Patanjali wrote 195 Yoga Sutras in Sanskrit. Here is a book which gives literal translation and an approach to the Sutras. Copying the approach here for better study. The book shares it over four chapters.
The Sutras are about meditative states, consciousness itself. In a way continuing forward the conversation that began with Chalmer's paper.
Before I go to the approach from the book, here's summary of the eight limbs of Yoga:
The Eight Limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga):
- Yama (ethical restraints): Moral codes like non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, etc.
- Niyama (observances): Self-discipline and personal growth principles like purity, contentment, etc.
- Asana (postures): Physical postures that promote physical and mental well-being.
- Pranayama (breath control): Techniques to regulate the breath and calm the mind.
- Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses): Turning attention inward, away from external stimuli.
- Dharana (concentration): Focusing the mind on a single point.
- Dhyana (meditation): Sustained concentration, leading to a state of deep contemplation.
- Samadhi (absorption): A state of profound absorption and union with the object of meditation.
It is eventually about practice, but let the following inform the practice as well. Even if it be simple act of correcting the posture, breathing a few conscious breaths and concenterating on the now whatever's at hand.
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(Other notes - I find the first two chapters more accessible. The second two chapters talk of higher states, way beyond my grasp or understanding.
I think as often happens with many fundamentals, the early stages are perhaps wider, foundational and more time-tested, and hence more approachable than the slow specialisation or sort of weight of latter chapters which show a particular inclination and culmination of the author. One studies widely (across disciplines) the different basics to learn the more widely applicable. From there I guess multiple paths open up. The latter two chapters become more of a particular, author-preferred path I think. Commenting without understanding so anyhow...!!)
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Chapter 1- Transcendence Accomplishment
1. Now Sri Patanjali gave the explanation of Yoga and its practice.
2. Yoga is accomplished when as a yogin, you can stop the creative urges of your mind and emotions.
3. Then you can become familiar with your bare self.
4. But otherwise, whatever you do is regulated by the urges.
5. There are five types of those creative urges. Each type has troublesome and non-troublesome interactions.
6. The five types are experienced when you gage external things correctly, when you gage them incorrectly, when you imagine anything, when you sleep and when you experience memory.
7. Your correct assessments occur by accurate sense perception, by efficient analysis or by using a reliable reference.
8. When you gage something incorrectly, that occurs through false information or by mistaking one factor for something else.
9. When you hear of something or read of it, ideas concerning it usually form. When these concepts misrepresent the actual thing, that misconception is imagination.
10. Sleep is that creative urge which operates without your awareness.
11. Memory operates anytime you visualize something which was experienced before.
12. By not having an interest in the mental ideas and emotional feelings, you may develop the power to stop their influence.
13. You should persistently cultivate that lack of interest.
14. However you should be reverential in the practice and it must be sustained for a long time.
15. Note well, that the lack of interest in one’s own ideas and emotions is achieved only by one who has mastery over his psychological nature. Such a person would not crave things mundane which are perceived by his own senses or which is heard of by his own ears.
16. Please realize that the required lack of interest is exhibited when one attains a resistance to urges which usually compel one to fulfill mundane desires. That lack of interest results in the development of a thorough awareness of the spiritual self.
17. At first, after you develop that lack of interest, you will notice that your attention becomes linked to higher psychological states, but there will still be some analysis, reflection, inner joy and focus on self-consciousness.
18. Periodically and with good luck, you will experience the transcendence in which the memory of things mundane seems not to exist at all.
19. That will give you a glimpse of the status of the released souls, who are diffused into the subtle material nature requiring no gross existence and those divine beings who exist without a subtle or super subtle material body. Their mind and emotion does not comprise of subtle energies of material nature.
20. Since you have neither the diffused status nor the divine one, and since you still have a fixation with the memory of things mundane, your success in cultivating the required lack of interest hinges on confidence in what Sri Patanjali recommends. You would be required to have stamina. You should train yourself to retain any transcendental experiences, even the slightest. You should study this text so as to recognize the characteristics of samadhi which is continuous and spontaneous contact between your attention and someone or some energy which is beyond your normal range of perception. By this, a profound insight will develop in your psyche.
21. Know with certainty that those of you who practice forcefully in a very intense way, will be masterful yogis in the near future.
22. But not everyone can apply themselves with intensity. One person might be mediocre. Another might practice infrequently.
23. There is a special method to be mentioned. That is the profound religious meditation upon the Supreme Lord.
24. This person is that special individual who is not affected by troubles, actions, developments or by subconscious motivations, which are based on the urgings of subtle material nature.
