Page 132 - Wisdom Unfurled

apparently on human form which may be advised to an abhyasi at a certain stage of development in his faith. While people may consider this to be suicidal to spiritual advancement, the Master assures that it will not be so especially when the man meditated upon is one of special caliber having come down from the Immaterial Absolute for spiritual training or has attained the spiritual standard of evolution required for the purpose by supreme self- exertion. The Master speaks very highly of the efficacy of this process and says that He Himself had adopted this device during His own sadhana as His revered Master is such a soul fit to be meditated upon thus. All the stages in spirituality had been crossed by Him by taking up the meditation on the Master’s form along with continuous and constant remembrance of the Master. It must be noted however that the Master advises all abhyasis to meditate only on the divine light without luminosity in the heart which is the standard instruction and the Master’s form referred to is not the three dimensional physical form. The meditation on Master’s form should not be taken up by any abhyasi without referring the matter to his guide who would advise appropriately regarding the same and also the process of doing such meditation if the situation so warrants it.
Ashtanga yoga and Sriramchandra’s Rajayoga
Before we proceed further it will be proper to look at the significant ways in which SRRY differs from the Ashatnga yoga of Patanjali despite many references made by the Master to it as discussed above keeping in mind that the SRRY is an entirely new system of Rajayoga. It may be mentioned at the outset itself that while Sage Patanjali mentions many ways of meditation for arriving at the state of cessation of thoughts, the niruddha sate of mind, he does not recommend any one method as the one that should be adopted by the aspirant in preference to all others. In fact we find him giving a perfect choice to the aspirant through the sutra yathabhimatadyanadva (or by meditating upon any object that is appealing to the practicant I.39). There is no mention of Pranahuti or its application in the path of yogic evolution. There is no mention about the need for specific cleansing processes for the removal of the solidities and complexities accumulated by the soul during its repeated births towards the end of liberation in one life. The process of Pranahuti and the cleansing practices are the most significant features of SRRY as we will see below. We also find that there is no mention of knots, granthis or chakras in the entire discourse as we would come across in the SRRY and also in other systems like kundalini yoga etc.,
Yama and Niyama
There is no mention of yama and niyama in SRRY in the traditional sense but the Master makes it clear that discipline and following certain basic tenets are