul always remains in his body. Therefore, we have to perform our journey through the body in order to attain the self. We will begin this journey by first perceiving the skin of the body and then pass on to the nervous system. Then we will cross the taijasa body which is the driving force of all the impulses and tendencies of the body and mind. We receive our vital energy from the taijasa body. After having crossed the vibrations of the vital energy we will come face to face with the karma Sarira which is the spring of all our energies. Other springs are minor and smaller springs. The biggest is the karma body The praetioner will have to perceive all the traces of past deeds imprinted on each and every particle of the karma body since time immemorial. The subtle body is a vast world. It is so vast that all the worlds seen till today can be submerged into it. It is far bigger than the biggest star. We will have to cross the karma body. As soon as we have done so, we will begin to have glimpses of the fundamental consciousness, the attainment of which is our ideal.

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LECTURE TWENTYTHREE SYNOPSIS * The practice of preksa meditation * Activates the body. * Activates conciousness centres. * Develops the state of being a spectator. Establishes a closer contact with things and gives an opportunity to understand their internal structure. * The practice of anupresa (contemplation) * Enables us to experience reality. * Gives an opportunity to wipe out self-forgetfulness born of social relations and cleans the heart. * Brings about the purity of heart. * The practice concentration * Develops psychic powers. * The practice of lesya meditation * Produce noble thoughts. * A philosophy based on self-perception--purity of heart, synthesis and friendliness. * Logical philosophy -- controversies, struggle, victory, defeat. * Means of comprehending gross reality and subtle reality - gross and subtle * The modern thinker relies on logic and arguments which simply confuse the mind instead of leading it to truth.

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: 23: ACQUISITION OF A NEW PERSONALITY The human personality has six traits. These have been conceived in the light of the theory of karma. They are: 1. Geographical traits acquired from the geographical environment. 2. Heriditary traits. 3. Social traits. 4. Physical traits. 5. Psychological traits. 6. Para-psychological traits. Geographical environment plays an important role in the formation of the human personality. Different geographical environments give different characteristics to it. We can infer the geographical environment in which a person has been born and brought up from the colour of his skin, the ways of his living, his dress etc. We inherit the characteristics of our parents. An offspring is the reproduction of its parents. It inherits three parts of its body from the mother and three parts from its father. An offspring of human parents will be a human being only and not an elephent. This is due to heridity. The form, muscles, bones, brain etc. of a human being are inherited from it parents. They are heridity. This is the heriditary personality. The third category, of traits is social traits. It is society which plays a part in the formation of human personality. No human being will be a human being if he or she was not born and if he or she did not live in a human society. Human communication is determined by social conventions. It will not be

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ACQUISITION OF A NEW PERSONALITY 195 posssible unless man lived in a society. The entire give and take of human life is a social give and take. In a sense man is the totality of social relations. His dress and manners, and his thoughts and behaviour are determined by the social atmosphere. The fourth category of the traits of the human personality is the physical traits which include his physical needs and constitution. The limitations of our body impose limitations on our personality. The fifth category comprises of the psychological traits. The psychic personality bears the burden of all the other aspects of our personality. It carries responsibilities and reacts to internal and external situation. It is the psyche which makes us active. It holds beliefs and opinions. It forms its principles and attitudes. It decides what is to be avoided. Man is governed by his. psyche These five aspects of the human personality are self evident and can be easily understood and appreciated. The sixth category of the traits of the human personality are para-psychological traits. They belong to the unconscious part of his personality totally hidden in darkness. It is unmanifest. Anyhow, it controls and even guides the other five aspects of his personality. It is so power as to resist all kinds of influences on the mind. It is the most creative as well as destructive force in the universe. It guides all the activities of man and remains hidden in their background. The discovery of the unconcious was the most revolutionary discovery. According to it whatever happens on the conscious stratum of the mind has its roots in the unconscious. This discovery added new dimensions to our thinking about the world and ourselves. Formerly it was believed that what ever happened in the conscious part of the mind and in the human body was caused by mental and physical causes only. The psychoanalysts, on the other hand, presented a different picture of the world. They maintained that our suppressed desires manifested themselves in the form of dreams as well as phenomena of which we are conscious. There are two strata of the mind, the conscious and the unconscious. The unconscious is the most powerful force. It is the source of all our activities. Centuries earlier the theory of karma had propounded that karma is the source of all our

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196 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND activities. It is karma which controls and guides us. When karma accumulated in the past becomes mature in us, it produces various effects. The entire personality of man is governed and determined by karma. What the psychoanalysts call the manifestation of suppressed desires is called karma vipaka according to the theory of karma. Both the ideas are almost identical. The subtle body or karma body or subtle conciousness is the base and cause of all that happens in our conscious life. We may call it the super-psyche or parapsyche. It is not possible to explain any event in our life without reference to the para-psychic state. Karma is related to the para-psyche. Some persons are influenced by their environment, others who live in the same environment are the least affected by it. How are we to explain this difference ? An explanation based on physical factors only will not be satisfactory. The real explanation lies in the para-psyche. The same thing holds good about heredity. The doctrine of heredity also is not a completely satisfactory doctrine. There are things in the life of man which can not be satifactory explained in terms of physical, social and mental factors. It is the para-psyche which holds the secrete of life. We consciously desire to meditate but the unconscious tendencies not only give a setback to meditation, they even destroy it. They induct in the mind states which are totally opposed to meditation. Things which we had never desired come to happen. A normally decent and rational man begins to behave in a way which is opposed to all social norms. It is very difficult to explain the abnormal behaviour of such an otherwise rational and socially respectable man. The cause of such behaviour lies in the past, in the unconscious. The unconscious is the infinite strorehouse of the entire past of mankind. So far as this grim unconscious stalks behind us, we cannot attain the state of samayika. It is only when this ghost of the past has been exorcised that we will be able to live a truly free life, otherwise it will always remain a life of bondage. The practitioner who is engaged in attaining a state of samayika or equanimity has to remain very careful and wakeful. He says "Sir, I have come to you. I am determined to

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ACQUISITION OF A NEW PERSONALITY 197 imbibe the sense of equality. I am determined to relinguish all kinds of evil tendencies and conduct. I shall never do any wrong and undesirable deed by mind, speech and body. I shall not cause anybody to do such deeds, nor shall I justify such deeds if they are done by anybody else. "This is a very healthy attitude of mind. But the practitioner will not be successful in carrying out his intention if he is secretly pursued his and conditioned by the past. That is why he retraces his past actions. He criticises himself for having done such deeds which have separated him from his true self. He renounces his past personality which has become estranged from the state of equanimity or samayika. He now experiences a new state of mind. His personality has become transformed. He aspires for a new birth and an elightened existence. He has become awakened. The unconscious interferes with our wishes and aspirations and renders them ineffective. We always think of improving the existing circumstances of our life and are unaware of the fact that the present is governed by the past. It is no use thinking of improving the present until we have got rid of the effects of past deeds which put a check on the manifestation of our energies. We cannot avoid living in the present but we can not live a wholesome life until the past has caused to pursue us. The only way to get rid of the burden of the past is to become a pure spectator of whatever happens to us. Unless such an attitude has been developed, the past will go on creating troubles for us. Suppressed desires will go on disturbing us when we try to meditate. Under their stress we are likely to lose hope and give up the practice of meditation. The practice of praksa meditation develops in us the attitude of a pure spectator undisturbed by likes and dislikes and predilections. It stops us from reacting to situations with an obsessed mind. It is essential for the practitioner to become an unbiased spectator rather than one who simply to reacts to situations instinctively. Kayotsarga and preksa meditation are the two mediums of emptying the mind of all the adverse effects of past deeds. When the practitioner feels oppressed by the past, by suppressed desires, by unconscious tendencies, by greed, by cravings

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198 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND etc. he should immediately begin kayotsarga. He should simply watch what is happening in his mind. He should in no way attempt to supress his thinking process but on the other hand allow his thoughts to flow. But he should not indulge in them. That is the method of preksa. Acarya and Hemacandra wrote a book entitled Yoga Sastra. It has twelve chapters. In the first eleven chapters he has discussed the traditional forms of meditation. In the last chapter he discusses some of his personal experiences. He has suggested that the practitioner should not try to supress his thought processes. Suppressed thoughts, ideas and desires get embedded into the unconscious and produce dangerous consequences. One may ask, "Shall we not suppress even evil thoughts ?" The fact is that religious minded people are not so much conscious of their own evil thoughts as they are of those of others. They are busy framing rules and regulations to save others from evil. It so appears that religion thrives on the regimentation of its followers. Regimentation is not the means of purifying the heart. It simply suppresses symptoms of disease. Naturopathy does not try to suppress the symptoms of disease; it tries to eradicate them. The Ayurvedic system of medicine also tries to do so. Modern medical practice tries to suppress disease instead of curing the partient of it. That which is suppressed will again emerge but not that which has been eradicated. One who tries to suppress the deluding effects of karma may enter into a passionless state of mind but as he has not eradicated the gerns of deluding karma which lie embedded in the soul, they continue to exist and as soon as they get a favourable occasion, they will manifest themselves and will strike at the very roots of the passionless state of the mind. Suppression is dangerous Administrators believe in suppressing agitations but they forget that suppressed aspirations are dangerous. The practitioner should allow evil tendencies to pass through his mind. What he is to do is to avoid being involved in them. Evil thoughts which enter into

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ACQUSITION OF A NEW PERSONALITY 199 an uncomitted mind will subside by themselves in the course of time. Until the mind has been emptied of them, they will go on creating trouble. Pranayama (breath control) has three stages : recaka (emptying), puraka (collecting) and kumbhaka (retaining). Normally we simply inhale and exhale air. The soul is a perfect entity and does not take in anything. What is really needs is emptying. Unfortunately we do not know how to empty ourselves and that is why we remain uneasy, Emptying the mind and soul is an essential condition of samayika. The practitioner should neither love good thoughts nor hate bad ones. Let thoughts come and go. Novices begin to lose patience when evil thoughts begin to enter into their minds. They are mistaken. They should rather think themselves to be fortunate. Evil thoughts which have manifested themselves in their minds have left their sanctaury and as there it nothing to support them in the conscious mind, they will die a natural death. Meditation means entering into the depths of one's being. When the meditator enters into his depths, he throws up all the evil which had accumulated there earlier. Such experiences happen in the earlier stages of meditation. The practitioner should not be brightened by them. There are two kinds of fever : ordinary fever and bone fever. The temperature of the body does not rise when one is suffering from bone fever. This fever is very dangerous because its symptoms are not visible. Thoughts and predilections are equally dangerous because they remain hidden. It is only when the practitioner tries to dig at their roots that they become active and manifest themselves. The stage at which the practitioner is invaded by evil thoughts is a critical stage. There are two possibilities at this stage. Either he will fail or raise himself to a higher level. He has to be fully and wakeful and try to control himself. One who engages himself in samayika knows it very well that it is difficult to do away with the past. It will manifest

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200 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND itself in one form or the other. The practitioner should not fell nervous. He should know that he is engaged in getting rid of his existing personality which is the product of his past experiences and in transforming it into a new personality which will be the creation of his present self-exertion. He needs new raw material with which to construct his new personality.

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LECTURE TWENTYFOUR *The basis of development-the investigation and practice of truth. SYNOPSIS * Let that which can change and let that which can not change remain as it is. * Cleaning the dirt which has accumulated in the mind. * Transformation of nature. *Transformation of human relations. * Search for an uninhabited island where there is less expenditure and increased accumulation of energy. * Causes of the expenditure of energy: * Continuous activity. * Excessive activity. * Evil actions and evil thoughts. * Lack of restraint of thoughts and feeling. *Let us utilize our energy-dormant energies are useless. *Correct direction of the use of energy: * Self-knowledge and self-realization. * Three strata of Siddhi (accomplishment) : * Mastering situations. * Arousing of consciousness. *The end of torpor (ignorance). * The purpose of sadhana : * Subduing passions. * Purity of consciousness.

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: 24 : MENTAL HEALTH Are we healthy ? Let us ask ourselves and not others. Let us try to get an answer to this question from over selves and not from others. If we possess the feeling of equality, we are mentally as well as physically healthy, otherwise not. We often talk about two kinds of health, mental and physical. This, however, is not a happy division. If we are mentally healthy, we will also be physically healthy and vice versa. The mind and the body are two mutually connected entities. The former influences the latter and vice versa. However, the mind's influence on the body is deeper than that of the body on the mind. Mental health is connected with the feeling of equality. Without this feeling the mind cannot be healthy. The principle of equality is also the principle of mental health. The first principle of mental health is : Know thyself. The mind of him who does not know his self is not a healthy mind. One who does not know his own strength and weakness cannot be mentally healthy. We are not able to become aware of our strength and capacities because we do not know our self. We do not know our strength because we are weak and we feel a sense of being wretched. We become excited when somebody misbehaves with us because we do not know our weakness. In such cases we overlook ourselves and try to find fault with others. If one has two sons and he prefers only one of them, the other naturally becomes jealous. He forgets that he has not been preferred because of his incapability. The mind of one who does not know his weakness always remains explosive and this sometimes continues for the whole of his life. Therefore, it is necessary for us to be aware of our strength as well as weakness.

