Rāja Yoga revised
Yoga as I have understood and experienced it
Yoga is practiced
by both a breaded, indigent hermit as well as a trendy, sporty business woman.
Yoga can mean stretching and relaxation of extremities like logical thinking,
imagination training, astral journey or watchful observation. You need to know
the context to understand what a speaker or writer imply. The known roots of
yoga disappear into the inaccessible twilight of the cultures of Indus river
valley. In the first millennium, prior to Christian times, yoga was well known
and manifested in the texts of Rig Veda, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita (1).
In my
presentation I deal with the eight elements of yoga, i.e. anga, and how I ended up studying yoga. My primary source has been
Ernest Wood's book “Yoga” translated into Finnish language 1968. The original
English publication is apparently “Yoga” by Penguin Books (1959, revised 1962).
I will present the most important areas that have emerged specifically for me.
I'll leave the discourse of less important, irrelevant, or even, in my opinion,
harmful areas of yoga. Next, I´ll move on to my own research and experience.
Finally, I evaluate the significance of the results in terms of both practical
life and ontology.
Yoga and youth culture in the 1960s
In order to
understand the perspective of the signer and his experiences of yoga, one must
know the youth culture of 1960s. I've familiarized myself with yoga fifty years
ago in the late 1960s as a high school boy. The band The Beatles made yoga
widely known throughout the world. Their teacher, for a short time, was
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a creator of his own transcendental meditation technique
and a global organization. His image has been seen by almost every youth at
that time. Some might have read his teachings. I did not study his doctrine
more closely. However, the words and music of The Beatles reflected the yoga themes.
The youth culture of the time, that is to say music, visual arts and writings,
were dominated by the appreciation and emphasis of the inner world, personal
experience, and the philosophy of peace and love in ethics (hippies). Famous hits were,
for example, “All you need is love” by The Beatles (1967), "The Sound of
Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel (1964), "Sisältäni portin löysin”
(I found a gate inside me)” by the Rock Band Tasavallan presidentti (1970),
text Pekka Streng and “San Francisco” by
The Mamas & The Papas (John Phillips) (1967).
In the
source list of the High School Foreign Religion Textbook I found the Yoga book
by Ernest Wood. The Finnish translation was freshly released. Apparently, the
book is not very well-known in Finland because it is not mentioned in Matti
Rautaniemi's quite extensive book on yoga (2015) (Rautaniemi 2015). I bought
the Wood´s book for myself and I started to learn with enthusiasm, devotion,
systematic, and thoroughly. I did not know about Ernest Wood's backgrounds at
that time. As I made this presentation, I checked his personal data to learn
that he was Professor and President of Physics at Sind National College and Madanapalle
College. He promoted theosophical views in writing and lectures in India, in
many Asian countries, in Europe and in the Americas. After the death of Annie
Besant, she lost the presidential election of the Theosophical Society to
George Arundale. He was involved in the groundings of several pioneering
schools with Maria Montessori. Wood was
well versed in yoga theory and practice and knew several yogis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Wood).
Yoga philosophy - why yoga?
The purpose
of yoga was difficult to understand based on the texts I red. As you read the presentations,
it feels like you understand and in the next moment you find yourself
completely lost. The more reports one read, the more confusing it is to realize
the goal. The presentations swarm terms such as Nirvana, liberation,
extinction, joy, bliss, ecstasy, insight, expansion of consciousness, freedom,
independence, moksha and the evanescence
of everything. However, Ernest Wood presents some clear points. The conclusion
of the definition of yoga´s goal is to find undefined. It is a discovery
journey that achieves something unknown. This unknown is not suitable to
determine because we do not know it. Definitions would create a presumption
that we will then find and hold on this discovery, not as our own creation, but
as a true, objective thing. Our mind is inclined to produce assumed perceptions
that can realistically mimic objective sensations. Yoga's discovery is beyond
the physical body (rupa) and mind.
Therefore, the physical body must be brought into a state where it does not
attach the attention of the mind or disturb the meditation. For this purpose the
elements of yoga that train the physical body have been developed: position (āsana), breath control (prānāyāma), and arrest of sensory
function (pratyāhāra). We need to
understand that our essence is not the same as our mind and therefore our will,
feelings and thoughts must also be rejected. Even our desire to develop and
achieve is ultimately left out.
