Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

which we try to visualise this state which prevent us from comprehending it even to a
limited extent. When the vibrations of sound become too rapid they appear as silence.
When the vibrations of light become too fine they appear as darkness. In the same way
the extremely subtle nature of this transcendent consciousness of Reality appears as a
void to the mind.
The explanation given above should enable the student to understand clearly the
relation between Nirbija Samadhi and Asamprajnata Samadhi. It will be seen that Nir-
bija Samadhi is nothing but the last stage of Asamprajnata Samadhi. It differs from the
previous Asamprajnata Samadhis in that there is no deeper level of Citta into which
consciousness can withdraw. Any further withdrawal now must be into the conscious-
ness of the Purusa himself. The consciousness of the Yogi is, as it were, poised on the
brink of the manifested Universe and has to plunge from the last foothold in the realm
of Prakrti into the Ocean of Reality. The Yogi is like a swimmer standing on a high
cliff abutting the sea. He jumps down from one ledge to another and then comes to the
lowest level from which he has to plunge directly into the sea. The last jump is differ-
ent from all the preceding jumps in that he passes into an entirely different kind of
medium.
Nirvija Samadhi is so called not only because there is no ‘seed’ in the field of
consciousness but also because in this kind of Samadhi no new Samskara is created.
One characteristic of a ‘seed’, namely its complex and multi-layer nature, has already
been referred to in I-42 and provides the reason for calling the object of Samyama in
Samadhi a ‘seed’. But another characteristic of a seed is that it reproduces itself when
sown in the ground. This potentiality to reproduce themselves under favourable condi-
tions is also present in the ‘seeds’ of Samprajinata Samadhi. In Nirbija Samadhi there
being no ‘seed’ no Samskaras can be produced. Not only no fresh Samskaras can be
produced but the old Samskaras of Sabija Samadhi are gradually dissipated by Para-
Vairagya and partial contact with the Purusa (IV-29). The consciousness thus gradu-
ally becomes free to function unburdened by the kind of Samskaras which tend to draw
it back into the realm of Prakrti. Nirbija Samadhi is therefore not only a means of
passing out of the realm of Prakrti but also of exhausting the subtle Samskaras which
still remain and which must be destroyed completely before Kaivalya can be attained.