________________
44
THE SYSTEMS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
is trance proper is the forgetting of all idea of the act, and the second-the more important factor is the becoming the object thought of. Mere passive trance is a dangerous practice as it leads to the madness of irresponsible mediumship,35 It is therefore necessary to lay stress upon the second part of the connotation of the term HAI.
20. The three stages, contemplation, absorption and trance are in fact stages of contemplation; for the thing thought upon, the thinker and the instrument together with other things which are attempted to be excluded are all present in the first, i. e. contemplation, all except the last, i. e. two, are present in the second and nothing but the thing is present in the third. This trance gaf however is not complete yoga, for it is only fapient or conscious BH , having something to rest upon.
HTH is the technical name for these three inseparable processes taken collectively. When the three are successively practised with respect to the one and the same object at any one time it is called 147.36 But it is practised by stages. One cannot pass all at once to the highest kind of ef any more than one can think of something without first knowing it. For example, when *4# is practised with respect to a mental image, the process will tend from contemplating upon the gross to [that upon] the subtle. The image may be thought of in all parts, then without the decorations, then
35, Gandhi's meaning is that the hypnotizer's 'medium' too
is forgetful of all idea of being active but that he is not concentrating his mind on anything; this is so because whatever positive observations the 'medium' makes are due to the hypnotizer's suggestion' rather than to an
endeavour on the part of the medium' himself. 36. YS 3.4
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