On the
basis of what I read, I understood one of the goals of yoga as independence (kaivalya in Sanskrit) and secondly the
opening of the inner world. Kaivalya
can also be considered as oneness. According to Wood, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras present
Ishwara, or God, as a Spirit (purusha), who is free and independent.
The goal of yogi is to achieve the same independence and the yogi, in this
sense of independence, becomes like God, assimilates into God. In one
interpretation, the yoga term is said to be due to the Sanskrit verb (yuj), which means binding, the active
action of uniting or becoming united. I concluded that my consciousness and
experience will widen, the inner world will unfold, but by reading or
pondering, I did not find out what the opening of the inner world could bring.
The result would be at least worthwhile, obviously surprising, and only living in
accordance with yoga advices could reveal this secret. An essential condition
for achieving the goal is viveka, a
resolution, the ability to distinguish the essential from the non-essential,
the true from the false and the limited. The second condition is the
colorlessness (vairāgya), which
refers to the state where the external objects do not wake up desires. The
meaning of kaivalya is close to the
autarchy (autarkia) of stoicism and viveka is close to the prohairesis (Epiktetos), respectively.
The concepts are not identical and the differences are due, for example, to the
differences in the structure of the systems as a whole, as well as the
differences in the details of the theories. These ideas of two systems are more
relatives when we consider our sense of experience; not so much strictly
philosophically.
It is not
possible to imagine achieving the ability to make a distinction (viveka) unless you cannot control the stray,
sudden changes, fixations and inertia of the mind. According to Patanjali, yoga
is precisely the suppression of the changes of mind (yogas chitta vritti nirodhah). The teaching of Yoga´s eight elements
(anga) deals with and the training
contains the control of the mind's movements. Progress in yoga also requires a
great longing for freedom and understanding that work must be done without
complaining, because external conditions are not obstacles. Other people cannot
help or prevent human development. An aspirant, without resentment or
hostility, has to rely on the laws of life and unwaveringly strive for his
goal.
According
to the philosophy of yoga, all things of life happen between the outside world
and the upper, actual self (ātmā). Ātmā is what the student does not know
yet. The physical body and mind are the mediators between atmā and the outside world. The physical body and mind must be harmonized,
set up, clean and make healthy for the purpose of mediation. With the help of
yoga, I thought I would find the answer to the burning questions of the young
man looking for: what is consciousness, why does life look dualistic, how to
overcome the feeling of evil and to achieve happiness, how to avoid hatred and
violence.
From the
very beginning, I tried to learn the basic terms of yoga in Sanskrit. Later, I
discovered that the choice was particularly successful. Any translation of the
terms does not exactly match the meaning of the original language and the
translation necessarily makes it difficult to understand the ideas precisely.
The original terms can best be used to learn the ideas and practises to be
addressed. When you have a deeper insight into the thought structure, the
original terms immediately bring to mind the correct concept. On the other
hand, yoga species are rich in variety and not necessarily understood the ideas
in the same way. Over time, hundreds, even thousands of years, must have had
changes in terms of understanding concepts within each yoga domain and yoga
school.
First anga - yama
The first
steps of yoga for restraint (yama)
and adherence (niyama) concern the
optimization of body and mind for the purpose of mediation and our attitude
towards our outside world, ethics. Yama's
first part is ahiṃsā, nonviolence,
whose meaning should be understood through the basic doctrines of yoga
philosophy, namely karma and rebirth. Although ahiṃsā is a passive ethic, through karma law it also includes an
active part, doing good for others, because good deeds shorten karmic debt,
while non-violence just prevents the formation of new debt. The second part is satya, truthfulness. You must say and do
what you know or think to be true, do not want to lie intentionally or tell
half truths. It is quite own chapter to decipher how we know and find out the
truth.
The third
part is asteya, abstain from theft.