25. He is, for all practical purposes the ultimate knower. He is the most experienced person.
26. This God, being unconditioned by time, is the teacher even of the ancient masters of yoga, the pioneers of the process of release.
27. The teachers before me designated the sacred syllable AUM (Om) as being related to Him.
28. Many ancient teachers constantly repeated and murmured AUM (Om) for realizing it’s effects and meaning.
29. Thus when uttered correctly, one’s sense energy develops the urge to turn away from objects outside of one’s material body. The sense energy then seeks psychological inner objects. Thus the extrovert tendency which is an obstacle to progress, is greatly decreased.
30. The obstacles to the practice of yoga are: physical and mental diseases, idleness, doubts about the power of the practice, inattentiveness while practicing, lack of energy to invest in an intense practice, proneness to sensuality in terms of always being drawn to forms in this world, mistaken views due to the inability to side-step cultural activities and scattered mental and emotional energy which is due to being influenced by the subtle material energy.
31. It would be necessary to remove the tendency for distracted states of mind. These come about by distress, depression, nervousness and labored breathing. All of which are triggered by impulsive emotional states.
32. To remove any of these obstacles, one should practice a standard method, which was effective for a more advanced yogi and which he recommends.
33. When the obstacles to the practice of yoga temporarily subside or when they are removed altogether, an abstract meditation ensues. In that state, the creative urges disappear. This is directly related to the successful cultivation of friendliness, compassion, cheerfulness and non-responsiveness to happiness, distress, virtue and vices.
34. That abstract meditation may be caused by practicing a method of breath manipulation wherein the vital energy of the gross and subtle body is enhanced, causing the creative urges to subside, so that the higher nature is experienced.
35. One may attain fusion to higher states or steadiness of mind by directing the mind towards a supernatural or spiritual object. Such an object would be just as real and objective as a physical one.
36. That may be achieved by attaining sorrowless and spiritually-luminous states.
37. One may attain super-consciousness by linking one’s attention to a person who is without craving.
38. In some cases, super-consciousness may occur after one takes recourse to dream experiences or to the dreamless sleep.
39. It may be achieved by a spontaneous linkage of the attention to a higher concentration force or person which was dearly desired.
40. The mastery over the functions and movements of the urges, results in the control of one’s relationship to the smallest portions of energy or to the largest conglomerations.
41. For the great reduction of the urges in your mind and emotions, one has to sort between the perceiver in the mind, the flow of ideas or images, which are perceived by him and the objects from which the perception originated. This is similar to knowing the status of a transparent jewel, the light which it absorbs from a colorful source, and that colorful source itself. In that comparison the perceiver is like the jewel. His ideas and images are like the colored light which is reflected in the jewel.
42. Even in ordinary usage of consciousness, one may deliberately link one’s attention to a higher concentration force by a careful observation of how the mind-attention mechanism operates when a word, it’s meaning and the knowledge of the object alternate within the mind, blending as it were, with one of those facets permeating with the other.
43. Even though analysis is useful in material existence, it does not serve the purpose in higher yoga practice. In fact such analysis is discarded completely in the highest stages. When the memory is completely purified where it no longer reminds the self to pursue vices and when the inquiring inquisitive nature disappears as it were, then the higher concentration forces and the divine personalities are experienced objectively.
44. One may investigate very subtle objects after dropping the usual analysis, and after mastering the linkage of the attention as stated above.
45. But the insight gained by that mystic research terminates, when one becomes linked to the higher concentration force which has no gross characteristics and which is not directly linked to a gross object.
46. Initially, all of this is motivated by the creative urges, in the sense that they caused the inquiring tendency in the first place. Thus the previous descriptions were of higher experiences which were to a degree, motivated, because the spirit made contact with the creative urges of the mental and emotional energies.
47. In the advanced states however, those urges lose their hold on the self. Thus that self is no longer motivated by them and no longer reacts to them, either for fulfilling the urges or for becoming indifferent to them. Thus the motivations come from the Supreme Soul to whom the limited soul becomes linked. That association brings on clarity and serenity.
48. There, with that competence, the yogi develops the reality-perceptive insight, which is so natural to the Supreme Soul and which the limited soul develops in the supreme association.
49. This is different to the normal perception, which is based on what is heard of, what is reasoned out in the material world, since that limited perception is restricted to a partial aspect of an object and never does it reveal comprehensively.
50. Once the association of Supreme Soul is repeatedly attained, the impressions of that contact which forms in the mind, acts as the preventer of the other impressions which used to contravene yoga practices.
