the Science of Yoga is based they reach to the very Centre of Ultimate Reality. That is
what the doctrine of the identical nature of Jivatmas and Paramatma really means.
The fact that there are enormous differences in the inner complexity of objects
must be kept in mind if we are to understand why the technique of Samyama is a very
complicated science and has to be mastered in stages. Some objects touch as it were
the mere surface of reality while others go down very deep into it. Though Samyama is
needed to unravel the underlying mystery in all the cases it cannot be the same in ac-
tual practice. That is why there is a world of difference between the beginner who has
just mastered the technique of Samadhi and the Adept who can almost instantaneously
pass out into the highest realms of existence without much effort. The whole science
of mathematics is based upon the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplica-
tion and division but the beginner who has mastered these operations has very far to go
before he can become an expert mathematician.
In the language of the Yoga-Sutras these different stages involved in the use of
Samyama mean the attainment of the four successive stages of Samprajnata Samadhi
mentioned in I-17 and the stage of Nirbija Samadhi mentioned in I-51. In the language
of Occultism they mean the functioning of consciousness through increasingly subtler
vehicles referred to in connection with I-17. But the fundamental basis of both is the
same, namely) penetration into different depths of consciousness which finds expres-
sion through different grades of Citta. The Yoga-Sutras deal with Samadhi from the
functional point of view while Occultism deals with it from the structural point of
view. That is why, outwardly, the two modes of treatment seem to differ. But the stu-
dent who has grasped the nature of Samadhi will see that there is no essential differ-
ence between the two, because passing in Samadhi from one vehicle to another means
coming into touch with the deeper levels and aspects of consciousness. The correspon-
dences between these have been shown already in dealing with II-19.
- The three are internal in relation to the preceding ones.