COMPARISON OF THE “STAGES” IN
YOGA-BASED AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
SPIRITUAL PATHS
(Yoga Bhumikas and Jnana Bhumikas)
[Adopted from the Book "Yogataaraavali of Adi Sankarachrya" with Commentary by Shri Kuppa Venkata Krishna Murthy, English Translation: Dr. Vemuri Ramesam, I-SERVE, Hyderabad, India, 2007, pp: 96.]
A spiritual aspirant advances on the Yoga or Knowledge path in
a progressive series of steps called “Stages.” Ancient seers acknowledged
that the true path to liberation lies through only Knowledge-based
approach. A detailed description of the stages in the Knowledge-based
practices is available in varAha Upanishad, annapUrna Upanishad, yogavAsishTha
and many other scriptures.
However, Revered Shankara endorsed a synthesis of both
Yoga-based and Knowledge-based approaches in yogatArAvaLi. He did not
talk of seven stages of Knowledge-based path as was given in yogavAsishTha and
other works. Though he began with an enumeration of Knowledge-based
practices under the title Royal Path (Raja Yoga), he included only four stages
of Knowledge-based approach viz. Uplifting the Mind (manonmaNi),
Unaffectedness (unmaNi), Null Mind (amanaska) and Deep Sleep with
Awareness (yoga nidra) in his discussion. It is, therefore,
instructive to compare and contrast the classification of the stages of the
Knowledge-based Path with that of yogatArAvaLi and other works.
Sage Vasishta described seven stages in the Knowledge-based
Path in the third Chapter: Creation in yogavAsishTha. The seven stages
are:
I. Desire
for Enlightenment (subhechcha).
II. Inquiry into
Truth (vichAraNa).
III. Tenuous Mind (tanumAnasa).
IV. Realization (satvApatti).
V. Non-attachment (asamsakti).
VI. Non-perception of Objects (padArdha
abhAvana).
VII. Ineffability (turyaga).
I. The
first stage of Desire for Enlightenment (subhechcha) involves
intense desire for detachment, longing for the company of noble persons
etc.
II. The
second stage of Inquiry into Truth (vichAraNa) stands for an
investigation of the meaning of scriptural statements after achieving
detachment and other related qualities.
III. The
third stage of Tenuous Mind (tanumAnasa) is a reduction in
desire to getting involved in worldly affairs as an upshot of the first
two stages.
Stages I to III are usually grouped together in Vedantic
lingo as Listening and Reflection (shravaNa - manana).
brihadAranyaka Upanishad was the first to introduce the
concepts of Listening, Reflecting and Uninterrupted Contemplation (nididhyAsana).
i. Listening
does not imply mere auditioning of lectures given by a Guru. It refers to
a mental endeavor of eliminating the apparent (AbhAsa) contradictions in
the Upanishadic declarations and to determine with convincing reasoning that all
the statements together (uniformly) affirm non-dual Brahman.
ii. Reflection
is to dwell constantly on an unbroken stream of thought-waves that “I am the
non-dual Brahman.”
The twin acts of listening and reflection improve clarity in
thinking and consequently result in a better appreciation of the meaning of the
Upanishadic statements. That in turn helps in comprehending unambiguously
the essence of Brahman which is after all the final objective. However,
one’s intellect does not get unwaveringly established in truth by this
process. That is to say that the essence of truth does not manifest (in
one’s mind) like an uninterrupted continuous stream. Negative thoughts
keep emerging and become impediments in having a persistent thought on Brahman
because of the erstwhile habits of the mind. nididhyAsana (uninterrupted
contemplative meditation) helps to block the impediments.
Thus nididhyAsana is an umbrella term for
the remaining four stages of the Seven-stage Knowledge-based path.
IV. satvApatti is
the fourth stage of Knowledge-based path. satvApatti means
to realize the essence of Brahman. We have already said that such thoughts
come from a constant practice of shravaNa and manana.
The practitioner who reaches this stage is called “Knower of
Brahman (brahmavit).” In spite of reaching this level and
achieving an understanding that “I am Brahman”, the seeker needs to be on a
constant vigil to retain that thought without break. Otherwise
there is a danger that the feeling of identification with Brahman will be
destroyed by the overwhelming effects of the impressions from past
births. The 20th verse in yogatArAvaLi makes a reference to this state.
V. It
is advised in the above verse that intentions should be totally hacked.
It means that identification with body, senses and ego that existed so far
should be completely eliminated. The ego will then dissolve and a state
of null-mind will be obtained. Desire for worldly objects will vanish in
that state. A longing for the Potent-Looker (Drik) gets
strengthened. The 15th verse in yogatArAvaLi explains
what is meant by Potent-Looker.
With the mind focused on Potent-Looker, the feeling, “I am
Brahman,” steadily increases. Hence this stage is named as
“Non-attachment (asamsakti).” This is the fifth stage of the
Knowledge-based Path. The seeker who reaches this stage is christened as
‘Better Knower of Brahman’ (brahmavidvara). The state of such a
yogi is described in yogatArAvaLi in the following manner.
A seeker may achieve the meditative state of feeling “I am
Brahman” through constant contemplation on Brahman. But sometimes
impressions of objective world (i.e. impressions from past births related to
worldly objects) gain strength and overtake that feeling. As a result the
seeker loses that meditative state. He will not, however, be tempted by
the worldly objects because of the fact that he is already established in
detachment. Hence he regains his former state of meditation through contemplation
helped by the strength of his disinterest in worldly things.
