Page 131 - Wisdom Unfurled

the view of Patanjali, results by meditating on the Light in the heart. The Master has referred this sutra in the connection of the practice followed in SRRY namely to meditate on the heart. The ancient yogis believed that there was an actual centre of spiritual consciousness called ‘the lotus of the heart’ situated between the abdomen and the thorax which had the form of a lotus shining with an inner light which could be revealed in deep meditation. It was said to be ‘beyond sorrow’ as those who saw it were filled with an extraordinary sense of peace and joy. The Kaivalya Upanishad exhorts one to enter the lotus of the heart and meditate there on the presence of Brahman-the pure, the infinite the blissful. The Chandogya Upanishad refers to the city of Brahman which is the body wherein is the heart in which there is a little house in the shape of a lotus and in that lotus dwells that which is to be sought after, inquired about and realized. Again we find in the Mundaka Upanishad the reference to the pure Brahman, passionless and indivisible dwelling within the lotus of the heart where the nerves meet like the spokes of a wheel and we are asked to meditate on that Brahman who is also the light of lights. The same Upanishad advises meditation on the omniscient all pervading embodiment of knowledge and bliss, the creator of all that exists and who directs the body and the life force dwelling as the atman in the heart- space, the luminous divine city of Brahman. The Katha Upanishad refers in its ‘anghushta matra vidya’- the science of the thumb sized-to the meditation on Divine Purusha, the eternal all pervading Lord of the past, present and the future dwelling as the atman of the size of the thumb in the centre of the body like smokeless light. (jyotirivadhumakah). The Upanishads also refer to the heart as the cave in which dwells the divine and which is to be meditated upon (nihitam guhayam). The science of yoga leading to Realization has been called ‘dahara vidya’, the word ‘dahara’ referring to the heart and the space within the heart is the ‘dahara akasa’, the replica of the vast space outside. In yoga there comes the imperience of the unification of the inner space and the outer space leading to the transcendence of the limited or pinda consciousness and the realization of the cosmic consciousness.
Master’s heart or ‘form’ as object of meditation
The sutra I.37 (vitaraga vishayam va chittam) meaning we can achieve the cessation of the mental modifications by meditating on the heart of an illumined soul, which is free from attachments. Meditating on an evolved soul in the heart with faith and conviction fills one’s heart with the holy attributes of that soul and the mind of the meditator becomes calm and tranquil. It becomes devoid of passion, attachments and the lower urges. This speeds up spiritual progress. As you think so you become.
The Master refers to this sutra while mentioning the technique of meditation