Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Sahana Vavatu, Sahana Ubhunaktu, Sahaveeryam Karavavahai, Tejasvinavaditamastumavidvishavahai. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Om Yogena Chittasya Padena Vacham Malam Sharirasya Chavaitya Kena Upakarottam Pravaram Muninam Patanjalim Pranjali Rana Dosmi I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. In our two last classes we discussed two types of Samadhi, Savitarka and Savichara, Nirvitarka as well as Nirvichara. What are these? Savitarka is to think of any one of the gross objects aware fully of time, space and causation or another way of putting it. Whenever we see an object we hear the sound that is the name then there is the idea formed of it and the resultant knowledge. Whenever we think of, we see, experience any object this is what happens. But when our concentration becomes very very deep then we forget the time and the space and everything else. That is called Nirvitarka and the next stage is to go even deeper. So we briefly discussed about it that every single gross object has its counterpart, its cause. That is the gross elements have their cause as the subtle elements. In this world every object is the outcome of a combination of five gross elements. I am sure you remember them Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi. Space, air, fire, water and the earth. These are gross. Why are they gross? Because we see them through our five sense organs. We experience them through our five sense organs. These have their origin. That origin is called the subtle five elements. And even when we think of any one of those five subtle elements, subtle air, subtle space, subtle fire, subtle water and subtle earth, even then there is awareness of time, space and causation. Whenever we see any object we are aware of time, space and causation. That's why we say it is now. I have seen this in the past. Now also I am seeing. This is here. I have seen this object in India also, in America also. And whenever we see for example this table, you see it is made up of wood. Are you aware now? I will give you an example to make this point clear. Supposing there are two tables. One is made up of wood and another is made up of iron. Now when we look at the wooden table, are you not aware of the difference between this is not a steel table but it is a wooden table. How do we know? We know because supposing you are freezing to death and you want fire, which table would you break? So even though explicitly we do not point it out, but we are completely aware that the cause of this object is this, completely aware. So there is also a meditation when we can focus on these subtle elements but so much absorbed that we are not aware of time, space and causation. Now to understand this, we have to stretch our imagination. You are reading a book and if it is a boring book, what is happening to you? You are aware of time, space and intensely, acutely aware of the author, of anything. But if it is so wonderful, it makes you just go, then you are not remembering. You are only enjoying that object. The more our concentration, the more would be our joy. This is invariably connected together. What is happiness? I define happiness as forgetting time, space and causation. What is unhappiness? Acutely being aware of time, space and causation. That's why you look at the watch every second. Why this damned time is passing so slow? Is the time passing slow or is it a state of your mind? So we have discussed these things. Now we are entering into the third step. But before entering, Patanjali discusses something very very important. There are three points to be remembered here. When a person becomes master of these two lower steps of concentration or meditation, whatever you like to call it, then there must be a result. Every action has a result. So concentration also must have a result. So what is the result of focusing, becoming a master of these two lower steps? I also must give you an example. The higher step always includes the lower step. Now one of our Swamis has given a beautiful example. This process of spiritual progress or concentration is compared to a six-staged rocket. You know when a rocket is fired, it goes to some distance and then the lower part of it is discarded. It gives a push to the other five and then it drops down. When that last one, the fifth one, after going some time, what does it do? It gives another push and then it falls down. The fourth one also does. Third one also does. Second one also does. Even the last one also, same thing happens. We will come to that. Now these four stages you know, lower vittarka, higher vittarka. Savittarka and Nirvittarka. Lower vichara and higher vichara. Four stages. What happens? When the first stage is discarded, the second one doesn't depend upon the first one. When you reach the third one, it doesn't depend upon the second one. When you reach the fourth one, it doesn't depend upon the third one. When you reach the fifth one, it doesn't depend upon the fourth one. It just discards. How does it discard? It doesn't discard. This one automatically falls off. Like Sri Ramakrishna used to give a