The fourth is brahmacarya, which
literally means Brahma-like, God-like spiritual behavior and lifestyle. In this
context, Ernest Wood only deals with sexual abstinence, which is believed to
increase vitality. In fact, I understood the matter much broader. First I tried
to find out what God is, what qualities God has and what can be required of man
on the basis of these qualities. Fifth part is aparigraha, non-greed, abstain from covetousness. We should not
covet more property, but also do not stick to what we already own. Ideally, the
abandoning of physical ownership is the result of focusing on spiritual
affairs, understanding the karma law and living according to it. An advanced
yogi does not make plans for himself, but receives what comes and carries the
responsibilities of the world's well-being, witch is the inspiration for his
actions.
Second anga - niyama
The first
part of adherence (niyama) is purity
of mind and body (shaucha), second
part satisfaction (santosha). The
explanations emphasize satisfaction with the state of the world and the
circumstances. You should not complain, but accept the premise and apply your
own thoughts and conclusions to the realities at hand. Santosha is tantamount to Stoics´ starting point in their
speculations; we are living in the best possible world. Only from this world
can we strive and draw our attention and our energies to what we can influence.
The third part is self-discipline (tapas).
Be determined to live according to what you know is the best. It's about using
will. The fourth part is self-examination (swādhyāya).
We need to study our own being and character, and especially what we consider
to be the true self, eternal, pure, happy and free. As a result of swādhyāya, one is promised contact with
the desired divinity. The fifth and final part is the centering of the mind in
God (Īshwarapranidāhna), from which a
successful contemplation (samādhi)
follows.
Third, fourth and fifth anga – āsana, prānāyāma and pratyāhāra
After Yama and Niyama, the three following areas of yoga are position (āsana), breath control (prānāyāma), and stopping of sensory
activity or sensory control (pratyāhāra).
The purpose of these exercises is to bring the body into a relaxed state where
the body is not the focus of our attention and therefore does not interfere
with meditation. According to Patanjali, the position must be such as one feels
oneself relaxed and effortless. Thought is guided to Endless.
In
breathing exercises, not only breathing is practiced, but mind is settled to
calm, disciplined, focused state. I practiced some techniques like 1: 4: 2
breathing. While inspiring one unit of time it is recommended to think in mind pūraka. Then breathing is arrested and kumbhaka is pronounced in the mind four
times and then rechka twice during
the exhalation period. Autonomous activities like breathing work within us
without our attention. The state of affairs is a blessing, and I do not think
that these activities should be brought back to conscious control. Of course,
temporary evaluation and theoretical study of autonomous functions may be
appropriate.
As regards
the control of the senses (pratyahara)
I have realized that one should ignore the data transmitted by the senses. It
is advised that the gaze is allowed to rest undisturbed while keeping the sight
focus point about a couple of meters from himself during selected yoga
sessions. The methods of physical cleansing presented in my source seemed to be
strange to a modern western person, and I refrained from becoming more familiar
with them.
Internal angas – dhāranā, dhyāna ja samādhi
The inner parts
of yoga are concentration (dhāranā),
meditation (dhyāna) and contemplation
(samādhi). When studying, it is
recommended to take a general approach on what you know about a topic before
you begin reading and after reading, stop thinking about what new information
and thoughts or experiences you got from the book and how they fit into what
you knew before (Wood 1968, p. 112). Meditation and contemplation are not sates
of mind or just being but they are something that is done. In concentration, attention
is directed to one idea, thing or object, for example a cow. Then, search in
the mind a thing related to a cow, for example, milk and after that return to a
cow. Continue to next thing, for example, a tassel tail and after that again to
a cow. This continues until no new features come to mind. The pupil develops a
mood or habit of returning to the center. The next move is to shift to meditate
the relationship between cow and milk, and when one can´t find any new things
about the relationship between cow and milk, one is recommended to move on to the
relationship between a cow and a tassel tail, and so on.
Over time
exercises lead to contemplation, where self-perception disappears. In this
case, the practitioner has been immersed into the object. One acts and conceives
being aware of being in the object. The aspirant will become united with the
object. The action ends in time and one becomes aware of herself. When you
return to your own self, you bring along an idea, thought or feeling connected
to the whole subject. In the exercises, you will learn how to feel contemplation.