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MENTAL HEALTH The second principle of mental health is the willingness to admit one's responsibility for whatever he has done. We are not prepared to visualize the consequences of our actions and that is why our mind has no peace. It is dangerous for mental health to avoid responsibility for our actions. It is a wrong mentality and breeds mental diseases. One needs courage to admit his faults. A weak mind does not have this courage. One should take responsibility for the good a well as bad consequences of his actions. There should be no hesitation in this respect. It is the weak who find fault with others. They want to save their own skin. We generally like to be praised for our good actions but are not prepared to be blamed for the bad consequences of our actions. To find fault with others is a sign of weakness. 203 Devotion to truth is the third principle of mental health. It is very difficult to define truth. Truth is experience of the lawgonernedness of the universe. Death is a universal law. It has no exception. All the prophets and great men of the world met death. Nobody can be immortal. Everyone who is born must die one day or the other. Immortality is a figment of imagination. Death is, therefore, a truth. In the same way karma (action) and kala (time) are also truths. One who admits the operation of the laws which govern nature is a mentally healthy man. Once a man lost his watch. He tried to search it but in vain. Loss makes the mind of even a wealthy man sad. The man become sad. Sadness is a feeling which comes only when we do not know truth. We do not know that the path of life is paved with gains as well as losses. If we knew this universal law, we would never be sad. Tolerance is the fourth principle of mental health. An intolerant man is always miserable. No mind can be wholesome without tolerance. Moreover, the behaviour of an intolerant man is always unpredictable. If an intolerant man is meditating and if the fan stopped, his mind will be upset and his meditation will break. All these things happen because we have no tolerance. We not only do not know tolerance, we have not even tried to assess its value. He who commands tolerance is indifferent to losses and gains. Wealth and riches are not lasting. Heat and

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204 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND cold, comfort and pain and convenience and inconvenience do not affect the tolerant man. They affect those who do not possess the requitsite strength to face them. One who possesses tolerance has such a strength. Those who have been born and brought up in the midst of difficulties and privations ultimately develop in themselves the spirit of tolerance. On the other hand those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth do not understand the value of tolerance. People make promises but do not stick to them for the following three reasons : 1. Fickleness of mind. 2. Intolerance. 3. Waywardness of the sense-organs. Generally we are unaware of what are going to be the cosequences of our desires, and when they take place we become upset. This is because we do not have tolerance. Hence the need of developing it. Even God will not be able to upset the mind of him who has practised tolerance. On the other hand he who lacks tolerance will always be unhappy and miserable. The fifth principle of mental health is that we should present ourselves as we are. We should not put up appearances. Generally people are snobs in their social life and when people see them in their true colours they are put in a qandary. Secretiveness creates ill feelings. Once a man went to a neighbouring village, to seek a bride for his son. The family which he visited had planned to dupe him. They rattled silver coins in the adjacent room. The visitor heard the rattling sound and formed the impression that the family was a rich family. The proposal for the marriage was accepted and the marriage took place. But when the father of the son come to know that he had been deceived, their relations became strained. Both the parties were thus harmed. Those who put up appearances not only deceive others, they deceive themselves also. They create difficulties for all. We try to create false impressions on the minds of others in order to hide our own real state. He who is not handsome tries to appear to be handsome, but cosmetics can hide

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MENTAL HEALTH the ugliness of a face for a short time only. You cannot hide reality for a long time. Only he whose mind is weak tries to hide facts. On the other hand he whose mind is strong and sound will always present himself as he is. 205 The principles I have discussed above are the principles of mental health as well as those of the feeling of equality. The feeling of equality can be achieved through tolerance only. It will always make the mind wholesome. An equanimous mind faces the ups and downs of life with a smiling face. The mind undergoes innumerable modifications. It charges every moment. It cannot be tied down to a single form or state. It is always uncertain and unpredictable. Tolerance stablizes it. The feelings of tolerance and equality make it behave in a uniform way in all kinds of circumstances. The Ayurveda takes into consideration not only physical health but also mental health. The question as to who can be called a healthy man is answered thus: If the metallic contents of the body are well balanced, if the body has the required heat in it, and if it functions normally without being oppressed by elements which produce disease, if its sense-organs are not wayward but controlled and if it keeps the mind cheerful, it can be said to healthy. If one is healthy his body functions smoothly and his mind remains cheerful. Cheerful of the mind is not joy because joy is always mixed up with sorrow. Joy and sorrow always follow each other by turns. Cheerfulness of the mind means purity of the heart which is different from joys and sorrows. Purity of the heart is like purity of the sky. There are no clouds and dust in the pure sky. Joys and sorrows are like the clouds and dust. A healthy mind and a healthy body are inseparable. In the same way mental health and the feeling of equality are inseparable. There are certain constant factors in each personality. Psychologists speak of personality parameter. They take the following factors into consideration in defining personality. The first is dress. A man's dress shows how much self-conscious he is. The cheerfulness of his mind can be measured in terms of his dress. The second is behaviour. In defining the personality of a man we have to see whether he behaves uniformly in the midst of joys and sorrows or whether he is

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206 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND erractic. A mentally healthy man will never lose the balance of his mind in adverse circumstances. He will impress others with his modesty, tolerance and behaviour. Abraham Lincoln was a spiritually inclined man. He would behave with his visitors in a very courteous manner. He would treat them as his equals. His friends thought that he was making himself cheap and advised him to maintain the diginity of the office of the President of America. Lincoln told them that as the President he would not like to be less courteous than any body. He would not like to appear to be snobbish before modest and courteous citizens. The diginity of the President lay in his modesty and courtsey. A mentality healthy man would not give up his courtsey even if some one behaved with him discourteously. He is good to the good as well as the bad. There is no reason why one should behave with mentally unheathy people discourteously. Those who behave in the wrong way are mentally unhealthy and weak. Tit for tat is the policy of the weak. If your opponent is mentally unhealthy and weak, you should show to him the strength of your mind by behaving with him in a healthy way so that he may realize his own weakness. The third test is thoughts. One of the causes of the lack of peace of mind is that people do not know how to think rationally. Thoughts do not stay long in an unhealthy mind. He starts thinking of one thing and soon switches over to another, The nature of a man is known by the thoughts he thinks. His mental health is also ascertained by means of his thoughts. Only a mentally healthy man thinks in a sound manner. Let us consider what is meant by sound thinking. Once Acarya Bhiksu was sitting under a tree alone. A caravan happened to pass by that way. A few people from the caravan came to him and asked who he was. The Acarya said that he was a monk and that his name was Bhikbana. The men began to wonder if he was the same man who was being praised everywhere. They had drawn a different image of him in their minds. They had imagined him to be a highly impressive personality surrounded by a crowd of followers. Seeing bim alone and very modest they fell into a dilemma. Acarya Bhiksu showed no concern with what they had been thinking of him

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MENTAL HEALTH because his mind was fully composed. He cared neither for praise nor for blame. He did not like to be surrounded by pomp and show. It was because he was simple and modest that people had a high regard for him. Only he who enjoys being alone knows that he is worthy of his followers. 207 The fourth criterion of personality is how it reacts to situations. The reactions of a man to situations is the key to bis mind. If people become angry with a mentally healthy man, he would remain calm and composed. A son once became awfully angry with his father. But the father remained calm and patient and assured the son that he still had the same regard for him. This had a great effect on the son and his anger subsided. A confrontation between the father and the son was avoided. The fifth test of mental health is nature i.e. whether a man is diligent or dull or optimistic or pessimistic. There are people who are pessimistic even in the most favourable circumstances. On the other hand, there are people who would remain robust and full of hope even in the most adverse situations. People with a confident and cheerful mental composition will make every one cheerful. They are great realists and would never become a victim of escapist tendencies. Acarya Bhiksu had an ascetic called Beni Rama in his fold. One day Muni Beni Rama went to collect food for himself as well for the Acarya. He brought two pulse preparations mixed in his begging bowel. When asked how the two preparations got mixed, he replied: "After all both the preparations were made of pulses. "Acarya Bhiksu remarked: "It is true, but an ailing monk cannot digest Urad, only Moong suits him. Muni Beni Rama was annoyed, left the Acarya and went into the adjoining room, lied by down and went to sleep. Acarya Bhiksu asked," Where is Beni Rama ? "When told that the muni was sleeping in the next room the Acarya again asked, "Whose fault is he contemplating, mine or his own ?" On hearing this the muni presented himself before the Acerya and apologised for his impudence. There are some who fill us with enthusiasam while there are others who dampen our spirits.

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208 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND The fifth test of a healthy mind is the power of decision. The mental health of a man can be known from the fact whether he can take quick decisions ro becomes ambivalent. We have discussed the six tests laid down by the psychologists for ascertaining whether a mind is healthy or unhealthy. We have also discussed the principle of equality. We have come to the conclusion that a man who leads a balanced life or a life full of the feeling of equality and tolerance and keeps his mind restrained is a mentallty healthy man. Mental health is the greatest cosequence of a life full of feeling of equality One who does not attach importance to the principle of equality can not possess a balanced mind. A man with a balanced mind is very careful about his mental health which he takes to be a heritage worthy to be preserved. Mental health is nothing but the feeling of equality.

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LECTURE TWENTYFIVE 1 SYNOPSIS * For the ordinary man the universe contains colour, sound and heat. * For the scientist the universe contains space, time and energy. * For the spiritual man the universe contains waves of cons ciousness and the Unconscious. * Rolling on the waves of electricity man is active. * Let us control electric currents - but let their frequencies be increased--this is the purpose of sadhana-one who understands this understands the secret of the soul. * Lesya meditation -- the medium of arriving at a stage where there are no electric currents. elec * Two areas of the manifestation of the soul free from tric currents : 1. The brain. 2. The centres of consciousness. * Five means of arriving at a state beyond electric currents.

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:25: PREKSA MEDITATION AND THE TRAINING OF THE MIND The practice of preksa meditation has opened a new chapter in philosophical thinking. I have been a student of philosophy and as such I know what is living and what is dead in philosophy. I have a great admiration for philosophy but at the same time I am conscious of its shortcomings. Originally philosophical thinking was based on a direct perception of reality. Today it is mere reasoning based on logical consistency. Darsana means direct perception of reality. Today philosophy is no longer concerned with the direct perception of truth. It has become dependent on the rules of logical thinking. It has become estranged from experience and comprises wholly of argumentation. It borrows ideas and applies logic to test whether they are coherent. It has nothing to do with self-experience and relies on objective experience only. It is not direct but indirect experience which it values. That is why medieval philosophy took inference to be the only means of knowledge because it was not supported by experience. Can we comprehend truth indirectly and by means of consistency in thinking only? Can arguments lead to the knowledge of subtle truth? No, never Ancient philosophers attempted to comprehend subtle truth with the help of subtle consciousness. They were correct. Refined or subtle consciousness is capable of comprehending both gross and subtle truths. Gross or emperical consciousness is, however, unable to comprehend subtle truth. Modern scientists have, to a very large extent, engaged themselves in discovering subtle truths with the help of delicate instruments. Crude instruments can not reveal subtle truth. They have split the atom and perceived the tiny particles of which it is

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PREKSA MEDITATION AND THE TRAINING OF THE MIND 211 composed. This could be done only with the help of delicate instruments. A sword, howsoever sharp it may be, can not split the atom Even most powerful lenses can not enable us to perceive the atom. These are crude instruments and they can not comprehend reality which is absolutely subtle. The key to the success of scientific pursuits is the invention and production of delicate apparatuses. We may call these extremely delicate instruments supersensual instruments. What the sense-organs cannot perceive may be comprehended by means of these instruments and apparatuses. The subtle truths which can not be grasped by consciousness dependent on the sense-organs can be comprehended by supersensual instruments. The term supersensual does not mean the achievement of supreme truth. Supersensual consciousness does not mean merely the consciousness of the achievement of supreme truth. The only function of supersensual consciousness is to achieve supreme truth. But it is also the basic consciousness, the base of all kinds of consciousness. The mountain Himalaya is not only the peaks but also the base on which the peaks stand. Supersensual consciousness is not only the peak of consciousness, it is also the base of consciousness. Its function is to know that which can not be known by the sense-organs. It is a matter of pity and regret that the modern philosopher has neglected the sensual as well as the supersensual means of knowing truth. He is neither a fullfledged phoilsopher nor an accomplished scientist. He has neither the insight of the ancient philosopher, nor the delicate instruments of the modern scientist which are capable of revealing subtle truth. He is deprived of both. The only instrument with which he can work is logic. He can neither justify statements nor denounce them. It seems that the modern philosopher has become a legal advocate. He applies laws to particular cases to disprove the contentions of his opponents. He does not need supersensual knowledge. Philosophy is in a strange position today. It occupies a pitiable place among the different branches of science. In the universities there are a very few students in the discipline