beautiful example. When you have some injury and a scab forms there, as soon as that injury is healed, you don't need to make special effort to remove the scab. What happens? Automatically it falls off by itself. Once that purpose is over, it falls off. Another example is as soon as the building is complete, the scaffolding is totally removed. The builder himself removes it. So these are the examples. Now what did we discuss? The first four stages, the lower step. Each step has two parts and so four steps, Savitarka, Nirvitarka and Savichara and Nirvichara. A man has become a total master of these four types. So when he has reached the peak of the fourth step, which is Nirvichara, means complete focus upon any subtle element, then what is the result? That is a very great progress. What is the result? The result is, so it is said here, When a person becomes a master, Nirvichara is a state of concentration on a subtle element not aware of time, space and causation. When a person becomes a master of that, what is the result? His mind becomes filled with tremendous amount of joy. Why joy? We will discuss that point a little later. Why joy? Because every object gives so much of joy. And when he has mastered himself, all the joy that any object can give in this world becomes his. He is a master of an object. Now here one point has to be cleared. We use the word controller, master. You have heard so many. He is a master of science. He is a master of cookery. He is a master of a horse etc. etc. etc. What does really mastery mean? What does really control mean? You know these old Romans, they used to have slaves. They used to call themselves as masters. Slave means master. But really speaking the historians tell us who is the real slave? The master is the real slave because he can't move one inch without the help of the slave. As I mentioned to you, funny thing you know, in Bangalore when I visited the house of a devotee, a plaque was written on the doorstep before you enter. I am the master of this house with the kind permission of my wife. If we depend upon anything, we are not masters. Dependency is slavery. Independence is mastery. So we must become masters of ourselves. A person who has attained to this state of concentration, he is a master of everything. What does that really mean? Say there is a gloomy weather, very cold, no sun and it is misty. You know misty? Mystic, the word mystic, mystery. But I don't accept the English translation. Mystic means mysterious, mystery, something which you cannot know. That is the real meaning. Say misty, Bengali misty. I always like Bengali misty. The person becomes very, very sweet. Why sweet? Because he exudes the greatest amount of ananda, bliss. That's why whoever goes to him, the very presence of him, he gains tremendous joy. How much joy that person must be experiencing himself or herself. When he could give so much of joy to others. So adhyatma prasadah. Adhyatma means the mind becomes, the body also and the mind also, becomes absolutely filled with peace. No hesitation is there. Why is there no hesitation? Why is his mind filled with peace? Because the simple reason is that the person becomes master of any object. Do you want to think about it? Yes. And you don't want to think about it? No, I don't want to think about it. The moment he says I do not wish, that object as it were becomes non-existent so far as that person is concerned. That is the tremendous controlling power of this great yogi who had attained to that state. Not only that, this subject actually belongs to the next state. But I will just give a brief introduction to it now. How do we get joy from any object? Because the object has the joy or the person thinks this object is very joyous to us. What is the law? The law is that no object has neither joy nor grief or misery or unhappiness. Joy and grief, they belong to their qualities of the mind. That depends upon us. It doesn't depend upon, the object is completely neutral. That is why a very sweet mango, if you offer to somebody who is not accustomed to a mango, it doesn't appear to him as okay it is a fruit, it is too sweet, I don't like too sweet. There are people who say I do not like too sweet things. Any object in this world, there will be people who love it, there will be people who hate it. Take any object in this world. So if joy or grief is the very nature of an object, then you cannot get rid of it. And everyone must experience the same thing. But no, what we see is the same object gives different reactions to different people. Not only that, the same object gives either sometimes happiness, sometimes unhappiness. Depending upon what? Depending upon the mood of the person. Mood of the person, you think over it. These are beautiful things to be thought over. So what do we learn from this? We learn that if we can master, if our mind becomes the master, just command, I would like to get the greatest joy in this object. And you will get the highest joy that no other man can get who is not a master of it. Suppose there is a very, very bitter food like, you know, bitter gourd. How many of us like it? We have to brainwash ourselves to eat it. It is