Wood gives an example. The demonstrator's state of mind, in which he is
completely immersed in his performance, forgets himself during the lecture,
develops and monitors the subject and not before the end of the performance
becomes aware of himself. This example deciphers the omen of developing ability
to contemplate.
Samādhi is divided into two species, one in which the
object is recognized (samprajnāta)
and one without recognition (asamprajnata).
The former applies to things known in the world and the latter to those behind
it. According to Wood, a distinction is made between concrete matters and their
ideas. Here, one can´t avoid the observation that the interpretation of Yoga
philosophy is done through Plato's treatise of ideas. The pondering deals with
such a subtle essence that is out of time and place, is the same in all circumstances
and at all times, and always causally relates to other beings and objects. This
subtle essence is of the same nature as the mind. It is abstraction, reality,
power in the world, the basic power of all growth. This inseparable subtle
basic reality is also material (prakriti).
Here is a contradiction with the present perception that abstraction is opposite
to material. A thing is either abstraction or material, not both at the same
time. If both attributes are true at the same time, further logical processing
of the matter would be impossible.
Things are
a dense substance (prakriti), they
have a form, but the mind is a subtle, a formless substance. Meditation and
contemplation in prakriti's area have
a seed (sabīja), they are aware of
matter (samprajnāta). Sabīja
is divided into observing (savitarka)
and non-observing (nirvitarka) and on
the other hand investigative (savichāra)
and non-investigative (nirvichāra).
In my understanding, non-investigative contemplation can be used to realize or
achieve a sense of something more, using the feeling (love or connectedness or
interest) or willpower. Accepting to take along emotion and will contradicts
the demand of viveka principle in the
sense in which I understood viveka.
At least emotion disturbs viveka. At
some point, you should feel joy or bliss (ānanda)
that maintain the state you have attained.
Behind the
materiality is the Spirit (purusha).
The true self of man is placed on the level of spirit. The student has made a
clear distinction between his physical body and his thoughts, which are not his
true self. Contemplation in the area of the spirit is seedless (asamprajnāta samādhi) without an idea or object, without a seer or seen. One
should try to think about being that is outside of a thought, called God,
Absolute, Consciousness, Self, Reality. No comparisons or opposing layouts
should be made, no definitions, no classifications (Wood, 1968, p. 66). It is
not about analyzing God, the Absolute, the Consciousness, the Self, the
Reality, but about knowing the existence or the knowledge of existence that
will be achieved by the power of will, going over the classifications. It is
recommended to perform an existence event maintained by will. On the other
hand, it is said that all inner yoga members, including samādhi, are doing, not being. At least at this stage, the meaning
of the text will be blurred, deceived or lost. Does this concern feeling connected
with samādhi? Does feeling here
perhaps mean comprehension or (re)identification? How does the will work
without an object and subject? If I have understood correctly, Yoga books tell
that at this stage the object and the subject will become one.
When you go
to the yoga path, you are told that achievements are something that is unknown.
That is why you should not lock the results. Of course, references and
descriptions of what the results may or may not be can be presented and have
been presented. The starting point is, according to contemporary science, that a
study based on subjective findings, the previous knowledge and judgment of the
researcher, lead observations, results and interpretations to their own channel,
shape the results and can prevent the discovery of new experiences and
interpretations. In asamprajnāta samādhi we arrive in an area where there
is no longer logic and the usual meaning of words, the intentions are lost. From
this level of existence or awareness, one cannot say anything positive or
negative; one really can't say about it anything truthfully. However, I have
kept the attainment of this state or stage meaningful. I would like to agree
with Oscar Wilde's statement that "nothing worth knowing can be
taught".
My own experiences
Ethics is
something that will never come to an end; with each of our conclusions and
actions we create an ethical act. Even the things we pay attention do indicate
our ethical level. The first two areas of yoga have given me a constant reason
for reflection and led to the acquisition of new knowledge in literature and
led to decisive choices in my life. I have looked into the matter more in the
paper entitled "Ethics in Theosophy - personal experiences concerning theosophical
and Rosicrucian ethical road, assessments included".