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212 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND of philosophy as compared with thousands of students who flock to the faculty of sciences. Preksa meditation is a method of perception. Ancient philosophers were known as Rsis or perceivers. They disappeared in the course of time. Seeing their disappearance the gods wondered who would now support them. They were told that from now onwards they will have to seek support in logic. Thus logic became important. Philosophy based on perception enables us to realize the self, to bring about a synthesis in life and to develop the spirit of tolerance and friendliness. Philosophy based on logic breeds struggles, controversies and conquest of others. Medieval works of philosophy are only logical and metaphysical presentations of philosophical doctrines. They are polemics which carry on an argument to disprove the contentions of opponents. They are elaborate reasonings to prove the correctness of the authors' thesis and the incorrectness of those of their adversaries. They are models of the art of debating to defeat the opponents. Every system of philosophy became argumentative with the result that the origi purpose of philosophy which was based on direct perception of reality came to be defeated. This gave rise to formidable intellectual controversies. The area of experience is indivisible. Experience knows no limit. What was experienced thousands of years ago can be experienced by any one today also. Consciousness is consciousness and we can not divide it. Religion and spiritualism are not two separate disciplines. It is philosophy based on logic which affects divisions and breeds controversies. Therefore, there is a need to base philosophy once again on the foundations of experience and direct perception. With the tremendous progress made by the different branches of science it has become all the more necessary to open a new chapter in philosophical thinking based on pure knowledge. It is not possible to arouse super-mental consciousness until this new chapter in philosophy has been opened otherwise querries and questions regarding philosophy and religion can not be satisfactorily answered. The first task of philosophy is to release super-mental consciousness capable of perceiving subtle truths. That is

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PREKSA MEDITATION AND THE TRAINING OF THE MIND 213 also the task of meditation. The second task of philosophy is to train the mind. Subtle truths can be perceived by the subtle mind only and not by the gross mind. There are various methods of training the mind. Bhavakriya is one of them. It means a balanced coordination between action and the mind or a synthesis between the two. They should be made to run parallel to each other. If they run in different directions, there can be no synthesis. The mind should be concentrated on what we are doing. It should not be estranged from action. The anecdote about a philosopher who fell into a ditch while his mind was soaring high into the sky is well known. An old woman who rescued the philosopher from the ditch remarked. "You should sometimes see the earth also." What happened to the philosopher is a common experience. In our thinking we often wander in the wilderness and fail to see what lies immediately before us. The moments in which we try to yoke the mind to action are rare. Meditation is the only means of yoking the mind. Mental discipline grows with the maturing of the process of meditation. We should do everything with the mind in it. Bhavakriya is an important area of philosophy. It makes meditation a way of life rather than an exercise for an hour or two. One who has accomplished Bhavakriya will do every act of his life with a meditative mind. Bhavakriya does not divide the mind. It does not split the personality. It is not absentmindedness. It is a perfect integration of personality. It makes the mind subtie and capable of perceiving subtle truths. The second aspect of the training of the mind is the development of imagination and will power. The purpose of this training is to enable the mind to see things clearly. Imagination gives a definite and clear form to our ideals. Bhavana or suggestion through symbols activates the will which carries us to the ideal we have set before us. Concentration is the third aspect of the training of the mind. Fickleness is the natural tendency of the mind. The mind always remains scattered and never sticks to a single point. A stable mind is more or less an unnatural entity. It is often compared to mercury which cannot be arrested. You cannot arrest the mental processes. People have been

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214 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND wondering for thousands of years how to arrest the mental processes. Man is an ingeneous being and has devised methods of making small balls of mercury. He may one day succeed in arresting the fleeting mental processes also. Concentration fixes the mind at a definite point. This releases enormous mental energies. But concentration needs t of exertion. It is difficult to concentrate the mind even for a few hours. An hour's concentration accumulates a lot of energy. Practice of preksa is the fourth method of training the mind. The term preksa means to see, to perceive. The mind has to be trained in the art of perception. Till now we have trained our minds in the art of thinking. And that is why we are always busy thinking. We have, therefore, to provide the mind with a fresh training so that it begins to perceive instead of thinking. Thinking takes place in the outer sphere of consciousness. Perception implies a deep penetration into the depths of consciousness. Once the mind has started perceiving, thinking subsides or becomes only a secondary occupation of the mind. In the absence of direct personal experience we go on acquiescing in traditional ideas and views uncritically. We accept such ideas and views to be true. The result is that in critical situations we become assailed by doubts and misgivings. Direct perception disperses doubts and misgivings and gives us conviction. We often say, "I have perceived this with my own eyes." What we mean is that this is our perception. Perception is the soundest proof of the existence of what has been perceived. Ordinarily thinking comes first and perception occupies a secondary place. We have to reverse the order. First perceive and then think. Pre sa meditation means following the breath with the mind or in yoking the mind to breath. It means perceiving breath through the mind and not through the eye. You cannot perceive breath with the eye. There is no place for thinking in this process. This perceiving is not concentration. Concentration is a process parallel to the process of perceiving. The process of perceiving does not aim at concentration of the mind. It is an attempt to develop the power of neutral or passionless perception. Perceiving and knowing

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PREKSA MEDITATION AND THE TRAINING OF THE MIND 215 are the inherent characteristics of consciousness. We try to activate these characteristics through preksa meditation. In the course of this endeavour concentration will take place of its own accord. Concentration, in a sense, is a byproduct. Io preksa meditation we try to perceive the body. First we see the form of the body, its external appearance. Then we try to carry the mind inside the body so that it may see the inner constituents of the body. We see the gross and subtle vibrations of the body. The human body is a part and parcel of the universe in which we live. It is a replica of the universe. It is wrong to think that the mind is confined into the brain only. Like consciousness it has several strata. One stratum of consciousness lies at the level of the sense-organs. Another exists at the level of the cells of the body. Every cell has its own brain. We try to perceive consciousness at all its levels and to arouse and expand it. Perceiving the entire body means perceiving the cells and to activate them. It is necessary to break the inertia of the cells so that they may become conscious. Every cell of the body is seized by inertia. We have not yet tried to break this inertia. Every cell has the potential to become united with consciousness and to be guided by it. When it is not united with consciousness, it remains inert. Every cell is biologically active. The sensory and motor nerves work continuously. The sensation caused by the prick of a thorn is immediately carried to the spinal cord and through it to the brain centres. The motor nerves come to act immediately. The cells become active and the hands proceeds to pick out the thorn. The sensory and motor nerves work within the body. Their actions are the result of the sensitivity of the nervous system However, the conscious centres which enable us to perceive subtle things have to be activated and freed from inertia. Meditative perception of the centres of consciousness is, Therefore, to be repeated time and again. Ultimately our supersensuous consciousness becomes manifest and we can perceive subtle truths. Preksa meditation is not only an attempt to see the constituents of the body, it also aims at perceiving all the objects of the world in their true colours. Dharmya dhyana

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216 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND and vicaya dhyana are also parts of preksa meditation. They reveal to us the internal structure of objects. Before we sit down to meditate on a plant we do not see its internal structure and system. We do not know its potential. But once we have begun meditating on it and have become absorbed in the meditation, it will reveal to us its constitution and functions. Its movements are symbolical and they will reveal to us its essence. It will appear to us as if we were turning the pages of a book and reading every word and line on them. Preksa meditation not only reveals to us the transformations of the body but also of each and every object. It is, in this respect, a very valuable method of perception and a new one. It will rehabilitate philosophy in its native base. The links of such philosophical thinking which had been broken in the middle ages will be rejoined and we will be able to practise true knowledge without the aid of logic and reasoning.

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LECTURE TWENTYSIX i SYNOPSIS * The basis of development - search for truth and also its practice. * Change the changeable; let the eternal remain as it is. Clearing away the impurities polluting the mind. * Change in attitude. * Change in human relations. * Search for such lone island where the wastage of energy is minimum and the scope of development of new energy is maximum. Causes of the loss of energy* Constant muscular exertion. * Additional indulgence. * Bad deeds and bad ideas. * Uncontrolled thoughts and sensations. * Put your energy to proper use. It is meaningless without use. * Right direction of the use of energy* One should know oneself : one should realize one's own self. * Three stages of achievement * Natural, like mastering the circumstances. * Awakening of consciousness. * End of delusion. * The aim of practice for self-realization -- * Passifying the passions. * Purity of consciousness.

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: 26: THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS : The Unkoown Destination The practitioner of sadhana needs Enlightenment so that he may see things. We cannot see anything in darkness we can see everything in the light. The more the light, the clearers the visibility. Enlightenment enables us to see both what is apparent and what is hidden. We can see and recognise what is apparent in dim light also but we need brighter light to see what is hidden and unknown. The known part of the world is very small as compared with the unknown part of it. It is like a drop in the ocean. The unknown can not be explained by analogy. The range of the sense organs is a very much limited range. The ears can hear the sound of a particular frequency only. If all the sounds of the world were to invade our eardrums, they would burst. The entire atmosphere in which we live is continuously vibrating. We would be annihilated if we caught all these vibrations. Generally we see only a few forms, hear only a few sounds and utilize only a few objects. The remaining world is outside our comprehension. That is why we are eager to know the unkown. Search for the unknown is a perpetual search for us. Man's consciousness has always been engaged in the search for the unknown. The entire evolution of man has taken place because of his basic instinct for the search for truth. This instinct is not found in the other animals, and therefore, they have become standardized and stereotyped. On the other hand, man has progressed tremendously and is still progressing. All this is due to the powers of man's consciousness and his instinct for search for truth. The

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THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 219 more we search for truth, the more do the areas of consciousness expand. We also increase our potentials and capabilities in the course of our search for truth. We utilize only a small part of our knowledge. The rest of it remains only hypothetical knowledge the truth of which is yet to be ascertained. The purpose of sadhana and perceptive meditation is the search for truth. We are engaged in a perpetual pilgrimage to the shrine of truth. We come across ever newer truths in the course of this pilgrimage. We come to know that there are things in the world that can be changed and that there are things which do not and cannot be changed. We should try to change that which can be change and leave that alone which can not be changed. It is one of principles of sadhana that we should change that which is transitory and perishable and that which is permanent and changeless will remain what it is. That which is perishable must perish. We transform ourselves as well as the world through sadhana. Breach goes on changing. We should, therefore, try to change the phases of breath. The first condition of sadhana is to change the breathing process. We need a lot of vital energy in order to pursue the unknown. Breath serves as a fuel for vital energy. The more the fuel, more will be the vital energy and the easier our pilgrimage. One engaged in perceptive meditation must first change short breathing into long breathing. Normally we breath fifteen to seventeen times to a minute. We may either increase or decrease the length of breathing. Impulsive people who are not given to sadhana take short breath. This is from thirty to fifty or fifty to sixty times/to a minute. The number of inhaling increases in the case of those who are impulsive and passionate. An increased number of breaths and the lessening of its momentum have an adverse effect on mental health. On the other hand, one who is engaged in perceptive meditation takes long breaths. Mild, long and subtle breathing and a change in the direction of breathing are all attempted by the practitioner in order to take to long breathing. This results in peace of mind and the extinction of all kinds of excitements, passions desires and impulses. Short breathing excites passions, desires and impulses. When you come to feel that you are going to be excited, you should immediately begin long breathing. It will

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220 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND stop excitement. The practitioner of meditation knows the various centres of his mind which activate our tendencies. He can stop or activate these tendencies by concentrating on the centres concerned with these tendencies. Thus instead of becoming a prey to the tendencies he becomes their controller and master. The first thing a practitioner has to do is to change the process of breathing. He should not take to long breathing as exercise for improving his health. If he did so, he will not be able to take advantage of the internal changes which result from the perception of the breathing process. Long breathing is not a physical exercise only. It is much more than that. It is not simple, pranajama. Its purpose is to subdue impulses, emotions, desires and excitement. The second aim of sadhana is to change the base of the activities of the body. Change in the direction of breathings brings about changes in the body. Diseases happen in the body only when the centres of consciousness remain dormant. If every particle of the body become energised and aroused, there will be no place left for excitements and diseases. Perceptive meditation changes the very functioning of the body and gears it to a new end. It activates the centres of knowledge so much that they become capable of facing all kinds of situations. Low vitality does not allow the body to resist external influences. High potency and broad spectrum medicines lower the vitality of the body. Meditation, on the other hand, maintains the vitality of the body and activates it and the mind. Let us, therefore, change the functioning of the body, open new horizons of the mind and change our habits and nature. It is generally believed that actions and reactions are the laws of human nature. This has given birth to the policy of a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. If one does not follow this policy, he is supposed to be a coward. It is quite natural for man to react to situations and to counterattack when he is attacked. He has been trained to do so since his childhood. When a child demands something and gets it, it begins to beam with pleasure. On the other hand, when it is denied, it begins to weep. Joy and sorrow have, therefore, been taken to be natural.

