he presses himself forward and has the boldness to attack us, and we cannot visibly
perceive this background behind the object that is encountering us. Why is it that the
object is so forceful and attacks us, and we cannot withdraw ourselves from it? It has
a background. It has a power which gives sustenance to it, which we cannot see with
our eyes because these powers which sustain the objects in their activity and their
manifestation are super-physical—the tanmatras, etc. The total pressure of the
whole cosmos can be said to be present behind every object. Therefore, when we face
an object, even a small pinhead, we are facing the whole world behind it. Even one
wave in the ocean is the whole ocean; it is not cut off from the ocean. And so, when
we face or encounter an object, particularly in the techniques of the practice of yoga,
what is actually encountered is the interconnected network of support that is behind
the visible object of sense.
This should explain why it is so hard to withdraw the senses from the objects. The
unity of things, which is revealed in the cosmic condition of mahat, is the reason
behind the rushing of the senses towards objects. It is ultimately a desire to become
one with all things. The force of unity that is behind everything is the urging energy
behind even the activity of the senses, so even the wickedest of actions have the unity
of things behind them, though they are distorted and moving in a different direction
altogether. Merely because a stream of a gushing river is washing off the villages of
poor people, it does not mean that the stream has ceased to be the river. It is the
same Ganga. It may be the holiest of rivers, but it has no pity upon villages. It will
simply destroy everybody if it is misdirected—if we would like to call it that—in the
direction of the villages of poor people. If it is channelised properly, it may go to
Ganga Sagar; otherwise, it will go any place if there is another channel for its
movement. The force is the same; it is not something else.
Likewise, it is the unity of things that urges itself forward in experience, which keeps
us restless. The restlessness of the mind, which is attributed to the desire of the
senses for objects, is ultimately caused by the unity behind things. Even the desire for
objects is due to that. If the unity of things were not to be there, there would not be
desire for objects of sense. Hence, we can imagine how a wrong thing can be based
on a right thing. This is what has happened. It is wrong because of a peculiar twist it
has taken, though the background of it is right. It is something like a soldier going
mad at home and attacking his own mother with his gun. Well, this can happen if his
mind is out of order. He is supposed to be trained for war, not to attack his own
family in the house. Likewise, this urge of the mind for unity with things takes the
form of an externalised attachment to objects of sense due to involvement in space,
time, etc.
The sutra gives us a metaphysical and a philosophical analysis of the stages of the
manifestation of these cosmic forces which are at the background of the objects of
sense, and the caution that has to be exercised in the practice of yoga. We are not
dealing with individuals, even when we encounter a single individual. There is no
such thing as an individual here; everything is cosmic, but looking like individuals.
That is the mistake in perception. Therefore, any individual is terrible, under given
conditions. Anything can attack us and harass us because of the cosmic background
of things.
The stages of the ascent of the soul are also indicated in this sutra. The mind does
not suddenly jump to the cosmic. It moves gradually from lower unities to higher