Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

of the highest order. A great musician is able to create his best productions when he
loses himself completely in his work. An inventor solves his greatest problems when
he is not conscious of solving any problem. It is at such moments that these people get
their inspirations and contact with what they are seeking, provided, of course, they
have mastered the technique and their mind is fully concentrated. It is the disappear-
ance of self-consciousness which somehow opens the door to a new world which they
cannot eriter normally.
Something similar though at a much higher level takes place when Dhyana
passes into Samadhi and the gate which leads into the world of realities opens. Patan-
jali calls this disappearance of the mind's awareness of itself as Svarupa sunyam iva.
The mind's “own-form” or essential nature disappears, as it were. Let us examine this
phrase carefully because each word in it is significant. What is Svarupa? Everything in
manifestation has, two forms. An external form expressing its superficial and non-
essential nature which is called Rupa and an internal form which constitutes the very
essence or substance of its true nature which is called its Svarupa. In the case of the
mind in the state of Dhyana the Rupa is the Pratyaya or the object of meditation. It is
through this that the mind finds expression. The Svarupa is the residual consciousness
of its own action or role in the process of Dhyana and is essentially the subjective na-
ture of the mind. This consciousness steadily becomes weaker as Dharana passes into
Dhyana and the concentration of the mind in Dhyana increases. But still it is present,
even though in a weak form, in all stages of Dhyana, and it is only when it disappears
completely that Dhyana passes into Samadhi.
The word Sunyam means a void or cipher and here it must be interpreted as ci-
pher, because it is a question of reducing the residual self-awareness to the vanishing
point and not of emptying anything to the utmost limit. In feet, as the objects of medi-
tation continue to fill the mind completely there can be no question of emptying the
mind. Svarupa Sunyam therefore means reducing the self-awareness or the subjective
role of the mind to the utmost limit. Lest the student may imagine that the Svarupa
really disappears when the Samadhi takes the place of Dhyana the author adds the
word Iva which means ‘as if’. The Svarupa only seems to disappear but does not in
reality because when the Samadhi comes to an end it manifests again immediately.
The question as to how it is possible to know the innermost nature of an object
of meditation by fusing the mind with it is a very interesting one and has been dealt
with fully in considering I-41. It will suffice to point out here that the apparent disap-