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THE SECRET OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
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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 Mahāprāna dhyāna 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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