________________
spiritual knowledge, you must go to a spiritually competent
teacher.
The appropriate spiritual teacher should be a person who has considered and discovered the realities of atma and anatma; bondage and liberation, and who practices a spiritual path. Such a teacher must have attained direct experience of Truth through spiritual disciplines. This is the only kind of teacher you should take instruction from. The grace of the teacher is also necessary for success in the spiritual pursuit. When you have learned the methods for inner meditation, you should practice diligently. Moral rectitude is also quite essential in this spiritual pursuit. This is the seventh limb of yoga, dhyāna (meditation; focus). When one has become completely established in dhyāna then one attains Samadhi (union).
Samadhi: (The State of Divine Union)
Samadhi25 is the eighth limb of Yoga. Samadhi is of two kinds: One type of Samadhi is samprajanata—a joyful state in which higher consciousness working through the mind in all stages. The second type is asamprajanata. In this type of samadhi the mind is completely absorbed in a state of pure awareness and all of one's desires vanish. Generally speaking, the state of Samadhi
86