-89_SAPTA CHATUSTHAYA SCRIBAL VERSION.htm

SAPTA CHATUSTHAYA SCRIBAL VERSION

I. Samata Chatusthaya

Samata, Shanti, Sukha, Hasya (Atmaprasada)

Samata is accepting everything in the same way without any disturbance in any part of the being. Disturbance is caused [by]¹ the want of harmony between the Chit-shakti in myself and the contacts of Chit-shakti outside. Pain, grief, dislike etc. are merely the system’s way of saying that it objects to a particular contact because of want of harmony. The system cannot bear an inharmonious contact or even a pleasant one if it is too intense or too prolonged. Disgust, fear, horror, shame are attempts of the system to repel the unpleasant contact and defend itself.

Titiksha means the power of endurance. You bear the unpleasant contact yourself standing back from it with a watching mind and teaching the system to bear it.

What follows is Udasinata. Udasina means standing high. Udasinata is indifference, the Purusha standing high above these contacts and not minding what they are.

Nati is the subsequent one. It is the feeling of submission to God’s Will, all contacts being regarded as the touches of God Himself.

Sama Rasa or equal Rasa from all things, happenings, experiences, objects etc. we have to take through our mind and intellect.

Sama Bhoga is the equal enjoyment in the Prana of all things, happenings, experiences, objects etc.

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Sama Ananda is the joy of Unity in everything and with everything.

Sama Rasa and Sama Bhoga cannot be secured unless we have Sama Ananda, but it is difficult for Sama Ananda to come unless the mind and Prana have been taught Samata in Rasa and Bhoga.

[The] result of complete Samata is complete Shanti; on the other hand if there is any touch of anxiety, grief, disappointment, depression etc., it is a sign that Samata is not complete. When we get complete Shanti, then we get complete Sukham. Shanti is negative; it is a state of freedom from trouble. Sukham is positive; it is not merely freedom from grief and pain, but a positive state of happiness in the whole system.

Atmaprasada is a state of clearness, purity, contentment in the whole self, i.e. [the] essence of Sukham. When Sukham begins to become strong Ananda, then it is Hasya, a state of positive joy and cheerfulness which takes the whole of Life and the world as a pleasant and amusing play.

II. Shakti Chatusthaya

Viryam, Shakti, Daivi Prakriti, Sraddha

Viryam: Chaturvarnya in guna

Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra

Brahmana: Dhairyam, Jnanalipsa, Jnanaprakasha, Brahmavarchasya.

Shakti is the right guna and right state of activity or right elements of shakti-character in all parts of the system. The chaturvarnya in guna may be called Virya. It is the qualities of the four varnas in character. The perfect man has all the four in him, although one usually predominates and gives the character its general type. First, a man should have Brahmana qualities, [those of]² the man of knowledge. He should have, first, the general temperament of the Brahmin, that is to say calmness, patience, steadiness and thoughtfulness, which may all be expressed by the word Dhairyam. Then he should have the

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tendency towards knowledge, especially the Divine Knowledge, but also all kinds of knowledge on all kinds of subjects, with the necessary mental openness and curiosity. This is Jnanalipsa. The Brahmin has not only the thirst for knowledge but also a general clearness of mind and its tendency to be easily illuminated by ideas and to receive the truth. This is Jnanaprakasha. He has also a spiritual force which comes from knowledge and purity. This is Brahmavarchasya.

Kshatriya: [Abhaya, Sahasa],³ Yasholipsa, Atma Shakti (Atma Slagha)

There should also be the qualities of the Kshatriya, the qualities of the man of action or the fighter. The first of these is courage and it is of two kinds—Abhaya or passive courage which is alarmed by no danger and shrinks from no peril that offers itself and from no misfortune or suffering. The second is Sahasa or active courage, that is to say, the daring to undertake any enterprise however difficult or apparently impossible and carry it through in spite of all dangers, suffering, failures, obstacles and oppositions. For this, two other things are necessary. [First,] a tendency of the nature to insist on the battle and victory and effort and triumph, i.e. Yasholipsa. Secondly, there must be a strong self-confidence and a high idea of the power that is in one’s self. This is Atma Shakti or Atma Slagha.