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THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 221 The practitioner avoids both joy and sorrow because both of them are harmful reactions. He remains fully selfwatchfui. He has faith in action rather than in reaction. This brings about a change in his natural behaviour also. Psychologists tell us that the inherited characteristics of man do not change. The philosophy of sadhana, however, takes a different view. Sadhana cannot afford to discard the notion of change. If breath, mind, and human nature were immutable, sadhana will have no leg to stand on. Meditation is capable of changing them. Howevere, I should warn you that you should not be misled by false promises. Of course, you cannot change yourself in the course of a ten days' sadhana. After having completed an exercise the practitioner should take stock of himself and try to know if his impulses, emotional set up and his tendency to confrontation, his sex desires etc. have been reduced. If they have not been reduced, he should not be dejected. Let us remember that a sadhana camp is not the cell of a magician. It is meant for imparting a short course of instruction. It, of course, gives the participant an assurance that things can be changed. It enlightens him to find his own way. It is for the practitioner to exert himself and to walk on it. The more he exerts himself, the more enlightened and active will he become. If, inspite of his enlightenment, he remains inactive and lazy, he will remain where he is. The wages of a labourer are fixed on the basis of the amount of labour put in by him. This holds good in sadhana also. The spiritual gains of a practitioner are determined by the amount of exertion he puts in. Progress comes to a stand still if there is a discrepancy between the two. Practice of spiritual exertion is a valuable instrument of changing human nature if it is pursued continuously and constantly. Sadhana is capable of changing human relations also. In the context of human relations there is no difference between the practitioner and those who have not adopted sadhana. But as soon as the practitioner has succeeded in changing his own nature, a lot of change in his relations with other will become apperant to him. The practitioner of perceptive meditation who watches the centre of consciousness and experiences

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222 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND consciousness in each and every particle of his body, is bound to enter into a state of equality. This will change his entire conduct and his relations with other. These relations will be inspired by the feeling of equality. Conduct based on the sense of equality is the highest form of conduct. It sweetens his relations with others. Inconsistency, sternness and cruelty produce bitterness and spoil human and social relations. Sometimes parents show favouritism in their relations with their children. This disparity spoils the harmony of the family and creates disensions. Favouritism produce dissensions not only in family relations but also in human and social relations. Those who are not favoured begin to revolt. Revolt is a natural reaction to injustice. Only the docile do not revolt. Those who have been unjustly treated must revolt if they are conscious of injustice. Disparity in conduct and social relations is the greatest problem of the modern age. It does not allow harmonious and cooperative life. Sternness is another cause of dissensions. We do not generally behave politely with those whom we consider to be inferior to us although we have to be polite to our superiors. This is a common practice. The master feels it undignified to On the other hand, he feels behave politely with his servants. dignified in behaving politely with his equals. This creates bitterness in the give and take of personal and social relations. The manager of a mill would always take a stern attitude towards the labourers. He feels that he would not be able to manage the affairs of the concern if he were not stern in his behaviour. This attitude has split society into opposing camps. We are not prepared to admit that politeness, friendliness, love and finer feelings can produce sweetness and smoothness in Even social relations and inspire confidence in every one. plants can grow quickly if we show sympathy to them. Agricultural production can be increased by means of sympathy. If flowering plants are treated sympathetically, they will produce better and more useful flowers. Shall we not treat sentient beings in the same way? Man is not stone. Even stones can be endowed with consciousness with the help of mild feelings.

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THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 223 Modesty and mildness cast a magical influence on every one. They make cows yield more milk, plants grow more fruit and creepers more flowers. A Christian lady performed an interesting experiment. She sowed a few seeds. When the seeds sprouted and became plants a creeper which grew nearly began to spread on the plants with the result that the growth of the latter was arrested. The lady mildly warned the creeper that because it had arrested the growth of the plants, she will be forced to cut it. She actually cut it. Then she suggested to the creeper, again mildly, that it should change the direction of its growth. In a few days the creeper grew but now it began to spread in a different direction. When even plants and creepers are amenable to polite advice, why can man not behave in the same way? Unfortunately we rigidly believe that we can not rule others without being stern. We take others to be aleins, nay even enmies. Preksa meditation brings about changes in human nature and in human and social relations. It is a powerful meditation. It is weak meditation which is ineffective. Along with meditation it is necessary to sweep of the dirt which has accumulated in our mind. The dirt and dust which accumul te on our clothes, skin and body are to be washed off daily. Unfortunately we are unaware of the fact that dirt is daily deposited on our minds also. We never think of removing it. Human nature and social relations will never be changed unless this mental dirt has been removed. Purity of the mind and heart is basic factor in sadhana. We should continuously dissociate ourselves from all the evil and undesirable deeds we had done in the past. We should also be careful not to allow any more dirt to accumulate in our minds any more. It is our contact with sense objects which introduces impurity in heart. Sense objects and the false pleasure which they give are perishable and not eternal. We generally mistake them to be imperishable. This attitude keeps us in ignorance with the result that we become passionately attached to them. Even the loss of a needle makes us sad. We are not prepared to part company with our material possessions. If we break a glass cup, we lose our sleep. We have taken it for granted

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224 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND that our material possessions will last till the end of our life. This attitude makes the heart impure. We identify ourselves with our family, but this false identification lasts only till we are in a position to support the family. Once this support is stopped, members of the family begin to take us in a different light to our great disgust. In such a situation we become miserable. Misery is a kind of dirt settled on the mind. We should, therefore, have the courage to think that there can be no identity between us and our family. The truth is that man is an individual rather than a member of a group or collectivity. Family relations are temporary and perishable. The realization of this truths gives a sounder base to family relations. We will have to practise retrospective contemplation (Anupreksa) in order to keep our hearts pure. There are three kinds of retrospective contemplation. (1) Contemplation in our independent identity. (2) Contemplation on our selfidentity and (3) Contemplation on the perishable nature of things. Anyatva anupreksa means that the soul and the body are two different entities. Impurity of the heart is also the result of our ignorance of our body. This ignorance brings about all kinds of demerits in us. Once anyatva anupreksa has become mature, we will be able to develop a correct attitude towards the body. In such a case sense objects will not encroach upon the self to keep us selfforgetful. This will reduce the impurity of the heart. Ekatva anupreksa or the feeling of self-identity removes our ignorance towards social relations. Anitya anuprekna (the feeling of the perishable nature of materials objects) removes our negligence towards sense objects. These there contemplations remove the impurity of the mind and heart. There is a misunderstanding regarding meditation. People have been believing that meditation gives us miraculous powers like the power to raise the body above the ground. If we meditated with such a belief, it will not have any spiritual effect on us. We will not be able to achieve anything substantial from such a meditation. Acrobats may amuse their spectators but they are not spiritually rich. Meditators who believe in miracles are spiritually wretched.

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THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 225 Siddhis or accomplishments of supernatural powers are of three kinds : (1) those which are natural and give us mastery over our material circumstances, (2) those from which we get the power of meditation and super-sensual perception and (3) those which help us in changing our being and in gaining freedom from passionate attachments. Natural powers like raising the body above the ground, making the body light or heavy or walking on water, floating in the air etc. can be achieved by our knowledge of the laws of nature. However, they do not bring about any kind of spiritual transformation in us. They may enable us to help or harm others, but they make us peevish and are ineffective in spiritual pursuits. The second kind of siddhis aim at arousing consciousness which extends from mati jnana (indeterminate knowledge) and struta in jnana (Scriptural knowledge) to pure knowledge. They purify the mind increase knowledge and deepen experience. The third kind of siddhis chiefly aim at the eradication of passions and the consequent purification of the heart. The second and the third kinds are great achievements. Powers which produce miracles are also accomplishments, but from the spiritual point of view, they are of an inferior order.

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LECTURE TWENTYSEVEN } SYNOPSIS * For the common man this world is nothing but colour, sound and heat. * For the scientist this world is nothing but space, time and electric energy. * For the spiritualistic this world is full of waves emanating from the Conscious and the Unconsious. * Man is indulging himself into activity, impelled by electric body impulses. * Let our electric-body impulses be controlled. Their wave length may be increased--this is the aim of all spiritualistic pursuits. One who realizes this fact can comprehend the mystery of spiritualism. * Colour-meditation - the means of attaining the state free from all kinds of waves. * Two main factors manifesting waveless stage * Mind. * Psychic centres. * Five means for attaining the transcendental state.

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:27: THE SECRET OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT Let us take a lemon in our palm. We know that it is a lemon by seeing its colour and form. If it is dark, we can cognise it by its smell. We can also cognise it by touching and tasting it. All physical object are cognised by the senseorgans or by means of touch, taste, colour and sinell. But the colour and form of the lemon are not the lemon. These are only the modifications of the lemon. Each sense-organ is capable of cognising only a single modification of an object. The eye catches the colour only and the nose catches only the smell. The skin catches the touch only and the tongue catches only taste. What then is the object whose modifications alone are known by the sense-organs ? What is the real nature of the objects? Scientists have been trying to ascertain the essence of objects for centuries together and the search is continuing even today. They have come to know the particles of which things are made but the real nature of objects continues to evade scientific investigation. Philosophers also have been engaged for the last thousands of years in search of the basic substance of the universe but they have not been able to as certain it. The difficulty arises because of the fact that the universe is composed of waves and waves only. The universe is a modification of its original substance. This substance remains hidden behind the waves and modifications. The sense-organs which catch the waves and modifications are themselves the modifications of the substance or of its waves. Each one of them can catch only a single modification of the substance. The eve for example can catch only colour. No sense-organ is capable of comprehending what lies behind the waves or modifications. Therefore, what lies beyond the waves or modifications

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228 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND waves. remains a mystery. Those who have conducted investigations in this area say that there is nothing beyond the waves. Both the knower and the known are themselves nothing but the The question as to what is beyond the waves is a wrongly framed question. Breath because of which we live is itself composed of waves. The living bodies are conglomerations of waves. We generally believe that our bodies are solid. It is not so. We can perceive the subtle vibrations of our bodies by means of anitya anupreksa (contemplation on the transitory nature of things). We generally think that our bones are solid. This is not true. The bones have pores in them. If we see a cork with the help of a microscope, we will find it to be a network of holes. The living body is also full of holes. We generally believe that a wall is solid. It is not true. It is composed of innumerable tiny particles. Everywhere, in each object, there are holes and pores or liquids. These modifications are so numerous that we cannot cross them and arrive at the basic substance of things. Like the human body, the mind and the intellect are also a series of waves. Whatever we know through the medium of waves is composed of waves only. The medium of knowledge determines the nature of the thing known. In comprehending the waves we do not comprehend anything which is beyond the waves. We cannot comprehend anything beyond the modifications with the help of the body, breath, sense-organs, mind and intellect. It is, therefore, not surprising if people have declared that there is no basic substance like the soul. The mediums of knowledge mentioned above do not allow us to posit the existence of a substance beyond what they can comprehend. If we declared with the help of the mind that there is a substance beyond the comprehension of the mind, we will be wrong because such a substance is the creation of the mind itself. How can the mind comprehend that which beyond it? The mind knows nothing except itself. It is like a tape recorder. It communicates only that which has been recorded on it. Unfortunately we have planted in the mind the idea that there are things beyond it which it can not comprehend. There is no evidence to prove the existence of a substance beyond the mind because all

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THE SECRET OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT 229 evidence is a mental construct. It may very well be said that meditation is also a wave of the mind and, therefore, it does not reveal anything beyond itself. We are so much enmeshed in the world of modifications and waves that we are unable to see anything beyond them. It is this limitation of ours which compels us to search for the soul. It is this limitation which is the starting point of the spiritual quest. There are thus two things : the waves which compose our knowledge and that which is beyond the waves. The starting point of the spiritual quest lies between these two. It has been asked if we can stop the operation of the waves. Is it possible to arrest the waves of which the world of our emperical knowledge is made. Yogis who meditated have declared that it is possible. Those who have done some serious thinking on the subject have come to agree with the yogis. Breath is a series of waves. It can be arrested. Investigations have shown that a man who breathes fifteen breaths to a minute can, through practice, reduce the number of breaths to ten or seven or five to a minute. Accomplished practitioners can stop the breathing process for a year, nay for twelve years at a stretch and still continue to be alive. The currents of breath can be controlled and restrained. In the practice of Mahaprana dhyana breathing can be completely stopped. The practitioner can enter into a state of complete breathlessness. This can be done through a number of other meditations also. The human body is composed of waves which can be controlled so much so that the body becomes almost dead. The mind is also composed of waves which can be controlled. It disappears in the course of meditation. This state can be continued for a whole year. The mind becomes immobilized in this state. The belief that the mental processes can be arrested is the starting point of the search for the basic substance beyond the mental processes. It led to the practice of restraining thoughts and feelings or of the fickleness of the mind. It made man aware of the existence of a substance beyond the reach of the mind. It may be said from the philosophical point of view that there is nothing beyond the waves. The soul itself is

