quiets and nullifies the waves of the fluctuations of mind. In practical
terms, it means that when something happens, I am not thrown off
course, and when nothing happens, I do not lose my way.
The third niyama, tapas, sustained practice, corresponds to pratya
hara, the hinge between the outer and inner aspects of yoga practice.
It implies that cognitive awareness is bent inward with a view to self
knowledge (svadhyaya). It directs one toward the core of being and,
like the blacksmith's bellows, it must always continue to heat the heart
of the fire of practice, otherwise the alchemical transformation through
extreme heat will never take place. The fire will burn merrily, but it will
not turn lead into gold.
The fourth niyama, svadhyaya or self-knowledge, is difficult. We
so much associate knowledge with the acquisition of learning (vidya).
In reality, svadhyaya, whether through study or self-analysis, is the
path of concentration (dharana), leading up a cruel and stony path to
knowledge and to disrobing of the false or pretentious self with all its
flaws and bogus virtues. Its reward is the path of wisdom, (jnana
marga), which so denudes us of self-illusion that we are ready for the
next great step.
This is surrender to God (lsvara pranidhana), often equated with
bhakti, the yoga of supreme devotion and selflessness. Ego is on an
elastic and will always pull you back. Only the practice of meditation
will eventually erode the attraction between ego and self-identity.
Surrender to God is possible only for one who has, perhaps by
circumstance or adversity or humiliation, discarded ego. For the sur
render to be lasting, meditation in its highest sense must be accom
plished. Surrender to God is not surrender to what you think God
wants. It is not surrender to your conception of the will of God. It is
not God giving you instructions. As long as ego persists, your inter
pretation of God's wishes will be fragmented by the distorting prism
of ego. Only in an egoless state, that is the state of one who has at
tained the heights of seedless (nirhiia) samadhi, will God's voice speak
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