DR. K. C. VARADACHARI

The School of Rajayoga is said to have been founded by Hiranyagarbha (Brahma) and the chief tenets of that school were written down in Sutra-form by Sage Patanjali. Sage Patanjali is identified with the great grammarian Patanjali by some scholars. Rajayoga, as enunciated by the Yoga Sutras, is one of the earliest systematic attempts to present the method of release. It is however true that in the meanwhile many other types of yoga have come into being.

Shri Ram Chandraji (of Shahjahanpur) states in his Efficacy of Rajayoga that the technique discovered by his Master Shri Ram Chandraji of Fatehgarh was originally the earliest having been invented by a Rishi who lived far earlier than Sri Dasaratha, the father of Sri Rama Chandra, the avatar. This method depends on the same principle later enunciated by sage Patanjali but with a great modification. The principle is that all this world, both individual and cosmic, arose out of the original stir (kshobha) and this is of the nature of thought. It is this subtlest thought that as power has become grosser and grosser till it evolved into the cosmic world (brahmanda) and the individuated worlds of beings. Thought thus became the gross world of matter. Of course this descending process of thought has been attended by a series of twists or inversions of the original flow or strands of the flow. Thus we have the descriptions of the higher and the lower constantly being changed or inverted. These inversions lead to many changes, and knots are formed at each one of the stages of the descent of the flow of thought. All these are not mentioned in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or in the Samkhya. Sage Patanjali states in his definition of Yoga that it is just the nirodha or stopping the modifications of the citta (citta-vrtti-nirodha). The nature of citta is not clearly mentioned, for citta is not a category (tattva) of the Samkhyan enumeration. Therefore, the writers on Yoga think that it is to be equated with manas, the sensorium of Samkhya. But really citta should refer to all thought-processes starting from buddhi, ahamkara, manas, sense-organs culminating in the motor organs also, for all have to be reversed or led to nivrtti. It is then that they really are made to be one with the original thought. Thus the force of thought is to be used to stop the flow of thought downward towards grossness. It is undoubtedly a serious question whether the thought as citta is used for the purpose of restraining itself. That is not the case, and what happens is that another force has to restrain it from going on its downward movement. It is this force that is said to be of the same nature as that of citta but in its refined form or superfine form which is to be used for the purpose of restraining the modifications of the citta.

Shri Ram Chandraji has shown that the original thought (which he calls Manas), with which the later formations of it including obviously the citta are identical in a sense but which have to be shown to be inversions of it, is to be used for controlling them. This power of Superfine Thought cannot be had unless one begins to contemplate or meditate on the Superfine thought itself or on one who is in full possession of it without any diminution, namely God Himself or a great Master who has arrived at that condition.

Thought as understood by philosophers is just reason and reasoning. Such a reason is dependent for its existence on sensations and experiences which are sensory. The reasoning or reason cannot be correct unless it is also guided by the laws of reason. That is why the philosophers can be arriving at wrong conclusions or erroneous judgments. There are any number of philosophies nowadays which are based on a set of axioms or assumptions even like mathematical schools dependent on a set of axioms. There are thus any number of mathematically constructed universes none of which need be true. So too these several philosophies can be produced or invented and none of them need be true. Therefore, we have conflicts between several types of philosophies all of which claim to satisfy but which is hardly arrived at so long as their basic assumptions either of thought (called laws of thought) or sense (claimed to be facts) are arbitrarily chosen.

The procedures of philosophers based on the so called genetic approach or empiricism are bound to be vitiated at the very outset because they attempt to know Reality as a whole through the knowledge of the parts. Inductive procedure based on leaping to the general or universal or whole knowledge from the knowledge of parts has its own basic hazards. The leap is sometimes impossible, sometimes nonsensical, and sometimes irresponsible.

Thought, as we have delineated it, is a kingly thing in us, and since we use thought for the purpose of linking ourselves with Reality, the Yoga (linking) is called Rajayoga. However, if it is the usual intellectual discursive thought, thought that is the servant of sensations, then it is not doing its kingly function. The real thought is akin to Vision, and it is this royal thought which has to be trained to come back to us by the purification of the thought that we now exercise. The twists and turns or inversions (vivarta) that that thought has gone through in its becoming (pravrtti) have to be unwinded or untwisted or reinverted so as to become the original thought. Therefore, the true purpose of philosophy is to restore its original power to thought and then use it to know Reality, rather than try to know Reality with the help of these twisted and distorted instruments.