51. When there is linkage of the attention to the higher concentration force, this must be effortless and continuous (not with effort and not momentarily). When it is like that it is considered to be samadhi, the highest stage of yoga. In that state there is a complete departure from the memory and so its power of reminding the self of its contents is nullified completely. The self then becomes freed.
Chapter 2 - Practice Accomplishment
1. Kriya yoga is strongly recommended because it is definite. It is a hands-on personal process. It is not reliant on mere good luck nor on accidental process. Kriya yoga has scientific austerity, careful introspective study of the psyche and religious meditation on the Supreme Lord, as it’s practice.
2. That kriya yoga causes a reduction of the mental and emotional conflicts and their short-termed or long-termed negative effects. It is the definite way for attaining samadhi, which is the continuous effortless linkage of the attention to higher dimensions and their contents
3. There are five general headings of the mental and emotional conflicts which are stored in the psyche. These are the inability to know the difference between one’s spirit and its subtle sensing tools, the compelling tendency to react to other influences, the tendency to link with other factors emotionally, the strong urge to dislike certain other factors, and the instinctive fear of death which sponsors a strong focus on mundane existence.
4. The inability to know the difference between one’s spirit and its subtle sensing tools, is not just that lack of knowledge, but it serves as a mental and emotional environment, which is productive of and supportive of the other conflicts of identity, and energy. These conflicting energies may be dormant, reduced, appearing periodically or expanding fully.
5.That spiritual ignorance is revealed to someone when he realized that what he considered to be eternal was temporary, and what was pure was actually impure, what was joyful was in fact distressful and what was spiritual was mundane.
6. The compelling tendency to react to other influences occurs when one cannot distinguish between the viewing-sensing power and what is seen through it.
7. The impulsive urge to link with other factors emotionally creates as a result, a craving for repeated contact with those factors and a devoted attachment to any pleasure experienced by such contact.
8. The strong urge to dislike certain factors arises as a need for conflict and disharmony. It is an attachment to distress.
9. The instinctive fear of death is the subtle body’s way of showing its dislike for having to repeatedly give up gross forms in an unpleasant way. To counteract the effects of this, the subtle form exhibits a strong focus on mundane existence. These energies operate even in the psyche of a wise man.
10. The mental and emotional conflicts are to be nullified by squelching their eruptions so that when they arise within the mind or emotions, their urges are inhibited or forced back into dormancy or potentiality.
11. The mental or emotional eruptions are to be squelched by developing a meditation habit whereby the attention effortlessly links to a higher concentration force or person.
12. Impressions of everything encountered do lodge in the mind and are stored there but this stored energy is itchy and troublesome. An advanced yogi may perceived those stored impressions which erupts into mental and emotional distress and is even felt by persons who are not yogis.
13. Those bodies which are assumed as well as the various climatic and geographic environments come about on the basis of those stored impressions. They are the origin. Thus the control of that stored energy is vital in terms of liberation of any limited being.
14. With those bodies functioning in the outcome-environments like this earth, we perform austerities which produce a culture or way of life. And this in turn causes happiness and distress as results, all occurring on the basis of merits and demerits which are defined by the relationship of the energies.
15. An advanced yogi has a special discriminating ability, whereby he can sort between his spirit and his psychological viewing aids. Thus he recognizes the potential for distress which cultural activity and the resulting impressions pose. There will be circumstantial changes which are beyond the performer’s control and which may aid or frustrate his enterprise. He must exert himself on many occasions. He must submit to impulsive motivations from time to time, and he must react to some clashing aspects whether he wants to or not. Finally, he cannot at all times suppress the urges which grow out of his mind and emotions.
16. But distress which is not manifested is to be avoided. Thus one should develop power to thwart the impressions which would produce that.
17. Remember that the cause which can definitely be adjusted is the indiscriminate association of the observer and what is perceived. But since that linkage is impulsive and most natural, efforts will have to be made to change it.
18. What is perceived in this world with this psychology is of the nature of the mundane elements and the sense organs, and is formed in clear perception, action or stability. Its purpose is to give experience or to allow liberation. But to gain liberation, one has to abandon the need for the experiences in this world.
19. Some of the experiences afforded by material nature occur in clear perception, some in the fervor of action, some in any of the states of stability which make one form regrettable decisions. These experiences may be specific, regular, indicated before hand, or not anticipated at all.
20. Even though the perceiver is the pure extent of his consciousness, his conviction, once formed in any way, is patterned by what he perceived.
21. The individual spirit who is involved in what is seen exists here for either purpose. He may either accept the experience presented to him and react to it as he is urged and biased, or he may side-step the experiencing mechanism and move in the direction of liberation.
