Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

and all powers which are present in the active form in the macrocosm. All the forces
which can help this Divine spark within each human heart to become a roaring fire are
to be applied. And the unfoldment of consciousness takes place as a result of the com-
bined action of all these forces rather than the mere repetition of the Mantra. Still, the
Mantra must be there to integrate and polarize these forces as the tiny seed must be
there to utilize the soil, water, air and sunshine in the development of the tree. It is not
possible to deal here with the modus operandi of Japa and the manner in which it
arouses the potentialities of the microcosmic Jivatma. It may be merely pointed out
that its potency depends upon its capacity to arouse subtle vibrations within the vehi-
cles which it affects. A Mantra is a sound combination and thus represents a physical
vibration which is perceptible to the physical ear. But this physical vibration is its out-
ermost expression and hidden behind the physical vibration and connected with it are
subtler vibrations much in the same way as the dense physical body of man is his out-
ermost expression and is connected with his subtler vehicles. These different aspects
of Vak or ‘speech’ are called Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pasyanti and Para. Vaikhari is the
audible sound which can lead through the intermediate stages to the subtlest form of
Para Vak. It is really through the agency of these subtler forms of ‘sound’ that the un-
foldment of consciousness takes place and the hidden potentialities become active
powers. This release of powers takes a definite course according to the specific nature
of the Mantra just as a seed grows into a tree, but into a particular kind of tree accord-
ing to the nature of the seed.
The other means of utilizing the power which is latent in Pranava is Bhavana.
This word literally means ‘dwelling upon in mind’. Let us try to understand its signifi-
cance in the present context. The object of the dual practice prescribed in this Sutra is
to contact the Divine Consciousness of Isvara. The Japa has the effect of attuning the
vehicles. But something more is necessary in order to bring down the Divine influence
and establish contact with the Divine Consciousness. If an electric current is to flow
into a mechanism we need not only conductance or capacity to transmit the current but
also voltage, pressure to make the current flow. In the same way in order to make it
possible for the individual consciousness to draw nearer to the Divine Consciousness
we need not only attunement of the vehicles but a drawing force, an attraction which
corresponds to voltage in the flow of the electric current. This force which draws to-
gether the two—the Jivatma and the Paramatma—may take different forms. In Bhakti-
Yoga, for example, it takes the form of intense devotion or love. In Mantra-Yoga it