Question and answer 34

And what are the eight limbs of the path of knowledge?

They are exactly the same eight already named. 1. Yama means seeing clearly the faults in things like the body and the world, and reining in the whole assembly of the senses. 2. Niyama means an unbroken current of like thought and the turning away of every unlike thought — in other words, unbroken love for the Supreme Self. 3. Āsana is simply wherever uninterrupted contemplation of Brahman comes easily. 4. Prāṇāyāma: strip away the two unreal elements — name and form — from the things of the body and the world; that is recaka. Take hold instead of the three real elements running through them — being, consciousness, bliss; that is pūraka. And hold those grasped elements steady within; that is kumbhaka. 5. Pratyāhāra is simply guarding so that the names and forms you have stripped away don't creep back into the mind. 6. Dhāraṇā is holding the mind, without letting it wander outward, fixed in the Heart, on this: that which is being itself, self-shining, and dear beyond anything else — that is my own real nature as the Self. 7. Dhyāna is dwelling on the thought 'I am nothing but sheer consciousness' — that is, holding the five-sheathed body to be not-I, exactly as already explained, and asking, Who am I, and then simply abiding, unbroken, as that very 'I' pulsing there on its own. 8. Samādhi is that fine, direct realisation in which even that pulsing 'I' has itself gone quiet. None of the postures or observances laid down for yoga are needed for this kind of breathing; it can be done anywhere, any time. Between yoga and this path of knowledge, take up whichever suits you, or both together, as the moment calls for. And since the great ones say that forgetting is the root of every disaster, and Death itself to anyone seeking liberation, here is the whole point, however you get there: fix the mind in your own self, the Self's own nature, and never forget yourself. Still the mind alone, and everything else follows. These eightfold divisions of yoga and of knowledge, and all their detail, are set out at length elsewhere in the scriptures, so only as much as is needed has been given here.

What are the eight limbs of knowledge (jñāna)?

They are the same eight already named — yama, niyama and the rest. Of these: 1. Yama is discerning the faults present in objects such as the body and the world, and restraining the assembly of the senses. 2. Niyama is the flow of homogeneous modification and the exclusion of heterogeneous modification — that is, unbroken love toward the Supreme Self. 3. Āsana is that [posture or ground] in which uninterrupted contemplation of Brahman arises with ease. 4. Prāṇāyāma: removing, from the objects of the body and the world, the two unreal parts called name and form — that is recaka; grasping the three real parts running through them — being, consciousness, bliss — that is pūraka; and holding, within, exactly those grasped parts — that is kumbhaka. 5. Pratyāhāra is guarding so that the names and forms just removed do not re-enter the mind. 6. Dhāraṇā is holding the mind, without letting it stray outward, fixed in the Heart, on the thought: that which has the nature of being, [self-]shining, and dearness — that itself is my own real nature as the Self. 7. Dhyāna is dwelling on the thought 'I am, in my very form, sheer consciousness alone' — that is, as already described, holding the body made of the five sheaths to be not-I, and, remaining exactly so, enquiring 'Who am I', and abiding unbroken as the very nature of 'I' that spontaneously pulsates there. 8. Samādhi is that subtle state of direct realisation in which even the aforesaid pulsation of 'I' has itself subsided. For this kind of prāṇāyāma and the rest, the postures and observances named earlier under the yoga division are not required; it can be done anywhere, at any time. Of these two, yoga and jñāna, one may practise whichever appeals, or both, as occasion suits. Since the great ones say that forgetfulness (maṟati) is itself the root of every calamity, and Death itself to those who seek liberation, the chief purport is simply this: by whatever means, fix the mind in one's own self, which is the nature of the Self, and never forget oneself. If the mind alone is stilled, everything is accomplished. Since these divisions of the eight limbs of yoga and of knowledge, and their details, are expounded at length in the scriptures, they have been stated here only as briefly as necessary.