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THE YOGA PHILOSOPHY
assimilated to or controlled by the mind. They must be drawn away from their objects and fixed upon the mind and assimilated to it, so that by preventing the transformations of the thinking principle, the senses also will follow it and will be immediately controlled. Not only that, but they will be ever ready to contribute collectively towards the absorbing meditation of any given thing at any moment and even always.
17. Passing through these five stages, यम, नियम, आसन, प्राणायाम and प्रत्याहार the yogi purifies the inner self by avoiding distraction. We then come to the sixth stage or contemplation. It is the fixing of the mind on something, external or internal.32 If internal it may be the tip of the tongue or the nose or any convenient spot. If external it may be any suitable image of the deity, or a picture or any similar object. Of course it is necessary to bear in mind that any such thing contemplated upon externally or internally should be strictly associated with nothing but holiness and purity. The mind should be able to picture in itself the object even in its absence in all vividness and at an instant's notice.
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18. The next stage is or absorption, i. e. the entire fixing of the mind on the object thought of to the extent of making it one with it.33 In fact the mind should at the time be conscious of itself and the object.
32. YS 3.1 33. YS 3.2 34. YS 3.3
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Proceed a step further and we come to the eighth stage, the . The absorption is to be carried to the extent of forgetting the act and of becoming the thing thought of.34 This state of implies two distinct states of consciousness unified in one. The first-which
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