VI. There could be many ways through
which an emaciation of longing for worldly objects takes place. For
example, a reduced attraction for worldly objects may apparently result from a
hopeful expectation of obtaining an immense treasure called
"liberation" as a reward. Such a decrease in desire linked to
rewards does not serve any purpose. What is important is to develop the
knowledge that all visible objects are unreal. In the light of such a knowledge
and with the strength of constant contemplation on Brahman, desire for visible
objects would gradually diminish. Eventually worldly objects will not
even be visible to the seeker as the process progresses. It does not mean
that he would grow sightless. What it means is that even if objects are
around and his senses cognize them, his mind will not care for them.
With decreasing attraction for visible objects, mind gets
increasingly focused on Potent-Looker. Slowly a state will come where
only the Potent-Looker manifests. In other words, a non-dual experiential
feeling that “I am Brahman” will unswervingly get established. It
results in a very intense meditative state. It is called the stage of
Non-perception of Objects (padArdha abhAvana). This is the sixth
stage of Knowledge-based Path. The seeker in this state is termed “Master
Knower of Brahman (brahmavid varIyan).”
The fifth and the sixth stages differ only in the degree of
stability though the type of meditative state is same in both the stages.
The meditative state gets easily jolted by the impressions of his own past
births in the fifth stage. The meditative state in the sixth stage, in
contrast, is not affected by one’s own past impressions. Still it is susceptible
to be affected by unexpected disasters in the environment (e.g. earth-quakes,
floods, tsunami, storms) or by some persons who are determined to disturb the
seeker. No sooner, however, the sixth stage seeker will be able to come
back to his meditative state of identity with Brahman without difficulty.
A good example to illustrate the condition of the seeker in
the sixth stage is the state of a child in sound sleep. If the child is
woken up by the mother, he may partially open his eyes and respond in some
broken dialog and immediately go back to sleep. The seeker in the sixth
stage acts similarly. Interruption in meditation of a seeker in the sixth
stage is, therefore, usually compared to a flash of lightning. The
disturbance comes and goes like a flash. A Master Knower of Brahman will
fall back into his meditation the very next moment if his meditation is
disturbed by others. This stage is described in yogatArAvaLi as Uninert
sleep or Deep Sleep with Awareness (ajAdya nidra).
VII. When the sixth stage is firmly
established, it gets transformed automatically to the next and final stage,
i.e. the seventh stage of the Knowledge-based Path. Contemplation,
Knowledge, Detachment, Association with noble persons, etc. lead finally to
this “Ineffable (turyaga) stage.” The seeker who attains this
stage is called Excellent Knower of Brahman (brahmvid variShTha).
It follows from the analysis presented above that there is
no difference between the stages narrated in yogatArAvaLi and other scriptures
like yogavAsishTha. If any difference exists, it is merely in semantics
but not in substance.
The classification into various stages described above helps
an aspirant to grade himself/herself on the path of liberation. An
outsider cannot judge the stage a seeker is in. A seeker has to make an
assessment by one's own self. Table :1 can facilitate such a
self-assessment. Table 2 gives the name by which a seeker is known at
each stage. An ardent seeker should recognize the stage (s)he is in by
making an unprejudiced and balanced appraisal of the state of his mind.
He should then strive to make every effort to get firmly established in that
stage. The next stage will then come about by itself
automatically. With the grace of the Supreme (s)he will then
experience the infinite beatitude of brahman unceasingly!
Table 1: Comparison of the stages in Yoga and Knowledge
based Approaches:
based Approaches:
Stage
No.
|
Stage in the Knowledge-based Path
|
Stage as per Ashtaanga Yoga (of Patanjali)
|
Stage as per Yogataaraavali
|
Promi-nent Characterist-ics
in Brief
|
I.
|
Desire for Enlightenment
(subhechcha)
|
Sustained
Practice
(abhAasa)
|
Steadfast
Pranic
Exercises
(haTha yoga)
|
The beginning stage of practice
|
II.
|
Inquiry into Truth
(vichAraNa)
|
Detachment
(vairagya)
|
Listening
(shravaNa)
|
Taking shelter under a Guru
|
III.
|
Tenuous Mind
(tanumAnasa)
|
Savikalpa Samadhi
|
Reflection
(manana)
|
Beginning of Control over Mind
|
IV.
|
Realization
(satvApatti)
|
Nirvikalpa
Samadhi
|
Uninterrupted
Contemplation
(nididhyAsana)
|
Get acquainted with the experiential essence of Self
|
V.
|
Non-attachment
(asamsakti)
|
Sananda
Samadhi
|
Unaffectedness
(unmani)
|
Expansion of the mind to the Supreme Brahman
|
VI.
|
Non-perception of Objects
(padArdha abhAvana)
|
Sasmita Samadhi
|
Null Mind
(amanaska)
|
Stability in Meditation
|
VII.
|
Ineffability
(turyaga)
|
Asam-prjnata
Samadhi
|
Deep Sleep with Awareness
(yoga nidra)
|
To stay as Brahman
|
Table 2: Name of the Seeker at each stage:
| |||||||
|