22. The experiences have little impact on one to whom its purpose is fulfilled but it has a common effect on all others, and keeps them occupied and enthralled.
23. Even though the conjunction of the individual spirit and his psychological energy is condemned, still its ultimate purpose is justified, when the person attains liberation. Then he appreciates that it afforded him the objective experience of his own form through blending and then contrasting itself with his core self.
24. Always keep in mind that the inability to know the difference between one’s spirit and it’s sensing tools, is the very cause of their conjunction in the first place. Kriya yoga is designed to remove that inability.
25. One must practice the kriya discipline because it affords a detachment whereby the perceiver is separated from his sensing tools.
26. The unification with the sensing tools is to be avoided. If achieved, one develops the discriminative insight, which affords one freedom from identity with the urges of the mind and emotions.
27. There are seven stages of progress when developing the discriminative insight, which gives one the ability to differentiate between the self and it’s sensing tools.
28. The radiant organ of perception becomes available to one who has consistently practiced the kriya yoga process. It is experienced when there is elimination of the psychological impurities.
29. Restraining from vices and sensual addictions (Yama) , becoming habituated to a disciplined life which accelerates yoga (Niyama), doing bodily postures which enhances health (Asana), performing breath enrichment and control processes (Pranayama), removing one’s attention from the things pertaining to this existence (Pratyahara), shifting one’s attention to higher concentration forces or persons (Dharna), holding one’s attention there long enough for it to become habituated to the higher forces or persons (Dhyaana), and experiencing the resultant fusion of the attention into the higher dimension encountered (Samaadhi).
30. The moral restraints.consist of the following: Non-violence: The avoidance of violence towards other life forms, the avoidance of psychological violence towards other spiritual entities, the practice of a calm, detached mood as professed by Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita, if one is duty bound to discipline or apply violence to anyone. Realism: The practice of studying the situations carefully before acting or reacting to them. The practice of assessing the defects of one’s intellect to gage its reliability in perceiving truth. Relieving oneself of the need for a favorable or palatable truth. Non-stealing: Curing oneself of the natural urge to steal by carefully observing and monitoring the psychological mechanisms of stealing which is innate to nature. Sexual non-expressiveness which results in the perception of spirituality (brahman): Becoming detached from expressive sexuality and from normal exhibitions and demonstrations of sexuality either as a male or female. Investing the energy usually used in sexuality for the perception of spirituality Non-possessiveness: Carefully studying the sense of possession. Suppressing it effectively while studying methods of its eradication and spiritually supportive uses.
31. Even though one may be pressured to adjust the moral restraints, one should strive to side-step those causes and justifications for deviation. The pressures come on from the status, the location, the time and the condition. Since the moral restraints are applicable in all stages of yoga, they are the great commitment for all yogis.
32. The recommended behaviors are as follows: Purification: Psychic cleansing which is achieved by mastery of kundalini yoga for purifying the subtle body and its energies. Contentment: This is the practice of detachment from desire for the mundane life. It means to find an effective way of changing one’s nature to eradicate the desire for mundane experiences. Austerity: This means to practice kriya yoga under the guidance of a more advanced yogi. These austerities should suppress unwanted desires to the point of eliminating them. Such desires are those which cause extroversion and which discourage the quest for liberation. Profound meditation on the Supreme Lord: One can meditate on the Person God, if one has a functional relationship with Him. Over all, this is impractical for most practitioners since they either have an imaginary relationship with their preferred deity or a very meager connection. To be realistic one has to develop a relationship with a person who is more advanced on this spiritual path laid out by Sri Patañjali.
33. There may be doubts about the claims of yoga made in this text of Sri Patanjali and made in other yoga books, however one should cast these doubts aside and practice. When the doubts arise, one should ignore the doubtful ideas and push ahead with practice.
34. One may doubt that one can exist without committing some minimal violence. For instance, even if one refrains from eating animal flesh, one will have to eat something else, vegetables or fruits for example. And in that case there will be violence against trees, insects and microbes. Still one should minimize such violence and hold faith that ultimately it can be removed by transfer to another dimension where the violence will be absent. If one does not succeed at yoga practice, the implication is that one will be condemned to material existence, with endless distress and continued misidentification with the mundane energy in any of its gross or subtle formations.
35. When a yogi is firmly established in non-violence, that is exhibited by his life style. Then even hostile creatures abandon their aggressive stance in his presence.
36. When a yogi is established in realism, his actions serve as a basis for desired results. He is not easily frustrated because he acts in accordance with reality, is subordinate to it, respects it and rarely makes unrealistic plans in attempts to contravene it.
37. When the yogi has subdued the stealing tendency in human nature, material existence endeavors to serve him. Thus it seems that all precious things become available to him.
