Vasișțha's Yoga

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

In a different string � the idea of gāḍhasuptākhyā came up in the conversation.

gāḍha + suptā + khyā

• gāḍha - dived into , bathed in ; ' deeply entered ' , pressed together , tightly drawn , closely fastened , close , fast
• suptā - having beautiful braids of hair ; if we look at this way from its root (√) svap ; for su-pta then we have fallen asleep , slept , sleeping , asleep
• khyā - to make well known , praise ; yet too we find this word in khyāyate meaning to be named , be known

deeply bathed (gāḍha) in rest (suptā) it is well known (khyā).
That is, it is that experience , part of one's own being.

Yet another view could be the following: That which is found in one's deepest (gāḍha) rest ((√) svap ; for su-pta) is to be known (khyā).
And what is that ? Brahman.

We find a similar idea in the yoga vasișțha, (or vasișțha's yoga) in the nirvāṇa prakaraṇaṃ section ( see post 1 for all the divisions, their names and definitions). The Lord is talking and in this section is is śiva speaking or addressing vasișțha-ji's questions ( section 6.1.34) and this notion of the state of deep sleep comes up as a homogeneous state of consciousness.

Śiva says the following:
when the mind is destroyed by the mind the veil is removed and the truth of the world is seen i.e. world appearance
and jiva are destroyed. (The notion here is that jiva being 'individual and not universal is removed.) The mind is then clear. This condition or level of being is called paśayantī (seeing , beholding ). The mind which is pure abandons conjuring up images of objects. It attains a state like deep sleep. (here is the connection to gāḍhasuptākhyā aforementioned). It ( the mind) rests in supreme peace. This is the 1st state. There is a 2nd and 3rd state śiva defines and I will post that next.

This notion of deep sleep is not the typical sleep i.e. suṣupti we think of. IMHO śiva is defining samādhi. The mind is gone, there is no object of perception ( in thinking, hearing , feeling, etc) and the body is deeply rested yet one is not 'sleeping'. The mind has been 'destroyed' , yet when one comes out of this samādhi diversity is there again. Yet the mind benefited from being trained , really reminded of who it really is.

This idea is taken further in the 2nd and 3rd states which brings us to turīya ( the 4th) and turīya-atīta or beyond (atīta) the 4th ( turīya).

praṇām

[Skull]

Being too lazy myself, may be why this short compilation on self-reliance from the YV is so inspiring to me.

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/selfrely.html