good for diabetes and it is wonderful for health. As a general rule, whatever is tasty is bad for good health. And whatever is not tasty, very good for health. This is a general rule and more or less it is true also, it is right also. A man who is a master, he decides. I am going into these details because this is how we are affected in our day-to-day life. You become friends with someone and you are very happy to be friendly with that person. Maybe some difference of opinion develops. After that, slowly you start hating that very person. The very person who gave you at one time so much of joy has now started giving so much of the opposite. Where is the fault? Is it in that object, in that person or is it a change in our mind? Similarly, the opposite thing also. Here is a person whom we need to hate. He is a wicked person, he is this. But supposing you become a saint, what happens? How do you look upon that person now? That very person becomes representation of God, God himself. So if that person is abusing you, who is abusing you? God. This is the experience of saints, every saint. And we don't want, we want to be saints without experiencing all these things. That's never going to happen. That's why we have to go through all this circus. And then, circus, don't laugh when I use the word circus. Ramakrishna has seen an English woman standing on a running horse and then jumping through some rings and landing exactly on the horse and said, wonderful, she must be a yogi, circus yogi. Because she must have practiced for a long time. Don't think anything would come just like that. So practice, abhyasa, that is what is called cause of mastery, secret of mastery. Abhyasa and vairagya, again and again. So let me now conclude this. I said three effects when we master the fourth step. The first effect is we have become master of every object in this world. Every object, physical object in this world is constituted of five gross elements. And these five gross elements have come out of five subtle elements. So a yogi becomes a master. What does that imply? Do you know what it implies? It implies he is a master of the world. He is a master of the world. That means he is not dependent upon the world. That means he is getting joy out of, he must be getting joy from somewhere. That is the next stage. If you are not dependent, I don't care for it. Okay, when do you say I don't care for it? Only when you are getting what you want to get, not from that object, but from somewhere else. But here there is no somewhere else because the whole world is totally rejected. Then from where will it come? That is why the scriptures tell us, we are like, each one of us are like a Mrega Navi. There is an animal, musk, it is called musk deer. A beautiful fragrance, enchanting fragrance is coming out of its navel and it is running mad from morning till evening. I want to get, and it was searching. Ultimately it could not find, so it was tired. It put its head in between its four legs and then suddenly it found out that fragrance is coming from out of its own self. So a yogi, before we become yogis, we are searching for that fragrance, for that joy. And we are thinking it is somewhere outside. But when we become masters, then where do we discover it? Right within our own selves. This is the first point. So what happens? First, we become the masters of the entire world. We can do away with the entire world. Second, we get all the joy that is there from within our own selves. What is the third thing that happens? The mind becomes so powerful, so pure. Let us always remember purity is the result of real concentration. Spiritual concentration always brings purity. Whereas worldly concentration always leads to the opposite effect. The more a person focuses on a worldly object, then he becomes more and more worldly, more impure. What does that mean? Instead of becoming a master, he becomes more and more of a slave to that very object. And we are already that. Now we are trying to get out of it. So this is what happens. Then the third thing that happens is when we reach that state, when we reach the peak of the fourth stage, Nirvichara Samadhi, then what happens is all this time our attention is focused outside. What is there? What is there? What is that? I want that. I want this. Now you have seen the whole world. What happens now? The focus turns inward. Then what does he find? We know what he finds. Whenever we are dealing, ordinary people, with this world, now we are dealing to experience any object, we need three things. If you remember, I am asking this question because this is a reminder for you whether you heard my last lecture properly. And when I ask such questions, some people smile beautifully and I know by that that they don't remember. Whenever we experience any object, first of all, the sense of I, Ahankara should be there. Ego. Secondly, the mind must be present. Thirdly, the object must be present. So there must be the subject, there must be the object and there must be something which connects the subject with the object which is the mind. Now this man who has reached the peak of the fourth stage, he has reached mastery over the