28. ekAgrachittanirdhyAtA (part 1/2)

[Ravi Mayavaram]

28. ekAgrachittanirdhyAtA

SHE who is meditated upon by  with single pointed minds.
"ekAgra" means with single object and  "chitta" means mind.
The consciousness after rejecting all classifications, remaining in a
unitary and undifferentiated state is meant by the term
"ekAgrachitta". SHE is meditated upon by devotees with such a perfect
mind.

Perfection in the practice of aShTAnga yoga (aShTa -eight anga -limbs)
results in asamprajnAta samAdhi.  aShTAnga yoga consists of 1) yama,
2) niyama 3) Asana 4) prANAyAma 5) pratyAhAra 6) dhyAna 7) dhAraNa and
8)samAdhi. "samAdhi" is the culimination of dhyAna, where the
components of the tripuTi(triad), "jneya" (act of knowing), jnAta
(knower) and jnAna (knowledge) are lost. It results in a unitary
experience.

asamprajnAta samAdhi has three stages. They are 1) R^itambhara
2) prajnAloka and 3)prashAntavAhita.

1) R^itambhara

R^itam means truth, i.e., brahman signified by sat-chit-Ananda. The
first stage mentioned above is the bearer of brahman (bhara means to
bear, so R^itambhara literally means bearer of the truth). In this
stage, consciousness by extension of itself objectifies itself as
brahman. "Atmanyeva vasham nayet" [bhagavad gIta]

2) prajnAloka

This is the second stage. Through continuous practice, first stage
(R^itambhara)  ripens into an unbroken objectivised brahman. In this
state all limiting factors are destroyed. According to the shruti
"prajnA-pratiShTA" [aitAreyopaniShad], prajnA means knowledge of
brahman. "Aloka" means realization or sAkShAtkAra (sAkShat AkAram).
This is known kAraNa vijnAna or causal knowldge.  According to "yasmin
vijnAte sarvamidam vijnAtam bhavati" [muNDakopaniShad] which means 'by
knowing which all this is known'. It is the knowledge of one becoming
the knowledge of all. If according to the good tendencies of previous
births, if one desires to see the entire cosmos superimposed on the
single Awareness, then the Universe becomes radiant with the radiance
of that Awareness and appears as something in a dream. purANas
vouchsafe to us that sages like bhAradvAja had this experience. When
the mind is in this bhUmikA or stage, it is without any impressions,
its faculties are controlled and its form is destroyed.

[to be continued]