38. When the yogi has practiced effective methods of sex activity reduction and elimination, his vigor to perform yoga increases proportionately. Thus his perception of spirituality is actuated.
39. Due to the development of non-possessiveness, the yogi intuits into the causes of his birth. By mystic skill he reviews actions from past lives which caused him to take the present birth.
40. From purification of the subtle body, comes a disgust for one’s own gross form and lack of desire to associate sexually with others.
41. Purification of the subtle energy results in a great reduction in emotional needs. From that stability one finds it easy to link the attention to one concentration force or person. After much practice one acquires conquest of the sensual energy. One gets vision of the spirit and becomes fit for abstract meditation.
42. With the reduction of sensual life in this world, with a developed resistance to desires, one gains contentment. From that, the very best in happiness is obtained.
43. Kriya yoga austerities which are highlighted by mystic actions in and with the subtle body, do result in elimination of emotional impurities. That gives perfection of the subtle form in which the troublesome, vice-seeking sensual energy is housed.
44. An in-depth mystic research into the nature of the subtle body causes the yogi to make contact with more advanced mystics. This leads to communication with divine beings, and eventually he gets in touch with the cherished divine beings, one of whom is the Supreme Lord.
45. From the profound religious meditation upon the Supreme Lord or upon any of the divine beings, comes a full time communion with that divinity.
46. As for bodily posture, it should be steady and comfortable.
47. When mastered, it results in relaxation of the effort to subdue the body and make it serve the spiritual aims. That assists in the quest of meeting with the infinite.
48. Once the body is mastered, comfortable or uncomfortable climate, pleasant or unpleasant emotions, no longer bother the person.
49. Once this is accomplished, the body’s anxiety for air is greatly decreased, then there are pauses between the flow in inhalation and exhalation.
50. Breathing has internal, external and restrictive operations, which are regulated according to the place, time and accounting, being prolonged or hardly noticed. A change in lifestyle affects all this.
51. But a more advanced condition is realized, which has nothing to do with physical breathing. This is the energy consumption of the subtle body. That regulation of the subtle energy or prana is the fourth type of pranayama energy intake.
52. When a yogi shifts his attention to that subtle plane of consciousness, the darkness within his mind becomes dissipated, resulting in perception of light in real subtle objects,
53. and the establishment of always being able to link his attention to a higher concentration force or person.
54. The self should learn how to subsist on the bare sensual energy by itself without its usage procuring objects in this world. This is called pratyahar or sensual energy withdrawal. After mastering this, the yogin notices that the withdrawal of the senses is as it were, their assumption of the form of unformed psychological energy which is quiescent when it is not contacting the objects of perception.
55. From that accomplishment comes the highest degree of control of the senses because they are powered by the inner sensual energy which a human being identifies as his emotions and mental force.
Chapter 3 - Glory displayed
1. The yogi must be so familiar with the realm of mind and emotions, that he should begin to recognize where thoughts, ideas, images and memories arise. Their particular location in the mind environment and emotional atmosphere should be known. Then he may practice the sixth stage of yoga, which is linking of the attention to a concentration force or person through a restricted location in the mento-emotional space.
2. But in the seventh stage of yoga, the next stage, that of dhyana, the yogi experiences that there is a continuous threadlike flow of his instinctive interest to the selected location in the mind or emotions. This is the effortless linkage of the attention to a higher concentration force or person.
3. When, however, that sense of effortless linkage of the attention joins continually to a particular location in the mind or emotions or outside into a higher dimension, it is the highest stage of yoga, that of samadhi. It may be a link to a greater yogi or to a divinity. This is experienced as illumination of the higher concentration force or person while the yogi feels as if devoid of his conditioned self.
4. The three higher stages of yoga, when practiced in sequence, are considered as the complete restraint; then the sixth stage directly progresses into the seventh and seventh into the eighth and final stage.
5. By regular practice of the sequential three higher stages, one gains mastery over the mental and emotional urges, and then the illuminating insight becomes available for usage.
6. But this development occurs in stages
7. This higher yoga concerns voluntary control over the psychological organs in the mind and the creative urges in the emotions.
8. But even that initial mastership of the three higher stages of yoga is external in reference to meditation which is not motivated by the mental and emotional energy. Therefore you should strive to reach the advanced stages.
