Suka was another, and so on. There are various kinds of yogis who lived in different
conditions and circumstances, all wielding the same powers—some exhibiting, some
not exhibiting.
We, as little beginners in the practice of yoga, need not go into these miracles of the
magnificent achievements of the great masters. We have to find out how they became
masters; that is what is more important. How did Suka become Suka? What was the
secret behind it? What was the power of Vasishtha? He could simply stun all the
celestial weapons of Visvamitra by a mere wooden stick that he had in front of him.
Even the brahmastra would not work before that yogadanda. What is that secret?
From where did he get that power? And Bharadvaja simply snapped his fingers and
celestials dropped from the skies with golden plates of delicacies and served the
millions and millions of soldiers of Bharata, who was in the forest in search of Rama.
Merely a snap of the fingers would do, and celestials start dropping from the skies.
From where is all this possible?
These are very interesting things to hear, of course, though it is very difficult to
understand how it is possible. But if we know the science behind it, we can know the
rationality behind it. And what is possible for one, what has been possible for one,
should be possible for others, also, if the proper technique of meditation is practised.
Chapter 97SUBLIMATION OF OBJECT-CONSCIOUSNESSIn about four sutras we are given the final touches of the practice of samyama for
the liberation of the spirit. They are very concisely treated inasmuch as many of the
details have already been furnished in the Samadhi Pada itself, and there is no need
to reiterate all those various aspects that have been touched upon in the relevant
sutras in the first pada.
The particular type of meditation that is directly responsible for the liberation of the
soul is meditation on the purusha, as the sutra tells us. Sattva puruṣayoḥ
atyantāsamkīrṇayoḥ pratyaya aviśeṣaḥ bhogaḥ parārthatvāt svārthasaṁyamāt
puruṣajñānam (III.36), says the sutra. The knowledge of the purusha is the knowledge
of the Absolute. This comes by meditation on the purusha as the Ultimate Principle.
No other kind of meditation can lead to liberation, though it can lead to various
experiences, or powers. Also, it is the most difficult type of meditation because it
requires qualifications not merely of the will or the thought, but also of the moral
consciousness and the emotions. All these are known to us, as they have been
described earlier.
There is a total disparity of character between the pure state of the purusha and the
conditions of ordinary perception through the mind. In other words, there is a great
difference between the status of consciousness in the state of the pure purusha and
the condition of consciousness in ordinary world awareness. The present state of our
mind is quite different and utterly opposed to the state of consciousness expected in
the state of the purusha, or the Ultimate Subject. It is difficult to conceive the nature