Chapter 70THE SEVEN STAGES OF PERFECTIONTad abhāvāt saṁyogābhāvaḥ hānaṁ taddṛśeḥ kaivalyam (II.25): The absence of
ignorance which is responsible for perceptions is itself liberation; that is the freedom
of the spirit. The absence of bondage is the same as the presence of freedom. These
are not two experiences, but a self-identical revelation like the passing of the night
and the rising of the sun. This experience of freedom, or kaivalya, is not possible of
attainment as long as there is even the least tendency or susceptibility to object
perception—whatever may be the justification which the reason may put forth for
such perception.
As we have had occasion to study, these tendencies to object perception are deep-
seated and they can be present—sometimes actively present—even when they are
apparently imperceptible. The conscious non-apprehension of an object is not
necessarily an indication of the absence of this tendency to object perception in the
deeper layers of one’s personality. The urges of the individual are nothing but the
building bricks of the individuality itself. What is known as self-consciousness, or
individuality, is a pattern or shape taken by this tendency to object perception. As
long as the individuality-consciousness persists, even in its minimum formation, one
can safely conclude that these tendencies are still there, because when they are
absent, the individuality also vanishes, just as when we pull out every brick from the
house, the house itself is not there.
This body is the house. This individuality is the vehicle that has been manufactured
by these tendencies to object-perception, and they themselves form the substance of
this body-mind complex. And, the presence of this vehicle is simultaneous with the
attachment of consciousness to that vehicle; this is the bondage of the soul. Thus, it is
hard for one to attain salvation, because it is the abolition of individuality itself—a
total extinction of personality that is known as nirvana, the complete vanishing from
sight of the very possibility of objectivity. The blowing out of a lamp is what is
actually meant by nirvana. The lamp of world-consciousness—the light with which
we see objects—is blown out completely, and there is the return of the spirit to its
own pristine purity and status.
This is the meaning in substance of these sutras: tad abhāvāt saṁyogābhāvaḥ hānaṁ
taddṛśeḥ kaivalyam (II.25); vivekakhyātiḥ aviplavā hānopāyaḥ (II.26); tasya saptadhā
prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā (II.27). What is the way to this attainment? Discriminative
knowledge is the way, which has to be attained by the practice of the limbs of yoga—
and there is no other alternative. Nanya panthā vidyate ayanāya (R.V. X.90.16), says
the Rig Veda. We cannot have any other, simpler method here. There is only one
method. This is a single-track approach, and everyone has to proceed along the same
road which others have trodden from ancient times. This is the viveka khyati that is
referred to here. The enlightenment that follows understanding of the true nature of
things—this is viveka khyati. This understanding should be perpetual; it should be
second nature to us.
The understanding in respect of the true nature of things, which we are trying to
entertain in ourselves as the faculty of correct perception, is to be the only way of
looking at things. That is the only method we can adopt in seeing, and this is the only