It may be pointed out here that the simple mental process of Vitarka or Vicara
which we may engage in during the course of our studies and thinking should not be
considered equivalent to the corresponding mental processes as they take place in the
state of Samadhi. In the state of Samadhi the mind is completely isolated from the
outer world, is fused, as it were, with the object in a state of abstraction. It is in a pe-
culiar and to the ordinary man incomprehensible state. And so, concrete and abstract
thinking are merely faint reflections, qualitative representations of the extremely sub-
tle mental processes which take place in Samadhi. The reason why words like Vitarka
and Vicara are used to indicate these subtle mental processes lies in the fact that the
ordinary reasoning processes are familiar to the student and it is only in this way that
he can get some idea of the subtler processes. From the known to the unknown is al-
ways the right method of advancing in the realm of the mind.
Then we come to the next stage of the Gunas—Linga. This word means a mark
which serves to identify, and in the present context Linga-matra means a state of con-
sciousness in which particular objects and even principles are mere marks or signs
which serve to distinguish them from other objects. This stage of the Gunas corre-
sponds to the supra-mental consciousness which transcends the intellect and is ex-
pressed through Buddhi or intuition. The corresponding stage in Samadhi is accompa-
nied by Ananda which confirms the conclusion that this stage of the Gunas corre-
sponds to the functioning of consciousness through the Buddhic vehicle or Anan-
damaya Kosa as it is called in Vedantic terminology.
But why is this stage of the Gunas called Linga? Because in the corresponding
state of consciousness all objects and universal principles become part of a universal
consciousness. They are seen, embedded as it were, in one consciousness, as parts of
an indivisible whole. But they still have their identity, are still distinguishable or rec-
ognizable. Each object is itself and yet part of a whole. It is a condition of unity in
diversity.
The next and the last stage of the Gunas is called Alinga or without mark or dif-
ferentiating characteristic. In this stage the objects and principles lose their separate
identity. Consciousness becomes so predominant that they go out of focus, as it were.
According to the highest conceptions of the Hindu philosophy all objects, archetypes,
everything in the manifested Universe is a modification of consciousness—Brahma-
Vrtti. In the Linga stage awareness of objects exists side by side with the awareness of
consciousness. In the Alinga stage the former go out of focus and only awareness of
ben green
(Ben Green)
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