I’ve written several articles before about the layers of samadhi or transcendence described in the Yoga Sutra. These are the settling into the waves, then surface of the ocean of being.
When we wake up or become Self Realized, that inner samadhi becomes ongoing. Inner peace becomes ever-present behind the usual day-to-day life. We’re essentially in activity and deep meditation simultaneously.
Some people consider this the end of techniques. We can feel done and awake. If we’re already there, what need is there for going beyond? In my case, there was no longer a person to meditate so who was there to practice? But in a few days, things integrated better and I resumed.
Soon you discover there is a lot more depth to the ocean than simple awareness. As we deepen into it, it becomes progressively more universal and infinite, then inclusive.
At some point, we go beyond consciousness itself into Brahman. This is a whole new depth of totality.
And then still deeper, we settle into pure Divinity.
All of this is present everywhere, in every point of experience. But until we have the clarity and settledness to fall into the depths of what is here, it remains invisible to us. We only experience the side effects of much deeper functioning.
Curiously, it’s those side-effects that can lead us deeper. For example, with awakening we discover we are not the doer. Life happens and the body acts, the mind thinks, and the emotions arise all by themselves. Ego had just been claiming authorship after the fact. But then we might ask – what is actually doing the doing? That question encourages refined perception and the unfolding of God Consciousness.
Similarly the Brahman shift can happen when consciousness knows itself fully. It then does not need to continue to look in on itself and can turn and look beyond itself to discover it’s own origins. Until that point, this may seem ridiculous. What could be beyond eternal infinity? And yet, from whence it came?
While these layers are not defined in the Yoga Sutra, these much deeper levels are available to us through practice. We no longer “transcend” but rather step into pure presence and have the world fall away for awhile. As we’re going deeper, the practice can become unpredictable in length. If our schedule allows for it, we can allow this depth to unfold and enjoy what arises.
There is much more depth possible than Self Realization. But it helps if our life is such that we can support that. Sometimes we have to be patient and focus on worldly responsibilities. This has great value in integration and embodiment so whatever arises shouldn’t be rejected. Only in retrospect does it become clear why life unfolded as it has.
Davidya
Lovely reminder to surrender resistance to life’s schedule 🙂
Yep – it’s not going to come when we want or expect it but when it’s best for the whole. Going with the flow of it turns life into an adventure. 🙂
‘Before Enlightenment, chop wood and carry water,
After Enlightenment, get someone else to do it’ 🙂
(laughs) Or
‘After Enlightenment, it happens all by itself.’
Of course, that may mean someone else has decided to do it…
Now if I can just get groceries to happen by themselves…
Yes, indeed! Per my earlier faux pithy saying, I was going to claim the witness as the ‘someone else’, if pressed…
Thanks for this David,
Is there an article you have written where you discuss and define Pure Divinity? Just about to read your book again, this would be helpful if possible.
Michelle
Hi Michelle
Pure Divinity or ParaBrahman isn’t something you can expect the mind to grasp. Even concepts about Self Realization never meet the lived stage. It is sometimes described as beyond the beyond. In Brahman we step beyond consciousness. Pure Divinity is beyond that. It is simply Divinity.
Also, keep in mind this is the unfolding of reality for a human. It is not reality itself. Here’s a couple of articles:
https://davidya.ca/2016/06/05/pure-divinity/
https://davidya.ca/2017/07/28/parabrahman-stage-2/
Generally, you can find defining articles under the Key Posts tab. It’s sorted by general categories but doesn’t have a separate ParaBrahman section yet.
Thanks! 🙂
I updated Key Posts with a ParaBrahman section. That was overdue.
Hi David, Patanjali I would think was in Brahman and Pure Divinity? Why is there not a second book from him on the further stages? As I understand there is actually relatively little on these further stages in the vedic litterature?
Hi Kjetil
This is a little more complex. Patanjali was around in Treta yuga, a higher age that changes the experience of the process. This is why his description of enlightenment was different – more awareness of the mechanism. It was Vasishtha who defined the 7 stages and described them in his work.
At the time of the Yoga Sutra there was a much larger Yoga Darshana that may have described the stages in more detail. That text has been lost. Patanjali seems to have mentioned the stages in passing, but the Yoga Sutra are very compact. Just a mention, not a definition.
I suspect there was little detail as most had a teacher who was guiding their path. Techniques and personal guidance were given one on one. The verses were originally maintained in an oral tradition and only written in Vyasa’s time in the descent of the last Dwapara. He captured the essence of the canon, but a lot was lost in the process. And some texts were lost as the lineages broke down.
Buddhists have lost Buddha’s teaching on stages too. There is some details on awakening, then descriptions of exalted states with little between them.
Now that they’re not so rare, the understanding is being revived.
Ok, thanks. That was clarifying. And what a revival of the understanding and also of living the states we see now. Vasishtha reverberates, no wonder he is first in the Holy Tradition. Great that the Yoga Sutras has survived, and seemingly very intact? Looking forward to your new book.
Actually, he’s the 3rd, but to your point, a saptarishi and a cognizer of the Rig Veda. He also wrote thousands of nadi leaves, including one for me. And he was the guru of an avatar, Rama. 🙂
Some of what he composed was at different stages of his journey. For example, the Srimad Bhagavatam was soon after awakening, whereas the Yoga Vasishtha was later, including his time with Rama.
There are 2 versions of the Yoga Sutra but the difference is just one verse, which is easily inferred by the prior. The issue is largely in interpretation.