Self-Realization through Yoga Meditation of the Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra

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Yoga Sutras 4.27-4.28: 
Breaches in Enlightenment
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Click here to return to the main page of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.Breaks in realization are predictable: One of the most unfortunate misunderstandings of meditators is the incorrect belief that one must entirely purify the mind before attaining direct experience. The fact that Patanjali gives instructions for how to deal with breaches in enlightenment should confirm that breaches or breaks are predictable. Attaining higher experience through yogic discrimination is typically followed by clouding over of that experience, and this is caused by the existence of the coloring (klishta) of the samskaras that drive karma (4.27).

Continue practices after direct experience: The important thing to know is how to deal with those breaches of enlightenment, how to continue to work with uncoloring of the colored deep impressions of the mind. This continued practice of discriminating and uncoloring is the same method as was done to originally reduce the coloring (4.28). 

Seek the highest: Seek even one minute, one second of the direct experience of the highest, before you have one hundred percent removed your karma, and then continue to attenuate those deep impressions, though now having the certainty of direct experience. The practices done after having attained direct experience are far more fruitful, as the process and the goal are now much clearer.

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4.27 When there are breaks or breaches in that high discrimination, other impressions arise from the deep unconscious.
(tachchhidresu pratyaya antarani samskarebhyah)

  • tachchhidresu = in the intervals, breaks, gaps, between
  • pratyaya = the cause, the feeling, causal or cognitive principle, notion, content of mind, presented idea, cognition
  • antarani = other
  • samskarebhyah = deep impressions, imprints in the unconscious, deepest habits, subliminal activators, traces

Breaches in discrimination: The previous sutras (4.25-4.26) spoke of the higher discriminations. There can even be breaks in those high states, wherein the many deep impressions arise from the basement of the unconscious, just as was the case prior to this high level of discriminative attainment. In other words, the clarity of discrimination can once again be clouded over. This temporary loss of the ground attained is one of the predictable obstacles of the path of enlightenment (1.30). The way to deal with this is the same as it was before the discriminative enlightenment (next sutra).

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4.28 The removal of those interfering thought patterns is by the same means by which the original colorings were removed.
(hanam esam kleshavat uktam)

  • hanam = removal
  • esam = their
  • kleshavat = like the previous colorings
  • uktam = as has been described

Use the same method as before: With the breaches of discriminative enlightenment (previous sutra), the method of removing those interfering impressions is the same as it was in the first place. In other words, it is a process of removing the coloring (klishta) (1.5, 2.3), as was described throughout the Yoga Sutras. It includes dealing with the gross colorings (2.1-2.9), as well as the subtle colorings (2.10-2.11, 2.12-2.25).

Breaches in realization are to be expected: To realize that this is how the process works, is very beneficial for the student of meditation. It means that you can clearly understand that you first want to attain the direct experience of the highest, fully recognizing that there remains a purifying process to be done afterwards. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the highest direct experience first requires the absolute perfection of personality, and this is definitely not the case. It is a natural part of the process, that the higher experience is broken. If you know that, you can move on to deal with those breaches.

First, seek the highest: First, you seek enough purity of mind and body that you can experience the highest. Then, after that direct experience, the way in which you relate to samskaras and karma is vastly different. You have glimpsed the highest, and knowing that, the purifying process.

 

The next sutra is 4.29 

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This site is devoted to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways, while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.