Vaishya: Vyaya, Kaushala, Dana, Bhogalipsa

The Vaishya qualities are also necessary for action and enjoyment. The first is the readiness to spend labour, resources, materials, means and life itself quite freely, taking great risks of loss in order to secure great gains. This may be called Vyaya. But with this there must be skill in the use of means and methods and their proper disposition in order to secure the end and also the knowledge of what is or is not possible to be gained by a particular means or method or a particular expense. There should be a sense of proportion, of order, and a skill [in]⁴ arrangement and management. All this may be called Kaushala. Also in the use of one’s possessions, there are two other qualities of [the] Vaishya which are necessary. [First there must be] the readiness

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to give no less than to receive and to share with the world what one gets from the world. This is [the]⁵ nature of love as it is ordinarily practised; [this]⁶ giving and receiving may be called Dana. And then there should be a tendency to enjoy, i.e. Bhogalipsa.

Shudra: [Kama, Prema,] Dasyalipsa, Atmasamarpana.

The qualities of the Shudra are no less important. The Vaishya has the spirit of order, opposition and interchange. The Shudra has the spirit of service. Service is governed by two motives: first desire or kama, secondly love or prema. In the perfect man, Kama should take the form of an interest in the bodily well-being of the world and a wish to see that physically it lacks nothing. Love in [the] Shudra is not like that of [the] Vaishya, for it seeks no return. It is governed by the third quality of the Shudra, the desire to serve and this in the perfect man becomes the desire to serve God-in-all. This is Dasyalipsa. The perfection of the Shudra nature is in self-surrender, the giving of one’s self without demanding a return. This is Atmasamarpana.

The nature of the Brahmana is knowledge, of the Kshatriya force and courage, of the Vaishya skill in works, and of the Shudra selfgiving and service. The perfect character possesses all of these; for they are necessary for the perfect action.

Shakti

Shakti is a general force by which each of the four parts of the system (the body, the Prana, the Chitta and the Buddhi) is kept at its highest state of perfection. The perfect state of the body consists in four things, a sense of entire lightness (Laghuta), a sense of strength and energy (Balam), a sense of [a] certain mass and force (Mahattwa) and the power of containing without strain or reaction any working however intense and constant, of energy however great and [puissant].⁷ This is Dharana Samarthyam.

The perfect state of Prana consists in a sense of fullness of vital force (Purnata), of general clearness and cheerfulness (Prasannata), of equality in all experiences, shocks and contacts (Samata), and in the

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capacity to take all enjoyment of the world without desire but also without exhaustion and satiety. This is Bhoga Samarthyam.

The perfect state of Chitta consists in a sense of richness and gladness of feeling (Snigdhata), of abounding moral power and energy (Tejas), in a confidence [in the]⁸ divine grace and help and general sense of mangala (Kalyana Sraddha) and in the capacity for unbounded love for all beings and all objects. This is Prema Samarthyam.

The perfect state of Buddhi consists in a general purity and clearness of [the] thinking faculty (Vishuddhata and Prakasha); in richness and great variety and minuteness of the perceptions ([Vichitra]⁹ Bodha); and in the power of the mind to receive and adapt itself to any kind of knowledge without feeling anywhere a limit or an incapacity. This is Jnana Samarthyam.

Daivi Prakriti (Divine Nature)

This means the possession of the four Shaktis—Maheshwari, the Shakti of greatness and knowledge; Mahakali, the Shakti of force and violence; Mahalakshmi, the Shakti of beauty, love and delight; and Mahasaraswati, the Shakti of worldly reason (science) and work. The possession of these Shaktis carries with it a sense of the Divine Power, of general compassion [and] helpfulness to the world, and of faculty for any work that [the] nature may undertake.

Sraddha or Faith

1. Faith in God—Directing Power, Antaryami

2. Faith in Shakti—Executive Power.

III. Vijnana Chatusthaya

Jnanam (Divine thought), Trikaladrishti, Ashta Siddhi, Samadhi

Jnanam: The mental action consists of four parts: first of all, perception of the object and comparison and contrast with other objects. [Then]¹⁰ reasoning about the objects. Judgment whether the reasoning

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is right or not. And judgment is aided by memory and imagination.