As for the
position, I chose the Egyptian sitting position because, among other things,
the lotus position caused tension in my body. The book also shows stretching
exercises, some of which I have preserved to launch muscle tension and
irritation in the treatment of tendon attachment sites according to modern, target
specific physiotherapy treatment guidelines. I quickly learned to calm my
breath and soon I just needed my attention for a moment to breathing or I
didn't need to remember my breathing at all; it become calm or was calm. I
found that the 1: 4: 2-breathing was useful when opening a stuffy nose. Pulling
the breath through another nostril and out of the other, breathing in through the
same nostril from which you had exhaled and then out of the other and so on. The
1: 4: 2-breathing works perfectly to curb vomiting reflex during gastroscopy.
I rarely
used the concentration of consciousness on the physical body. Sometimes I went
through my body in imagination for relaxation purposes. I didn't actually do
any chakra yoga or kundalini yoga exercises. Hatha Yogis and tāntrikas are of the opinion that thinking of chakras or rather thinking in chakras
accelerates or calms them, depending on circumstances. This viewpoint is behind
their conception and practices concerning the meditation and worship of chakras (Wood 1968, p. 134). For me the
matter has brightened so that the concentration of consciousness on a point in
the body does not promote, but prevents understanding and experiencing the true
self; hatha and laya yoga are obstacles to raja
and ātma yoga. I explicitly wanted to open my consciousness,
not to contract.
The
instructions recommend regular (dhāranā-dhyāna-samādhi) meditation moments. At the time of getting to know yoga
and later in my life, especially during the most intensive bhakti yoga period, I performed regular or almost regular
exercises. In the past fifty years, exercises have been mostly irregular and
meditation more or less conscious. I have emphasized dhāranā, dhyāna and samādhi differently at different periods
and moments. Meditation in the form I describe in this presentation has become
a habit, a custom, at times even automation, invaded into my ether if we use
theosophical expression. In my own opinion, dhārana
and dhyāna can often only last for an
instant. Often just focusing on the topic is enough for concentration, and
meditation goes to the analytical stage, and samādhi does not necessarily follow. Meditation can happen almost
whenever and wherever, can take a fleeting moment or hours. The perfect way of
meditation, described by Wood, has still been unreachable. Initially, and also
later, at some points in time, I can hardly form or recall a couple of things
related to a topic, or I just can´t concentrate.
Besides raja and ātma yoga, I have also carried out bhakti yoga. From the beginning of the 1990s, after studying Rosicrucianism
interpreted by Pekka Ervast , I began to follow in practice the law of karma. I
felt the unity of the whole creation and served more intensively as I was a part
of the whole and my responsibility was the service. According to my
understanding, these facts are forms of bhakt,
service, devotion (worship). Bhakti
is considered here as a trust in the good law of karma, and acting in
accordance with the law. From the point of view of thought and action, I
performed karma yoga; I was trying
not to create a new negative karma and moreover tried to pay with joy karma debt.
Trying to open
the inner doors, opening the inner doors, was the most important part of yoga
for me, the most important goal, the whole purpose of yoga. I had a deep
conviction that the inner world was a reality, even more real than our world of
physical eyes. I just needed a way to get into this reality. From the beginning
I wanted to find the truth myself. I worked specifically as a scientist, not as
a creative artist, such as a writer or painter. My starting point was to make
observations, analyze observations and find out, invent interpretations to my
observations. My starting point was not to prove anything, a doctrine or a part
of a doctrine with my own observations. Even further: even though I had read
about the subtle worlds and the spiritual world from theosophical sources, near
death experiences, astral travelers, I tried to suppress these preconceptions,
tried not to follow these thought images, these lines of thought, in order not to
modify the information I received with my preconceived ideas, with my
preconceptions. Sure, I occasionally went into creative "play". For
example, I attached theosophical ideas of the afterlife into a spontaneous
vision or an idea or sensation. This led to a new spontaneous progression of events.
When a plot stopped, at its best, only a glimpse of a thought of a thing known
to me, got the event chain of experience going on. In my opinion, this was a
creative process of my own and did not represent a perception of an otherworldly
reality. An example of such a creative process I have compiled the essay
"Divine Adventure". From the point of view of my own questioning, and
also in a more general scientific sense, this script is mostly sketch, unless if
science is considered to be a description of creation and the progress of the
creative process.