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230 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND not beyond the waves. Let us consider this point seriously. There are two kinds of modifications, natural and artificial. Substance always undergoes modifications. Every modification disappears giving place to another and this process continues endlessly. These are natural modifications of substance which cannot be stopped. They are not harmful to us. Then there are artificial modifications of substance. They create doubts in our minds. They are modifications caused by agencies external to substance. They can be stopped. Once they have been stopped, we enter into a state beyond waves. However, it should not be supposed that the artificial modifications can be stopped as soon as we sit down to meditate. We go on witnessing various kinds of processes even during meditation. It has been found that a state of meditation is in many respects similar to the state of complete rest or relaxation. The human body contains an acid known as leptic acid. Its secretion in a state of rest is very small. in the state of meditation it is still smaller. Its decrease after an eight hours' sleep is equal to its decrease after a twenty minutes' meditation. This acid is barmful for the body. Many other things happen during meditation. Mental processes do not completely stop during meditation. They continue even in a vitaraga (passionless) state. The kevala jnani (possessor of pure knowledge) is also not beyond them. Gautama asked Bhagavana Mahavira, "Can a kevala jnani put his hand twice on the same thing ?" Mahavira replied, "No, he cannot." Gautama again asked, "How is it not so ?" Mahavira answered, "Gautama, the body is often changing. It is not constant. The kevali has a body, and therefore, he cannot put his hand twice on the same point in space. Space points go on shifting. "Thus even a possessor of pure and absolute knowledge is not beyond physical and mental processes. A two three hours' meditation can not take you beyond these processes. When the practitioner arrives at a state known as sailasi which happens in the last or fourteenth stage of spiritual (meditational) progress, he enters into a state which is beyond mental and physical process. This state is nearest to the state of emancipation. In this state the soul becomes free from all kinds of artificial

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THE SECRET OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT 231 modifications and becomes motionless. This state is the ideal of our pilgrimage. We can arrive at this state through meditation. If these processes could be stopped even for a few moments, the moments should be construed as moments beyond mental and physical processes. They encourage us to proceed towards our ideal. We live in the gravitational field of the earth. If we could enter into a state of weightlessness even for a few moments, we would think that life has begun a new for us. We have either good thoughts or evil thoughts or no thoughts at all in our minds. Similarly we do either good deeds or bad deeds or no deeds at all. Thoughts are mental processes. As processes they do not differ from each other. Both are waves. Generally we believe that physical objects have colour, form, sound, heat etc. A scientist does not think in these terms. For him objects have neither colour nor form nor sound nor heat. He thinks of the world in terms of time and energy. The world is a process of energy in time. Energy is the substance of which the entire universe is made. Therefore, thinking, wheather we think good or bad thoughts, is a process of energy. If our purpose is to arrive at a state beyond these processes, the first thing we have to do is to rescue ourselves from bad processes and to swim with the good processes. Swim with the bad processes takes us away from our goal which is the obliteration of all activity. Lesya meditation is the easiest means of swimming with the good current. You can not turn your thoughts in the right direction without this meditation. Social relations are the breeding ground of all kinds of evils, more especially mental evils. They force us to react. We can not get rid of the life of reations without meditating on auspicious colourations (lesjas). There are three auspicious lesyas called taijasa (deep red), padma (pink) and suklu (white). We can change our mentality by meditating on these Tasyas. With the change of mentality these colours also begin to change. The outer world then begins to influence the inner world and vice versa. Thoughts are produced either by internal tendencies or by sounds prevailing in the sky. Pudgal (material) particles

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232 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND of sound enter into our mind and produce thoughts. Take, for example, a group of persons sitting together. There may be good or bad men among them. The thoughts of the good men spread in the sky and influence the entire company. In the same way those of the bad men also influence the whole company. This influence is due to the force of thoughts. Pudgala particles emerging from the mind spread in the sky. They strike the minds of other men and influence them. That is why it has been said that one should keep company with good men only. The Acaranga says, "Don't keep company with bad men." To avoid the effects of bad thoughts we have to take precautions. The first is to subdue bad tendencies. Meditation of faijasa and padma lesyas purifies mental tendencies. The second is not to allow evil thoughts to arise in our minds. Meditation on the sukla lasya stops the rise of such thoughts. Meditation on the white colour wards off evil thoughts which enter into our minds from outside. Meditation on red and yellow colours stops evil thoughts which rise from within the mind itself. Once we have shielded ourselves from external and internal sources of thoughts, our minds become the abode of good thoughts only which are helpful to us in our spiritual pilgrimage. Although lesya itsell is a wave, yet it carries us to a state of calm. Perceptive meditation on breath enables us to control it. Perceptive meditation on the body enables us to perceive the vibrations of the body and the perishable nature of them. This perception leads us to contemplative meditation (anupreksa) on the transitory character of the world. Here begins the search for the immutable which leads to the next stage of perceptive meditation on the centres of consciousness which is a source of enlightenment. There are two centres of the manifestation of the transcendental soul in our body, the brain and the centres of consciousness. It is through these centres that the soul sends forth the rays of its light on the outer world. The practitioner who meditates on the centres of consciousness comes face to face with the light of the soul. Once he has got a glimpse of this light, he will never go astray. Even a short experience of calm and a few moments of right perception

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THE SECRET OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT 233 will be enough to lead him to his goal. Let us know the real nature of things through anupreksa (contemplation). False perception results in ignorance which goes on increasing by its own force and precludes our vision. It is through contemplation that we can destroy it. There are five means of arriving at the transcendental state of calm : 1. Breath perception (svasa preksa). 2. Body perception (sarira preksa). 3. Contemplation (anupreksa). 4. Lesya (colour) meditation. 5. Kayotsarga (abandonment of the body). These are the five bases of preksa meditation. They need a lot of self-exertion, a long and concentrated exertion. Practice of breath perception will make you feel that your body is becoming lighter. Meditation on pure lesyas also has the same effect. It is the impure lesyas which make the body heavy and lethargic. Pure lesyas produce mild sensations. They make us feel a state of weightlessness. They change the odours of the body while impure lesyas produce bad smell. The body of a man who harbours evil thoughts emits bad smell. The body of a man who entertains good thoughts smells sweet. It is through the odours of the body that we can infer whether a man is good or bad. Our mouths also taste sweet or sour or bitter due to the effect vai (wind), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm). They effect our thinking also. Bile produces anger, wind complicates thinking and phlegm combining with wind and bile affects thoughts which in their turn affect all the three humours. Kayotsarga winds up all the physical and mental processes including evil thoughts. It is now for us to decide wheather we would like to be tossed to and fro in the ocean of emperical experience of rest in a state of transcendental calm.

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: 28 : SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS The conduct of the man who lives in the world of the spirit is different from that of the man who lives an ordilife of give and take. Both of them conduct themselves in the world. They cannot remain idle. The Acaranga says that a man given spiritual life must act of his own free will. The man who lives in the ordinary life of give and take does not act of his own free will. He simply reacts. He does unto others what they do unto him. Such a reaction negates free will and the sense of values. Modern ethics has considered the question of moral conduct at length. The philosopher Kant, for example, holds the view that our actions should be governed by the sense of duty rather than by the feelings of pity and compassion or by the idea of doing good to others. Action based on such feelings is not moral action. Only actions inspired by man's free will can be said to be moral. Our conduct should on the sense of duty only. Kant's view is a correct view. The feeling of pity and compassion is a reaction conditioned by the miserable plight of the man whom we pity or for whom we show compassion. Friendliness, on the other hand, is not a reaction. It is based on the conviction that every living being possesses a soul like us, and therefore, we should be friendly towards it. To be pleased by praise and annoyed by blame is a reaction. There is no philosophy or conviction behind reaction. What the Acaranga insists on is Anyatha Vyavahara or conduct spired by free will. Such conduct is creative and not reactionary. The spiritual man's actions are creative actions inspired by the sense of duty. He does not think in termes of the give and take of ordinary life. He does not help others

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SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 235 because they have helped him nor does he harm them because they have harmed him. Once there were two monks who did not see other eye to eve with each other. One of them went to the other and offered an apology to him for his own conduct. The other heard the apology but kept silent. On this he who had offered an apology went to his preceptor and complained that inspite of his apology the muni did not speak even a single word to him. The preceptor remarked. "It does not matter whether he accepts your apology or not. If you had offered an apology with the expectation of regaining his friendship, it was not a sincere apology but a pragmatic move." The conduct of a spiritual man is not a reaction. He does not compromise but behaves in a magnanimous way. He does not expect returns. He acts with a sense of duty, Anyatha Vyavahara is a duty which must be done irrespective of its consequences. The man who simply reacts remains unbalanced. A balanced mind does not take sides. He is above favouritism, likes and dislikes and sweetness and bitterness. There is a story in an Upanishad. A psi (seer) called Jajali was engaged in severe penances. His hair grew thick He stood motionless. Birds built their nests on his head and laid eggs in them. The eggs were hatched and young ones flew away and yet the rsi stood still. Severe penance made him conceited. Suddenly he heard a divine voice which said, "Rsi, your penances are still unripe. Go to the merchants Tuladhara and try to learn something from him. "The ssi became angry. The divine voice offended him. Anyhow he approached Tuladhara. He saw the merchant doing business in his shop. Customers were coming and going and the merchants was busy with his scales weighing articles. He was a matter of fact man. He kept his eyes continuously fixed on the balance. When the day's business had been done and he was about to down the shutters, the rsi approached him and asked, "Are you Tuladhara ?" The merchants replied in the affirmative and asked the rsi how he had come to him. The rsi replied, "I have come to you to be acquainted with your sadhana. What is the secret of your sadhana ? ."The mearchant

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236 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND replied "I have nothing to do with sadhana. I am a simple merchant but when I weigh articles I keep an eye on the balance he scales should be unevenly balanced. The balance has made my mind balanced." Mental balance results in the concentration of the mind which ultimately enters into a state of samadhi (meditative absorption). The rsi came to realise that inspite of his long and exerting penances he had failed to gain mental balance. If his mind were balanced, he would not be so touchy. A balanced mind never feels distracted. There is no duality in it. Vested interets upset the mind. Fear of death, the sense of pride, the awaress of loss and gain, praise and censure etc. also upset the balance of the mind. He who keeps his mind balanced in favourable as well as unfavourable circumstances is a real spiritual practitioner. Balanced conduct is the second principle of spiritual training. The third principle of spiritual training is consciously done actions and not reactions. Actions of the ordinary man are based on feeling. Knowledge and feeling are two different things. The first manifestation of consciousness takes place on the level of feeling, the next on the level of knowledge. Undeveloped living beings have feeling only. They feel and act. They have no knowledge to guide their actions. Plants and trees also act on the level of feeling. If a musical instrument is played before a tree, it will feel the vibrations of sound produced by the instrument and will begin to move its branches and leaves. Feeling plays a great role in our behaviour towards our children. Behaviour based on knowledge does not become effective on children. The sense organs are often compared to children. Experience gained through the skin, tongue and nose is based on feeling. Experiences gained through the eyes and ears are based on knowledge. Feeling is often influenced by our likes and dislikes. The spiritul practitioner is not influenced by likes and dislikes. He takes sense feeling to be feeling only and does not join it with likes and dislikes. He knows what gives pleasure and what produces pain. He tries to know them rather than feel them to be pleasurable and painful. Feelings of pleasure and pain produce likes and dislikes in us. We

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SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS like pleasure and shun pain. These likes and dislikes produce mental tensions. The spiritual man is free from likes and dislikes 237 Orientation towards truth is the fourth principle of spiritual conduct. The spiritual man is always inclined towards truth. He does need material objects to fulfil his material needs. But he values them up to this extent only. It is not in the nature of material objects to give pleasure although they may give it. Those who have enough material objects at their command are not always happy and those who do not have them are not always unhappy. Happiness lies in a balanced state of mind. A calm mind produces alfa rays. It is these rays which make us feel happy. According to the psychologist Penfield, the lesser the disgust and emotional excitement in the mind, the more healthy it is. Indulgence in material objects produces disgust and excitment in the mind which disturb the glands and make them function irregularly. Thus pain and grief become almost chronic. The spiritual practitioner in stead of being inclined towards material objects which ultimately produce pain and grief, engages himself in the pursuit of truth which when realized puts an end to pain and grief once for all. We nourish untruth, create illusions and invite trouble. The first step towards freedom from grief is to break the illusions and to avoid untruth which produces them. No body can deny the value of the instinct to live. But it should be remembered that it is our inclination towards and passion for material objects which is the root cause of griefs. On the other hand when we are spiritually inclined we experience calm and joy.

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: 29: PREKSA MEDITATION-FIVE PRINCIPLES OF MENTAL TRAINING The fundamental principle of Preksa meditation is : Let the soul see itself; see your own self. The system of meditation adopted by Bnagavana Mahavira is based on perception. The soul and the body, although they are basically distinct from each other, are not distinct in practical life. Breath, body, speech and mind are made active by vital energy. The vital force is the diffusion of the taijasa body. The taijasa body is driven by a still subtler body called the karma body. The karma body is made active by the soul. Therefore, perceiving the soul means perceiving the vibrations of breath, body, vital energy and karma. Kayotsarga is the first step in the process of self-perception. We know the value of the activities of the body but we do not know the value of the inactive body. That is why our muscles become tense. Suspension of the activities of the body is a means of escaping from such tension. When the body is relaxed, breathing becomes/slow and the fickleness of the mind is reduced. Kayotsarga serves two purposes : it well as physical and mental diseases. The second step is freedom from infatuation. It consists is wakefulness, conscious devotion to truth and mental discipline as well as in Bhavakriya or a rational coordination between actions and the mind. Ealse consciousness and indiscipline make our consciousness dormant. The seeds of all kinds of grief are sown and they sprout when consciousness is dormant. Freedom from infatuation changes the very course of our life and opens new horixons of joy.