9. It may be asked: What is the description of the mind and emotions when the creative urges cease? The answer is this: The mind energy and emotional feelings periodically assume of their own accord, a stillness wherein there is no activity. This happens just after an idea or image subsides, and just before another one begins. The interim period may be long or momentary. When this happens impulsively, a yogi has no control over it, but he should still observe it and focus sharply on the blank interval. He should carefully note the location where the idea or image subsides. He should attach his attention to that place in the mind or emotion environment. When practicing however, he should, with attention, suppress any emerging idea or image and hold his mind or emotion in that blank state so that no other idea or image expresses itself.
10. When one learns how to use the attention to suppress any emerging idea or image, and to hold the mind and emotions in that blank state, that mastership causes a flow of spiritual peace. Impressions from that restraining activity do enter the memory. Those records of it, aid, and support the yogi, giving him more and more power over the impulsive creative urges.
11. When a yogi first gets a foothold on this mastership, he notices a decrease of the various impulsive objectives of the mind and emotions and an increase in the blank duration which occurs between the emergence and the dissolution of ideas.
12. The blankness of the mind and emotions is the desired objective for that initial samadhi practice, even though perception will develop later in it.
13. By this practice one gets personal experience of the changes, the quality, shape, changing conditions of the various states of matter and the sensual energy. Thus the mental and emotional provinces are clarified and are no longer a muddlement or vague environment. Nor does one confuse oneself with it.
14. When the emerging, manifesting, collapsing or not-yet-manifested ideas, images or emotions push back into the mental or emotional energy, and when that energy has a blankness or quiescence, that is the most basic condition.
15. But when there is expression of ideas, images or emotional feelings, these are usually different because of the sequential changes in the emotional energy which produces them.
16. When the yogi repeatedly pushes back the images or emotions into the mental and emotional energy, he gains access to the deeper layers of the memory, even to those from previous lives and he gains perception of those future possibilities which would be based on past impressions.
17. The yogi removes himself from biases which relate to sound and when he can steady his attention on that alone, getting beyond words, sounds and their formation, he makes contact with the object being described by any creature. Thus their different languages do not confuse his perception.
18. The yogi gains knowledge of his previous lives by developing direct intuitive perception of the subtle impressions stored in his own or another’s memory.
19. Though he can know the mental or emotional content of a person, he should not seek to use that skill. Unless he is advised to do so by a senior yogi, he should not exercise that skill.
20. The tendency of the memory and imagination, is to check, recheck, create and recreate opinions and conclusions. An advanced yogi eliminates this tendency because it hampers higher yoga. Thus he does not allow his mind to project one idea after another in an endless sequence which entertains or keeps one occupied without any increased control over the emotions.
21. When the receptive energy of the subtle body is curbed, the yogi develops a resistance to social contact. This causes him to have some invisibility.
22. This imperceptibility may be applied to the other sensual perceptions.
23. By applying his attention to current or destined cultural activities, when no other ideas, images or memories occur in the mind, the yogi gains insight into the hereafter, or he may apply his attention to supernatural occurrences which cause his perception of worlds in other dimensions.
24. By applying his attention to friendliness within his nature and in the subtle cosmic environment, he develops universal benevolence.
25. By applying his attention to strength, personally or generally, he acquires the power of an elephant. This type of application is effective in other aspects.
26. When after much practice, a yogi develops the supernatural insight he would, of course, apply it to the force which produces cultural activities. Thus he gets information about what is subtle, concealed and what is remote from him.
27. He may apply his supernatural insight to the sun god or the sun planet. Thus knowledge about the solar system is gained.
28. From an application to the moon or moon-god, he gets knowledge about the system of stars.
29. By application to the Pole Star he can know of the course of the planets and stars.
30. By supernaturally focusing on the navel energy-gyrating center, the yogi gets knowledge about the layout of his subtle body.
31. By focusing on the gullet, he causes the suppression of appetite.
32. By focusing on the kurmanadi nerve which runs from below the gullet down the inner center of the subtle body, he acquires steadiness of his psyche.
33. By focusing on the shinning light in the subtle head, he gets views of the perfected beings.
34. By focusing on the shining organ of divination in the head of the subtle form, he gets the ability to know all reality.
35. By focusing on the causal body in the vicinity of the chest, he gets thorough insight into the cause of the mental and emotional energies.
36. Experience in the material world results from the inability to distinguish between the individual spirit and the intelligence energy of material nature, even though they are in fact, very distinct. By complete restraint of the mental and emotional energies while focusing on self-interest distinct from the other concerns, a yogi gets knowledge of the individual spirit.
37. From that focus is produced supernatural smelling, tasting, seeing, touching and hearing, through the shining organ of divination
38. But those divination skills may prove to be obstacles in advanced yoga practice. But to worldly people they are considered as spectacular powers.