Ancient Indian thinkers have laid down three conditions for arriving at truth or Reality: (i) the subject or knower must be healthy and not obsessed by desires; (ii) the object should be without ambiguous or similar nature to other objects so as to give rise to illusions; (iii) the means or instruments of knowing or thought (pramana) must be without any defect. The error or deficiencies of the subject lead to hallucinations and errors of prejudice and desire; the errors of the second lead to illusions, and the third also to error. Thus Reality which is of the highest nature cannot be truly comprehended or apprehended by means of the senses or reasoning or comparisons or analogies, because it is subtler than any of the objects of the senses and because knowledge of that will throw light on the sensations rather than otherwise. Thus Rajayoga aims at arriving at the highest Thought or purest thought to apprehend Reality as it is, having cleansed the subject of all desire and the means of all imperfection.

Shri Ram Chandraji therefore counsels that any one interested in the knowledge of Reality should arrive at this state of Vision or Intuitive knowing and should not try to know Reality of a kind by means of senses and reasoning which can only give distortions of Reality or unreality in one word.

II

Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga is claimed to be the natural method of attaining this Highest Vision and experience of Reality.

Since thought in its subtlest form is the origin of all process and building up of the gross physical, vital, and mental bodies so as to speak, thought even in its gross form is utilized to break up these structures. The simple method is the method of concentration which is the linking up of our thought (gross form) with its subtlest form (that is of Reality). This subtlest form is that of the Master, and that is why the Master becomes the object of concentration. All religions counsel the concentration or meditation on the Godhead who is claimed to be Adi Guru - the first Guru or the Guru of all Gurus. Concentration on that Guru leads to the loss of grossness of the thought which is ours, and slowly there happens the transformation of that thought into subtle conditions. The thought within us moves slowly to the Ultimate. And in this process there is achieved a double end, firstly, thought purifies itself by contact with the Ultimate and secondly, moves to that Ultimate Being or state or condition faster and faster.

As our thought slowly moves upwards or takes its yatra or pilgrimage to the Ultimate, renunciation of thought in its lower forms and movements take place naturally. So too, our thought becomes subtler and subtler and thus reveals its own true nature. Thus the renunciation of the lower levels happens without effort by fixing it on the Ultimate as the goal. The individual begins to realize that the individual mind has become as such when it began to get away from the Centre of Peace (the Ultimate).

More important, of course, is the point that the soul begins to get the Ultimate's peace and calmness; and simplicity begins to descend even as the individual is moving towards it or has totally surrendered to its contemplation. For it is a truth that one becomes what one contemplates. Thus the meditation on the Ultimate is the first condition of ascent. As Shri Ram Chandraji states "the gentle waves of the Calm of the Region of the Almighty begin to flow direct to the individual mind and so in the long run you become one with it" (Efficacy of Rajayoga P.10). The meditation on the Ultimate having been decided on and the Ultimate having been recognized as the Guru or God, it follows as to where and as what the Ultimate has to be meditated upon.

Shri Ram Chandraji has clearly stated that there are certain minimum assumptions: firstly, there is the Ultimate; secondly, that this Ultimate (which is also called Zero or Nothingness) is called Tam (or that, tat). It is not the tamas quality or the quality that makes for dullness, lethargy etc., that comes up later on as the element of inertia or inactivity in its gross form, which is perhaps the inversion of that. The Tam has beneath it a kind of invisible motion. This is the first Mind or Supermind of the Almighty. From this superconscious mind our own mind originates. When we take up our individual mind to this level of the First Mind, then we come close to the Centre or the Almighty.

The First Mind being arrived at one comes very close to the Centre and gains the experiences of plainness, simplicity and calmness.