In the
early days, my meditation practice sessions mostly stayed unfinished. Later,
for longer periods of time, I ended up having the ability to clear my mind. I
was conscious and aware of my existence and that was the only thing I had. No
emotion, no thought, no awareness of the external physical world or the
physical body. Such going into the state of emptiness and staying therein have
become automatic later. At one time in my youth, this state was overwhelmed by
a crippling sense of fear and horror. Once in a different situation than
meditation, I began to imagine the frightening presence of an outside spirit.
After these experiences, I had to hit the bottom of the brake for some time in
order to maintain my mental health. Later, sure, I started the meditation
exercises again. The negative experience sharpened my insight and belief that I
myself choose what I think, believe, read and want to see, excluding asamprajnata samadhi, where the daily controlling self shines with his absence.
I have also
completed visualization and meditation practises according to the instructions
of Rudolf Steiner. These exercises, their results and the results of the analysis
I have described in a thesis, "What sensory experience tells us? -
Experiences on the path of spiritual knowledge”. In later decades, especially
during the most active bhakti yoga
period, the inner gate was often open until I deliberately shut down the gate.
The reason for the closure was that I realized that I could not find any new
significant knowledge via this gate.
Evaluation
My
experience is that yoga is a way to help shape the world and create order and
purposefulness for personal life, and therefore at it´s at best yoga is useful.
I am not the only one who has been searching for the most fundamental essence
of the world with help of yoga. The question concerns ontology. Yoga philosophy
is multifaceted and escapes the Western tradition of dualism. He who has
received western education tries to look and interpret the philosophy of yoga
by his own western way of conceptualization.
In
exploring our experience world, Yoga philosophy begins with the idea that yoga
technology, self-examination helps us to determine the existence and essence of
a more fundamental, more significant thing (purusha)
than our starting state can determine. In my view, purusha does not conceptually match, for example, the spirit world
of Christianity, although many seem to believe so. Purusha is inconceivable, while clear views are presented about the
spiritual world of Christianity. According to theosophy, the basic essence of
man, aatma has the same essence as purusha. However, monads, the essence of
humans and the group souls of animals, are discernible in purusha (Ervast 1918. Towards Light. Chapter XI. The Origin of Self).
I have
found it difficult to figure out what the relationship is between purusha and experiencing purusha. The guidelines emphasize
experiencing but separating the subject of experience and experience is problematic.
The Western philosophy tradition requires such separation, but it is difficult
to find such separation in yoga literature. It is challenging to make yoga
philosophy and scientific thinking commensurate.
What does
yoga seek and what is the ontology of yoga philosophy? In a sense the goal of yoga
and scientific research is similar; their goal is open and thus research
results are unknown, often also unpredictable. Results should not be
pre-locked. A new theory must be created on the basis of new data. The current
neuroscience gives its own viewing angle to the understanding of the conscious
experience. Current neuroscience does not seek undefined essence or existence,
but seeks to explain how the brain could create consciousness. In current
cognition science and neuroscience, it is considered that conscious
self-examination cannot explain our conscious experience because the
functioning of our nervous system is inaccessible to our consciousness (Fazekas
2018); neuroscience with its new technical equipment, computer science,
biochemistry, biology, biotechnology, endocrinology, genetics, psychology, etc,
is required. The current scientific approach to understanding our world of
experience is to understand the brain as an information processing body in
adapting to the human environment, especially from the perspective of
evolution.
As a young
man, I was struck by the problem of dualism, what my own consciousness is and
what is our physical world. In childhood, we talked about heaven and hell. The youth
culture of my time, yoga and theosophical literature and other sources
presented me new concepts of supernatural worlds that differed from the
Lutheran doctrine. I believed that these worlds could be discovered by intensive
introspective methods. Ernest Wood as well as the teachers of theosophy,
anthroposophy, and the Rose Cross presented these methods credibly. I believed
that adherence to these techniques could reveal the knowledge of truth.
