Page 59 - Dawn of Reality an Exposition of REALITY AT DAWN of Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj

when mind gets properly regulated and disciplined and egoism (or Ahankar) assumes a purified state. Thus it is, that Viveka is in fact the result of practices followed in order to bring about the desired results. Now Vairagya, the second Sadhana of the Vedantists is likewise the result of Viveka. They are thus the stages of elementary attainment in Yoga and not the Sadhanas or means of attainment of the stages. In Sahaj Marg system of Yoga, Viveka and Vairagya are not treated as sadhanas but are left aside to be developed auto-matically by an aspirant during his progress. It starts from what is known as the third Sadhana of the Vendantists, which consists of six forms of spiritual attainments known as Shat-Sampatti. The first of these Sampattis is Sham which pertains to the peaceful condition of mind leading to a state of calmness and tranquility. When we practise it Viveka anVairagya follow automatically. Vairagya, in the sense of non-existence of things is in my opinion a very difficult process, for in it you have to take up the negative course and discard or reject everything that comes to your view. But if you take up the positive view and accept one thing only as real, sticking to it wholeheartedly, other things will naturally fall in the background and by and by, you will become unmindful of them. Consequently your attachment with them will gradually begin to disappear and you will gain Vairagya by easiest means. Thus the primary thing in Yoga is the proper regulation of mind, which is ever restless. It creates numerous ideas and thoughts, imparts stimulus to the senses and faculties and sets the body into action. Everything good or evil originates from the mind and it is the mind alone that governs all our feelings, emotions and impulses. Thinkers have classified the tendencies of mind under five heads. The first of these known as Kshipta is the disturbed condition of mind including all feelings such as hunger, thirst, anger, sorrow and desires for wealth, fame, etc. The second, Moodha, includes tendencies, which promote sluggishness, indolence or sloth. The third, Vikshipta, pertains to the tendency, which drives the mind away from sacred thoughts and brings about the haunting of numerous irrelevant ideas at the time of meditation. The fourth, Ekagra-Vritti, is the tendency, which makes our attention fixed on one thing only. The last one Nirodh is the tendency, which brings the mind to a perfectly self -contained state free from complexities and disturbances. To achieve this last stage sages have generally advised the well-known Ashtanga Yoga (i.e. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi). Under the Sahaj Marg system of training we start from Dhyana, the seventh step of Yoga fixing our mind on the point in order to practise meditation. The previous steps are not taken up separately but they automatically come into practice as we proceed on with meditation. Thus, much of our time and labour is saved by this means.
In short, we start our practice from Sham, the first of the six Sampattis of the