whole world. That means he is free from every object. He is a master of the world. So how many things are remaining? The object is gone. How many things are remaining now? Only two. What are they? The ego and the instrument. Grahita, Grahana, Grahya. Grahita means the experiencer, the knower. Grahana means the mind, the instrument through which he experiences. And Grahya means the object which he experiences through the instrument of the mind. Now he has become a master like the rocket. The four stages are gone. Now his mind turns inward. What does he find? Only we are two. What are those two? I and the mind. Now he has no choice but to focus on the mind. That's what we are going to discuss right now. I jumped the aphorisms for those who are looking forward. We were actually discussing 17th aphorism. Now I have jumped to the 47th because for some reason Patanjali, 18th aphorism, he introduced something else about Ishwara etc. and goes on and on until the 47th he doesn't come back to the subject. So I have rearranged the aphorisms so that we can come back. There must be continuity so that we can understand. So Nirvichara Vaisharadhyaya Adhyatma Prasadaha. On gaining proficiency in Nirvichara, purity in the inner instruments of cognition is developed. That means his mind becomes very pure. It acquires the power of being focused on any object that power is attained. Now what happens? The result. I have not told you the result. Briefly I told but really I didn't tell. The next aphorism says, Ritambhara Tatra Pragnya. Pragnya means knowledge. Tatra means when a person had become master of Nirvichara, Samapatti or Samadhi, the knowledge he gains at that stage is Ritambhara. Bhara means filled. Rita means, you know, you have heard the word Ritam? Have you heard? And do you remember it every day? Every day we are saying, Om Hreem Ritam Tvam Achalo Guna Jet Gune Dhyah. Ritam means truth. So the knowledge this person, this yogi gets is absolutely truth. And what is that truth? You know what is the truth? The object and the mind, the instrument with which one recognizes the object, they are originating from the same source. Prakruti. Prakruti gives rise to egotism. Prakruti gives rise to the mind. Prakruti again gives rise to this whole universe. At this stage of our life we do not realize that one. But to make the point clear, I will give you, I have already given you this example, but I will repeat again. Many times I have to repeat myself to make this point clear. Now you go to sleep at night or daytime also. I was about to blurt out at night time, but that is not necessarily true. It could be at any given time. We are masters of, you know. We go to sleep and then we create the entire waking state. We create the entire waking experience. But when you dream, do you call it dreaming or waking? When we are dreaming, that is our waking state. When we wake up, then that we call it dream state. You see the point? And then what do you see there? What do you find there? Exactly the same thing. You are there. Your mind is there. And the whole world is there. You are there. Your mind is there through which you grasp. In your dream world also, you can grasp the objects only through your mind. There is no choice. We are like in a way tortoises. You know tortoise? Wherever it goes, carries. How did you find out that? What is that called? They sleep. Their homes, their cars become their homes. Caravans. They got it from this by seeing a tortoise. No question of, there is no mortgage, there is nothing else. Wherever it goes, it has a house. If it is raining, it simply withdraws its head into itself. That is it. So it is a permanent home. So our mind, wherever we go, whether we are in the waking state, dream state, dreamless state, we carry this. Only in one state mind becomes separated. What is that state? State of? No. State of Samadhi. Yes. Your mind is still there in the form of ego in the state of Sushupti. Deep sleep. It is still there. That is why you remember. Oh, I slept well. I did not know anything. It is there. You are dreaming. You see exactly the same world. You are there. Your mind is there. The entire universe is there. How do you get it? You divided yourself into three. In dream, what did you do? Did your mind come from somewhere else? Did the outside object come? Suppose you see an elephant. Did the elephant come somewhere outside? It escaped from the London Zoo and then entered into your dream? It came, that means you transformed yourself into your special individual, into your special dream mind and also as your dream object. Is it not? What is my point? My point is you the one source have divided itself into these three. Exactly like that, the Prakriti, what yogis call, Sankhya calls Prakriti and what Vedanta calls Maya. From this Maya, it has become the ego. It has become the mind. It has also become the entire universe. That is why they say when we wake up from this, what we now call the waking state, when we wake up from this to the state of, what is that state called? Turiya. Samadhi. In that state, then we realize that there are no three. There is only one and that one is me. It is a human language because you don't stay there. I am only one because if you are aware of one, you are also aware of many. So this is the example from Prakriti, from what we call rough translation into English. Prakriti means matter or energy, whatever you call it, whatever physicists call it. This whole universe, this object has come from here and from that only has come our mind. The instrument through which we grasp things and from that only came what you call the egotism as if the Prakriti has divided itself into egotism, into the mind and into the objects called the world. The entire world becomes an object. So how did it become? Now let us also remind Prakriti consists of three gunas. Remember? Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. From the Tamasic element of Prakriti comes the object. From the Rajasic element of Prakriti comes the mind. And from the Sattvika element of the Prakriti comes our what we call buddhi or ahankara or egotism. When a yogi becomes master of this, what is called first lower four steps, then he realises his mind becomes so pure and he realises the nature of every object. Two things he realises. What are those two things? First of all he realises there is no difference between one object and the other object. As an example, suppose a physicist puts on, say let us say as an example, on his eyes a most powerful electronic microscope. Imagine. But actually he looks like this through a microscope but imagine he has put on that, as we put on the telescope, he puts on the microscope. How does the world appear to him? Suppose he looks at this table. How does it appear? As what? Atoms, molecules, particles, etc. Is it not? Energy, matter. He looks at a man, what we call man, but when he is looking, you ask him, can you point out who is a man and who is a woman and who is a table? Which is a table? Absolutely no, because everything appears to be nothing but matter. Then you will ask him, what is the matter with you? And you know what he says? Never mind. Doesn't matter. So this is what happens. He doesn't see any difference. Now when he doesn't see any difference, do you know what would be the result? When we acquire so much mastery that we do not see the difference between one object and the other object, our attachment falls off automatically. You know, we are slaves to, I like this, I don't like this. This is nice, this is sweet, this is bitter. This is very pleasant, this is very unpleasant. But when a person sees everything is the same, how does he discriminate? This is good and this is not good. That is not possible. This is the most wonderful result that comes. What is the second thing that happens? He becomes completely, when a person sees everything is the same, he becomes a master. What does it matter whether it is there or not? I am there. That is enough. Do you get what I am talking about? The mind also has come from the same source. An object also has come from the same source. Therefore why do I need an object? Because I am myself there. This state, not exactly what is meant, but as an example I am quoting from Bhagavad Gita. And he says that, When a man acquires that capacity to delight within his own self, he is totally pleased, satisfied with his own self. For him, action is a drop-off. He doesn't need to do any action. Why? Because why do we do any action? Only for one purpose. We do actions to preserve our body and to preserve our sanity. Secondly, we do actions for only two things, two purposes. What are those two things? First, to avoid what causes unhappiness. And secondly, to squeeze more amount of happiness. If you are not interested, have you noticed, your action falls down. If you are not interested in something, you won't act. But if you are interested, somebody is coming to swallow you up, immediately there would be an action. Suppose you know that if I go to this place, I get more joy. Then that impels you. But if you know that I have nothing to gain, I have nothing to lose, then actions will come to an end. This is what Bhagavad Gita says. In this connection, in this context, what it means is, when a yogi becomes master of the world, I said two things. First thing is, he becomes a master of the world. That means what? He is no more dependent upon the world. And why are we dependent upon the world? Only for one purpose. What is it? We must be getting some juice out of it. We must be getting something out of it. Juice means rasa. Rasa means happiness. So, if we are masters or independent of the world, and that means what we are getting? We have become independent. Independent means we have what we are seeking. Then only we become independent. And when we get what we want from within ourselves, then we do not want. You can let go of the whole world. It is not necessary. So this is what is called Adhyatma Prasada. Then Ritambhara Tattva Pragna, just now we discussed, when a yogi attains to that state of mastery of Nirvichara Samadhi, then whatever knowledge he gets, absolutely right knowledge, and unless we get right knowledge, we do not become masters. Unless we get right knowledge, we do not become independent. When do we become independent? Why are we attached to