Spiritual Message for the Day – The Nature of Samsara and the Working of Maya by Sri Swami Krishnananda
Baba Times Digest© | 28 April 2015 07.25 EST | New York Edition
The Nature of Samsara and the Working of Maya
Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga as a Universal Science by Swami Krishnananda
The personality of the individual is distracted and weakened on account of the energy getting spent out by way of sensory perception and contact. When we lend out to various persons in the world the wealth that we have, we are left with very little for ourselves. The economic strength of ours is diminished, because of the fact that we have lent out all our money or property to other people. But, suppose we get the money back, the property or the wealth that was lent out is received back, then, again we are in our original status. The economic strength of ours is re-established in its pristine completeness. Something like this happens when we cognise objects through the mind, perceive through the senses, and lose ourselves in this oceanic distraction of sense-perception. There is a tearing up of personality, as it were, when there is too much of attachment to things of the world, attachment working through the sense-organs and propelled by the force of the desires. Man loses himself and becomes another in every form of attachment.
The whole principle of Yoga is this much – the return of the consciousness of the Purusha to its own self. The more the Purusha ramifies its rays towards objects or the forms of Prakriti externally, the less it remains as the Purusha and the more it appears to be the Prakriti, having imbibed the characteristics of Prakriti. Purusha becomes the Prakriti, as it were. The subject becomes the object. Consciousness becomes matter. This is the essence of what we call Samsara, the aberration or the movement of the Self, away from itself, in the direction of what it is not. How can one become what one is not? It is logically an indefensible position; yet this is what happens. That is why they call it Maya, a kind of delusive operation, an illusion that is cast before us, an appearance of that which cannot happen at all. Yet, this happens in some way. The whole thing is a mystery. This mystery is called Maya. How can the subject become the object? How can Purusha become Prakriti? How can consciousness become matter? How can one become another person? But it has happened. This should not happen, and the great art of the return of the Purusha to itself through the various stages of the entanglement of Purusha in Prakriti is the great Yoga.
When the mind is very much agitated, disturbed for any reason, it is difficult for anyone to exercise discrimination. The reason fails when the emotions become wild. And to say that reason has to be exercised at that moment will not work, because the emotions become turbulent only when the reason fails. The reason has already failed, and if at that time one says. "Exercise reason", it is not possible. Patanjali mentions that some sort of a Kumbhaka (Pranayama) may be of advantage when we are too much upset or disturbed by emotions of any kind. The distractions of the mind can be checked temporarily by the expulsion of the breath and retention of the same outside after expulsion. The violent activity of the mind can be subdued – a procedure which one can experiment with in one's own daily life. When the breath is expelled and held, the mind ceases to think for a few seconds. Tensions are not relieved, of course, but they are held in abeyance. Their further growth or movement is restrained, just as the forward movement of wild animals is to a large extent restrained when they are controlled by a set of reins, though the wildness of the animals is not remedied merely by a check exercised upon them.
Every type of Kumbhaka is a help in the control of the mind. Because, the retention of the breath in Kumbhaka has a direct impact upon the workings of the mind. Prana and mind are very intimately related to each other. That is why so much importance is given to Pranayama in the Yoga Sastra. Whenever we try to concentrate our mind on any important subject or theme or activity, we hold our breath unconsciously – because, the movement of the Prana and the movement of the mind are almost parallel, and they act like brothers born to a single parent. One is an internal mechanism of power, another is the external application of it in the direction of the objects outside. We have already observed that the control of the senses should not be attempted with any excessive application of the force of will upon the senses and the mind. The whole of Yoga is an educational process; and education is not a force that is applied upon the mind, but a gradual remedying procedure. It is a growth into a healthy state of mind, into perfection finally. Thus, the impulsion of the mind working through the Pranas and the senses has to be taken care of with great caution, by understanding and application of other methods, such as the study of scriptures and living with a group in an atmosphere which is comparatively free from unnecessary distractions.
Excerpts from: Pratyahara - Yoga as a Universal Science by Swami Krishnananda
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