Judgment is a direct perception of the Truth, which may or may not be aided by reasoning and other helps.

Imagination is the power of presenting to yourself things or truths not actually perceived or established by reason, [of]¹¹ seeing possibilities other than actual experience.

Memory is the power of retaining and reproducing mental or sensory impressions.

Judgment has two parts—discernment and direct perception. In the mind both of them are uncertain. In the Vijnana, there is a faculty of discernment called Viveka or Intuitive Discrimination, which sees at once what is wrong and what is right, the real difference between things and also their real resemblances and identities and also how far a truth is true and how far it has to be qualified. This Viveka is independent of reasoning. It knows the fact directly but not by a mere instinct; it knows it luminously with a clear perception which is certain and makes no mistake.

There is also a faculty of Vijnana called Intuition which does the work of reasoning without the necessity of reasoning to arrive at a conclusion; that is to say it [comes to]¹² the conclusion not as a conclusion from other facts but as a fact in itself. Afterwards, it can group around that fact all the other facts not as reasons but as related facts which help to retain it.

Inspiration is called Sruti or Hearing because it is not the direct sight of the Truth but a sort of coming of the Truth into the mind in a sudden flash. Generally this Truth comes as a vibration which carries the Truth in it and sometimes it comes as the actual word which by revealing its meaning brings new truth to the mind.

The fourth faculty is Drishti or direct sight. This is not, like intuition, looking into a person, an object or a group of circumstances and finding out the truth about them, but it is the vision of the Truth itself, coming as a luminous thought independent of all circumstances, objects etc.

You must first of all get the Intuition and Discrimination to take up

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the ordinary work of mind, because they alone among the Vijnana faculties can give all the circumstances about the Truth. Otherwise Drishti and Sruti [will be distorted], because the reason will try to interpret them in the light of the circumstances as they are understood rightly or wrongly by the human mind. Even the Intuition and Discrimination will be at first distorted by the action of the reason, imagination, wrong judgment, wrong memory etc. Intuition and Discrimination have to go on working and getting stronger and surer until they are able to clear out from the mind the other activities and themselves take up the whole work. As they increase in Force and Light, the other two will begin to act of themselves. When these four faculties or any of them are applied to the things of thought, ideas and knowledge generally it may be called Jnanam or Divine Thought. When these four faculties are applied to the facts and events of the material world the result is Trikaladrishti, which means the direct knowledge of the past, the intuitive knowledge of the present and the prophetic knowledge of the future. To have it properly, it is necessary that there should be no desire or personal interest in the result or any trusting to reasoning, inferences, speculation etc.

Ashta Siddhi

There are two siddhis of knowledge, three of power and three of being. All siddhis exist already in Nature. They exist in you. Only owing to habitual limitations you make a use of them which is mechanical and limited. By breaking these limitations, one is able to get the conscious and voluntary use of them. The three siddhis of being are siddhis of the Sat or pure substance. In matter, Sat uses these siddhis according to fixed laws but in itself it is free to use them as it chooses. If one can get partly or entirely this freedom, one is said to have these three siddhis. They are Mahima including Garima, second Laghima and third Anima.

Sat manifests as Chit, pure consciousness, and Chit has two sides—consciousness and energy, that is to say knowledge and power. Consciousness in one material being communicates with the same consciousness in another material being by certain fixed methods such as speech, gesture, writing etc. and unconscious mental communication. But these limitations are mere habits [and other methods are  

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possible,] as for instance ants communicate by touch and not by speech. Consciousness in itself is free to communicate between one mind and another without physical means consciously and voluntarily. The two siddhis by which this is done are called Vyapti and Prakamya.

