Communion Through Meditation
The Blessed Lord
said:
1. It is the man
who performs his duties without dependence on the fruits that deserves to be
called a Sannyasin (renouncer) and a Yogin, not the one who keeps no fire or
avoids works.
2. O son of Pandu!
What is called Sannyasa or renunciation know that to be identical with Yoga or
disciplines of selfless action. For, whoever has not abandoned subtle
hankerings and self-centred objectives, can never become a Yogi, or a
practitioner of spiritual communion through works.
3. For one who
desires to ascend the path leading to the heights of spiritual communion
(Yoga), detached work is the means. For one who has ascended it, quiescence is
verily the means.
4. When one ceases
to be attached to sense objects and to one's actions, then that one, who has
thus abandoned all subtle hankerings and self-centred objectives, is said to
have ascended the heights of spiritual communion (Yoga).
5. One should
uplift one's lower self by the higher self. One should not depress or downgrade
one's self. For the self verily is both the friend and the foe of the self.
6. To him who has
subdued the lower self by the higher self, the self acts like a friend. But to
him who has lost his higher self by the dominance of the lower one. the self
functions as the enemy, always hostile to him.
7. In one who has
conquered his mind, the Self remains steady and unperturbed in the experience
of the pairs of opposites like heat and cold, pleasure and pain, honour and
dishonour.
8. A Yogin whose
spirit has attained contentment through knowledge and experience, who is
unperturbed, who has subdued his senses, to whom a lump of earth and a bar of
gold are alike - such a Yogi is said to have attained steadfastness in
spiritual communion.
9. Specially
noteworthy in excellence is he who is even-minded in his outlook on friend and
foe, on comrade and stranger, on the neutral, on the ally, on the good, and
even on the evil ones.
10. Let a Yogin
constantly practise spiritual communion, residing alone in a solitary spot,
desireless, possessionless, and disciplined in body and mind.
11-12. At a clean
spot, which is neither too high nor too low, a seat should be made with Kusha
grass, spread over with a skin and a cloth. Firmly seated on it, the Yogi
should practise spiritual communion, with mind concentrated and with the
working of the imaginative faculty and the senses under control, for
self-purification.
13-14. Holding the
body, head and neck erect, motionless and firm, gazing at the tip of the nose
and not round about, fearless, serene, restrained in mind, and established in
the vow of continence, he should sit in spiritual communion with Me, looking
upon Me as his highest and most precious end.
15. With the mind
restrained from going outward to objects and always uniting with the Supreme in
spiritual communion, the Yogi attains to Peace, which is the summit of bliss
and enduring establishment in My state.
16. O Arjuna!
Success in Yoga is not for those who eat too much, nor for those who eat too
little. It is not also for those given to too much sleeping, nor to those who
keep vigil too long.
17. For one who is
temperate in food and recreation, who is detached and self-restrained in work,
who is regulated in sleep and in vigil - Yoga brings about the cessation of the
travail of Samsara.
18. When the
disciplined mind is able to remain established in the Atman alone, when it is
free from longing for all objects of desire - then is it spoken of as having
attained to spiritual communion.
19. The flame of a
lamp sheltered from wind does not flicker. This is the comparison used to
describe a Yogi's mind that is well under control and united with the Atman.
20. That state in
which the Chitta (mind stuff), with its movements restrained by the practice of
Yoga, finds rest; in which is experienced the joy of the Spirit born of the
higher mind intuiting the Spirit.
21. In which he
(the Yogin) experiences that endless bliss which is beyond the ken of the
senses but is intuited by the purified intellect; wherein established, one does
not waver from the Truth.
22. Having obtained
which no other gain is considered as greater; remaining in which one is not
shaken even by the heaviest of afflictions,
23. Know that
severence of connection with pain as what is designated as Yoga. It has to be
practised tirelessly with determination.
24-25. Abandoning
imagination - born longings in their entirety, restraining all the senses with
the mind on every side, and setting that mind firmly on the Self under the
direction of a steadfast intellect, one should practise tranquillity little by
little, and abstain from every kind of thought.
26. From whatsoever
reason this wavering and fickle mind wanders away, it should be curbed and
brought to abide in the Self alone.
27. Supreme Bliss
wells up in a Yogi, who is tranquil in mind, whose passions are subdued, who is
free from impurities and who is in the Brahmic state.
28. Thus, ever
engaged in making the mind steadfast in spiritual communion and having all the
impurities of the mind effaced thereby, the Yogin easily experiences the
infinite Bliss of contact with Brahman.
29. The man of
spiritual insight, established in same-sightedness, sees the Self as residing
in all beings and all beings as resting in the Self.
30. He who sees Me
in all beings, and all beings in Me - to him I am never lost, nor he to Me.
31. Established in
the unity of all existence, a Yogin who serves Me present in all beings, verily
abides in Me, whatever be his mode of life.
32. O Arjuna! In My
view that Yogi is the best who, out of a sense of identity with others on
account of the perception of the same Atman in all, feels their joy and
suffering as his own.
Arjuna said:
33. O Slayer of
Madhu! Owing to the fickleness of the mind, I find no way of firm establishment
in spiritual communion through equanimity as instructed by you.
34. O Krishna!
Verily, the mind is fickle, turbulent, powerful and unyielding. To control it,
1 think, is as difficult as controlling the wind itself.
The Blessed Lord said:
35. O mighty armed
one! Undoubtedly the mind is fickle and difficult to be checked. Yet, O son of
Kunti, it can be brought under control by dispassion and spiritual practice.
36. My view is that
Yoga is difficult of attainment by men of uncontrolled mind. But for those who
have their minds under control, it is possible to attain, if they strive with
the proper means.
Arjuna said:
37. What, O
Krishna, is the fate of a man who. though endowed with a firm faith, is not
steadfast in his practices owing to distractions, and therefore fails to reach
spiritual perfection?
38. O mighty-armed
Lord! Bewildered in the path of Brahman, supportless, does he not lose both
this world and the next? Does he not perish like a rain-cloud rent asunder?
39. O Krishna! My
doubt in this respect has yet to be cleared completely. Indeed! I find none
better than Thee to be that doubt dispeller.
The Blessed Lord
said:
40. O son of
Pritha! He does not meet with downfall either here in this world or in the
hereafter. Know for certain, O dear one, that one who treads the path of virtue
never goes the way of evil ones.
41. The fallen Yogi
goes (after death) to the spheres of the righteous, and after having lived
there for unnumbered years, is reborn in this world in a pure and prosperous
family.
42. Or he is
re-born in a family of men full of wisdom and spirituality. Re-birth under such
conditions is passing hard to get in this world.
43. There, O scion
of the clan of Kurus! he will regain the spiritual discernment of his previous
birth, and then he will strive harder than ever for perfection.
44. Even if
helpless, he will be driven towards the path of Yoga by the force of his
previous striving. For even a beginner in the path of Yoga goes above the stage
requiring the aid of Vedic ritualism (not to speak then of one who has made
some progress in Yoga).
45. As for the Yogi
striving diligently, he is cleansed of all his sins and gains spiritual
perfection after passing through several embodiments. Finally he reaches the
highest state (which consists in release from the bondage of the body).
46. A Yogi (one
practising meditation) is superior to a man of austerity; he is superior to a
scholar; he is superior to a ritualist too. Therefore, O Arjuna, be you a Yogi.
47. Of all the
Yogins, he is the most attuned in spiritual communion, who worships Me with
abiding faith, and with his innermost self fused with Me.
http://scriptures.ru/bh_g_eng.htm#Chapter
VI
images from wiki commons with thanks
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