Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

all these leave some kind of Samskara or impression which binds us in one way or an-
other for the future. Thus our desires produce potential energy which draws us irresist-
ably to the environment or conditions in which they can be satisfied. Actions produce
tendencies which make it easier for us to repeat similar actions in future and if they are
repeated a sufficient number of times may form fixed habits. In addition, if our actions
affect other people in some way they bind us to those people by Karmic ties and bring
pleasant or unpleasant experiences to ourselves. Our thoughts also produce Samskaras
and result in desires and actions in accordance with their nature.
If, however, we analyse these different kinds of mental and physical activities
we shall find that at their base there are always desires of one kind or another which
drive the mind and result in these thoughts and actions. Desire in its most comprehen-
sive sense is thus a more fundamental factor in our life than our thoughts and actions
because it is the hidden power which drives the mind and body in all kinds of ways for
the satisfaction of its own purposes. The mind is thus mostly an instrument of desires
and its incessant activity results from the continuous pressure of these desires upon it.
Of course, ‘desire’ is not an apt word for the subtle power which drives the mind at its
higher levels and which binds consciousness to the glorious realities of the spiritual
planes. The word used in Samskrta for this power which works at all levels of the mind
is Vasana. Just as Citta is the universal medium for the expression of the mind princi-
ple, so Vasana is the universal power which drives the mind and produces the continu-
ous series of its transformations which imprison consciousness. In fact, the word Va-
sana used in the present context is of a still more comprehensive significance, for it
not only indicates the principle of desire in its widest sense but also the tendencies and
Karmas which this principle generates on the different planes. For desire and the
Karmas or tendencies which it produces form a vicious circle in which causes and ef-
fects are intertwined and it is difficult to separate them. So the use of the word Vasana
for both is quite justifiable.
Since different types of Vasanas require different kinds of conditions and envi-
ronment for their manifestation it is quite obvious that they cannot find expression in
any haphazard manner but must follow a certain sequence determined by the different
types of environments and conditions through which the individual passes in the suc-
cessive incarnations. And this is what IV-8 points out. If a person has a strong desire
for being a champion athlete when he has inherited a weak and diseased body his de-
sire cannot naturally be fulfilled in that life. If an individual A has strong Karmic ties