things? Because we expect that there is some joy in it. But what is the problem with the object of the world? We know what is the problem. Swami Vivekananda stated it so categorically, so succinctly. What did he say? Happiness comes with a crown of misery on its head. This is with regard to any object on which we are dependent. But the moment we have become independent, that joy comes from within. Here there is no reaction. There is no reaction because we are not dependent upon anything else. So this is the result that comes. What is called Ritambhara Pragna? It is truth-filled knowledge. What does it mean? Usually the 49th aphorism, this is what it wants to say. Let me first speak it out in Sanskrit. Shruta Anumana Pragnabhyam Anya Vishaya Vishesha Ardhatvat And that knowledge is different from the knowledge that is derived from testimony or through inference because it relates to particulars of the objects. What does this aphorism mean really? This is the result of becoming master of the Nirvichara Samadhi. There we get truth-filled knowledge. You look at anything, you get the truth. There is no need to depend upon anything else because the knowledge is gained and that is called yogic knowledge. Ritambhara knowledge cannot be got through normal instruments. It can be got only through yogic instruments. You know normally what we get? Long distance objects. How do you get knowledge of it? What scope do you use? Telescope. Very very minute objects. How do you get knowledge of them through? Microscope. But subtle objects. Not subtle means small. Subtle it doesn't mean even invisible. Subtle means subtle. Not available to our five gross sense organs. That is called subtle. How do we get? We need another scope. What is that scope? Vedanta scope. Only yogic scope. Yogic scope. That is the only way we can get it. So coming back to it. Shruta, Anumana, Prajnapya. Anya vishaya. Normal, our normal way of obtaining knowledge. You know through what? One is Pratyaksha, direct perception. I see you, you see me. I hear you, you hear me. I smell you, you smell me. I touch you, you touch me. Etc. I taste you, you taste me. This is how our knowledge. Normal. But there is a defect here. It may be the object is mixed with something. It may be my sense organ is defective. That is why the knowledge we get is severely limited. And severely mixed with wrong knowledge. Partial knowledge. That is why we are bound. If we get 100% knowledge, then we will be free. But this is how we get direct perception. First. What is the second means? Suppose you are looking at a hill. And you see smoke rising from that hill. What is your inference? There must be fire somewhere behind the hill. This is called inference. Inference means what? This is one way of getting knowledge. The third is called Shabda Pramana. Shabda Pramana means. Somebody who has experienced. He tells you. How does a man convey his words to you? Through words. He speaks. And you listen. Speaking means. Strictly speaking. Not speaking doesn't mean speaking. Speaking means. When you read also. What do you do? Do you hear or not? When you read. This is an interesting question. When you are reading. Do you hear it? We think. No, no, no. I am not listening. I am reading. This is a gross distinction we make. No. Really speaking. You are uttering these words within yourselves. You are reading means. You are listening. You are hearing. So someone tells us. Something. About some object. And that is how also we can get knowledge. Shruta. This is called Shruta. Hanumana means inference. That means also Pratyaksha. Direct perception. These are the sources of our knowledge that we get. But these are all intermediary indirect knowledges. Because it is not my direct experience. That is why this yogic this thing is. Even he surpasses all the sense organs. Directly he comes to know. There is a word for that in English language. Intuition. Intuition is that kind of knowledge. Which you get directly through the special faculty of the mind. Where it is uncontaminated by prejudices. By wrong interpretations. By unpleasant past experiences etc. How much we are colored unconscious. Psychology is uncovered. How much we are slavish. A man says or thinks. I am very rational. I am very clear minded fellow. Then what he speaks is errant nonsense. Why does he do? Because morning he read Times. If he reads Times his opinion is one. If he reads Guardian his opinion is totally different. And he is totally unaware that his opinion is colored by all this rubbish. And add to that a gloomy cloudy weather. And add to that one fellow you know. Many Hindus. They believe the first face that they see determines the whole day's event. So he went out. And then he had a minor accident. And he was thinking. Whose face have I seen first? Then he remembered. It was his own mother. So he was blaming this damned lady. I should not have seen her face. And then he confronted her. And then she said. So what did you do when you got up? And he said I went to the bathroom. Was there a mirror? Whose face did you see? This knowledge a yogi gets by becoming master of Nirvichara Samadhi. That knowledge is truth filled knowledge. Means