Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

underlying idea is the same, i.e. a particular kind of life which consists in following
certain observances and moral code ensures a happy life in the hereafter.
The Yogic philosophy does not deny the existence of heaven and hell but it
places before the Yogi an ideal of achievement in which the enjoyments and pleasures
of heaven life have no place because these also are temporary and subject to illusion.
The enjoyments of the heaven world are nothing as compared with the bliss and pow-
ers which the Yogi acquires when his consciousness passes into the still higher planes
of existence. Even these transcendent states have to be renounced by him in his pro-
gress towards his ultimate goal. Every power and pleasure which is ‘born’ out of con-
tact with Prakrti and which is not contained in the Self and therefore does not make
the Yogi self-contained is to be included in Anusravika Visaya.
It may be pointed out here that it is not the feeling of enjoyment on coming into
contact with those Visayas which constitutes Trsna. In our contact with objects of
senses some must necessarily produce a sensation of pleasure. When consciousness
functions on the higher planes through the subtler vehicles bliss is the natural inevita-
ble accompaniment but it is not this feeling of pleasure or bliss which constitutes
Raga. It is the attraction and consequent attachment which is the cause of bondage and
must be destroyed by the practice of Vairagya.
It is also necessary to remember that mere absence of attraction due to the inac-
tivity of the body or satiety or preoccupation with other things does not constitute
Vairagya. A man who becomes old may lose his sex-desire for the time being. A poli-
tician engaged in the pursuit of his ambitions may for the time being become indiffer-
ent to sensuous enjoyments. But this temporary indifference towards objects has noth-
ing to do with Vairagya. The attraction is merely in abeyance ready to come to the sur-
face as soon as the necessary conditions are present. What is needed for true Vairagya
is the deliberate destruction of all attractions and the consequent attachments and con-
scious mastery over the desires. This is the meaning of the phrase Vasikara-Samjna.
Control over the vehicles through which the desires are felt and the consciousness of
mastery which comes from such control are the essential elements of Vairagya. For
gaining this kind of mastery one should have come in contact with temptations of
every kind and should have passed through ordeals of every description and come out
not only triumphant but even without feeling the slightest attraction. For, if the attrac-
tion is felt, even though we may not succumb to the temptation, we have not com-
pletely mastered the desire.