Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00087)

The Removal of Sanskaras

Part II
The Dispersion and
Exhaustion of Sanskaras

At the end of Part 1, the methods of removing sanskaras are explained that
depend chiefly on the principle of negating the positive sanskaras, which
also veil the Truth from consciousness and prevent Self-illumination – for
which the
Negation of sanskaras attained through controlwhole creation came into
being. All these methods of negating the positive sanskaras are ultimately
based upon the control of the body and mind. Control of the habitual
tendencies of the mind is much more difficult than control of physical
actions. The fleeting and evasive thoughts and desires of the mind can be
curbed only with great patience and persistent practice. But the restraint
of mental processes and reactions is necessary to check the formation of new
sanskaras and to wear out or unwind the old sanskaras of which they are
expressions. Though control might be difficult at the beginning, through
sincere effort it gradually becomes natural and easy to achieve.
Control is deliberate and involves effort as long as the mind is trying to
decondition itself through the removal of sanskaras. But after the mind is
released from the sanskaras, control becomes spontaneous because the mind is
then functioning in freedom and understanding. Such control is born of
strength of character and health of mind, and it invariably brings with it
freedom from fear and immense peace and calmness. The mind, which appears
feeble when it is wanton and uncontrolled in its functioning, becomes a
source of great strength when it is controlled. Control is indispensable for
the conservation of mental energy and the economical use of thought force
for creative purposes.
However, if control is purely mechanical and aimless, it defeats its own
purpose, which is to make possible the free and unconditioned functioning of
the mind. Control that has true spiritual value does not consist in the
mechanical
True control a creative readjustment in light of true valuesrepression of
thoughts and desires, but is the natural restraint exercised by perception
of positive values discovered during the process of experience. True control
is therefore not merely negative. When some positive values come within the
focus of consciousness, their claims for being expressed in life generate
mental responses that ultimately remove all the tendencies obstructing a
free and full expression of those values. Thus the tendencies for lust,
greed, and anger are removed through an appreciative recognition of the
value of a life of purity, generosity, and kindness.
The mind, becoming accustomed to certain habits of thought and response,
does not find it easy to adjust itself to these new claims of its own
perceptions, owing to the inertia caused by impressions of previous modes of
thought and conduct. This process of readjustment in the light of true
values takes the form of what we call controlling the mind. This control is
not a mechanical or forcible twisting of the mind. It is an effort of the
mind to overcome its own inertia. It is fundamentally creative and not
negative in its purpose, for it is an attempt of the mind to arrive at
self-adjustment in order to release the expression of the true values of
life.
Creative control becomes possible because the source of light is within
everyone; and though Self-illumination is prevented by the veil of
sanskaras, it is not all darkness even within the
Dispersion and exhaustion of sanskarasboundaries of ordinary human
consciousness. The ray of light consists of a sense for true values and
guides man onward with varying degrees of clarity according to the thickness
of the veil of sanskaras. The process of the negation of sanskaras is at the
same time the process of understanding true values. Spiritual progress is
thus characterized by the dual aspect of renouncing the false values of
sanskaras in favor of the true values of understanding. The process of
replacing lower values by higher values is the process of sublimation, which
consists in diverting the mental energy locked up in the old sanskaras
toward creative and spiritual ends. When this energy locked up in the
sanskaras is thus diverted, they get dispersed and exhausted.
The method of sublimation is the most natural and effective method of
breaking through the grooves of old sanskaras, and has the special advantage
of having an unfailing interest for the aspirant at all stages. The method
of mere negation without
Process of sublimation sustained by unfailing interestany substitution is
sometimes likely to be boring and may seem to lead to vacuity. But the
method of sublimation consists in replacing lower values with higher ones
and is therefore full of absorbing interest at every stage, bringing an
ever-increasing sense of fulfillment. Mental energy can be sublimated into
spiritual channels through (1) meditation, (2) selfless service for
humanity, and (3) devotion.
Meditation is deep and constant concentration upon an ideal object. In such
concentration upon an ideal object, the person is conscious only of the
object of meditation, completely forgetting the mind as well as the body.
Thus no new
Meditation: its nature and purposesanskaras are formed and old ones are
dispersed and exhausted through the mental activity of dwelling on the
object of concentration. Finally, when the sanskaras completely disappear,
the soul as individualized is dissolved in the intensity of concentration
and is merged in the ideal object.