it is nothing but truth. Because it is direct knowledge. And also this knowledge is superior through any type of knowledge we obtain through other means. Shruta, Anumana, Prajnapya. Prajnapya means the type of knowledge we get through other means. And they are Shruta, that which we hear. And Anumana, that which we infer. This is superior. Anya Vishaya. Vishesha Artharthvaad. Because he is going directly to the object. What do we see about object? Outside things. The colour, the size, the shape, at best the behaviour. Shruta, Anumana, Prajnapya, Anya Vishaya, Vishesha Artharthvaad. This knowledge is superior. It is much different from that derived from testimony or through inference. Because it relates to particulars. A man who gets mastery of this Nirvichara, he knows what is the real nature of every object. There is no chance of him mistaking it. So we discussed these four steps. The next step is, now as I said, he is free of every object. The whole world. The whole world is an object. He is free from the whole world. What are those two things left out now? One is the ego, another is the mind. Now still he has the tendency to objectify. Now what happens? The mind itself becomes the object. Now something strange happens. The ego is there. Ego needs an instrument. What is the instrument now? The mind. What is the object? Mind. It is the mind. One part of the mind becomes the instrument. Another part of the mind becomes the examiner. This is what psychologists are supposed to do. Because what do they do? They observe our unconscious through free association, through dreams and through certain tests, etc. They go on trying to find out. So what do we need to do? Every time we meditate, what do we need to do? We need to divide our mind into two and say one part of the mind is closely observing. What are you doing? Are you thinking of God or are you thinking of something else? Keep a watch over the mind. I also cited these examples. Sri Ramakrishna's mind, usually it doesn't stray, but whenever it tended to stray, he used to see a vision. He saw another man exactly resembling him coming with a trident and warning him, if your mind starts thinking anything else other than the Divine Mother, then I am going to pierce you with this trident. Very interesting vision. Who was that person? His own mind. A part of his own mind he kept as a watchman. And I also gave the example that when we want, we also do the same thing. Supposing you have to catch the plane at 4 o'clock and you have to get up at 1 o'clock and then go there. You only went to bed at 10.30. After, you know, all packing, I don't know, we all do it at the last minute. You have to catch and then you tell your mind, it's very important, you should not miss. You can miss Swami's class, but not an aeroplane. What do you do? I have to get up at 1 o'clock. You will see how many times you get up, don't you? How are you capable of getting up? Now usually you don't get up. What makes you get up? Because you kept your own mind, because of your interest, because of your urgency, you said to your mind, Oh mind, be alert, may not be in these words, but in essence, that's what you did. And your mind is capping. Every one hour, every half an hour, you suddenly wake up with a start and then look at the watch. Okay, still another one hour is there. So another 45 minutes, the nearer the time comes, the more you wake up. Is it not a fact? So we are capable of doing that. So why not use it? This is what Sri Ramakrishna did and this is what every great soul does. So now the third, the next higher step of Samadhi, stage of Samadhi, what is it called? Saananda Samadhi. Ananda means bliss. Meditate, meditation, concentration on the blissful aspect of your mind. Now the translation given is concentration or focus on the instrument. Which is the instrument? The mind. But why the name Saananda Samadhi? Where is the relationship between mind and Ananda? What is the secret? The mind that we know of is full of objects only. First of all it is a slave. Secondly, it is restless. Thirdly, it is full of confused knowledge. Whereas the master that he had become, his mind has become pure, his mind has become a master and his mind, in his mind, what is the last point we discussed? Ritambhara Tatra Prajna. The knowledge is correct knowledge for such a person. What is the other benefit? I forgot to tell you or the idea came, just popped into my head. You don't need to go to any psychiatrist. When a yogi reaches that state of mastery, you save a lot of money. Because you need not go to any psych because you threw as it were a most powerful light into the very bottom of your mind and any hidden motives, any hidden agendas, everything becomes crystal clear to us. How much we are slaves to this unconscious? I will come to that point in my next class. But what is important here that it is called, the Patanjali calls it Sananda Samadhi. Meditation, focus on the Ananda. You are telling that you have to meditate on the instrument of knowledge which is the mind and here you are calling it Ananda Samadhi. What is the relationship between the mind and Ananda? Very briefly, I also told you during this