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PREKSA MEDITATION Generally our deeds and our minds do not run parallel to each other. When the body is doing one thing, the mind remains busy in another thing. This results in a depletion of energy. Bhavakriya stops this depletion. 239 Bhavana is the third step. It increases the vital force and strengthens the will. A Strong will does not allow inclination towards material pleasures to become effective. Resolution is the key to all kinds of success. The fourth step is anupreksa or contemplative assessment of perception. It is a useful exercise in removing, selfnegligence and the contamination of the mind by the consequences of social relations and indulgence in material pleasures. It concentrates the process of thinking on a single object until a state of experience has been arrived at. It develops tolerance and the purity of heart preksa is the fifth step. It activates the body and the centres of consciousness. It enables us to perceive and know the internal structure of the body. Perceiving long breathing improves physical and mental health. It activates the taijasa body and stops the fickleness of the mind. It removes poisons from the body and reveals to the practitioner the subtleties of the mind. Body perception means watching and under standing the ever happening changes in the body. It enables the practitioner to come face to face with substance by studying its modifications. It means perceiving the chemical changes in the body and to be convinced that the body and all that is in it are ephemeral. It is the process of proceeding from the perishable to the imperishable. It means watching all physiological happenings and the feeling of pleasure and pain with a dispassionate mind and to make a distinction between the body and the soul. By perceiving the centres of consciousness we can establish our mastery over them and employ our energy in bringing about chemican changes in the body. Then comes the perceiving of the ever happening vibrations in the body, mind and breath. These vibration can be increased by means of subtle prana and reduced and stopped by restraining the flow of vital energy. Counter vibrations can also be produced by means of Bhavana or suggestion. Both purity of thoughts and thoughtlessness are useful in

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240 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND perceptive meditation. Change in the frequencies of breathing and its vibration brings about a spiritual revolution in us which brins human relations on a new footing. Preksa meditation is the means of developing four states of the mind. 1. Wakefulness 2. Bhavana 3. Thinking 4. Perception. False consciousness and the fickleness of the mind and body are caused by our lack of willing interest in truth and moral discipline. As our existence undergoes continuous modifications, we become deluded by externel agencies, suggestion and speech and change ourselves in the light of these influences. Attachments and a versions rise in our minds if our mental states are favourable to them. And this applies to our thoughts also. Onr thoughts determine our perceptions. When we become involved in sense objects our feeling, thinking and perception also become involved in them. This is the main cause of all problems and miseries. The practice of preksa meditation breaks cur torpor and makes the mind wakefully attached to truth and moral discipline. Such a mind cannot be deluded by anybody. In this respect mantras or charms are very useful. We employ charms to remove mental and physical diseases. We can make ourselves pure with the help of Bhavana which can give us mental and physical health. When consciousness has been aroused. holy feelings rise in our minds and make our thought realistic. With such thoughts we proceed to perceive the soul. Feeling, thoughts and perception become immersed in consciousness and the mind becomes free from attachments and aversions and neutral. It stops reacting. This is the way to get rid of all problems and miseries. Fales consciousness makes us indulge in sense pleasures. This happens at the lexel of the unconscious. We become

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PREKSA MEDITATION 241 deluded by the waves of electric energy flowing through object, the fingers, eyes and speech. This happens at the level of consciousness associated with Bhavana. Our mind establishes conscious relations with object and men, seeks that which is beneficial and renounces that which is harmful. This cannot be done until we have freed ourselves from delusions caused by feeling. We engage our selves in free thinking. This happens at the level of consciouness associated with thinking. We are not satisfied with the external forms of thing and try to comprehend their subtleties. This happens at the level of consciousness associated with perception. Having made the unconscious conscious, we employ the power of perception to self-perception. Consequences of praksa meditation : 1. Balance between action and inaction-physical balance. 2. Mindfulness towards the ideal, synthesis of action and thinking 3. Development of will-power and determination. 4. Direct perception or experience of truth. 5. Development of the state of being a spectator. 6. Development of consciousness free from reactions and the sense of neutrality and equality in all situations. 7. Mental balance. 8. Feeling of equality in conduct and politeness in behaviour. 9. Synthesis of contradiction between the individual and the society. 10. Manifestation of super-mental consciousness. 11. Freedom from passionate indulgence. 12. Eradication of diseases produced by tensions.

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242 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND 13. Formation of a mentally and physically healthy personality. 14. Thoughtlessness leads to concentration which trains the knowledge tissues and muscles. Preksa meditation is a natural and simple method of mental training and of making the mind conscious and aroused.

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GLOSSARY abhavalaya, aura 52, 184, 185 anupreksa, contempative acarya, religious leader 9; meditation 12, 86, 153, 193, preceptor 14, 58, 91, 137, 138 224, 232, 233, 239 adarsagrha, room made of anitya-, contemplative glass 182 meditation on perishable adharma, evil 57 nature of material objects adharma lesya, see less a 58 224, 228 adhi, mental disease 128 anyaiva-, contemplative adhyatma, inside the soul 134 meditation on the fact agamas, original scriptures that the soul and the body 122, 145. are two different entities abara paryapti, see paryapti 224. ahimsa, 110n-injury 138, 148 ckatva-, contemplative akasa-kusuma, a flower in the meditation of self-solitari sky (unreal imagination) 92 ness 224 akriya, non-action 11 anuvrata, sinall rows 138 ajna cakra, see cakra anyatva anupreksa, see anualocana, introspection 43 preksa anahata cakra, see cakra apara, one of the five lifeananda (kendra), see caitanya winds in the body which kendra; also see anahata cakra goes down-wards 51, 54, 63, 152 71 ananyadarsi, one absorbed in apurva karana, a state of perception of the inner self mind which has never before 177 been experienced 140 anekantavada, the doctrine arbat, arihanta, one who has of non-absolut sm 146, 148 acquired perfect knowledge, anima, one of the eight siddhis intuition, equanimity and 172 (see siddhi). spiritual energy 31, 156, 189 animesa preksa, see anupreksa arta dhyana, see dhyana antaratma, consciousness or asat, that which does not soul who is introvert 125 exist 92 antaraya karma, see karma. asravas, causes of influx of

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244 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND 110 57 karma 67 in the human body 57, 58 astasparsi, gross, bodies ajna - cakra situated between having eight kinds of touch the two eye-brows 57, 60 anahata -, cakra situated asthi, bone; spinal cord 70 near the heart 57 atapa nama karma, see karnia manipura -, cakra situated aumkara, the mantra com- near the navel 57 prising the letters A, U and muladhara-, cakra situated M combined together 75 near the rectum 57 avadhi jnana, clairyoance 105, sahasrara-cakra situated 157 in the cerebrum 67, 60, 68, ayurveda, Indian science of 70, 71 medicine 128 svadhisthana-, cakra situaayusya karma, see karma ted near the pelvic plexus ayusya prana, the vital energy which determines the life- caitanya kendra, psychic span 65 centre 140 bahiratma, consciousness orananda-, the phychic centre soul which is extrovert 128 near the heart (associated Bahubali, the younger son of with the thymus gland) 152 Lord Rsabha; the symbol of darsana-, the psychic centre the emergency of conscious situated between the two ness 153, 154 eye-brows (associated with Bharata, the eldest son of the pituitary gland) 152 Lord Rsabha; the symbol of caitanya kendra preksa, see the forces of delusion and preksa dhyana 140, 141 ignorance 153, 154 catuhsparsi, massless matter bhayakriya, a balanced and 110 rational coordination citta, conscious mind 69 between action and the darsana, perception 78, 210 mind 213 238, 239 bhavana, auto-suggestion or - kendra, see caitanya kendra; contemplation repeated also see ajna cakra frequently 23, 24, 59, 67, 68, deha-preksa, see preksa 70, 71, 177, 213 dhyana bindu, vital energy of the dbarma, path of emancipation brain 64 70 14, 156 brahmacarya, celebacy 59 dharma lesya, see lesya cakras, psychic centres rela- dharma dhyana, see dhyana ted with plexuses and glands dhyana, meditation

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GLOSSARY arta a kind of evil medita tion with deep feeling of affliction as its basis 54, 56, 57, 59, 107, 123 dharma, a kind of beneficial meditation/contemplation on Reality 60, 61, 124, 215 raudra-, a kind of evil meditation with cruelty as its basis 54, 56, 57, 59, 107, 123, 124 sukla, highest state of beneficial meditation ultimately leading to emancipation 60, 61, 124 dirgha svasa preksa, see preksa dhyana drasta, one who has realized the self 164 ekatva anupreksa, see preksa gandha nama karma, see karma anu gati nama karma, see karma gotra karma, see karma gunasthanas, stages of spiritual progress of the soul 70 guna sutras, chromosomes 113 guru, guide 50 haritaki, the herb known as myrobalan 30 himsa, injury 73, 82 ida, the yoga-concept of one of the vital energies, (it may be interpreted as one of the two divisions of autonomic nervous system in scientific terms, the other being (pin 245 gala) 146 jinakalpa, a form of Jaina ascetic practice in which most stringent austerities are observed 158 jiva, living being 18, 101, 102, 105, 106, 108, 111 jnana, knowledge 10, 11 kaivalya, pure and perfect knowledge; omniscience, 42 kala, time 203 kapha, phlegm 128, 233 kapota lesya, see lesya karma, as a result of good and evil actions, very special and most subtle type of material particles are attracted and assimilated in the eternal soul. They form an ultra-subtle body. - sarira, in the form of coded programme for future effects and is generally known by the term karma. There are eight main categories of karma, each controlling a specific domain. Some of these are nama karma, gotra karma, ayusya karma, and antaraya karma. Each one of these is subdivided again into different classes 19, 26, 63, 65, 66, 68, 101, 111, 112, 115, 128, 182, 183, 194, 195, 196, 198, 203 antaraya-, a main category

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246 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND of karma obstructing spiri- corresponding to the gati tual powers 8, 9, 112, 113, 114 136 sparsa nama-, a sub-class atapa nama, a sub class of nama karma responsible of nama karma responsible for the texture of the body for formidable personality 114. 114 svasocchvasa nama -, a subayusya -, a main category of class of nama karma res karma responsible for ponsible for respiration determining the life-span 114. 113 udyota nama, a sub-class gandha nama-, a sub-class of nama karma responsible of nama karma responsible for radiant personality 114, for characteristic boby- varna nama --a sub-class of odour 114 nama karma responsible gati nama-, a sub-class of for colour of the body 113. nama karma responsible vedaniya--, a main category for birth in one of the of karma responsible for four kinds of galis viz, feeling of pain and pleahuman, sub-human, godly sure 115. or infermal life 114 - body, see karnik 52, 60, 87, gotra -, a main category of 97, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104, karma with coded recor- 106, 111, 153, 163, 171, dings responsible for 192, 238. worldly status 113 ---sastras, scriptures dealing nama-, a main category of with karma theory 104, karma with coded recor 105. dings responsible for vari- -- vipaka, fruition of karma ous characteristics of one's 24, 196. body 103, 113, 114 karuna -, compassion 15. paraghata nama-, a sub- kayagupti, control of the class of nama karma res- body 177. ponsible for one's victo- kayotsarga, practice of total rious traits 114 relaxation of the body with rasa nama-, a sub-class of self-awareness or abandon nama karma responsiblement of the body 2, 14, 15, for taste of the body 114 34, 46, 47, 48, 54, 59, 85, 86, Sarira nama -, a sub-class of 118, 121, 122, 141, 152, 158, nama karma responsible 160, 161, 174, 182, 197, 198, for the attainment of body 233, 238.

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GLOSSARY 247 kayotsarga-pratima, exercise psychic colour correspondin the abandonment of the ing to dull grey colour 56, body and full awareness 12, 57. 13. klsna-, the most inauspikevala-jnani, possessor of pure cious psychic colour and perfect knowledge 31, corresponding to dull and 143, 156, 183, 230. dark black 56, 57. kevali, see kevala-jnani. nila--an inauspicious psychic klsnalesya, see lesya. colour corresponding to ksapaka sreni, the irreversible blue-black 56, 57, 61. process of intense spiritual padma-, an auspicious development, leading without psychic colour correspondfail to the total annihilation ings to bright yellow or of the bondage of karma in pink 59, 60, 124, 231, 232. due course. sukla --, an auspicious psyksira, milk 31. chic colour corresponding ksirasrava labdhi, see labdhi. to bright white 59,231,232. kumbhaka, retention of the tejo , an auspicious psybreath 199. chic colour corresponding kundalini, the Yoga-concept to bright and deep red (as of tremendous potential of the rising sun) 59, 60, energy lying dormant at the 124, 231, 232. base of the spine 64. lokapurusa, universe represenlabdhi, yogic achievement of ted in the form of a standing of miraculous powers 34. man 58. ksirasrava- miraculous madhvastava labdhi, power of an orator which labdhi. transforms his speech to mahaprana dhyana, meditataste like milk (or honey in tion in which there develops the case of madhvasrava a state of complete breath labdhi) to the listener 31. lessness 229. madhvasrava-, see above. majja, grey matter 64, 70. lesya, psychic colours of the manahparyayajnana, faculty soul 57, 59, 104, 140, 141, of mind-reading 157. 151, 154, 193, 209, 231, 232, manipura cakra, see cakra. 233. manogupti, control of the adharma--, evil lesya 54, 58. mind 177. dharma-, auspicious lesya manokami, one who can achi58, 60. eve whatever he desires 31. kapota-, an inauspicious mantras, charms 63, 240.

