Vedantham : ( 07/11/2012. )

26/02/2018 10.The Stages of Samadhi- 10. 10.1 We are told later on that this externality is nothing but the placement of a thing in space and time. Anything that is in space or in time is externally related, and it is impossible to free anything from this involvement in externality as long as it is thought to exist in space and time. So, a further step is taken by Patanjali’s instruction when he says that a stage has to come in our meditation when it must be possible for us to contemplate the object not necessarily as placed in space and time, but independent of space and time. This is not something that is to be attempted by the force of will, because any pressure exerted by the will on the nature of the object of contemplation will not permit the freedom of the object from the thought of involvement in space and time. We ourselves are in space and time. I think I am here, and I think you are there. This idea of my being here and your being there is the idea of something...

15/02/2018 10.The Stages of Samadhi-9. How do we do this? This is a great feat of the power of the will. A tremendous strength of will is necessary to free oneself from conditioning psychological factors when dealing with any particular person, thing, or even situation. A total dispassion of outlook may be called for. It has to be total, because there should not be any preconceived ulterior notion or motive in this attempt. It is not that I should know you as I want to know you, but I should know you as you would like to be known – also, as you would like to be known in the sense you really are, not in the sense you think you are. Hence, appearance is to be broken through in order that reality may be penetrated and contacted in meditation. These are the secrets of what is called initiation in yoga, and are not details which are explained in any textbook. We will not find it in the sutras of Patanjali or any book on Vedanta or yoga, because while it may appear that it is c...

05/02/2018 10.The Stages of Samadhi-8. 8.1 Patanjali says that if meditation is to be an attempt on the part of consciousness to know a thing as it is in itself, it has to be freed from the notion which one has about it, and also freed from the nomenclature with which it is characterised, or by means of which it is defined. I must know you independent of your name, and I must know you independent of the way in which I am able to think of you. This is not an easy thing, as we know very well. It is ordinarily impossible to dissociate a thing from its name. The idea of the name immediately jumps into the mind, and also the notion which one holds about that particular thing – it is of this nature, it is of this character, it is related to me in this particular manner, etc. – is also impossible to avoid. 8.2 How will we avoid it, if it is supposed to be an absolute necessity that knowledge of a thing as it is in itself is practicable and desirable? Everyone will accept that kn...