In the same way there is a power in the consciousness of acting upon other conscious beings or even upon things without physical means or persuasion or compulsion. Great men are said to make others do their will by a sort of magnetism, that is to say there is a force in their words, in their action, or even in their silent will or mere presence which influences and compels others. To have these siddhis of power is to have the conscious and voluntary use of this force of Chit. The three powers are Aishwarya, Ishita, Vashita. These powers can only be entirely acquired or safely used when we have got rid of Egoism and identified ourselves with the infinite Will and the infinite Consciousness. They are sometimes employed by mechanical means, e.g. with the aid of Mantras, Tantric Kriyas (special processes), etc.

Vyapti is when the thoughts, feelings etc. of others or any kind of knowledge of things outside yourself are felt coming to the mind from those things or persons. This is the power of receptive Vyapti. There is also a power of communicative Vyapti, when you can send or put your own thought, feeling etc. into someone else.¹³

Prakamya is when you look mentally or physically at somebody or something and perceive what is in that person or thing, thoughts, feelings, facts about them etc. There is also another kind of Prakamya which is not of the mind but of the senses. It is the power of perceiving smells, sounds, contacts, tastes, lights, colours and other objects of sense which are either not at all perceptible to ordinary men or beyond the range of your ordinary senses.

¹³ The following passage is found in a scribal copy not used for the text printed here. This copy calls the communicative side of vyapti “communication or broadcasting”, and goes on: What happens in the Amutra happens in the Iha. What the Chit-shakti reveals in the Spirit, the Maya-shakti crudely and materially attempts in the material and mental universes. So spiritual Communism of Vijnana has its shadow in the material and Bolshevik Communism; and the Siddhis of the Vijnana are attempted in wireless telegraphy, broadcasting, telephone, image transcription [transmission?].  

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Vashita is when you concentrate your will on a person or object so as to control it.

Aishwarya is when you merely use the will without any such concentration or control and things happen or people act according to that will.

Ishita is when you do not will but merely have a want or need or a sense that something ought to be and that thing comes to you or happens.

Mahima is unhampered force in the mental power or in the physical power. In the physical it shows itself by an abnormal strength which is not muscular and may even develop into the power of increasing the size and weight of the body etc.

Laghima is a similar power of lightness, that is to say of freedom from all pressure or weighing down in the mental, pranic or physical being. By Laghima it is possible to get rid of weariness and exhaustion and to overcome gravitation. It is the basis of Utthapana.

Anima is the power of freeing the atoms of subtle or gross matter (Sukshma or Sthula) from their ordinary limitations. By this power one can get free of physical strain or pain or even make the body as light as one chooses. It is by this power that Yogis were supposed to make themselves invisible [and] invulnerable or [to] free the body from decay and death.

Samadhi

Samadhi means properly the placing of the consciousness on any particular object or in any particular condition. It is generally used for a state of consciousness in which the mind is withdrawn from outward things by [one's] placing the full energy of the consciousness on any particular object or general field. Thus by Samadhi one can become aware of things in this world outside our ordinary range or go into other worlds or other planes of existence. One can also enter into those parts of one’s own existence which are either above or below ordinary consciousness or as it is said “superconscient” or “subconscient”.

Samadhi may be in three states—Jagrat or waking, Swapna or dream, Sushupta or deep sleep.

Jagrat Samadhi is when in the waking consciousness, we are able to concentrate and become aware of things beyond our consciousness.  

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This Samadhi may either bring images and experiences seen outside one’s own self as if in the physical atmosphere or else inside one’s self, generally with the eyes closed. When the eyes are closed, another ether than the physical appears which is called Chittakasha or mental ether. It is in this that images are seen. There is also another ether behind called Chidakasha.

Swapna Samadhi is when the mind has lost its outward consciousness of outward surroundings and goes inside itself. It then has the experience either in itself or of scenes and happenings of this world or other worlds, of the past, present or future. When these experiences are merely distorted memories or confused, falsified and fragmentary, then it is called ordinary dream. [This happens when]¹⁴ the mind proper is not acting at all in the physical consciousness and only [ ]¹⁵ parts of the nervous system are awake. But when part of the mind remains as it were awake even in [ ]¹⁶ sleep, then one may get [accurate]¹⁷ records of true and actual experiences. These are not dreams but internal visions. Part of the mind is ranging through time and space or in other worlds. Another part is on the watch to receive its experiences and report them to the physical consciousness.