There are many forms of meditation according to the aptitude of different
persons. The imaginative genius of persons who have to labor hard is often
dried up due to overwork. For such persons the form of meditation most
suitable consists in
Forms of meditationdisconnecting oneself from one’s thoughts, and then
looking upon these thoughts and the body objectively. After the aspirant is
successful in regarding his thoughts and his body with complete objectivity,
he tries to identify himself with the cosmic Being through constructive
suggestions such as “I am the Infinite,” “I am in everything,” “I am in
all.”
Those who have vivid and lively imaginations can try intensive concentration
on some point, but fixing the mind on some point should be avoided by those
who have no liking for it. Ordinarily, the energy of the mind is scattered,
through its diverse thoughts. Meditation on a point is very salutary for the
mind to gather itself and settle down, but it is a mechanical process and
therefore lacks creative and blissful experiences. However, in the initial
stages, this form of meditation might be used as a preparation for other
more successful forms of meditation.
The more successful and deeper forms of meditation are preceded by
deliberate and constructive thinking about God, the Beloved. Meditation on
God is spiritually most fruitful. God can become the object of meditation
either in His impersonal aspect or in His personal aspect.
Meditation on personal and impersonal aspects of GodMeditation on the
impersonal aspect of God is suitable only for those who have a special
aptitude for it. It consists in focusing all thoughts on the abstract and
unmanifest existence of God. On the other hand, meditation on the personal
aspect of God consists in centering all thoughts upon the form and
attributes of God.
After intensive meditation the mind might want to settle down, not on the
object of meditation, but on the steadiness of the expansive peace
experienced during meditation. Such moments are the natural result of the
fatigue of the faculty of imagination, and they should be effortlessly
encouraged. Meditation should be spontaneous and not forced. In the moments
of the surging up of divine impulses, imagination should be let loose and
allowed to soar. The flight of imagination should be controlled only by the
set purpose of becoming one with the Infinite. It should not be influenced
by the currents of the diverse feelings of lust, greed, or anger.
Success in concentration comes only gradually, and the novice is likely to
be disheartened because he does not get satisfactory results in the
beginning. Often the disappointment that he experiences is in itself a
serious obstruction to
Obstacles in meditationbeginning the meditation of the day and to persist in
it. Other obstacles like idleness and ill health also may be difficult to
overcome, but they can be gotten over by having fixed and regular hours for
meditation and steady practice. During early morning or at sunset the quiet
condition of nature is particularly helpful for meditation, but it may also
be undertaken at any other suitable time. Solitude is one of the essential
conditions for attaining success in meditation. In the world of thought
there is a constant intermingling of thought forms and colors. Some mighty
ideas tend to strengthen the mind by facilitating integration; whereas some
frivolous
Importance of solitude for meditationthoughts are dissipating. The mind is
either attracted or repelled by these diverse thoughts in the mental
environment. It is advisable to avoid the influence of these variegated
thoughts in order to get established in one’s own ideal thoughts. For this
purpose solitude has immense possibilities. Solitude means economy of mental
energy and increased power of concentration. Having nothing extraneous to
attract or repel the mind, you are drawn inward and learn the art of opening
yourself to the higher currents, which have the potency of giving you
strength, bliss, and peaceful expansiveness.
While meditation on the personal and impersonal aspects of God requires
withdrawal of consciousness into the sanctuary of one’s own heart,
concentration on the universal aspect of God is best achieved through
selfless service for humanity.
Selfless serviceWhen a person is completely absorbed in the service of
humanity, he is completely oblivious of his own body or mind or their
functions, as in meditation; and therefore new sanskaras are not formed.
Further, the old sanskaras that bind the mind are shattered and dispersed.
Since the individual is now centering his attention and interest not upon
his own good but upon the good of others, the nucleus of the ego is deprived
of its nourishing energy. Selfless service is therefore one of the best
methods of diverting and sublimating the energy locked up in the binding
sanskaras.
Selfless service is accomplished when there is not the slightest thought of
reward or result, and when there is complete disregard of one’s own comfort
or convenience or the possibility of being misunderstood. When you are
wholly occupied with the welfare of others, you can hardly think
Implications of selfless serviceof yourself. You are not concerned with your
comfort and convenience or your health and happiness. On the contrary you
are willing to sacrifice everything for their well-being. Their comfort is
your convenience, their health is your delight, and their happiness is your
joy. You find your life in losing it in theirs. You live in their hearts,
and your heart becomes their shelter. When there is true union of hearts,
you completely identify yourself with the other person. Your act of help or
word of comfort supplies to others whatever might be lacking in them; and
through their thoughts of gratitude and goodwill, you actually receive more
than you give.
