48 Light on Yogatamas and he works to achieve a sattvika frame of mind. When the
sattva-gu!:fa alone remains, the human soul has advanced a long way
towards the ultimate goal.
Like unto the pull of gravity is the pull of the gunas. As intensive
research and rigorous discipline are needed to experience the wonder of
weightlessness in space, so also a searching self-examination and the
discipline fur'lished by Yoga is needed by a sadhaka to experience union
with the Creator of space when he is freed from the pull of the gu!:fas.
Once the sadhaka has experienced the fullness of creation or of the
Creator, his thirst Ctr�J:fa) for objects of sense vanishes and he looks at
them ever after with dispassion (vairagya). He experiences no disquiet
in heat or cold, in pain or pleasure, in honour or dishonour and in
virtue or vice. He treats the two imposters-triumph and disaster-with
equanimity. He has emancipated himself from these pairs of opposites.
He has passed beyond the pull of the gunas. and has become a gunat'. ita
(one who has transcended the gu!:fas). He is then free from birth and
death, from pain and sorrow and becomes immortal. He has no self
identity as he lives experiencing the fullness of the Universal Soul. Such
a man, scorning nothing, leads all things to the path of perfection.Dharana.
When the body has been tempered by asanas, when the mind has been
refined by the fire of pra!:fayama and when the senses have been brought
under control by pratyahara, the sadhaka reaches the sixth stage called
dhara!:fa. Here he is concentrated wholly on a single point or on a task
in which he is completely engrossed. The mind has to be stilled in order
to achieve this state of complete absorption.
The mind is an instrument which classifies, judges and co-ordinates
the impressions from the outside world and those that arise within
oneself.
Mind is the product of thoughts which are difficult to restrain for
they are subtle and fickle. A thought which is well guarded by a con
trolled mind brings happiness. To get the best out of an instrument,
one must know how it works. The mind is the instrument for thinking
and it is therefore necessary to consider how it functions. Mental states
are classified in five groups. The first of these is the k�ipta state, where
the mental forces are scattered, being in disarray and in a state of
neglect. Here the mind hankers after objects, the rago-guJ;Ia being
dominant. The second is the vik�ipta state, where the mind is agitated
and distracted. Here there is a capacity to enjoy the fruits of one's efforts,
but the desires are not marshalled and controlled. Then in the miidha
state the mind is foolish, dull and stupid. It is confounded and at a loss
to know what it wants and here the tamo-guna predominates. The fourth