Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

Samskara Sesah means ‘the remnant impression’. The impression which is left
in the mind after the Pratyaya of one plane has been dropped, and before the Pratyaya
of the next plane appears can under normal conditions only be void. But this void is
not a static state although it may be felt to be so by the Yogi when he is passing
through it. It is a dynamic condition because consciousness is being slowly or quickly
transferred from one plane to another as shown in Fig. 1. Consciousness cannot remain
suspended indefinitely in a void. It must emerge on one of the two sides of the Laya
centre. If the technique of Nirodha Parinama has not been mastered sufficiently it may
spring back into the plane which it has just left and the ‘seeds’ which had been
dropped will then reappear. But if the mind can remain in the Niruddha state for a suf-
ficiently long time as indicated in III-10, consciousness will emerge sooner or later
into the next higher plane.
There are two other interesting points which may be discussed briefly before we
leave the subject of Asamprajnata Samadhi. One is the nature of the point O (Figure
No. 1) through which consciousness passes from one plane to another. This point
which has been called the Laya centre is the common centre in which all the vehicles
of the Jivatma may be said to be centred. It is only through such a centre which is
called a Bindu in Samskrta that transference of consciousness from one plane to an-
other can take place.
As a matter of fact there is only the centre of Reality surrounded by a number of
concentric vehicles and whichever vehicle is illuminated by consciousness derives its
illumination from that centre. But the concentration of consciousness in a particular
vehicle makes it appear as if the consciousness is moving up and down along the line
or point which connects all the vehicles. An Adept whose consciousness is perma-
nently centred on the Atmic plane focusses his attention temporarily in any particular
vehicle and for the time being the objects connected with that vehicle come within the
field of his consciousness. The centre of his consciousness thus appears to have moved
into one vehicle or another but in reality it has not moved at all. Consciousness which
is all the time centred in Reality has merely been focussed in one vehicle or another. It
is in this particular sense that the transference of consciousness from one vehicle to
another in Samadhi must be understood if we are not to become involved in the phi-
losophical absurdity of imagining consciousness which transcends Time and Space
moving from one place to another.