The difficulty of worshipping the Ultimate is however there. The need to have a concrete Object rather than an immaterial Absolute is everywhere felt by meditators. It is indeed difficult to meditate on that. Therefore, Shri Ram Chandraji prescribes that one may meditate on the personality who has attained the Ultimate condition, and who is capable of leading the meditator to that state. It can be an Avatar as Sri Krishna has stated about Himself or a special personality who has attained that state.

Shri Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, the Master of Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, is said to be one who has that state and therefore fit to be meditated upon. Further, our mind being individual and gross needs one who is incarnate whilst yet being in the Ultimate for concrete meditation.

As Shri Ram Chandraji puts it "when we meditate on a living form, the form naturally remains in our view. When the attention gets fixed in it everything superfluous then gets out of sight. When one goes deep into it, it transforms and assumes the form of mere impression. Further on that too sinks into a subtle idea of his Greatness. The 'jyoti' experienced in the heart is a reflection of Reality ...."

Many abhyasis (practicers of meditation) have found it difficult to keep the outer form of their beloved Godhead before their meditation, whether it be the living Master also. The difficulty is due to the very nature of the transference of outer experience to the inside. It becomes a gross kind of meditation, for the outer is the gross expression of the inner. There has therefore been a great deal of difficulty in convincing the meditator about the change of external appearance in meditation. One should let oneself go in the inner and experience the flow of the Master's superconsciousness within oneself. Surely it may reveal many experiences. At each stage of ascent there will be experienced different kinds of light. The ascent itself is featured by various experiences at the several knots or wheels (chakras). Shri Ram Chandraji points out that all the chakras begin to glow as the Superfine Consciousness begins to pass through them.

When meditation starts there happens the awakening of the heart Region. Once the Heart Region begins to glow then there is the starting of the journey to the Ultimate.

It can be seen that one must have chosen the Superconscious Personality for the meditation on the Ultimate. The meditation on Him means connecting oneself with Him with devotion and love. The meditation is to be a kind of surrender, a total self-giving of oneself to be led to the goal of superconsciousness which promotes renunciation, and other necessary adjuncts to the practice known as sadhana sampattis such as viveka, sama, dama, titiksa, sraddha, comprised in the triple words, plainness, simplicity and resignation.

Whatever has been gross is slowly dissolved, and one naturally proceeds to the Ultimate state of the Supreme Personality. The worship of the Supreme Personality does not mean the worship of the gross forms but forms open to the inner mind. Idolatry is the worship of the gross form whereas true worship is of the subtlest nature. All gross forms will melt away into the subtlest nature, and this is what is experienced as the identity of all manifest forms in the Ultimate.

The method insists upon the subtlest meditation so as to purify the inner as well as the outer perceptions and enable us to arrive at the true nature of things as they are in the Ultimate.

Thus we are enabled to explore the Heart Region which is counseled as the initial place of meditation for embodied beings.

We have spoken about the need to concentrate on the Highest Personality or the Ultimate in order to arrive at that condition which is our real goal. It is clear, however, that we have to distinguish between concentration and meditation. The original distinction in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is between dharana and dhyana. They are the two stages of the increasing absorption in the Ultimate. Meditation is the natural manner of keeping one's attention on the Supreme Personality. During this period every abhyasi experiences the influx of lot of everyday thoughts and feelings. These have the nature of interfering with our constant attention, and effort seems to be demanded to check the influx of these wayward thoughts (called citta-vrttis), both from our past and from outside. The need to throw out all these thoughts is also felt seriously. Dejection seems to overtake most abhyasis. However, Shri Ram Chandraji has stated that these could be checked by the process of cleaning two points A & B located about the region of the heart.

Two fingers from N (left nipple) and three fingers down is point A and two fingers further down is B.

Secondly, He has also stated that if there is real surrender or offering to the Master and one has placed oneself entirely at His disposal, depending upon Him as the only means, then these intrusions and influxes which are even referable to our past lives in the form of samskaras can be thrown out even at the very moment of their arising. The Buddhist Jhana teaches the necessity of checking influxes of these vrttis or mental modifications even as they arise. This requires the heightened awareness of arising of these subtle elements. This technique however is hardly successful. This technique of destruction or annihilation of cittavrttis is also practiced by the Zen Buddhists of Japan. All these require effortful meditation and in fact for them there can be no meditation without conscious effort even in relaxation.

In Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga this is achieved effortlessly by the influx of the transmissional force of the Supreme Master which neutralizes the entire incoming and arising vrttis. Therefore, even though they seem to be coming into oneself, they no longer disturb the meditation on the Supreme. One feels a growing calm and that is the essence of detachment from them. Once this detachment from these vrttis occurs there is then a slow abolition of their occurrence. Automatically points A and B get cleaned and become free from any possibility of being made the seats of lower thoughts. The principle of substitution of the higher in the place of the lower or perverse modifications stated in the Yoga Sutras (Vitarka-bhavane pratipaksa-bhavanam) is masterfully adapted to this new technique of purification of the thoughts. After this practice, meditation becomes naturally purified. Concentration becomes naturally established.

Shri Ram Chandraji has already given the method of purification by those who have surrendered to the Master and can take him as the object of meditation. The Master is described as the Ocean of Bliss. Bliss of course means the Ultimate though we go beyond bliss itself to the state that makes bliss possible. We are also asked to think that we are seated in this Ocean and that the waves of the Ocean which have the property of removing all dirt and disease are flowing through us, having this unique quality even like the X-rays which can pass through us without being obstructed by any element. Thus the dirt and diseases are removed.

Dirt and diseases which are the causes of our misery or non-bliss, are of three kinds, physical, vital and mental, and they come from the outer world or external world and also from higher powers or forces which are cosmic. Whatever they are, they all get removed by this incoming descent or interpenetrating flow of the Waves of Bliss Ocean of the Master. This suddhi or purification leads to the clear and calm dhyana, meditation-cum-concentration.

A deep consideration of the manner of meditation is necessary. What exactly does meditation do? Is it merely a linking up of oneself with the object or goal, or is it also the experience of the feeling that one is slowly being lifted up to that object? There is no doubt that one does experience the coming into oneself of the object in the form of waves of bliss (anandalahiri) which is followed by the ascent of oneself to the centre of the ocean of bliss. This is very much like the description of certain fishes which go upstream counter to the flow of the stream.

Now it is necessary to enter into this a little more carefully. We can see that when anything flows down it is seen to twist itself in a wavy manner. Liquids twist as they flow down. Waves of light and energy flow in a wavy manner. Describing this we can say that things when they move or flow have the nature of twisting or inverting. This is also called serpentine. The top becomes the bottom, the right becomes the left and upper becomes the lower and vice versa. This principle is called the principle of invertendo by Shri Ram Chandraji. It is known as anatrope by Plato. Topsyturveydom is the natural result of this flowing downwards of everything or movement as such. Up to a particular point this is tolerable but as these inversions continue to pile up distortion and grossening of the same occur. Indeed at one stage the limit of flow having been reached there is solidification and thus the physical is solidification wherein the flow has become stopped except in a very little sense. The changelessness of matter or the physical is not quite correct expression however, for, as Shri Ram Chandraji states it: "Change-lessness is a divine characteristic. In man this changelessness is a divine characteristic running parallel with the Highest. If it is proportionately similar, he must then be having it in a lower degree (in comparison with the Highest). The inversion itself becomes divine if parallelity is removed and that is the abhyas in the Sahaj Marg". Meditation thus attempts to remove this parallelity and that is by awakening this gross changelessness into its Ultimate condition of changelessness.

But this is done by a series of inversions which will restore the original condition in its subtle condition. The upward ascent has to be made by the same process of reversing the inversions. Each one of the points at which the inversion happened is a point of change, and it is known as a knot or chakra, a wheel which has to be reversed in its movement. Thus we get the significance of the rotating of the dharma-chakra which is the process of reversing the direction of movement of the adharma-chakra.

This is one of the most important things which the transmitted power of the Master achieves, for no one can do it by oneself. This reversing of the movement at the centre of the Heart which is the gross point of our thought, immediately achieves the reversal of all the inversion points or knots also imperceptibly at the beginning, and perceptibly later on. This itself brings about loss of tension and the experience of relief from pain and torment.