Although my
contemplation has been almost always fragmentary and irregular, I consider the
yogic discipline have had a decisive impact on my life. In my own view, with
the practice of the vairaga
(colorlessness), my ability for objective, non-affective detection and
evaluation is strengthened. Practice, colorlessness and studying have
contributed to my viveka, to separate
essential from frivolous. My ability to concentrate has been greatly improved.
The pursuit of the most objective and thorough analysis of things has become a
habit. The development of concentration and analysis has been paramount,
central to my studies.
Studying
and analyzing for fifty years´ time, I have ended up in the following results:
1.
Meditation can help to achieve a significant improvement in concentration,
memory recall, and attention, and enhance analytical thinking.
2. A state
of internal tranquility can be achieved, where the inner gate of consciousness
can be opened. I have received music, images and video like episodes resembling
physical world; many of these has been spontaneous, effortless (like the
spontaneous revelation). Manipulating these spontaneous revelations by
conscious will efforts, one can invent desired ideas, events and descriptions
as a creative process.
3. The
inner world can become opened with practice, but besides the physical world, I
have not found another or other objective worlds that I could observe by
superphysical senses. The inner perceptions obtained through the practice are
explained by the concepts formed by own study and thinking. Our ideas shape
physical external perceptions and intrinsic experiences of perceptions simulate
external ones. (ideaesthesia [2]).
4. I have
not developed the feelings described to be connected to samadhi: bliss, joy, or ecstasy. Imaginative abilities (siddhi) described in the yogic
literature, such as pre-knowledge or levitation, I did not find to develop.
5.
Meditation can provide advanced sensory deprivation. Sensory deprivation
studies, in which a person is placed in a dark, softly decorated, echo-proof,
silent room, similar types of hearing and visual perceptions are obtained,
which the researchers call hallucinations. Neuroscience research shows that the
brain is in constant activity with irregular, coordinated, information-processing
steps (lasting one hundred - hundreds milliseconds), thought cycles (Chater
2018, p. 129). Independently, outside our will, these cycles will follow each
other also during sleep, and only during some modes we can be conscious. A
conscious knowing of the present moment takes about two seconds, which includes
several thought cycles. From an evolutionary point of view, evolution has
formed the brain as an organ to direct the activity of the organism to the
outside world, and consequently new thought cycles always follow each other.
Ending cycles means death. During sensory deprivation, the cyclic operating
model continues to function automatically, creating the observational world by
itself. According to brain physiological studies, it is challenging and
apparently impossible to stop and reactivate the information flow of the brain.
That is why it is difficult and even impossible to maintain a longer time asamprajnāta samādhi state. Some neuroscientists assume that consciousness
arises as a phase change from nerve activity to metaphysical reality.
6. I can
well imagine that books of the type of out-of-body literature can be written on
the basis of mere imagination, even though it is claimed that books tell about
objective reality.
7. I would
like to say a word of warning, and even several world of warning, of an overly
enthusiastic meditation, of marketing meditation techniques, and of imaginative
promises of meditation.
8. Always
up-to-date ethics can be practiced only by taking into account the ethical
aspect repeatedly.
9. My
research does not cancel out the doctrines of supernatural worlds, masters of
theosophy, white brotherhood, clairvoyance, reincarnation, and other
metaphysical doctrines, subjects, and persons. The study shows that even at
least the undersigned was unable to prove the objective facts of a supernatural
world, even by decent work and understanding.
Sources:
Chater,
Nick (2018). The Mind is Flat. The Illusion of Mental Depth and the Improvised
Mind. Penguin Random House UK. ISBN 978-0-241-20844-1.
Ervast, Pekka (1918). Valoa kohti. Kustannusosakeyhtiö
Tietäjä. Saarijärven Paavo O. Y. Kirjapaino. Jyväskylä 1918.
Fazekas,
Peter and Overgaard, Morten Storm (compiled and edited). Theme issue
`Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access`. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B
373; 1755; 19 September 2018. rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/373/1755
Rautaniemi, Matti (2015). Erakkomajoista kuntosaleille. Miten
jooga valloitti maailman. Basam Books. ISBN 978-952-260-395-1.
Wood, Ernest (1968). Jooga. Tammi, Helsinki 1968, KK:n
laakapaino.
