there is a dismantling of the house of the gunas. As I mentioned, all the material of
the house of this individuality is pulled out. The materials are the gunas—sattva,
rajas and tamas. The prison of this individuality is pulled out, broken down, because
the material of this individuality, which is nothing but the complex of sattva, rajas
and tamas, is withdrawn within its cause, and this complex of body-mind ceases to
operate. That is the sixth stage.
The seventh stage is the return of consciousness to itself, where the self becomes
aware of what it is—completely freed from all bondage. Yogāṅgānuṣṭhānāt
aśuddhikṣaye jñānadīptiḥ āvivekakhyāteḥ (II.28): When there is complete purification of
the mind by the practice of yoga, there is an automatic and spontaneous
manifestation of consciousness in the direction of its freedom. ‘Avivekakhyateh’ is
the word used here in this sutra. The effort should continue until correct
discrimination dawns. We should not withdraw the effort, or cease from the effort,
until perfection is attained in this understanding. Perfection is symbolised in the
experience of the total freedom which one gains over the forces which were, once
upon a time, masters over oneself. These forces are physical as well as psychological,
external as well as internal, as we already know.
The powers that are mentioned in the Yoga Sutras, which a yogi is supposed to attain
by practice, are the experiences one passes through on account of the ascent of
consciousness to higher degrees of perfection. One does not meditate merely for the
sake of powers. They automatically arise. They are the spontaneous reactions that
follow from nature outside due to the harmony one establishes with nature as a
whole. Powers are nothing but the outcome of harmony with nature. When there is
disharmony, there is weakness; when there is harmony, there is strength, because it
is nature that is powerful. Nobody else can be strong; and the strength of nature
comes to us when we are in harmony with it.
At present, our body, our mind—everything—is in disharmony with nature. The
earth, fire, water, air, ether—every element is in disharmony with us. Thus we have
hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fear of death, and all sorts of things. All these troubles arise
on account of a dissonant attitude which the body-mind complex has adopted in
respect of natural forces.
We cannot agree with anything. We always disagree. That is why we are suffering.
When we totally agree with everything in every respect, at all times, from the depths
of our being, we become harmonious with all things. Then the powers of nature enter
us. As a matter of fact, there are no such things as powers; these are only ways of
expressing the experience of freedom. It is bondage that makes us feel that there are
things outside us. There are no things outside us, really speaking. The things which
appear to come to us as the result of achieving powers in yoga are only aspects of our
own nature which we have forgotten, which we have lost sight of on account of
avidya, or ignorance.
Therefore, the perfection of understanding, or the viveka khyati referred to, is a
gradual widening of the grasp which consciousness has over the substances of
nature. At present, one has no grasp over anything because there is an isolation of
oneself from the cosmic substance due to the affirmation of the ego, or the asmita,
and the weakness of personality. Whatever be the type of that weakness—physical or
psychological—it is due to the inability of cosmic forces to enter into oneself, just as