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PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
with the eyes of his ordinary sense-perception which must necessarily retain a measure of distortion.
Tuhast Fr: 11811 4. When these three-concentration, meditation and
absorption-are brought to bear upon one subject, they
are called samyama. Samyama is simply a convenient technical term which describes the three-fold process by which the true nature of an object is known.
- तज्जयात् प्रज्ञाऽऽलोकः ॥५॥ 5. Through mastery of samyama comes the light of know
ledge.
तस्य भूमिषु विनियोगः ॥६॥ 6. It must be applied stage by stage.
Patanjali warns us not to go too fast. It is no use attempting meditation before we have mastered concentration. It is no use trying to concentrate upon subtle objects until we are able to concentrate upon gross ones. Any attempt to take short cuts to knowledge of this kind is exceedingly dangerous. One may, for example, obtain certain psychic experiences while under the influence of drugs. But such experiences, so obtained, can bring no lasting spiritual benefits. On the contrary, they are generally followed by a relapse into complete agnosticism and despair.
The Vishnu Purana, one of the Hindu scriptures, teaches the practice of meditation by stages, beginning with the worship of God with form and culminating in the realization of the oneness of Atman and Brahman:
Meditate on Vishnu, the Dweller in the heart of all beings, seated on a lotus within the rays of the sun, his body luminous, adorned with