Sushupta Samadhi, the third stage, is when the whole physical consciousness, at least that part of it which belongs to the waking self, is asleep. When we are in deep sleep we think that nothing is going on in us; but that is a mistake. Consciousness is active all the time. But no report comes from it to the physical mind. In Sushupta Samadhi, one can get to the very limit of human consciousness, even [to]¹⁸ the superconscient. Everything which we cannot attain in the waking state is there in us in the dream-self and the sleep-self.

Samadhi is a means of increasing the range of consciousness. We can extend the inner wakefulness in the swapna to planes of existence which are at present sushupta to us and bring them into experience of swapna and even eventually into the waking state.

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There are several kinds of Samadhi according to the ordinary classification, such as Satarka in which the mind withdrawn into itself goes on thinking and reasoning and doubting; or Savichara in which the mind does not reason logically but judges and perceives; and so on up to Nirvikalpa Samadhi in which all the lower organs are stopped and there is only the superconscious experience of the Brahman.

IV. Sharira Chatusthaya

Arogya, Utthapana, Saundarya, Ananda

Arogya is the state of being healthy. There are three stages:

(1) When the system is normally healthy and only gets disturbed by exceptional causes or very strong strain, such as continual exposure to cold, overstrain of any kind.

(2) When even exceptional causes or great overstrain cannot disturb the system; this shows that there is full Arogya Shakti.

(3) Immortality in the body.

Utthapana is the state of not being subject to the pressure of physical forces. There are also three stages here:

(1) When there is a great force, lightness and strength in the body (full of vital energy); this shows that the body is full of Prana Shakti.

(2) When there is no physical weariness, no exhaustion of the brain or nervous centres.

(3) When one is not necessarily subject to the law of gravitation or other physical laws.

Saundarya is the state of being beautiful. There are also three stages here:

(1) When there is brightness in the body combined with sweetness of voice and charm of expression etc.

(2) Continual youth.

(3) When the features and figure can be changed to a form of perfect beauty.

Ananda referred to here is Physical Ananda or Kamananda. This is of various kinds, sensuous, sensual etc.  

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V. Karma Chatusthaya

Krishna, Kali, Karma, Kama

Krishna is the Ishwara taking delight in the world.

Kali is the Shakti carrying out the Lila according to the pleasure of the Ishwara.

Karma is the Divine Action.

Kama is the Divine Enjoyment.

VI. Brahma Chatusthaya

Sarvam, Anantam, Jnanam, Anandam Brahma

VII. Siddhi Chatusthaya

Shuddhi, Mukti, Bhukti, Siddhi

Shuddhi

(1) Of the Pranas—Release from Vasana or desire, that is Asakti or attachment, action of emotion, e.g. I must have that, I cannot do without that; Kamana or longing, action of desire, i.e. I want that; Raga-dwesha or preference, action of mind, i.e. I prefer this. There are also [the opposites of these],¹⁹ non-attachment, non-longing or craving and non-preference. We have also to [be released]²⁰ from these things. When you have effected these three things you will have perfect Samata. Then you will naturally have perfect Shanti, that is Divine Peace [and] perfect or Shuddha Bhoga, that is Divine Enjoyment.

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Shanti is the negative Ananda and those have it who rest in the Nirguna Brahman. Shuddha Bhoga is the positive Ananda and those have it who rest in the Trigunatita Ananta Brahman. Enjoy the world with Shuddha Bhoga based on the perfect Shanti. That which you get as the result of satisfied desire is troubled, unsafe, feverish or limited, but Shuddha Bhoga is calm, self-possessed, victorious, unlimited, without satiety and vairagya, immortally blissful. It is in a word, not Harsha, not Sukha, but Ananda. It is Amrita, it is Divinity and Immortality, it is [becoming of]²¹ one nature with God. [The soul]²² has then no Kama but pure Lipsa, an infinite readiness to take and enjoy whatever God gives.²³

(2) Of the Chitta—Release from all sanskaras of feeling.