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248 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND mantra sastra, discipline of for metabolism, 101 magical charms 67. sarira-, paryapti responsible matijnana, indeterminate for body's anatomy 101. knowledge 225. pingala, see ida 146, 147. mauna japa, silent recitation pitta, bile 128, 233. 67. pramada, spiritual inertia moha, delusion 66. (which must be overcome muladhara cakra, see cakra. for spiritual progress) 29, 46. muni, ascetic 88. prana, vital energy associated muyacca (mstarca) condition with paryapti (see also paryof detachment of one's own apti) 3, 56, 57, 63, 65, 66, 75, body 13. 87, 102, 105, 106, 115, 146, nama karma, see karma. 168, 239. nilalesya, see lesya. prana japa, union of recitation nimitta, instrumental factor with vital energy 67. 20, 21. pranayama, conscious breathnirjara, eradication of the ing exercises 199, 220. effects of past actions. pratikramana, withdrawl from niscaya naya, transcendental misdeeds 42. point of view 173. pratisamlinata, countermandoja ahara, sustenance drawn ing of the lures of the sensein the first moment of the organs 25. foetal life 102. praiyakhyana, renunciation of padma lesya, see lesya. future misdeeds 10, 11, 16, padmasana, a yogic lotus-pos- 17, 20, 42, 48, 49. ture 59. preksa, concentration of perpadminis, women emitting an ception 64, 80, 2. 8. odour similar to that of the preksa dhyana, perceptive pink lotus plant 114. meditation 12, 86, 131, 143, paraghata nama karma, see 154, 155, 164, 182, 183, 192, karma. 193, 197, 198, 210, 212, 214, paramatma, the pure, unconta- 215, 216, 223, 239, 240, 241, minated, consciousness 125, 242. 189. Caitanya-kendra-meditation paryapti, at the commence- on the centres of conscious. ment of new life acquisition ness 140. of capacities for vital proce- deha-, see sariru-, sses of life (see also prana) dirgha svasa--, concentrated 102, 105. perception of deep breaih. ahara-, paryapti responsible ing 102.

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GLOSSARY sarira, concentrated perception of body 58, 78, 233. samavrtti svasa-, preksa of alternate breathing, i.e., drawing in air through one nostril and releasing it through another 106, 147, 148. svasa-, concentrated perception of breathing 161, 182, 233. pudgala, matter 18, 48, 68, 77, 87; atomic particles 101, 147, 231, 232. puraka, inhalation in controlled breathing exercises 199. purvas, the most ancient scriptures of the Jainas 29, 105. rasa, juice 104. rasa nama karma, see karma. raudra dhyana, see dhyana. Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka 123. rddhis, supernatural powers 34. recaka, exhalation in controlled breathing exercise 199. Rsi, perceiver of Truth 212, 235, 236, sadhaka, self-reliant person doing spiritual exertion 32, 39, 103, 151. sadhana, spiritual exertion 1, 2, 9, 12, 15, 19, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 58, 59, 61, 72, 82, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 100, 102, 104, 106, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123 126, 129, 130, 131, 249 132, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 149, 151, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 168, 172, 176, 177, 183, 190, 201, 209, 218, 219, 220, 221, 223, 235, 236. sahasrara cakra, see cakra. sailesi, the fourteenth (last) stage of spiritual (meditational) progress (see gunasthana) 230. samadhi, state of profound meditation 123, 236. samavrtti svasa preksa, see preksa dhyana. as samayika, consciousness free from all dua'ities such pleasure and pain, like and dislike 166, 169, 170, 185, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 196, 197, 199. sammohana, hypnosis 178. samvara, stopping the influx of karma into the soul 11, 16, 67. samyag darsana, right perception 13. samyama, self-discipline 10; moral discipline 16. sarira nama karma, see karma. sarira paryapti, see paryapti. sarira preksa, see preksa dhy ana. sarvangasana, a yogic posture involving all limbs 59. sevala, algae 1. siddhas, emancipated souls 143, 156. siddhi, emancipation 11; accomplishment of supernatural

Page #263
250 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND powers 172, 176, 201, 225. sirsasana, a yogic posture practised by standing on the head 59. sparsa nama karma, see karma. sraddha, profound aspiration 70, 71, 143. sravana, hearing 10, 11. srutajnana, scriptural know ledge 225. sruti, canonical literature 145. sukla dhyana, see dhyana. sukla lesya, see lesya. sukra, semen 69. susumna, spinal cord 64, 70, 71, 146, 147, 152. svadhisthana cakra, see cakra. svara sastra, the science of breathing 147. svasa preksa, see preksa dhyana. svasocchvasa nama karma, see karma. taijasa (body), a subtle body responsible for the producof bio-electricity 8, 52, 63, 87, 97, 99, 100, 109, 115, 116, 192, 238, 239. tanmurti, deeply engrossed state 24. tapa, penance; austerities 1, 11, 51, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61. tejolesya, see lessa. tirthankara, see arhat 31, 72, 114, 168. tridanda, a bundle of three sticks 89. udyota nama karma, see karma. upadana, basic factor 20. upasaka, spiritual aspirant 70. vacanagupti, control of speech 177. vaikriya (body), the body generally possessed by gods and hellish beings; more subtle than the gross body possessed by earthly beings. He who has developed certain supernatural powers can possess this body which is capable of being transformed into desired shape and size : 1. vairagya, detachment from sensual pleasures 63. varna nama karma, see karma. vasana, usage for sensual plea sure 63. vata, air 128, 233. vedaniya karma, see karma. Vedanta, one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy 101. vicaya dhyana, meditation taking the form of intense search for various aspects of Truth 216. vijnana, contemplative know ledge 10, 11, 15. virya, semen 64; energy 87, 100, 101. virya pravada, name of one of of the purvas (see purvas) 29. vitaraga, a passion-free state of mind 33, 41, 43, 230. viveka, discernment 10, 26. viveka pratima, exercise in

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GLOSSARY 251 discernment 12, 13, 1. veksa-kusuma, a flower on the tree 92. vsksasana, a yogic posture 59. vyadhi, physical ailment 128. yoga, union 29; a system of spiritual pursuit 91, 95, 96, 118, 160; action of mind, speech and body 87, 100, 101, 116. yojana, a distance of eight miles 31.

Page #265
SUBJECT INDEX abandonment 49. jasa. -of the body, 2, 13, 15, 34, biological 85, 215. 46, 47, 48, 54, 59, 85, 86, bliss 171. 118,121, 122, 141, 152, 158, body 90, 91, 94, 96-98, 101, 169 161, 174, 182, 197, 103, 108-111, 113, 114, 118, 198, 233, 234. 158, 160, 172, 174, 175, 193, exercise in--, 12. 205, 216, 222, 225, 228, 230. anger 56, 73, 80, 81, 104, 105, taijasa (bio-electrical)-, 107, 109, 153, 153, 154, 184, 32, 63, 68, 74, 87, 97, 99, 188, 189, 207. 100, 102, 140, 115, 116, antithesis 148. 192, 226, 238, 239. anuyrata movement 138. karma-, 52, 60, 97, 99, 102anxiety 107, 185. 105, 111, 113, 115, 153, astrology 169. 163, 171, 192, 196, 238. atom 101, 147, 210, 231, 232. vaikriya-, 31. properties of-, 94, 95, 147. breath 3, 5, 6, 14, 22, 25, 46, atomic weapons, 113. 50, 63, 65, 7?ff, 87, 91, 105, attachment 4, 8, 15, 23, 25, 106, 114, 115, 120, 147, 150, 35, 138, 225. 155, 156, 161, 168, 169, 182, --and aversion 1, 12, 13, 42, 199. 49, 60, 74, 77, 85, 117, alternate-, 106, 147. 121, 131, 136, 152, 189, celebacy 59, 138. 240. cell 110, 111, 215, non-, 3, 63. cerebral cortex 133, 148. detachment 15. charms 66 67, 75, 240. aura 52, 98, 99, 184, 185. chemical 85. austerities 1, 11, 21, 37, 38, --change 86, 121, 163. 46, 51, 54, 58, 61. chromosome 113. aversion, see attachment. clairvoyance 147. behaviour, 186, 203, 236, 241. coloration 54, 56-60, 104, 124, Bible 145. 140, 141, 150, 151, 154, 183, bio-electricity, see body, tai- 193, 194, 209, 226, 231-33.

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SUBJECT INDEX auspicious-, 58, 59, 61, 231. inauspicious-, 58-61, 231. consciousness 3, 6, 7, 13, 1618, 20-29, 32, 33, 35, 37, 3943, 46-49, 53, 54-60, 62, 64, 68-70, 76, 77, 81, 82, 85, 86, 88, 92, 93, 100, 102. 104, 105, 108, 109, 116, 121, 136, 139, 140, 142, 143, 152, 158, 166, 167, 180, 181, 183, 185, 189, 191, 192, 201, 209, 214, 215, 217-19, 236, 238, 240, 241. subtle, 3, 65, 89. gross-, 3, 65, 89. empirical-, 73-75. centres of, 18, 50, 56-60, 70, 85, 87, 102, 104, 105, 140, 150, 152, 163-65, 193, 209, 221, 232, 239. sense, 159, 167, 169. mind-159, 167, 169, 212, 241. unconscious, 7, 12-14, 64, 71, 88, 107, 110, 125, 183, 196, 209. conscious, 5, 13, 97, 107, 110, ethics 234ff. 125, 139, 215. sub-conscious, 110, 125, 139. --centre of knowledge 152. -centre of perception 152. light centre 165. contemplation 81. repeated-, 177, 224, 239, 240, 241. cruelty 56, 57. deeds, effects of past, see karma. delusion 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 24, 63, 64, 66, 68, 86, 112, 113, 129-31, 136, 143, 152, 154 156, 158, 217, 241. democracy 148. despondency 107. discernment 1, 2, 10-17, 26, 27, 36-40, 42, 45-49, 81, 84. dreaming 119. emancipation 11, 14, 16, 35, 58, 75, 129, 230. emotion 45, 46, 107, 117, 120, 131, 140. 253 energy 6-13, 17, 21, 29, 30, 33-38, 46, 47, 52-64, 86, 88, 90-97, 100, 102, 106, 113, 116, 123, 168, 175, 180, 185, 187, 201, 214, 217, 226, 231. electrical-, 68. positive, 69, 71. negative-69, 71. equanimity 26, 36, 37, 40, 44, 73, 81, 105, 121, 131, 159, 166, 167, 170, 196, 197, 205, 208. evil 171. exertion 1, 4. spiritual, 1, 2, 9, 13, 15, 19, 29-33, 37-44, 50, 51, 58-61, 72, 82, 84, 85, 90, 92, 100, 102, 104, 106, 118, 120-123, 126-129ff, 140143ff, 149, 151, 154ff,160ff, 168, 169, 172, 176, 177, 183, 190, 201, 209, 218, 221, 223, 235, 236. self, 15, 29, 32, 33, 37, 38, 45, 46, 60, 95, 163, 164, 176, 233. existence 92, 97, 109, 173, 228. experience 71, 72, 97, 109, 132, 135, 144, 145, 160, 161,

Page #267
254 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND 166, 184, 188, 199, 221, 232, apurva-, 140. 236, 237, 239, 241. i Kirlian photography 98. vs argument 71, 83, 84, 89, knowledge 8-11, 15, 27-31, 35, 90, 212. 39, 41, 85, 97, 105, 109-12, faith 70-72, 156. 143, 155, 156, 175, 178, 187, fear 56, 64, 66, 104, 107, 125, 191, 216, 219, 236. 138-40. ---of other minds, 109, 157, food 128. 167. friendliness 133, 136, 146-48, self-, 1, 12, 22, 23, 161, 201. 225. pure--, 31, 42, 132, 143, 156, Gita 145. 168, 183, 202, 225, 230. ----centre, 56, 152, 178, 220. genes 113. glands 57, 85, 102, 103, 138, indeterminate--, 225. 140, 163. scriptural-, 112, 225. thyroid-, 103. comprehensive --, 10, 11, 15. God 101, 102, 190, 204. direct--, 78. gods 31, 58. indirect, 78. Grantha Sahab 145. super-sensual-, 106, 109, gravitational field 231. 110, 144, 156-158, 166, health 1, 10, 84, 86, 128, 202, 211, 215, 225. 220. Korana, 145. physical, 84, 86, 202, 242. language, limitations of, 97, mental -, 84, 86, 202ff, 242. 108, 109, 145. hereditary 179, 194. laws of nature 225. hormone 103 life, commencement of new, hypnosis 178. 102, 105. infatuation 26, 27, 29, 46, 70, matter (pudgala) 18, 48, 50, 156, 165, 238. 66, 77, 87, 97, 101, 111, 147, (self-ncgligence) 49, 100, 101, 231. 154-57, 162. massless-, 110. intuition 2, 109. meditation 30-34, 37, 38 51, karma 1, 2, 19, 26, 66, 103, 54-61, 67, 93, 95, 102, 108, 182, 183, 194, 196. 122, 123, 126, 149, 199, 224, obstructing--, 9, 112, 136. 239-31. deluding--, 198. perceptive-, 12, 58, 74, 75, influx of-, 11. 78, 86, 87, 102, 106, 131, nama-, 103, 113, 114. 140, 141, 143, 154, 155, gotra-, 113. 164, 171, 182, 183, 192, ayusya--, 113. 193, 197, 198, 210-16, 223, vedaniya---, 113. 232, 233, 239-42.