class. The first point that we say, no happiness or unhappiness attaches to any object. It depends upon our interpretation and our interpretation depends upon what? Why do different people interpret the same thing in different ways? For example, take a Hindu temple. As an example, Hindu temple. A Hindu temple for a Hindu is a most sacred place. It is not a building. It is the very house of the Lord. But if a fanatical Muslim sees, what is his tendency? To take a bomb and make it smithereens, send it to smithereens. This is what people are doing. Now why does he do it? That is his interpretation. This is our interpretation. Every object in this world, its value or non-value depends upon our particular interpretation. That's why same object doesn't give same value. For example, if you are a rich man and you want to present your four-year-old son a Mercedes car or a Cadillac car. Do you think he will enjoy it? You think that I will make my son very happy by presenting him a Cadillac car. No, he won't be happy. If you give a teddy bear, he is more likely to thank you than a Cadillac car. How we develop the habit of interpreting an object or an experience? There are three reasons. What is the first reason? First reason is our own habit. We are slaves of habit. I like this particular type of cooking or food. Why? Because from my childhood, I am habituated. This is the reason. The second reason why we interpret is we also are brainwashed a lot by our family, by our society, by newspapers, by televisions, etc. Just a little bit example, a bit funny, but I will give it. You know for ladies, some kind of fragrances. Now on the televisions, the advertisement comes. What is the advertisement? I have it. Why? I am worthy of it. What is the message? If you don't have it, you are an unworthy person. Fashion. Fashion is another example. What is the second reason why we interpret things? It is how the society and how the televisions, newspapers interpret for us. Fashion is one example that I have given you. Third reason, past experiences. When we have experienced something and it happened to be very pleasant and it is reinforced through other experiences, then this habit of wearing this particular specs through which we interpret everything comes. What are these three? First of all, habits. And second is the influence of the society with whom we live. And the third thing is our own past experiences. All these three combined have gone so deep. When we are interpreting something, we don't stop to think. Is this the reality? Is this the truth? Or am I interpreting something in this particular way? We have a way of interpreting. Now I will close this talk. Supposing there is a wicked fellow. My favorite example is about Hitler, Saddam Hussein and President Bush. All three approach Holy Mother and you also. How does she receive? Do you think she will make the slightest difference between these four? Here is a devotee and here is also all the other three. What is the cause of her interpretation? What is her interpretation? All are my children. After all, Hitler is born out of Prakriti. As I mentioned you know, if a physicist looks at Sri Ramakrishna through his electronic microscope and if he looks at Saddam Hussein through the same electronic microscope, will he find any difference? Who created Saddam Hussein? After all, if you have to blame somebody, you have to blame God only. This is the truth. He also came from Prakriti. Good person also comes from Prakriti. Wicked person also comes from Prakriti only. The whole universe has come from Prakriti only. And who is Holy Mother? She is the Prakriti. We sing every Saturday. Prakritim paramam abhayam varadham nararupadharam janatapaharam pranamami param jananim jagatam. Paramam Prakriti. She is the material shakti from whom the whole universe has come. So many wonderful examples come to my mind but I will not go in today's class. But the point is that our interpretation makes so much of difference in our experience. If you think something is good, then it is good. But when you become a master, then you decide how to interpret a thing properly. Then what do you say? Sandesh also is made up of the same five elements out of which the mud, the clay has come out. Whose example is that? Ram Krishna's example. And then what happens? He gains the same joy out of everything. But you should not again misunderstand because in Ram Krishna's eyes, the sweetmeat Sandesh and the clay is coming from the same material. And he will use the Sandesh for making a building and the clay for eating and offering it to his devotees. He is a very practical man. His teachings are marvellous in that respect. There is something called practical life. There is something called real knowledge. Practical life, you have to use practice. How we are supposed to behave. We will close this talk. What is the point? Meditation on the mind itself is equated to meditation on Ananda. That's why it is called Sananda Samadhi. How it really functions and what happens if he becomes the master at the end of it and what is the next stage? We will be discussing in our next class. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti