All of us have our own biases. We always tend to think that what we believe is the only truth.
So, some people who have their own pet theories even raise questions about Patanjali’s way of meditation.
On one hand, we have the Buddhists who believe that Patanjali’s Yoga is at best a preparatory step to their way of meditation. They say that what Patanjali describes is only initial stages of meditation and there is more beyond that. Buddhists say that there are 8 stages of meditation which they call as Zanas. Each Zana is a distinct mile stone and has indicators in terms of progress. The argument is that what Patanjali teaches can only take you up to first four Zanas. They say that the actual Buddhist meditation starts only after 4th Zana.
I remember reading a PhD. Theses where the researcher goes on elaborately to show how Patanjali falls short of the advancements that only Buddhist meditation can take you through. But I was amazed that what these people talk about as stages beyond 4 Zanas are also described by Patanjali as part of his Samprajnyatha and Asamprajnyatha Samadhi stages. I have discussed about these stages in many of my books such as “Psychology behind Yoga” or even “How and Why of Yoga and Meditation”. Both these books discuss with several illustrations these advanced stages of Patanjali’s meditation which Patanjali talks about very briefly in his cryptic Sutras.
On the other hand, we have Advaitic philosophers such as Sankara who outright dismiss Patanjali’s Yoga as illogical and unacceptable. Sankara’s argument is that since Patanjali’s Yoga is a sister school of Samkhya, it has the same defects as the Samkhya school. Sankara is a fierce opponent of Samkhya. Sankara also has another objection to Patanjali’s Yoga. While Sankara is a great proponent of Advaita or Monism, Patanjali talks about Dwaita or dualism. Patanjali talks about multiplicity of souls and a super soul which he calls as Ishwara.
What is interesting is that even some of the well-known modern day Advaitic Gurus brush aside Patanjali’s form of meditation as ineffective or at most serving only a preparatory role. They say that the meditation talked about in the Upanishads, which the Upanishads call variably as Upasana, Dhyana or Nidhidhyasana, is not same as what Patanjali describes as Dhyana.
Patanjali’s Dhyana involves stopping the activities of the mind – Yogashchitta Vritthi Nirodhah, as Patanjali defines Yoga. But these Advaiti Gurus talk about meditation as a continuous process of deep pondering, over a concept taken from the Upanishads. Obviously, any pondering involves the mind and that too a highly active mind. So, these two meditative styles are not the same. Or rather, they are diametrically opposite.
The Advaitic meditation, as per these Gurus, starts with a Upanishadic statement such as “Aham Brahmasmi – I am the Brahma”, or “Tat tvam asi – you are that”, and so on. The process of meditation finally deeply ingrains this ultimate truth declared by the Upanishad in the practitioner. To achieve this, an Advaitic practitioner needs a fully concentrated mind so that he can concentrate on these concepts and assimilate them. To that extent, these Gurus say, Yoga as described by Patanjali is useful.
But what these Gurus miss out is the point that Patanjali’s meditation works under totally different assumptions. Patanjali does not start with some ultimate truth. But his meditation aims at “arriving at these ultimate truths” through the process of meditation. You don’t need to read the Upanishads, nor you have to believe in Advaita to attain these truths. They automatically surface when you reach the culminating stage of Patanjali’s meditation.
Patanjali is very clear why this happens. He says that the soul by nature is omniscient and it already knows the ultimate truth. But its vision is blurred by an active mind which makes the soul believe that it is some entity in the material world. It is a body which has some unique identity in the world. Once the mind is made to stop, the soul automatically comes out of this delusion and there is nothing it needs to ‘know’ afresh. It already knows what it needs to know.
But these Advaitic Gurus insist that the truth, even if it is attained during the Patanjali’s meditation, is only momentary. As soon as the person comes out of the Samadhi, he would be back to his normal mundane state – “sort of spring cushion effect”!
Same objection can be raised about the Advaitic meditation. Neither the effect of that form of meditation is permanent unless one practices it for a prolonged time till the mind overcomes all preconceived notions. That applies to Patanjali’s meditation as well. Prolonged meditation can undo all the previous ‘Samskaras’ in the mind and render the mind immune to worldly pulls. When one reaches such a ‘Nirbeeja’ state, Patanjali says, the truth attained in the Samadhi remains forever.
So, what is the difference?
The difference is that Advaitic meditation starts with some pre conceived notions about the ultimate truth, where as Patanjali’s meditation starts off with a clean slate and uncovers the very same truths which were forever known to the soul.
If you see deeply, the so-called Upanishadic truths were also attained by the Sages in intense states of meditation. Even if we go by the experiences of great recent masters such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or Ramana Maharshi, they did not start with Upanishadic statements. They discovered the very same truths by the process of meditation. For, neither of these two great masters ever studied Upanishads before they attained realization. In fact, Ramana, who is often quoted by these Advaitic Gurus as an example of a person who followed the path of pondering, used to say that any form of meditation ultimately leads to stoppage of the mind and that is when the ultimate truth resurfaces.
What is more interesting is that Patanjali’s meditation is completely free of any religious affinity, or allegiance to any dogma. You don’t even need to believe in the existence of soul or even God. Just stop the mind while keeping the attention sharply focused. You will know the truth, whatever it is 😉
A series discussing questions and answers on Yoga/Philosophy. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2020-21
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