(a) Thought impulses start up from Chitta as instincts, inspirations, insights, intuitions etc. They come up coloured by emotions, distorted by associations and perverted by [the] imagination[s] which bring them up. Bhakti, genius, poetic inspiration all come from this source.

(b) Impulses of feeling are of two kinds, natural or eternal, artificial or Vikaras. Love, courage, compassion are natural and are actions caused by Jnanam. Hatred, fear, disgust are Vikaras and are distortions or reactions caused by Ajnanam.

(c) Impulses of action: Shuddha Pravritti, that is, action without desire independent of emotion. Ashuddha Pravritti, that is, action stirred by two forces, desire and emotion. Prohibit and inhibit by will all action or speech that starts blindly from the passions or emotions surging in the heart.

(3) Of the Manas—Release from habitual thoughts. Still the conceptual activity of the Manas and transfer to the Buddhi its perceptual activity (a part of Prakamya).

(4) Of the Buddhi—Release from reason, imagination, memory and logic and replace[ment of] them by the[ir] divine counterpart[s].

(5) Of the Body—Release from all bodily impurities, disease etc., and attain[ment of] Immortality.

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²³ This paragraph is an almost verbatim transcription of most of the fifth paragraph of Chapter VII of Yogic Sadhan.—Ed.   

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Mukti

(1) From Dwandwas or dualities

(a) Of the Prana—Kshutpipasa, hunger and thirst; Shitoshna, heat and cold; pleasure and pain of the body.

(b) Of the Chitta—Priyapriyabodha, the sense or feeling of love and hatred; Mangalamangalabodha, the sense of good and evil, good and bad fortune; Manapamanabodha, the sense of honour and obloquy.

(c) Of the Mind (that is, Manas and Buddhi)—Satyasatya, the knowledge of truth and falsehood; Papapunya, the knowledge of virtue and vice.

(2) From Ajnanam and the three gunas.

(a) Sattwa—wherever there is Sattwa, that is the clearness of being or Prakasha, it brings with it sukha or happiness; Sattwa is full of Prakasha.

Sattwa in mind—clearness of mind; we get knowledge.

Sattwa in Chitta—the pure love; we get love.²⁴

Sattwa in body—ease, health and so on.

(b) Rajas is the principle of desire and activity; Rajas is full of Pravritti. The result of Rajas is any kind of pain, Duhkha or Ashanti, trouble, disturbance, anxiety.

(c) Tamas is Aprakasha and Apravritti. The result is fear, idleness, too much of sleep, ignorance.

Sattwa is to be replaced by pure Prakasha, Rajas by pure Pravritti, Tamas by pure Shama. There is no desire and no necessity of acting but there is the Divine Impulse which acts through us—this is pure Pravritti. When there is no such Divine Impulse, it is pure Shama, Tapas or force of action being there but not acting. Just as Pravritti is a Divine Force coming and making you act, so the pure Prakasha is the Divine Light bringing knowledge into the consciousness.

By being indifferent, we have to effect Shama; then acting as far as possible only under the Divine Impulse, we get pure Tapas. By keeping the mind always unattached to its own thoughts and activities and on

²⁴ In all scribal copies, “we get” follows the noun in these two lines. Even when the order of the words is changed the sense remains somewhat unclear.—Ed.   

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the watch for Light from above and as far as possible quiet, we get Prakasha.

(3) From Ahankara; from the ignorance that you are the actor etc. Whenever you say “I like this”, “I do not want this”, there you choose and [act].²⁵ Whatever comes to you, you have to take and enjoy. Replace Ahankara or the idea of Aham by the idea that you are the Ishwara.

Bhukti is the Delight of existence in itself, independent of every experience and extending itself to all experiences. [It has three forms:]

(1) Rasagrahanam or taking the Rasa in the mind: (a) bodily sensations, (b) food, (c) events, (d) feelings, (e) thoughts.

(2) Bhoga in the Prana, i.e. Bhoga without Kama or enjoyment without desire.

(3) Ananda throughout the system.

Siddhi of the five Chatusthayas, Brahma, Karma, Sharira, Vijnana and Samata.

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