Day 43

This is the same with the ears. Sometimes, people switch on the the radio and every few minutes change the station. They go on tuning to different stations. I knew one such person. He would not let anybody listen to one song completely or one program fully. After listening to a station for a few seconds, he would wonder what program would be on in another station. 

Then again, he would be off to another station after some time. All the time would be spent in tuning to different stations. That is how the mind works. This happens in relation to all the other senses, too - smell, taste, touch and hearing. When the senses get steady, then the prana,which is shaking inside becomes steady, too. You would have noticed that, if your prana is unsteady before doing pranayama, it becomes steady once you complete it. 

Observe the prana at all those moments when you are not feeling so good or are fearful. The matter may not be serious but the prana will be shaking. Samadhi is steadiness is the prana. However, you should not worry if the prana is shaking. You should just know, observe and be with it for a few moments, and the prana becomes steady. This is centeredness, and it brings you to a space where you are completely hollow and empty.

In this sutra Patanjali said that one becomes like a crystal. 

A crystal exists, but it lets the light pass through it totally. Though you exist with a body, in the state of samadhi you are not there at all. In other words, you can live as though you do not exist. This is samadhi. When you are with the Self, you are just with the Self - steady, blissful and joyful. And when you are with the senses, you are totally with the senses. When you are with the object of senses, you become the object of senses. 

This is what happens in a crystal. If you keep a coloured light behind a crystal, then the crystal, without any obstruction, assumes the colour of the light. In the same way, if you look at a mountain and become one with the mountain, it is samadhi. Patanjali said that there were two types of Samadhi. One is the samadhi which you experience during activity. That is sabeeja samadhi. You have often done this as a child. 

Have you noticed a child? Its eyes are not flitting here and there. They are very steady. A child stares at things and there is a depth in its eyes. This indicates steadiness and stability of the soul. The eyes are the windows for you to see the world and the world to see your soul, to see its steadiness. If someone is very ambitious and greedy, their eyes will indicate it. The eyes of a person, who is kind and compassionate, reflect that. 

Eyes represent the face, the senses, the behavior and everything else. Your appearance, your walk, your behavior, your words and your entire life reflects what you are deep inside. This is the job of the senses. It gives you the knowledge of the world. When you polish this and make yourself hollow and empty, you become like a crystal. The soul in you reflects the divinity, the Lord. The senses in you reflect that soul, that Lordship in you. 

Then, when you look at a flower, you are not just looking at it. You are touching it, feeling the flower and listening to it. All your senses become totally active. The being in you, your senses and the object of your senses, reflect one divinity like the crystal. This reflects the purusha in you. This is sabeeja samadhi. You look at a mountain and it reminds you of the Self, the consciousness. You look at a flower and the flower reminds you of consciousness. 

You look at the sun, moon, water, etc and that gives you the idea of the formless energy, the Self, by which all of it had come up. And at that very moment you are in samadhi. You may be looking at a sunset and then you are in samadhi because the mind and the senses are steady. Steadiness is dignity. Steadiness is strength. It is dispassion.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji 

PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS