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THE PRACTICAL DHARMA
man lies in the fact that while the former is master of his senses, body and mind, and may remain absorbed in meditation for as long a time as he pleases, the latter has never anything more than an unsteady, wavering and feeble current of thought at his command. The result is that while the yogi solves the riddle of the universe, and ultimately also establishes his soul in its natural, effulgent purity, the layman remains entangled in the meshes of his karmas, however much he might boast of taking a hand in the management of the world.
The instrument which enables the yogi to remove the jñāna-and darśana-obstructing impurities of matter from his 'system' is the point of his highly concentrated manas (attention or mind), which derives its energy from an indomitable iron will bent upon the conquest of karmas. The sharp' point of this powerful instrument, when applied to the centres of concentration already referred to, begins to pierce the layers of matter which compose the obstructing veil, and in due course of time, the duration of which varies with the energy of exertion in each individual case, cuts asunder the last knot of karma, flooding the individual consciousness with the divine effulgence of knowledge, and raising the conquering soul to the supreme and worshipful status of Godhood.
Such is the physical process of emancipation which is purely scientific in its nature. As regards the length of time necessary for the realisation of the Ideal, that really depends on the intensity of dhyāna, or concentration of mind, so that where the will has acquired the mastery over the desiring nature in the fullest possible degree, an antaramahurata (a period of less than 48 minutes) is quite sufficient to destroy the karmic bonds, while in other cases it may take millions and millions of years.
Dhyāna, it should be stated, is of four kinds :
(1) arta dhyāna which is the cause of pain and arises from dwelling on the loss of an object of desire, the association with an undesirable person or thing, bodily suffering, and envy;
(2) raudra dhyāna which implies the absorption of the mind in hiṁsā and other forms of sin;
