Page 59 - Complete Works of Dr. KCV Volume 1

prior to manifestation. The individual will thus make effective his unity with that latent condition.
The master shows that once these are attained and one begins to meditate on his heart which is the meeting place (sandhi) of the acit and cit conditions or the gross and the subtle conditions of the original force, then thanks to the grace of the master and his transmission, the gross particles begin to become subtle and subtler till they are finally recovered and merged into the latent state. The heart's importance in this is clear because it is at the heart that one really perceives, so far as man is concerned, the meeting place and conversion of the gross particles and paramanus into the energy that finally become latent or merge into the ultimate. The yatra or travel to the source becomes automatically started once the prayer is made at the appropriate time and place and in the appropriate manner.
The whole commandment in a nut-shell states that for the speedy purposes of realization it is best and advisable to choose the conditions which will not interfere with our abhyas. The time to be chosen must be the time when external physical or gross heat of the sun is not active; thus bed time and early morning are very good periods. Cleanliness of the body and mind is necessary. One must have the yearning for peace which one seeks when going to bed after a hard day's labour or work. A fixed place and fixed pose are additional helps. Meditation on the heart is most useful and imperative for speedy approach to the ultimate state.
Above all Master's grace is to be sought integrally. All the others such as time, place and pose are relatively helpful and one should not drop abhyas just because one has no time, no place and no convenience and is unable to sit in the siddha or the padma asana. Master will help all if there is aspiration for the ultimate and its descent in oneself.
Therefore the first commandment is comprehensive as it covers almost the yama, niyama, asana and dhyana stages of the yoga-sastra.