Yoga Sutra III - Powers

Sutra 1) Concentration (Dharana) is holding the mind within a centre of spiritual consciousness in the body, or fixing it on some divine form, either within the body or outside it.

The first five limbs of yoga have been discussed in the preceding chapter. Three remain: concentration (Dharana), meditation (dhyana), and absorption (samadhi).

The centres of spiritual consciousness will be referred to as seven lotuses rather than chakras. In order to concentrate some teachers instruct the student to fix the mind on the inner light within the lotus. However, one may also concentrate on a form of one’s chosen ideal. Concentration here implies the fixing of the mind on one object or subject at a time to the exclusion of any other.

Sutra 2) Meditation (dhyana) is the unbroken flow of thought toward the object of concentration.

Meditation is prolonged concentration. We have seen (1, 2) that Patanjali defines thought as a wave (vritti) in the mind. Ordinarily a thought wave arises, remains in the mind for moment, and then subsides to be succeeded by another wave. In the practice of meditation, a succession of ‘identical’ waves is raised in the mind; this is done so quickly, that no one wave is allowed to subside before another rises to take its place. The effect is one of perfect continuity. Example: Om, Om, Om....

It can be seen from this definition of Patanjali, dhyana does not exactly correspond to the usual understanding of meditation. By meditation one commonly understands the operation of the mind around a central idea, as for example meditating on Christ. One would not only focus on the form of Christ, but also his teachings; should any thought other than a though on Christ enter the mind, it would be gently directed back to the central theme.

Sutra 3) When in meditation the true nature of the object shines forth, not distorted by the mind of the perceiver, that is absorption (samadhi).

Ordinary sense perception is distorted by the mind of the perceiver. One decides in advance what it is he wants to see, and this pre-conception interferes with one’s vision. Great painters have at times been criticised because they paint what they see and not necessarily what people think it ought to look like.

Sutra 4) When these three concentrations, meditation and absorption are brought to bear on one subject, they are called Samyama.

Samyama is a term which describes the threefold process by which the true nature of an object is known.

Sutra 5) Through mastery of Samyama comes the light of knowledge.

Sutra 6) It must be applied stage by stage.

Patanjali cautions us not to go too fast. It is not wise attempting meditation before we have mastered concentration. We should also first concentrate on gross objects before we attempt concentration on subtle ones.

Sutra 7) These three are more direct aids to experience than the five limbs previously described.

The first five limbs of yoga are a form of training in preparation for the practice of Samyama. The mind and the senses have to be purified by the cultivation of ethical virtues and the whole organism has to strengthen in order that it may be able to withstand the ensuing higher vibrations. We need to be reminded, that Spiritual life begins after samadhi.

Sutra 8) But even these are not direct aids to the seedless samadhi.

The practice of Samyama leads to the lower samadhi where the universe still exists in our mind.  The seedless, (nirvikalpa) samadhi demands a further effort.

Sutra 9) When the vision of the lower samadhi is suppressed by an act of conscious control so that there are no longer any thoughts or visions in the mind, that is the achievement of control of the thought waves of the mind.

Sutra 10) When this suppression of thought waves becomes continuous, the mind’s flow is calm.

Sutra 11) When all mental distractions disappear, and the mind becomes one pointed, it enters the state called samadhi.

Sutra 12) The mind becomes one pointed when similar thought waves arise in succession without any gapes in between them.

It has been said, that if the mind can be made to flow uninterruptedly toward the same object for twelve seconds, this may be called concentration. If the concentration can be held for twelve times twelve seconds, or two minutes and twenty-four seconds, this is called meditation. If the mind can continue in meditation for twelve times two minutes and twenty-four seconds (i.e. twenty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds) this is lower samadhi. Higher nirvikalpa samadhi would last for five hours and forty-five minutes.

Sutra 13) In this state it passes beyond the three kinds of changes which take place in the subtle or gross matter and in the organs: change of form, change of time and change of condition.

Vivekananda takes as an example a lump of gold.

Change of form occurs when the gold is made first into a bracelet and then into an earring.

Change of time occurs as it get older.

Change of condition occurs when the bright gold becomes dull, or wears thin.

Similar changes occur in subtle matter and in thought the waves of the mind. The thought waves may be of different kind, may refer to different periods of time and may vary in intensity. But the mind in a state of samadhi is beyond all three kinds of changes.

Sutra 14) A compound object has attributes and is subject to change, either past, present or yet to be manifested.

Sutra 15) The succession of these changes is the cause of manifest evolution.

Every object in the realm of differentiated matter has attributes and is a compound object, since it is made of three gunas in varying combinations as described in chapter one. The attributes of an object vary and change according to the action of the gunas and the constitution of the samskaras. Any object can change into any other object. Therefore the enlightened yogi sees no essential difference between a piece of gold and a lump of mud. In this manner he acquires complete dispassion toward the objects of the phenomenal world.

