The Seven Stages of Perfection

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 70 The Study and Practice of Yoga by Sri Swami Krishnananda

Tasya saptadhā prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā (II.27): Consciousness is sevenfold. The awareness of this type arises by gradual degrees, in seven stages and these are the stages of the discovery of reality, by degrees, in the phenomena of experience.

The first stage is supposed to be the detection of the defect in the objects or things: there is something wrong with things, and they are not as they appear to be. This is the first awareness that arises in a person. Things are not what they seem, as the poet said. That the objects of sense, the things of the world, are constituted of a nature essentially different from what they appear to the senses and the mind is an awareness that arises in the discriminating, and not in all people. Crass perception takes the world for granted, and people run after things as moths run to fire, not knowing that it is their destruction. The awareness arises, pointing out that there is some mystery behind things which is quite different from the colour and the shape of things visible to the senses – that there is pain in this world, and it is not pleasure. Pain is rooted behind the so-called pleasure of the world. Sorrow is to follow all the joys of the world, one day or the other. The first step is the awareness or discovery that pain is present and it cannot be avoided under any circumstance as long as things continue to be in the present set-up.

The second stage is the discovery that there is a cause of this pain and that it has not come suddenly from the blue. How has this pain come – this suffering, this sorrow? What is the reason for this defect behind everything? There is a reason. Without a cause, there is no effect. The discovery of the cause of this troublesome situation is the second stage of knowledge. That is a greater control that we gain over our situation. So, in the second stage of awareness there is a recognition of the causal background of the troubles of life, the pains of experience.

The third stage is the recognition of a way out of these causative factors. Even if we know the causes of the trouble, is there a way out of it, or is it impossible to do anything? We will find out that there is a way. We can get over these causes of pain and trouble. This gives greater confidence and a satisfaction that, after all, we are not going to suffer like this for all time; there is going to be an end to it. That is the discovery that there is a possibility of getting over the causes of pain. Not finding the way out is samsara, the essence of suffering. When the way is discovered, there is an effort that automatically arises in oneself to work out this way which is the redemption of the sorrows of life. The awareness that there is a state which is beyond the sufferings of life is itself a great solace.

These stages directly correspond to the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, what the Buddha taught originally as his gospel.

There is an awareness of the presence of a state beyond all suffering; and when the existence of this state beyond suffering becomes an object of one’s awareness, coupled with a feeling that there is a way to it – that is the beginning of the actual freedom of the soul. Then, there is a complete shaking up from the very roots of one’s being. The internal organ, the mind, whose purpose is to bring about bhoga and aparvarga to consciousness, begins to withdraw its sway over consciousness. The power that the mind has over us gets lessened, and instead of our being mastered by it, we seem to have a chance of gaining mastery over it. This awareness arises only when experiences in the world which are to be undergone in this span of life are about to be exhausted. Until that time, the awareness itself will not be there.

When we are fast asleep, snoring, we are not even aware that the sun is about to rise. The awareness felt subtly within that perhaps the day is dawning is an indication that we are not fully asleep. We are half-aware of the coming dawn. Likewise, when the mind becomes aware of these stages it puts forth effort, as it has slowly risen from the slumber of life and is now dreaming of the possibility of a higher experience.

The efforts that are mentioned here are nothing but the efforts of the practice of yoga. When the mind loses control over the consciousness, which is the fifth stage, there is a dismantling of the house of the gunas. As I mentioned, all the material of the house of this individuality is pulled out. The materials are the gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas. The prison of this individuality is pulled out, broken down, because the material of this individuality, which is nothing but the complex of sattva, rajas and tamas, is withdrawn within its cause, and this complex of body-mind ceases to operate. That is the sixth stage.

The seventh stage is the return of consciousness to itself, where the self becomes aware of what it is – completely freed from all bondage. Yogā ṅgānuṣṭhānāt aśuddhikṣaye jñānadīptiḥ āvivekakhyāteḥ (II.28): When there is complete purification of the mind by the practice of yoga, there is an automatic and spontaneous manifestation of consciousness in the direction of its freedom.

The powers that are mentioned in the Yoga Sutras, which a yogi is supposed to attain by practice, are the experiences one passes through on account of the ascent of consciousness to higher degrees of perfection. Powers are nothing but the outcome of harmony with nature. When there is disharmony, there is weakness; when there is harmony, there is strength, because it is nature that is powerful. Nobody else can be strong; and the strength of nature comes to us when we are in harmony with it.

Excerpts from: The Seven Stages of Perfection - Chapter 70 The Study and Practice of Yoga by Sri Swami Krishnananda