Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

lower planes. Bhavana is another technical term which means ‘dwelling in mind upon’
but used in conjunction with Atma-Bhava it will naturally mean living in and experi-
encing the transcendent knowledge and bliss of the Atmic plane.
It may appear to the student that the renunciation of the attractions which bind
the Yogi to the exalted condition of the Atmic plane should be a comparatively easy
matter considering the wisdom he has acquired and the Vairagya he has developed.
But, in judging of the effort required he should remember, that the consciousness of
this plane represents the acme of power, bliss and knowledge which is utterly beyond
human comprehension and cannot be compared with anything with which we are fa-
miliar on the lower planes. Besides, the transcending of the Atmic plane which he has
now to attempt really means the destruction of his very individuality since the Atma is
the very core of his separate existence in the realm of manifestation. It is true that a
still higher and subtler kind of individuality emerges when the separate individual life
of Atma is given up, but tremendous faith is needed for taking that final plunge into
the void which now opens before him. And the basis of this faith is the realization that
attachment to the transcendent consciousness of the Atmic plane is still attachment to
something which is not the Supreme Reality, which is still in the domain of Citta and
Vasana and, therefore, subject to illusion, however subtle that illusion might be.
The desire for this transcendent bliss and knowledge which is inherent in the
consciousness of the Atmic plane destroys and eliminates the lower desires and brings
the Yogi to the highest level of enlightenment which is possible within the realm of
Prakrti, but even this knowledge and bliss when they are acquired become, in their
turn, the means of bondage and must be given up before the final objective is
achieved. This is a fundamental law of life—the lower must be given up before the
next higher can be gained.