The Path of Yog. Ashok K. Sachdeva

for exit. Our body is also a nice bungalow for the Lord. Eyes and ears are entrance gates for the reception of forms and sounds. These are avenues of sense-knowledge (sight and hearing). Upastha Indriya (organ of reproduction) and Guda (anus, organ of excretion) are exit gates. They throw out urine and faces.

      Most difficult to control “tongue”: The most mischievous and troublesome Indriya is the generative organ. Next is the tongue then comes speech then comes ear and then comes eye. Control of the organ of taste is far more difficult than control of the genitals, because you have been enjoying delicious articles of food even from your very birth. Lust manifests itself just before eighteen. You indulge in sexual pleasure only for a short period in every birth. But, you have to take food even in advanced senility. Control of tongue means control of all Indriyas.

      Music, cinema, sight-seeing is enjoyed in human births only. Ants and rats do not enjoy cinema-show. The Indriya of sight is not as powerful as the tongue.

      The organ of sight serves as a loving comrade to the organ of taste. The mind is at once tickled at the sight of a yellow colour of the mango. The eyes see a beautiful mango and the different dishes that are served on the table. At once, the glosso-pharyngeal nerves are stimulated. You get good appetite and relish. The food is rendered more palatable. A blind man may not have as good a relish as a man with sharp sight has.

      Control of Indriyas: There are six ways of controlling the Indriyas

      1 through Vichara,

      2 by will-force,

      3 by Kumbhaka (retention of breath in Pranayam),

      4 by Dama (restraint),

      5 by Pratyahara (abstention) and

      6 by Vairagya and Tyaga.

      Perfect control can be made only through Vichara.

      Dama - Dama is restraint of the Indriyas. Dama blunts the Indriyas. Perfect control of the senses is not possible through Dama alone. If the senses are very sharp and acute, they carry away the minds of even good sadhakas impetuously, just as the gale carries away the ship in stormy weather (Bhagwad Geeta, Chapter 2, Verse 67). They can be controlled perfectly through the help of the mind, through Vichara.

      When you walk along Anna Salai (old name Mount Road), Chennai (old name Madras), each Indriya tries its level best to get hold of its objects of enjoyment and revelry. The Indriyas revolt vehemently if you do not procure them these objects. Tongue drags you to the coffee hotel or Hotel de Angelis. Tvak (skin) says, “Let me go to the Mumbai’s Sait’s shop and have a piece of fine China silk”. Ear says, “Let me have a gramophone or harmonium”. Nose says, “Let me have a bottle of Otto de Rose“. The mind is at the bottom of these Indriyas to instigate. A tumultuous internal fight goes on between the five organs of knowledge, each trying to have a lion’s share of enjoyment. Use Viveka, power of discrimination, always. Indriyas tempt and deceive you. Indriyas are the jugglers. Maya spreads her Moha-Jala through mind and Indriyas. Be on the alert. Practice Dama through Vairagya and Vaasan-Tyaga. Happiness comes through calmness of Indriyas, through calmness of mind (Uparati). Go to the sweet’s bazaar with plenty of money in hand. Walk hither and thither for fifteen minutes. Look with a greedy eye at the various sweets. Do not purchase anything. Return home. Even if dainties are served that day at home, reject them. Have a plain diet. By so doing, you will control the tongue which is at the root of all troubles. You will eventually control the mind also. You will develop will-power.

      Give up all luxurious food and all articles of sensuous enjoyment. Practice rigid penance. Tapas, thins out the Indriyas and eventually leads to control of mind. If you give up tea, you have really controlled a small portion of the mind; control of tongue really means control of mind.

      Pratyahara: - When the Indriyas give up the objects, they take up the form of the mind-stuff. They are drawn into the mind. This is termed Pratyahara or abstraction. When the Indriyas are withdrawn from their respective objects, it is Indriya-Pratyahara. Mental abstraction takes place when the mind is disconnected with the Indriyas. Pratyahara is a general, broad term which includes Dama also. The effect of Dama (restraint of Indriyas) is Pratyahara.

      If you can do consciously Pratyahara at will, consciously attaching and detaching the mind to and from the senses, you have gained really a great control over the mind. You can check at any time the outgoing tendencies or outgoing forces of the mind. Pratyahara is the stepping-stone to inner spiritual life. He who has succeeded in Pratyahara can concentrate his mind quite readily for a very long time. Dharana and Dhyana come automatically if Pratyahara is perfect. An aspirant has to struggle hard to have mastery over Pratyahara. Perfect Vairagya is indispensable for success in Pratyahara. You can succeed after strenuous and incessant struggle for some years. “Tatah parama vasyatendriyanam“(Patanjali Yog Sutras II-55). Thence arise the supreme control of the organs. If Pratyahara is perfect, all the organs are under perfect control.

      During the period of Sadhana

       do not mix much

       do not talk much

       do not walk much

       do not eat much

       do not sleep much

      Observe carefully the five “do-not’s“. Mixing will cause disturbances in the mind. Talking much will cause distraction of the mind. Walking much causes exhaustion and weakness. Eating much induces Alasya and Tandri (laziness and sleepiness).

      Control of Thought A Great Desideratum:- If you have the reins of the horses under your control, you can have a safe journey. The Indriyas are the horses. If you have the senses under your efficient control, you can have a safe journey in the path of Moksha. Indriyas cannot do anything without the help of the mind, their master and commander. Control of the Indriyas means control of the mind only. Control of thoughts leads to the control of mind and Indriyas also. It leads to the attainment of infinite bliss and eternal life. Control of thought is indispensable a great desideratum for all.

      The following are the last three levels and are called Internal Aids to Yog (antaranga sadhana).

      1. Dhaarna: Concentration of the Chitta upon a physical object, such as a flame of a lamp, the midpoint of the eyebrows, or the image of a deity. Concentrating the energy internally - the three organs namely eye, ear and tongue externalize the mind to make a man worldly. Eyes and ears are the avenues of sense-knowledge or Vritti-Jnana. Close the eyes. Shut the ears either with balls of cotton or balls of cotton beaten with yellow bee’s wax or with the two thumbs making Yoni-Mudra. Now you have destroyed two-fifths of the world. Do not allow anything to enter the mind through these two doors of sense-knowledge.

      The object of Sadhana is to internalize the mind by introspection or Antarmukha Vritti and to realize the Truth within you. Control the three organs of eye, ear and tongue. Then you can bring the mind under discipline and prevent the mental energy from flowing externally. These organs are the main causes of making the mind restive. Control over them helps the purpose of concentrating the energy internally.

      2. Dhyaan: Dhyaan (Steadfast meditation) is undisturbed flow of thought around the object of meditation (pratyayaikatanata). The act of meditation and the object of meditation remain distinct and separate.

      3. Samadhi: Oneness with the object of meditation. There is no distinction between act of meditation and the object of meditation. Samadhi is of two kinds:

      a. Samprajnata Samadhi (conscious samadhi ): The mind remains concentrated (ekagra) on the object of meditation; therefore the consciousness of the object of meditation persists. Mental modifications arise only in respect of this object of meditation.

      This state is of four kinds:

      * Savitarka: the chitta is concentrated upon a gross object of meditation such as a flame of a lamp, the tip of the nose, or the image of a deity.

      * Savichara: the chitta is concentrated upon a subtle object of meditation, such as the tanmatras

      * Sananda: the chitta is concentrated upon a still, subtler object of meditation, like the senses.