Satsang  –   Volume 2, Number 14: May 12, 1999
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The Way to Grasp Gyaan Yog

Swami-ji: Is there anything that doesn't change?

Zachary: Me

Swami-ji: That which you call 'Me', has no form. People have form. Imaginations have form. But this Me has no form. TapaBhumi.jpg (25390 bytes)

This Me is unchanging, but this I (points to his body) is changing. The Me which is unchanging has no form, no face. Change belongs on the level of the forms. Change belongs to any object that we perceive through the senses.

So there is a clear difference between 'Me' and 'I'.

Gyaan Yog is what you are aiming for

Knowledge of things and forms is not what you are aiming for. That is not gyaan yog (knowledge of oneness). That is simply science. Gyaan yog has no creed, no religion, no up, no down, no more, no less. Gyaan yog is unprejudiced by the mind.

Mind, on the other hand, has prejudices in relation to things and forms. So yog will not be grasped by the mind or the senses. Those who try to grasp yog via the senses - including mind - will never succeed. Their mind will not become established in yog.

You will succeed, you will be yogi, when you have the knowledge of this yog, the name of which is 'Me'.

When you say 'Me is everywhere and every form', it sounds good. But if   you have friendships with and attachments to the things and forms, Me will not be realized.

What is lost in growing up

As you become 'grown-up', you daily lose the knowledge of the fineness of the Self and, reaching the gross level, you'll have the knowledge of the Self as body.

So how would an older person, a 'grown-up', whose I has become externalized, grasp this Me? To gain that finer understanding, one needs to attend the intellect. What needs to be unfolded is that, as power in the intellect is developed, the the sense of Me is not be left behind. Zachary, at this stage, still holds the knowledge of Me as unchanging. But it is not held in intellect. It is the Self being aware of itself.

What is to be achieved?

Human beings are trying to attain that state of freedom or mukti. So when you come here to Satsang, what is to be achieved? The yog state of your own Self.   So now, before we meditate, what is your objective? Gyaan yog. This gyaan yog is itself a state of consciousness.

If gyaan yog is not held but buddhi yog (mind yog) is there, then 'I' becomes an understanding, a concept. Whatever this understanding might be, it is not gyaan yog, so you won't feel liberated. You know this because you have  feelings of both bondage and freedom and you want to get released from the 'this-and-that' state of the intellect.

So now, why is it that you remain feeling liberated, especially over here? Why is it that many people feel liberated, yet are not liberated? Because it is all played on the level of intellect!

Begin by asking, 'What is my objective?

Suppose a person is established in Me. Then it is said that he or she has the gyaan yog state. But you (points to the satsangees) -  you ended up with university yog, not gyaan yog (laughter). The word  yog has become very popular these days - there's even yogurt! - but yogi you have not become.

The path to the yog state leads from the mind, so we prepare people through the mind. To do this, you need your body and you need your intellect. So begin by asking, 'What is my objective - what should  be the result of my meditation? The purpose of meditation is to gain some gyaan, to reach the stage where it is grasped that that which I call 'I' is unchanging.

What you come to know through meditation

But your habit is to say, 'today I had a good meditation,' or, 'today I had many thoughts.' So your 'I' is changing. In this way we can see that most people are body and mind identified.

The body is manifested of  tamogun and rajogun. And the subtler part of this is the intellect. In the day, the body and mind are more active - rajas, and at night, they are more tamas. But that which is no body is what you come to know through meditation.

Through meditation, you experience directly that tamogun and rajogun get reduced and that sattwa shines, whereas the intellect of a person who has not meditated is not permeated with sattwa, so their mind continues with its pros and cons. With sattwa, your intelligence becomes sharper and more harmony develops. People become 'better persons'. So even if you don't do anything else, at least keep sitting. In doing so, rajogun and tamogun will be neutralized.

You are simply You

So now we come to meditation. I've talked about gyaan yog. In gyaan yog you are free from agyaan. And gyaan yog is 'I am Self'. It is the power with which you know Me, and that Me never changes. If you have come to know this, then you are out of the grip of 'jarh' and 'chaytan' You are simply You.

Set yourself a goal

Now if you meditate, there must be a goal before you, otherwise, where will you put your attention? In meditation what is to be used? Attention.Usually attention gets divided among 10 or 20 objects or thoughts, but if the attention is on one object, it can get it.

So what is the one focus? Gyaan yog. To get gyaan yog, one needs to develop dhyaan yog (devotion or one-pintedness). Anyone who has ever leaned anything has had to be one pointed on their goal - that's how they learned. But if you are learning computer, you will still become miserable.

You are wanting to reach the height of your incarnation. So you have to travel until you reach gyaan yog. But you are gyaan yog. So your travel is from gyaan yog to gyaan yog. And in between? Agyaan!

But you have not got it. Why? Because  you have not meditated. Sometimes you say, 'I got it, but it doesn't stick.' Why? Because you have not practiced.

Attaining skill in meditation

You have to attain skill in meditation. Meditation is action. When you sit, that is action. If you meditate on a rose, you will make a vritti. So on what do you meditate?

You do not meditate on thoughts that appear. You know what your goal is. You are meditating on unchanging. But the unchanging is something that you cannot focus your attention on. But I am saying your goal is Amaram hum Madhuram hum. Your goal is the Me, the unchanging.

So now you are experimenting. And what is your experiment? That you should directly see gyaan yog. To conduct the experiment, sit down in any position.Close your eyes. Anything that you are thinking of - that is changing. But is your Knower not there? As you meditate, you'll find that your Knower is always there. And can you grasp that you are Knower and that the Knower is the same in every head. Now watch. And watcher, watching and that which you watch are one reality. And this is You.

Having understood this, you will always be able to meditate.   





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