That is because these weeds leave back their seeds before you pluck them out. And these seeds sprout back into new weeds at proper times. So, you will forever face the menace of these weeds.
One way is to carefully eliminate the seeds one by one so that there is nothing left to germinate. But that is a difficult proposition. Now-a-days we have several chemical sprays that render these seeds ineffective. They literally burn out these seeds. And burnt seeds don’t germinate.
Patanjali says that our mental impressions that delude us are like the seeds left behind by our past Karma. They re-germinate however much we try to suppress them. We have to somehow get rid of these seeds or render them ineffective.
During samadhi, these impressions get suppressed for some time, but they are not altogether routed. They reappear once we come out of samadhi. That leaves us where we were.
Not really, says Patanjali. Each samadhi experience leaves back new impressions that effectively nullify the effects of some of these preset impressions that work against us. It is like burning a seed to prevent it from sprouting back.
There is a saying that even a rope can make a mark on a rock when it repeatedly rubs against it. The rock may be very hard but repeated rubbing can make a dent even in the rock – or so the saying goes.
The new impressions that are created as a result of Samadhi, gradually neutralize all preset unhelpful impressions in our mind. So, over a period of time, we would be freed from their effects. They become like burnt seeds that never germinate.
So, every new samadhi episode would have lesser preset impressions. And finally, one would reach a stage in which there are no potent preset impressions at all. The samadhi attained in that stage is bereft of preset impressions. Such a person remains the same both in and out of Samadhi.
Patanjali calls such a samadhi as Nirbeeja samadhi. Beeja means seed. So, nirbeeja means no seed that can pull us back to our deluded state. We remain as blissful even after we come out of samadhi.
Many great masters like Jesus, Buddha, Ramana Maharshi were supposed to have been in such states. They were ever blissful.
What else this reaching Nirbeeja Samadhi can achieve?
Many religions especially Judaism, Christianity, Islam believe that our life is a one-time event. We are born once, we live for some time, and then we die. And that is the end.
Not so, in most of the ancient Indian religions. Irrespective of whether they accept the concept of God or not, they all believe in re-birth or a repeated cycle of births and deaths.
Dying once is not the end of our story. We comeback once again taking a new body. And when we comeback, our mind will not be a clean slate but carries forward the impressions that we left back in our previous birth.
Every action of ours keeps updating these impressions and what we will be is a result of these continuously updated impressions. And these impressions are the driving force behind our taking new births. This is the so-called theory of Karma.
Since repeated Samadhi experiences nullify some of these impressions, gradually these impressions become less and less as we progress. Well, I am assuming that we don’t indulge in actions that further fortify these impressions!
Assuming that all went well, when we take on a new birth, we hopefully start with a cleaner slate.
It is like repeatedly washing a soiled garment. Sometime or the other the garment would be completely free from all the dirt it has accumulated. What happens when all the preset impressions are erased?
In most cases, the person stops taking birth after his death since there is nothing that motivates the soul to take on new birth. I said ‘most cases’ since there is a belief that great souls still take on new births for the sake of others – to guide people who need their guidance.
Barring those exceptional cases, the soul ceases to take on new births.
What happens to the soul then?
Patanjali belongs to the Samkhya tradition, which definitely believed in the existence of the souls, and also in the possibility of existence of the souls without any entanglements – totally free from everything.
So, when all the ‘seeds’ are burnt as a result of repeated Samadhi, probably over several lifetimes, there is no reason for the soul to take on new births. It becomes a liberated soul which would never get into the trap of births and deaths and all the miseries that form part of it. It has chosen to be all alone or Kevala.
Patanjali calls such a state of the soul as Kaivalya. This Kaivalya is a result of burning all the seeds due to repeated Samadhi experiences. In that state, the soul remains in its eternal ever blissful state, never to return back to any entangled state. It is free once for all.
But I see a serious flaw in this way of thinking. Can such a thing really be possible and is it logical? Let us see that in the next episode.
A series revolving around Mind – Science of Mind, Philosophy of Mind, Notions of reality, Mind modulation, Domains beyond Mind, and so on. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2019-2020
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