Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

the Divine consciousness of which they are modifications remains. A concrete example
may perhaps help the student to understand the significance of the different stages of
the Gunas. Suppose we have a number of objects made of gold—a ring, a bracelet and
a necklace, placed on a table. We may see them merely as separate objects, as a child
would see them. This corresponds to the Visesa stage. We may see them as ornaments
with a common function of serving to adorn the human body, as a woman would see
them. This is the Avisesa stage. We may see them as objects with a common decorative
function but we may also be interested in the fact that they are made of gold, i.e., we
see their common substratum and their separate identity simultaneously, as a gold-
smith would see them. This corresponds to the Linga stage. And lastly, we may see
only the gold and may hardly be conscious of their separate identities or common
function, as a thief would see them. This is analogous to the Alinga stage. In this stage
the Yogi is conscious, chiefly of the substratum of all phenomenal objects, particular
or universal. He is aware predominantly of the Divine consciousness in which they are
merely Vrttis or modifications. The objects as separate entities do exist but they have
ceased to have any meaning for him. This stage of the Gunas corresponds to the last
stage of Samprajnata Samadhi of which Asmita is the predominant characteristic. The
consciousness of pure existence which is denoted by Asmita swallows up the con-
sciousness of objects.
The progressive expansion of consciousness which takes place when it passes
through the different stages of Samadhi does not mean that these states of conscious-
ness are separated from each other by water-tight compartments and the lower aspects
of objects disappear when the higher come into view. Many students feel confused be-
cause they suffer from a common misconception about the functioning of conscious-
ness in the higher worlds. They think, for example, that when the Yogi passes into the
world of the higher mind he lives solely in a world of abstract ideas, archetypes and
principles with no objects having names and forms with which he has been familiar.
Such a world of pure abstractions would be an impossible world to live in and does not
exist anywhere as the experiences of all mystics and occultists testify. The higher al-
ways includes and enriches the lower though it also enables the lower to be seen in its
correct perspective. What was considered important may now appear unimportant or
what was considered insignificant may now assume tremendous significance, and vice
versa, but everything is there within the expanded consciousness, and the Yogi does
not therefore feel he has entered into a strange and incomprehensible world. On the