THAT YOGI IS EXCELLENT  -  Part I

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

That Yogi is Excellent - Part I

[This is an extract from an article that appeared in August 1993 issue 
of the monthly journal ‘Vicharasetu – The Path of Introspection’]

“Sa yogee paramo matah” says Sri Krishna (Bh.G.VI.32). The Yogi of His description, Geeta’a reckoning, is not so much an addict or lover of asana and pranayama, as one given to introspection, evaluation and contemplation. The Geeta-yogin has to be a seeker of wisdom and Truth. His seeking is a process of enlightenment based on refinement and elevation of buddhi (intelligence). Yoga and yoga-saadhana, as presented in Geeta, address themselves to the buddhi of man, making it pure, enlightened and incisive.

What is this buddhi-based yoga?

Look into the 2^nd chapter of Geeta where Krishna defines yoga, simply and unambiguously. “Samatvam yoga uchyate” are the words He uses to describe yoga (II.48). Instantly, He also explains what this samatva is: “Siddhiasiddhyoh samo bootva”

Siddhi denotes the fruition of what you do, and asiddhi is its non-fruition. Siddhi is what we normally expect for all our actions, but sometimes for special reasons, asiddhi may intercept. Siddhi and asiddhi become the usual, inescapable alternatives your action lead you to from time to time. Yoga or samtva becomes relevant in all such contexts.

Human mind breeds on differentiation. Preferences and prejudices fill it at every step. Likes and dislikes have become an inexorable inheritance   of man. The psychology of every one is overwhelmed by this persecuting legacy. Where is the time or patience to think of eschewing or mending it?

But the yoga-seeker cannot plead all this for an excuse. He has to be vigilant, sharp and persevering. When truth is exposed, subtle refinements are pointed out, and a valid process and goal shown, he must be sincere in grasping and actualizing them in his own life. This is what the enfeebled Arjuna did even in the battlefield, casting aside all sense of shame and reluctance, displaying timely acumen and righteous resolve. Cannot the modern man follow this example, if that will make him strong and resolved in meeting the hazards and portents of life?

Mind’s bondage inheres in its dual outlook, which puts man into an unyielding delusion. Our mind cherishes sukha (happiness), and because of this addiction it resents duhkha (misery). It knows little that sukha and duhkha, being inseparable pair, will always come alternating like day and night. Apart from being inseparable alternatives confronting the mind repeatedly, sukha and dukha have no significance or existence at all. If it is so, can anyone have either of them exclusively? Why not grasp this truth and stop looking for sukha alone!

In fact, is there anything like sukha and dukha – one distinct from another? Is not dukha the termination of sukha? You can also say that sukha is the extinction of dukha. Is not the subsidence of sukha essential so that its reoccurrence can be felt again? Then what incoherence or disharmony is there in the incidence of dukha? Is it not a basic delusion that perpetuates the wrong legacy and makes man suffer unduly?

As Sri Krishna defines, life is the constant interaction between senses and objects (11.14). And this interaction leads to sukha-dukha experiences. Where is the need then to strive for sukha or to struggle for eradicating dukha? Senses and objects will interact and the process will bring the succession of the two. Whether it is an external physical or an internal process like thinking or rumination, the outcome – the effect on mind – will be the generation of sukha and dukha. Perceive this inevitable fate and give equal place to them in your mind, with poise and stability – says Sri Krishna.

This new process of mind-sublimation, self-stabilization, generating and preserving a deep note of subjective harmony is the core and content of Krishna’s yoga. Once the seeker grasps the mystery and pursuit, he will find a place and relevance for it in all relationships and situations.

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Sublimity of the Mind

Meditation is an essential part of spiritual seeking and sadhana. But that does not mark the finale of it. The seeker’s mind has to become purer and lighter every day. Only when the mind becomes sufficiently pure and sublime, Brahmic vision and the resultant blessedness can be felt freely. Let the attention be more on gaining sublimity of the mind than on anything else.

 - Swamiji