Acharya Mahaprajna
Daily Excelsior
Let us take a lemon in our palm. We know that it is a lemon by seeing its color and form. If it is dark, we can cognize it by its smell. We can also cognize it by touching and tasting it. All physi-cal objects are cognized by the sense organs or by means, of touch, taste, color and smell. But the color and form of the lemon are not the lemon. These are only the modifications of the lemon. Each sense organ is capable of cognizing only a single modification of an object. The eye catches the color only and the nose catches only the smell. The skin catches the touch only and the tongue catches only taste. What then is the object whose modifications alone are known by the sense organs? What is the real nature of the objects? Scientists have been trying to ascertain the essence of objects for centuries together and the search is continuing even today. They have come to know the particles of which things are made but the real nature of objects continues to evade scientific investigation.
Philosophers also have been engaged for the last thousands of years in search of the basic substance of the universe but they have not been able to ascertain it. The difficulty arises because of the fact that the universe is composed of waves and waves only. The universe is a modification of its original substance. This sub-stance remains hidden behind the waves and modifications. The sense organs, which catch the waves and modifications, are themselves the modifications of the substance or of its waves. Each one of them can catch only a single modification of the substance. The eye for example can catch only color. No sense organ is capable of comprehending what lies behind the waves or modifications. Therefore, what lies beyond the waves or modifications remains a mystery. Those who have conducted investigations in this area say that there is nothing beyond the waves. Both the knower and the known are themselves nothing but the waves. The question as to what is beyond the waves is a wrongly framed question. Breath, because of which we live is itself composed of waves. The living bodies are conglomerations of waves. We generally believe that our bodies are solid. It is not so. We can perceive the subtle vibra-tions of our bodies by means of anitya anupreksa (contemplation on the transitory nature of things). We generally think that our bones are solid. This is not true. The bones have pores in them. If we see a cork with the help of a microscope, we will find it to be a network of holes. The living body is also full of holes. We gener-ally believe that a wall is solid. It is not true. It is composed of innumerable tiny particles. Everywhere, in each object, there are holes and pores or liquids. These modifications are so numerous that we cannot cross them and arrive at the basic substance of things.
Like the human body, the mind and the intellect are also a series of waves. Whatever we know through the medium of waves is composed of waves only. The medium of knowledge determines the nature of the thing known. In comprehending the waves we do not comprehend anything, which is beyond the waves. We cannot comprehend anything beyond the modifications with the help of the body, breath, sense organs, mind and intellect. It is, therefore, not surprising if people have declared that there is no basic sub-stance like the soul. The mediums of knowledge mentioned above do not allow us to posit the existence of a substance beyond what they can comprehend. If we declared with the help of the mind that there is a substance beyond the comprehension of the mind, we will be wrong because such a substance is the creation of the mind itself. How can the mind comprehend that which is beyond it? The mind knows nothing except itself. It is like a tape-recorder.
It communicates only that which has been recorded on it. Unfortu-nately we have planted in the mind the idea that there are things beyond it, which it cannot comprehend. There is no evidence to prove the existence of a substance beyond the mind because all evidence is a mental construct. It may very well be said that medi-tation is also a wave of the mind and, therefore it does not reveal anything beyond itself. We are so much enmeshed in the world of modifications and waves that we are unable to see anything be-yond them. It is this limitation of ours, which compels us to search for the soul. It is this limitation, which is the starting point of the spiritual quest. There are thus two things: the waves, which com-pose our knowledge and that which is beyond the waves. The start-ing point of the spiritual quest lies between these two.
It has been asked if we can stop the operation of the waves. Is it possible to arrest the waves of which the world of our empirical knowledge is made? Yogis who meditated have declared that it is possible. Those who have done some serious thinking on the sub-ject have come to agree with the yogis. Breath is a series of waves. It can be arrested. Investigations have shown that a man who breathes fifteen breaths to a minute can, through practice reduce the number of breaths to ten or seven or five to a minute. Accom-plished practitioners can stop the breathing process for a year, nay for twelve years at a stretch and still continue to be alive. The currents of breath can be controlled and restrained. In the practice of Mahaprana dhyana breathing can be completely stopped. The practitioner can enter into a state of complete breathlessness. This can be done through a number of other meditations also.
The human body is composed of waves, which can be con-trolled so much so that the body becomes almost dead. The mind is also composed of waves, which can be controlled. It disappears in the course of meditation. This state can be continued for a whole year. The mind becomes immobilized in this state. The belief that the mental processes can be arrested is the starting point of the search for the basic substance beyond the mental processes. It led to the practice of restraining, thoughts and feelings or of the fick-leness of the mind. It made man aware of the existence of a substance beyond the reach of the mind.
It may be said from the philosophical point of view that there is nothing beyond the waves. The soul itself is not beyond the waves. Let us consider this point seriously. There are two kinds of modifications, natural and artificial. Substance always undergoes modifications. Every modification disappears giving place to an-other and this process continues endlessly.
These are natural modi-fications of substance, which cannot be stopped. They are not harm-ful to us. Then there are artificial modifications of substance. They create doubts in our minds. They are modifications caused by agen-cies external to substance. They can be stopped. Once they have been stopped, we enter into a state beyond waves.