39. The entrance into another’s body is possible by slackening the cause of bondage to cultural activities, and by knowing the channels which the mental and emotional energies use to entertain and dominate the self.
40. By mastery over the air which rises from the throat into the head, in the subtle body, a yogi can cause his gross form to rise over or not have contact, with water, mud or sharp objects.
41. By conquest of the digestive force in the gross body, a yogi’s subtle form blazes or shines with a fiery glow.
42. By special focusing on the hearing sense and space, a yogin develops supernatural and divine hearing.
43. By linking the mind to the relationship between the body and the sky and linking the attention to being as light as cotton fluff, a yogi acquires the ability to objectively pass his subtle form through the atmosphere.
44. By restraining his response to the mental and emotional energy, which is universal, a yogi achieves the great bodiless state. From that, the great mental darkness which veils subtle light is dissipated.
45. By restraining his mind and emotions, while linking the attention to gross forms, real nature, subtle distribution and supersubtle states of matter, a yogi gets conquest over them.
46. From the assumption of minuteness and other related mystic skills, come the perfection of the subtle body and the non-obstruction of its functions.
47. Beautiful form, charm, mystic force, diamond-like definition come from the perfection of the subtle body. This is attained by mastership of kundalini yoga.
48. From supernatural linkage to sensual grasping, to the form of the sensual energy, to its identifying powers, to its connection instinct and to its actual worth, a yogi acquires conquest over his relation with the sensual energy.
49. Subsequently, he progresses into conquest over the influence of subtle matter and over the parting away or dispersion of the mental and emotional forces, having the required swiftness of mind.
50. Only when there is distinct discrimination between true perception of material nature and the spiritual personality, does the yogi attain complete disaffection from the same nature and all-applicative intuition to whatever he encounters.
51. By a lack of interest, even to that skill, when the cause of that defect is eliminated, the absolute isolation of the self from the lower psyche, is achieved.
52. On being invited by a person from the gross or subtle mundane place one would attain, if the body died, a yogi should be non-responsive, not desiring their association and not being fascinated, otherwise that would cause unwanted features of existence to arise again, and he would again take birth in this world or appear in a dimension near to this one, from which he would be transferred here again.
53. By supernatural linkage of his attention to the moment in time and to the sequence of moments, the yogi has detailed supernatural information.
54. Subsequently, the yogi clearly distinguishes between two similar realities which otherwise, could not be sorted due to lack of definition in terms of their general category, individual characteristic and location.
55. Thus the yogin need no longer take recourse to the normal methods of perception and analysis. For him the distinction caused by subtle discrimination is the crossing over or transcending of all subtle and gross mundane objects in all ways they are presented.
56. When by mastership of kriya yoga, there is equal purity between the intelligence energy of material nature and the spirit, then there is total separation from the error-prone, spiritually-misleading mundane psychology.
Chapter 4 - Segregation Accomplished
1. The mystic skills are demonstrated on the material plane through the various abilities of the varying species of life one may assume. Each species facilitates a particular ability of the subtle body. One may be empowered with a mystic skill by taking drugs which alter the chemistry of a particular form. Skills may be exhibited after pronouncing certain special sounds which affect the constitution of a body. Physical austerities may change a body to make it do what is normally impossible for the particular species. And supernatural linkage of one’s mystic attention may affect changes which are unusual for one’s body.
2. The transformation from one life form to another or from one dimension to another, from one existential status to another, occurs by saturation of the subtle body with the energy from that other species, dimension or status that is to be adopted.
3. The motivating force of the subtle material energy, whereby it appears to inspire the yogi to endeavor for liberation, is not used except for the disintegration of impediments, hence it is compared to a farmer who is not the real cause of growth of cultivated plants.
4. A yogi is shown how the various parts of his mind and emotions come into existence because of the involuntary application of his sense of identity to the subtle material nature.
5. The one mento-emotional energy is that which is very much used in numberless different dispersals of energy, which occur as ideas and images, arising from memory and sense perception.
6. In that case, only subtle activities which are produced from linkage to higher realities, are without harmful emotions; for the others are rooted in the subtle material nature, which always affords reversals.
7. Due to their effective detachment and their ability to push the emerging ideas and images back into the pad of the mind or the territory of the emotions, the cultural activity of the advanced yogins is neither rewarding nor penalizing, but others have three types of such action.
8. Subsequently for those cultural activities of common people, there is development according to corresponding features only, bringing about the manifestation of the tendencies within the mento-emotional energy, which causes harmful emotions to be experienced by them.
9. Even though circumstances are separated by status, location and time, still the impressions which form cultural activities and the resulting memories, are of one form and operate on a full time sequence. Thus all who are involved in worldly life meet with unfavorable circumstances and are fatigued by favorable occasions, which endorse the vices which bleed out their sensual energies.