Sutra 16) By making Samyama on the three kinds of changes, one obtains knowledge of the past and the future.

We must not lose sight of the definition of Samyama. When the mind has attained that state in which it identifies itself with the internal impressions of the object, leaving the external, and when by long practice that impression is retained by the mind and the mind is able to get into the state of the moment that is Samyama.

If in that state one wants to know past and future, he has to practice Samyama on the changes of the samskaras. Some are working themselves out at present, some have already worked themselves out and some are waiting to work themselves out.

By practicing Samyama on the samskaras he knows the past and future.

Sutra 17) By making samyama on the sound of a word, one’s perception of its meaning  and one’s reaction to it – three things are ordinarily confused – one obtains understanding of all sounds uttered by living beings.

Word refers to the external object that stimulates a mental state. The mental sensation it causes represents the reaction of the mind which results in the perception of the object.

The three confused perceptions make up our sense objects.

Suppose we hear a word. There is first the external vibration, next the internal sensation is carried to the mind by the organ of hearing; then the mind reacts and we hear the word. The word we hear is a mixture of these three: vibration, sensation and reaction. Ordinarily they are inseparable, but by practice the yogi can separate them.

When a person has attained this stage of development, if he practices samyama on any sound, he understands the meaning which that sound was intended to express , whether it is made by a human or an animal.

Sutra 18) By samyama on previous thought waves one obtains knowledge of one’s previous life.

When a thought wave subsides it remains within the mind, in a minute subtle form. Therefore, it can be revived as memory, and this memory can be made to extend backward into previous incarnations.

Sutra 19) By making samyama on the distinguishing marks of another man’s body, one obtains of the nature of his mind.

Each person has particular signs on his body, which differentiate him from others. When the yogi practices samyama on the signs peculiar to a certain person, he knows the nature of that man’s mind.

Sutra 20) But not on its contents, because that is not the object of samyama.

By practicing samyama on the body, he would not know the content of the mind. That would require a twofold samyama: first on the signs of the body and then on the mind itself. The yogi would then know everything in that mind.

Sutra 21) Through the practice of samyama on the form of the body, the power of perceiving forms being obstructed and the power of manifestation in the eye being separated (from the form), the yogi’s body becomes unseen.

The yogi standing in the middle of the room can apparently vanish. He does not really vanish, but he will not be seen by anyone. The form and the body are, as it were, separated. One must remember that this can only be done when the yogi has attained that power of concentration where the form and the thing formed can be separated.

Sutra 22) In this manner the disappearance or concealment of words which are being spoken and other such things, are explained.

Sutra 23) By making samyama on two kinds of karma, on that which will bear fruit and that which will nor bear fruit until later, or by recognizing the portents (forewarning) of death, a yogi may know the exact time of his separation from the body.

Portents of death include various physical and psychic phenomena, together with super-natural beings. (It is better not to be too explicit here, because the reader may become unduly alarmed). Yogis believe that it is important to know the hour of one’s death in advance, because the thoughts one thinks at that moment have an influence on one’s after life.

Sutra 24) By making samyama on friendliness, compassion etc., one develops the power of these qualities.

Sutra 25) Making samyama on any kind of strength such as that of the elephant, one obtains that strength.

Sutra 26 By making samyama on the inner light, one obtains knowledge of what is subtle, hidden, or far distant.

The inner light is the light of the lotus within the heart. Refer to Sutra 36 chapter I.

Sutra 27) By making samyama on the sun, one gains knowledge of cosmic spaces.

Sutra 28) By making samyama on the moon, one gains knowledge of the arrangement of the stars.

Sutra 29) By making samyama on the polestar, one gains knowledge of the motion of the stars.

It has already been mentioned that there is a strong resemblance between the cosmology of Patanjali and the theories of modern atomic physics. Yet the ancient had as far as we know no scientific apparatus of any accuracy. This fact alone would offer some proof of the validity of psychic powers.

Sutra 30) By making samyama on the naval, one gains knowledge of the constitution of the body.

Sutra 31) By making samyama on the hollow of the throat, one stills hunger and thirst.

Sutra 32) By making samyama on the tube within the chest, one acquires absolute motionlessness.

An example would be making samyama on the motionlessness of a snake or a lizard. This enables to yogi to meditate undisturbed by the involuntary movements of his body.

Sutra 33) By making samyama on the radiance within the back of the head, one becomes able to see celestial beings.

The radiance within the back of the head is not to be confused with the radiance of the seventh lotus on the of the head.

Sutra 34) All these powers of knowledge may also come to one whose mind is spontaneously enlightened through purity.

When the mind has reached a very high state of purification, the psychic powers may come to it spontaneously without samyama.