Page #268
SUBJECT INDEX contemplative-, 12, 86, 153, 193, 215, 224, 228, 232, 233, 239. evil-, 54-58, 107, 123. profound-, 123, 154, 236. colour, see coloration. mental disease 1.8. mind 91-93, 97, 112, 113, 115, 118, 120, 125, 132, 14), 151, 155, 156, 158, 167, 169, 173-75, 181, 191, 199, 203-5, 230, 232, 239, 242. conscious-, 69, 95, 109, 168. control of-, 77, 91, 92. -reading faculty of, 157. meteriality of 2, 6, 9, 97. functions of, 167. training of 172. unconscious-, 109, 125, 168, 175, 195. subconscious, 24, 109, 125. miraculous (supernatural) power 31, 34, 94, 95, 172, 176, 201, 224, 225. Multiplicity, doctrine of, 146, 148. naturopathy 178, 198. navel 105. nervous system, 18, 20-23, 69, 85, 86, 90, 102, 140, 152, 175, 178, 215. sensory nerve 18. motor nerve 18, 19. non-absolutism 146, 148. non-violence 73, 82, 136. pain 117, 125, 128, 131, 159, 161, 171, 183, 184, 204, 236. para-psychology 179, 194, 195. passions 2, 13, 26-29, 33, 37, 41-43, 49, 60, 71, 117, 121, 255 124, 128, 136, 138, 142, 181, 184, 201, 214, 217, 219, 225, 230. patience 107. peace 1. penance, see austerities. perception 3, 5, 7-9, 38, 79-81, 86, 110, 131. 135, 140, 155, 164, 210, 232. knowledge, 8, 48, 83, 112, 113, 136, 181, 183. soul-, 22, 75, 192. self, 5, 7, 22, 23, 51, 74, 75, 152, 172, 177, 193. breath-, 74, 75, 76, 86, 102, 106, 107, 118, 140, 141, 149, 150, 152, 161, 162, 168, 177, 220, 233. direct-, 78. body, 73, 78, 79, 85, 100, 102, 119, 121, 152, 155, 161, 233. animesa-, 80, 174. mind--, 75. consciousness-, 75. personality (see transformation). philosophy 211-213, 216, 221. 227, 229. physiology 111, 113, 125, 139, 175, 194. pleasure 117, 120, 131, 154, 159, 169, 184, 236. postures 50, 59. pride 81, 104, 153, 154, 188, 189. psychiatry 181, 205, 208. psychic centres (see consciousness, centres of).

Page #269
256 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND psychic colours (see colora- tion). psychokinesis 174. psychology 110, 194. psycho-therapy 166. relaxation 34, 84, 119, 121, 122. religion 125, 163, 212. renunciation 1, 2, 10, 11, 1620, 27, 43, 48, 49, 84, 05, 117, 132. scepticism 72. science 98, 114, 145, 164, 2091f, 226, 227. ---and spiritualism 104. self-discipline 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 17, 19, 22, 23, 26, 32, 33, 37, 39, 40, 45, 46, 84, 86. moral-, 16, 49. self-realization 5, 7, 12, 46, 49, 52, 70, 78, 138, 144, 156, 172, 176, 177, 192, 201, 217. sensation 215, 217. sense-organs 227, 228. sex-centre 56, 57, 60, 61, 66, 68, 69, 71, 104, 105, 165. somatic 6, 17, 91. extra-, 6, 17, 91. psycho-, 128, 181. soul 87, 88, 98, 108, 109, 125, 134, 135, 156, 158, 199, 209, 230. outer-., 125, 177. inner-, 125, 136. supreme-, 58, 43, 65, 125 135, 136, 143, 189, 211. sound 115, 156, 226. spinal cord 64, 69-71, 103, 146, 147, 152, 175, 215. spiritualism 212, 234ff. suffering 1, 2. suggestion (bhavana) 23, 24, 59, 67, 68, 71, 177, 178, 190, 213, 239, 240. auto-, 23, 24, 59, 67, 68, 70, 71, 177, 178, 213. suppression 198. telepathy 168. tension 107, 117. mental-, 118, 119, 120ff, 128, 129, 152, 160, 161, 166, 181, 182, 237, 238, 241. emotional-, 124, 128. physical, 118, 120, 124, 160. thesis 148. third eye 112. time 30, 42, 120, 164, 203, 209, 226, 231. tolerance 32, 203, 204, 206. transformation -of personality (integration) 9, 10, 13, 25, 37ff, 43, 44, 59, 61, 65, 105, 132, 135, 139, 142, 156, 163, 164, 169, 171, 178, 179, 183, 186, 189, 191, 195, 200, 201, 205-7, 216, 219, 242. --of soul, 104, 105, 137, 138. --of attitude 217. truth 73, 77, 82, 88, 138, 143, 144, 149, 151, 156, 171, 186, 203, 210ff, 217-19, 224, 237. universe 58. vibrations 2", 52, 63, 64, 68, 69, 72, 73, 81, 85, 218. -of soul 65.

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SUBJECT INDEX 257 --of breath 3, 6, 66, 149, 238. of karma 65-67, 238. --of body 3, 6, 14, 177, 238, 239. ---of mind 3, 71, 75. --of feeling 3, 76, 190. ---of vital energy 47, 63, 65, 238. -of delusion 66. natural-, 65. artificial--, 65. counter-, 68, 239. vital energy (prana) 3, 6, 8, 21, 46, 56, 57, 63-68, 70, 75, 76, 86, 87, 102, 105, 106, 115, 146, 168, 169, 184, 219, 239. wave 229, 230. weightlessness 173. Yoga 9, 29, 91, 95, 96, 101, 116, 172. Hatha-, 57, 64, 146, 157.

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CORRIGENDA Note : Misprint of a word, whether repeated often in the book, is given only once here.) Page Line Misprint Correct Version Samvara samvara retracing from renunciation of the the past future turmeric myrobalan extraordinary knowledge power of the sense-organs counterparts capable of being of material transformed in any bodies shape and size fixing motion- concentration of less eyes perception vita! vital men man knowledge- neurons tissues which which as soon as soon as Kirliyans Kirlian Sarira paryapti paryapti responsible for body's anatomy ahara paryapti paryapti responsible for metabolism sasrta sastra equality equanimity present with to 95 98, 99 101 7 15 29, 1 18 101 18 36 105 107 107 110 13, 14 16 23 past

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CORRIGENDA 259 Page Line Misprint Correct Version 113 120 120 122 130 134 135 138 140 141 152 11, 14, 20 16 152 154 21 King 154 157 157 160 160 161 lengevity longevity nothng nothing minds thoughts sumum summum unconsiously unconsciously adhyamma adhyatma seet he see the movemont movement dhynaa dhyana [Insert 'perception of caitanya kendra' after 'breathing'.) centres centre channelization canalization starting staring Prince spices spies no body nobody pactitioner practitioner kayosarga kayotsarga Kajolsarga Kayot sarga Theoritical Theoretical inhalling inhaling exhalling exhaling can not cannot losses loses remaind remained alone remain as it is unprecedent unprecedented heat heart Drsta Drasta achive achieve Delete the word 'add breath breathe Tirthankaras tirtharkaras Samayika Samayika emperical empirical siddhis siddhis 161 161 40 14, 35 161 162 162 162 162 17 30 33 164 13 164 164 164 165 168 168 169 169 172 38 21 12 35 15, 18 37 22

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260 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Page Line Misprint Correct Version 172 173 173 174 174 174 174 177 177 177 177 177 177 178 179 179 180 181 181 182 siddhis siddhis Rupakosa Rupakosa Acarya Acarya Kapiladeva Kapiladeva exertes exerts energy energy godess goddess Vivekar anda Vivekanarda ananyadarsi ananyadarsi Vacangupati vacanagupti manugopti mano gupti Kayagupti kayagupti feeling repeated contemplation Bhavitatma Bhavitatma centres centre heriditary hereditary draves drives [Insert 'to' after 'able'] thelr their lunatics lunacy medicenes medicines Bharata Bharata colourations colorations Cakravarti Cakravarti Dharma Dharn a jumbudvipa Jambudvipa coditioned conditioned meterial material beings begins enrgy energy possesion possession serch search burglers burglars exhelerating exhilarating [Insert the words 'more the after 'the'] 37 40 182 14 27, 31 - 8 9, 22 15 183 183 183 183 184 184 185 186 187 187 188 188 188

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CORRIGENDA Page 189 189 189 189 189 189 190 190 190 190 190 191 190 192 192 192 193 194 195 195 196 196 196 197 197 197 197 197 197 198 198 198 198 199 199 199 Line 4 7 20 33 35 35 4 12, 13 14 14 16 20 30 1 22, 25 29 15 20 15 2222 23 20 31 1 7 7 14 23 34 3 5 6 2137 22 5 Misprint paramatma Atoneis conciousness paramatma Atonement is consciousness inage image [Delete of' after 'image'] arhat Bhavana Mahavira Kama Rrsna repliea fraugth they purprse taijasa practioner produce elephent strorehouse relinguish is and Correct Version supress preksa Acarya and Hemacandra Ayurvedic uncomitted arhat Bhavana Mahavira puraka is. Rama Krsna replica fraught the [Put full stop after 'psyche' instead of after 'his'] power satisfactory secrete purpose taijasa practitioner produces elephant powerful satisfactorily secret store house relinquish elightened caused [Delete 'to' after 'simply'] has end enlightened ceased suppress preksa Acarya Hemacandra Ayurvedic uncommitted 261 puraka it

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262 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Page Line Misprint Correct Version 1 fell feel [Put a 'dash' before 'dormant'] as 200 201 203 20) 204 204 204 204 23 24 205 14 23 24 205 205 205 206 206 206 206 206 206 206 8, 11 12, 13 12 16 207 207 208 203 [Remove the word 'action' with] requitsite requisite cosequences consequences qandary quandary Secretiveness Secrecy charges changes stablizes stabilizes [insert the word 'be' after 'to'l cheerful cheerfulness erractic erratic diginity dignity courtsey courtesy mentality mentally unheathy unhealthy Bhikhana Bhikhana Bhiksu Bhiksu lied lay enthusiasam enthusiasm ro to mentallty mentally cosequence consequence sadhana sadhana Darsana Darsana [Insert full stop after 'never'.) [Insert full stop after 'atom".] querries queries proceeds proceed conscious centres of consciouscentres ness Dharmya Dharmya dhyana dhyana passifying pacifying clearers clearer can be change can be changed become becomes 208 209 210 210 211 212 215 215 215 217 218 219 220

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CORRIGENDA Page 221 222 222 223 223 223 224 224 224 224 224 225 227 228 230 230 231 231 231 231 232 233 233 234 234 235 235 236 237 238 238 Line 38 .0 10 15 20 22 14 19 27 28 30 16 20 35 24 36 9 20 34 40 40 26 26 2 5 28 35 34 16 3 19, 20 Misprint apperant disensions produe enmies of accuml te retrospective Anyatva anu preksa a new wheather padma pudgal Acaranga Correct Version Ekatva anu preksa Anitya there struta in jnana sruta jnana as certain apparent dissensions rsi spiritul excitment produces enemies off ascertain [Insert 'is' after 'which'] vitaraga vitaraga sailesi sailesi anew whether padma pudgala Acaranga Bnagavana it well... diseases accumulate repeated Anyatva anupreksa Ekatva anupreksa Anitya three vat pitta ordilife [Insert 'to' after 'given'] Tuladhara Tuladhara vata pitta ordinary life rsi spiritual excitement 263 Bhagavan spiritually, it results in self-realization and mentally, it frees one from tensions as well as psychosomatic diseases.

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264 THE MYSTERIES OF MIND Page Line Misprint Correct Version is of 238 238 238 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 240 240 240 240 240 Ealse False horixons horizons Strong strong [Delete comma after 'removing'] [Insert 'upon' after "concentration'] [Insert full stop after 'heart'] under standing understanding chemican chemical vibration vibrations brins brings externel external mantras mantras Fales False sense sensual

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