Of the ten main objects of Yoga promulgated by the practical teachers, the Yogins, the awakening of superior knowledge where reality may be seen face to face is one that has special appeal to the intellectually inclined. Non-knowledge or Avidyā is considered by almost all the schools of philosophy as the cause of evil, pain and sorrow. It is further held that the same can be removed only by the awakening of the right knowledge. There is no bondage greater than ignorance (Ajñāna) and no pain greater than illusion (Māyā) born of nescience, and unless this is loosened there is no chance for ultimate deliverance (Mukti).
It is argued by the practical Yoga authorities that knowledge achieved by Vedānta and other Śāstras (systems of thought) as merely theoretical, and, furthermore, it is not possible to acquire direct knowledge of objects only through abstract reasoning, and that, therefore, a special type of practical training becomes absolutely necessary to enable one to put oneself in direct touch with the object of knowledge. It may be observed that it is only the system of practical Yoga that undertakes to systematically train the students to place themselves in direct touch with reality (of objects on which they can contemplate). By Yoga, therefore, as stated in the commentary on the Hathayogapradīpikā, one acquires the direct knowledge of things.
ALTERNATIVE TO REASON
The central feature of Yoga meditation consists in the securing of a habit by which one can put oneself in direct touch with reality of an object instead of going around it through the ordinary processes of the mind. There is a way of acquiring truth by the exercise of the ordinary logical powers of the mind and there is also a way by which new truth can be attained, viz. by stopping the logical processes and the outgoing functioning of the mind, thereby bringing oneself in direct and intimate touch with the object of knowledge. This second method is in some way akin to the flash of light which illumines the mind of a poet or a scientist absorbed in his own task of bringing out a new creation or discovering a new truth.
The scientific Yoga supplies us the technique of this unique method by which this flashlight of knowledge can be brought within one's control - giving us the possession of a new means of attaining knowledge such as cannot be achieved by ordinary perception or inference.
This process of intellectual acumen (Prajñā) and Samyama has, therefore, nothing mysterious about it; it is directly derived as a result of the operation of the ordinary psychological laws and processes with which we are all familiar. The point on which any doubt can be raised is whether or not by supreme concentration on a particular object, any special category of knowledge dawns forth. Yoga experiences holds that it does. Nor is there anything improbable about it. If the mind by its constant change of objects can produce one dimension of knowledge, there is no reason why it cannot produce another superior dimension of knowledge by the reverse process of steadying the mind on a particular object. Those who have performed the experiment testify to its validity.
SAMYAMA
Samyama is represented by the three accessories of concentration (Dhāraṇā), meditation (Dhyāna), and trance-consciousness (Samādhi). Thus, Samyama begins with concentration and ends with the Absolute. It is the internal process of conscious development where the mind tries to concentrate its energies for the knowledge of a certain object.
In Samādhi, instead of duality like the thinker and the thing thought, the process of thinking or concerning becomes non-existent, as it were, as the mind partakes of the nature of the object of thought and becomes one with it.
However, it must be remembered that Samyama as a whole always concerns only one object. When you take a flower for your concentration, the meditation must be on the same identical object - the flower. The flower too has to be the same flower of which you thought before and no other. There should be no gap between the same stages nor in the object itself. The whole process must be continuous merging one into another, without any kind of disturbance in the flow of rhythmic vibrations. Thus, for the purpose of Samyama, you cannot take the lily for the object of concentration, the jasmine for contemplation and then the rose for trance, even though they are all objects of the same flower race. It is thus essential that, for complete knowledge of any particular object, the same object must be with the mind from the very beginning.
As Samyama becomes firmer and firmer so does the trance condition become more and more lucid. One has to work on different planes of consciousness. The brain activity, mind and consciousness, all three are required for a deeper knowledge of a thing. These three are different and independent of each other, in the sense that they have their own characteristics.
Brain activity is the physical manifestation of the mind stuff, while mind is the second reflection of consciousness. Again, this consciousness is dependent for its existence on the spirit; rather it is the characteristic of the spirit itself. When the spirit is taken away, there is no consciousness, no mind and consequently no brain activity. But when all these three elements of inner cognition are combined for the knowledge of any object, the object becomes highly magnified and transparent which naturally leads to its perfect knowledge. In Samyama, therefore, these things are all put in rhythmic vibrations where the flower remains undisturbed. Patanjali in his aphorism says, “The word, the object and the idea appear as one; because each coincides with the other, by Samyama over their distinctions comes the knowledge of the sounds of all living beings.”
Apart from any instrumental education, it is the Samyama that should be properly studied for the knowledge of different objects. The process, however, is not easy as to be learned within a short time nor is its frequent use for supernatural powers desirable. These supernatural powers are of no use for the higher spiritual development. On the contrary, while they are perfections to the outgoing mind, they are obstacles to the state of realization.
SAMĀDHI
It is the continuation of contemplation that produces the state of trance in which the object of the mind and the mind become one. In this state, the physical consciousness disappears and even the mind itself merges into its object. Thus, the object represents nothing else but a dazzling light of the knower and the thing known. So “when on account of the object of contemplation taking entire possession of the mind, contemplation shows forth only the light of the form of the contemplated object and is devoid, as it were, of its own nature of self-cognition, then it is called trance or Samādhi.”
One often experiences illumination and joy when everything that he sees becomes transparent. Who knows the true greatness of this trance? Realization, deliverance and the attainment of supernatural powers can be studied through the instruction of a teacher only. Mental indifference to worldly enjoyment is rather difficult to obtain and even more, the realization of the ultimate truth.
It is stated in Chapter 1 Sūtra 41 that, when the modifications of the mind cease, the Citta becomes like a transparent crystal, with the power of appearing in the shape of the object present to it, whether the knowable, the knower or the act of knowledge. This is Samādhi or Samāpatti in Yoga.