Thus, through living for others, your own life finds its amplification and
expansion. The person who leads a life of selfless service is therefore
hardly conscious of serving. He does not make those whom he serves feel that
they are in any
Freedom and fulfillment through serviceway under obligation to him. On the
contrary, he himself feels obliged for being given a chance of making them
happy. Neither for show nor for name and fame does he serve them. Selfless
service is completely achieved only when an individual derives the same
happiness in serving others as in being served himself. The ideal of
selfless service frees him from the sanskaras of craving for power and
possession, of self-pity and jealousy, of evil deeds actuated through
selfishness.
Selfless service and meditation are both spontaneous when they are inspired
by love. Love is therefore rightly regarded as being the most important
avenue leading to the realization of the Highest. In love the soul is
completely absorbed in the
LoveBeloved and is therefore detached from the actions of the body or mind.
This puts an end to the formation of new sanskaras and also results in the
undoing of old sanskaras by giving to life an entirely new direction.
Nowhere does self-forgetfulness come so naturally and completely as in the
intensity of love. Hence it has been given the foremost place among the
methods that secure release of consciousness from the bondage of sanskaras.
Love comprehends in itself the different advantages belonging to other paths
leading to emancipation, and is in itself the most
Purifying efficacy of lovedistinguished and effective path. It is at once
characterized by self-sacrifice and happiness. Its uniqueness lies in the
fact that it is accompanied by an exclusive and wholehearted offering to the
Beloved without admitting the claims of any other object. Thus there is no
room for the diversion of mental energy, and concentration is complete. In
love the physical, vital, and mental energies of man are all gathered up and
made available for the cause of the Beloved, with the result that this love
becomes a dynamic power. The tension of true love is so great that any
foreign feeling that might intervene is at once thrown out. The expulsive
and purifying efficacy of love is unparalleled.
There is nothing unnatural or artificial about love. It exists from the very
beginning of evolution. At the inorganic stage it is crudely expressed in
the form of cohesion or attraction. It is the natural affinity that keeps
things together and draws them
Love is present throughout creationto each other. The gravitational pull
exercised by the heavenly bodies upon each other is an expression of this
type of love. At the organic stage love becomes self-illumined and
self-appreciative, and plays an important part from the lowest forms like
the amoeba to the most evolved form of human beings. When love is
self-illumined, its value is intensified by its conscious sacrifice.
The sacrifice of love is so complete and ungrudging that it has all to give
and nothing to expect. The more it gives the more it wants to give, and the
less it is aware of having given. The stream of true love is ever increasing
and never failing. Its
Love expressed through conscious sacrificesimple expression is its simple
giving over. The complexities of the Beloved are a concern of its best
attention and care. Endlessly and remorselessly it seeks to please the
Beloved in a thousand ways. It does not hesitate to welcome suffering in
order to satisfy but one wish of the Beloved or to relieve the Beloved of
the slightest pain of neglect or indifference. The lover would gladly pine
and perish for the sake of the Beloved. Careworn and tormented, love waits
not to attend to the very body that houses and nourishes it. It brooks no
compromise, and the Beloved is the concern of the lover’s lifetime. The
tabernacle of love bursts under unmanageable restlessness and gives birth to
streams of love and supreme sweetness, until the lover breaks through his
limitations and loses himself in the being of the Beloved.
When love is deep and intense, it is called bhakti, or devotion. In its
initial stages devotion is expressed through symbol worship, supplication
before the deities, reverence and allegiance to the highest scriptures, or
the pursuit of the
Different stages of devotionHighest through abstract thinking. In its more
advanced stages devotion expresses itself as interest in human welfare and
the service of humanity, love and reverence for saints, and allegiance and
obedience to a spiritual Master. These stages have their relative values and
relative results. Love for a living Perfect Master is a unique stage of
devotion, for it eventually gets transformed into para-bhakti, or divine
love.
Para-bhakti is not merely intensified bhakti. It begins where bhakti ends.
At the stage of para-bhakti, devotion is not only single-minded but is
accompanied by extreme restlessness of the heart and a ceaseless longing to
unite with the Beloved.
Para-bhaktiThis is followed by lack of interest in one’s own body and its
care, isolation from one’s own surroundings, and utter disregard for
appearances or criticism – while the divine impulses of attraction to the
Beloved become more frequent than ever. This highest phase of love is most
fruitful because it has as its object the One who is love incarnate and who
can, as the supreme Beloved, respond to the lover most completely. The
purity, sweetness, and efficacy of the love that the lover receives from the
Master contributes to the insuperable spiritual value of this highest phase
of love.