10.Those memories and impressions are primeval without a beginning. Hope and desire energies are eternal as well. Thus the proposal which makes sense, recommends a removal of the individual spirit from this unalterable environment.
11. The memories, the impressions, the hope and desire energies, exist by what holds them together in terms of what produced them and what they generate, as well as the supportive basis and the lifting influences which reinforce their production. Otherwise, if their causes were not in existence, they would have no register at all. Thus without supernatural perception and action one cannot become freed from their influence. Hence the practice of kriya yoga is essential.
12. There is a true form of the past and future, which is denoted by the different courses of their particular characteristics. And one is subjected to the future unless one escapes from time’s dominance.
13. The manifestations which are to a greater degree preset, are gross or subtle, all depending on their inherent nature.
14. The actual composition of an object is based on the uniqueness of the transformation which produced it, but this can only be viewed supernaturally.
15. Because of a difference in the prejudices of the mento-emotional energy of the two persons, separate opinions manifest in their viewing of the very same object.
16. An object is not dependent on one person’s view of it; otherwise what would happen if it were not being perceived by that viewer? Would it cease to exist? But we find that this is not so.
17. An object is known or unknown, all depending on the mood and expectation of the particular mental and emotional energy of the viewer in reference to it. Thus each person must endeavor separately and individually for liberation.
18. The operations of the mind and emotions are always conducted by empowerment taken from the governing spirit. This is because of the spirit being a perpetual energy source. However, the spirit is usually bewildered and is entertained by the usage of his powers.
19. The separation of the mind and emotions are not self-generated by the mind nor the emotions. For these are only capable of being perceived by a real viewer. It is like a viewing instrument which cannot see for itself even though it is useful to the vision of a human being.
20. It cannot by itself execute the focus of itself or something else.
21. If it were possible for the mind or emotions to view themselves, then one mind would perceive another mind independently without involvement with a spirit or one emotional reserve would interact with another in the same way. That is not possible. It is an absurd idea.
22. The perceptions of a spirit’s intellect occurs when the intellect operates to create an image but as soon as the image begins to dissolve, it seems as if the intellect itself vanishes.
23. When the mental and emotional forces are quieted, they do not display a prejudiced reaction. Under these conditions, their biases remain dormant. But as soon as there is an activation of the urges, the predispositions are displayed. These are attitudes and responses which were created previously by interactions of the perceiver, his sense energy and what was perceived.
24. Although the mind and emotions seem to combine to exhibit habits and unique behaviors, still those exhibitions only entertain the perceiver. It is that seer whose radiant energy causes the activation. The mind and emotions absorb his energy to entertain him.
25. When someone can distinguish between himself and his auxiliary shadow-self, his detachment or ability to distance himself from the sensuality, empowers him to push away the creative urges which may arise in his psyche.
26. Then a strange but glorious observation is made. One notices that the troublesome and once hard-to-control mind and emotions, begin acting cooperatively, as if to actually please the self and do as told. It exhibits a habit of discrimination, loosing its impulsive tendency, and it gravitates towards total separation from the self, a thing which before it was fearful of.
27. However, whenever the self relaxes vigilance, that now-cooperative psychology is again forced into the old behaviors, which were based on the old subtle impressions.
28. When the yogi applies an effective method to remove the old impressions, his resulting condition is exactly like that experienced, when the mental and emotional afflictions are no longer actuated.
29. The super discrimination, the highest degree of disinterest, is achieved by one who sees no gain in material nature, even in very abstract but potent conditions. Such a person attains an insight whereby he perceives the mento-emotional clouds of energy which dictate the laws of responsibility. Subsequently, he can side-step such obligations.
30. Unless instructed by a divine being, he stops the participation of his auxiliary shadow-self, which has the mind and emotions as its chief components. These are restrained from generating further cultural activities. Thus ending potential afflictions.
31. Obviously then, the yogin considers his former insights and feelings to be trivial, when compared to his newly-earned visions.
32. Thus the subtle material nature having served a useful purpose, its progressive alterations which sometimes perplexed and sometimes entertained the spirit, come to an end.
33. The once free and own-way (aniruddha) auxiliary self stops its mental, sensual and emotional dominance, those rhythmic displays which the self was once forced to enjoy or endure.
34. When he sheds off the human type of character which was a combination of mentality, sensuality and emotions, he gains a neutrality in reference to the subtle material nature. That separation from his auxiliary self, is established. Thus he discovers his segregated real self, which empowers the auxiliary shadow character.
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