Sutra 35) By making samyama on the heart, one gains knowledge of the content of the mind.

Sutra 36) The power of enjoyment arises from the failure to discriminate between the Self and the sattva (buddhi) guna, which are totally different. The sattva guna is merely the agent of the Self, which is independent, existing only for its own sake. By making samyama on the independence of the Self, one gains knowledge of the Self.

In the ordinary state of consciousness, the highest enjoyment we can know is the jot inspired by the sattva guna. This seems to us, in our ignorance identical to the joy of the pure Self, but it is not. Sattva even in its purest state is still a guna and Sattvic joy still contains a measure of ego. Gunas are only agents of the Self.

In the ordinary state of consciousness the highest enjoyment we can know is the joy inspired by the guna of sattva. This seems to us, in our ignorance identical with the joy of the pure Self, but it is not. Sattva even in its purest state is still a guna and sattvic joy still contains a measure of egotism. What we have to understand is that the gunas are only agents of the Self and that sattvic jot is only a pale reflection of the joy of the Self, which is without egotism and entirely independent of the gunas.

By making this samyama and discriminating between Self and sattva, the yogi passes beyond earthly enjoyment into the joy of the Self.

Sutra 37) Hence one gains the knowledge due to spontaneous enlightenment, and obtains super-natural powers of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell.

Sutra 38) they are powers of the worldly state, but they are obstacles to samadhi.

Sutra 39) When the bonds of the mind caused by karma have been loosened, the yogi can enter into the body of another by knowledge of the operation of its nerve currents.

Swami Vivekananda:”The yogi can enter a dead body and make it get up and move, even while he himself is working in his own body. Or he can enter into a living body and hold that person’s mind and organs in check, and for the time being act through the body of that person. This the yogi does by discriminating between purusha (Self) and nature. If he wants to enter another’s body he practices samyama on that body and enters it, because not only is his Self omnipresent, but also his mind which is a part of universal mind. At first it can work only work through the nerve currents of his own body, but when the yogi has loosened himself from these nerve currents, his mind can work through other bodies”.

Sutra 40) By controlling the nerve currents that govern the lungs and the upper part of the body, the yogi can walk on water and swamps, or on thorns and similar objects, and he can die at will.

The udana is the nerve current that governs the lungs and all the upper parts of the body. When the yogi has mastered it, he becomes light in weight. He does not think in water, he can walk on thorns and he can depart from life whenever he wants.

Sutra 41) By controlling the forces which control the prana, he can control himself with a blaze of light.

Whenever he wishes, light flashes from his body.

Sutra 42) By making samyama on the relation between the ear and the ether, one obtains supernatural powers of hearing.

Sutra 43) By making samyama on the relation between the body and ether, or by acquiring through meditation the lightness of cotton fiber, the yogi can fly through the air.

Sutra 44) By making samyama on the thought waves, of the mind when it is separated from the body, the state known as great disincarnation from the body, all coverings can be removed from the light of knowledge.

Sutra 45) By making samyama on the gross and subtle forms of the elements on their essential characteristics and the inherence of the gunas in them, and on the experience they provide for the individual, one gains mastery of the elements.

Sutra 46) Hence one gains the power of becoming as tiny as an atom and all similar powers; also perfection of the body, which is no longer subject to the obstructions of the elements.

Sutra 47) Perfection of the body includes beauty, grace, strength and the hardness of a thunderbolt.

Sutra 48) By making samyama on the transformation that the sense organs undergo when they contact objects, on the power of illumination of the sense organs, on the ego sense, on the gunas, which constitute the organs and on the experience they provide for the individual, one obtains mastery over the organs.

Sutra 49) Hence the body gains the power of movement as rapid as that of the mind, the power of using the sense organs outside of the confines of the body

and mastery of prakriti.

Mastery of prakriti, the primal cause, gives the yogi control of all the effects evolved from prakriti, in other words, control over nature.

Sutra 50) By making samyama on the discrimination between the sattva guna and the Self, one gains omnipotence and omniscience.

Sutra 51) By giving up even these powers, the seed of evil is destroyed and liberation follows.

The seed of evil is ignorance. Because of ignorance man forgets that he is the Self.

Sutra 52) When tempted by the invisible beings in high places, let the yogi feel neither allured nor flattered; for he is in danger of being caught one more by ignorance.

Sutra 53) By making samyama on single moments and on their sequence in time, one gains discriminative knowledge.

Sutra 54) Thus one is able to distinguish between two exactly different objects which cannot be distinguished by their species, characteristic marks, or position in space.

Sutra 55) The discriminative knowledge delivers a man from the bondage of ignorance. It comprehends all objects simultaneously at ever moment of their existence and in all their modifications.

Sutra 56) Perfection is attained when the mind becomes as pure as the Self itself.