Dhāraṇā 45

वह्नेर्विषस्य मध्ये तु

चित्तं सुखमयं क्षिपेत् ।

केवलं वायुपूर्णं वा

स्मरानन्देन युज्यते ॥६८॥

vahnerviṣasya madhye tu

cittaṁ sukhamayaṁ kṣipet /

kevalaṁ vāyupūrṇaṁ vā

smarānandena yujyate // 68 //

Now He puts another process. It is śāktopāya.*

Make your mind rest between the energy of will and knowledge. Give your mind rest between the energy of will and knowledge (icchā and jñāna; vahni is will, viṣa is knowledge).

Or, between the rise of sex excitement and the appeased state of that act; when the rise of sex excitement takes place and when that excitement is appeased. When the rise of sex excitement takes place, that is vahni, that is the state of vahni. And when the sex excitement is appeased, that is viṣa.

JOHN: “Appeased” means “fulfilled” or just “taken away”?

SWAMIJI: No, when it is śāntā.²²⁹

DEVOTEE: This is vyāpti kale?

SWAMIJI: Vyāpti kale.²³⁰

DEVOTEE: This is kāma in viṣa tattva?

SWAMIJI: Viṣa tattva, yes.²³¹

Make your mind rest between these two states: between the energy of will and knowledge, or between the rise of sex excitement and its appeased state.

Smarānandena yujyate, [the yogi] is united in smarānanda (smarānanda means the saṁghaṭṭa²³² of Śiva and Śakti) and attains the state of supreme ānanda. That is smarānanda.

Smarānanda here does not mean the ānanda of the sexual act. Smarānanda [literally] means, it is kāmānanda, it is the bliss of, the joy of, the sexual act. But, in fact, here you must not take it that way. You must see “smarānanda” is the ānanda risen in the union of Śiva and Śakti.

DEVOTEE: Rudrayāmala?

SWAMIJI: [Yes], Rudrayāmala.²³³ This is śāktopāya also.

DEVOTEE: But this ānanda is the highest ānanda. It leads eventually to jagadānanda through krama mudrā.

SWAMIJI: It is not jagadānanda. It is cidānanda.²³⁴

DEVOTEE: Cidānanda–nimīlanā.

SWAMIJI: Yes, it is nimīlanā.²³⁵

When you are not married, you [can] put your mind rested between will and knowledge. When you are married, you can put your mind in [between] the beginning of sex excitement and in the end when it is appeased.

DEVOTEE: Only if you are married?

SWAMIJI: Yes.

Kevalaṁ vāyu pūrṇaṁ vā, and don’t let your breath move out. There, you must not let your breath move out. If you let your breath move out–after this act or after this state–if you leave your breath out and in, you are gone, you have not achieved anything. You have to maintain the breath inside. You won’t die. There, you won’t die.

DEVOTEE: But this is not kumbhakā?²³⁶

SWAMIJI: This is not kumbhakā. It is automatic kumbhakā–automatic.

DEVOTEE: Nimīlanā.

SWAMIJI: Nimīlanā.

DEVOTEE: Then how will it work in will and knowledge?

SWAMIJI: Will means icchā, knowledge means jñāna. For instance, this is a handkerchief [Swamiji demonstrates]. “What is this?”–this is will. “This is a handkerchief”–this is jñāna. Between these two movements, you must make your mind rest. Your mind must remain there.

DEVOTEE: That is, soon after will, it must stop.

SWAMIJI: Soon after will, it must stop; and, before knowledge, it must stop.

DEVOTEE: So it should not move to knowledge, rather?

SWAMIJI: Yes, it should not move to knowledge [but] it should come out from will. This is between.

DEVOTEE: The point between nirvikalpa and savikalpa?²³⁷

SWAMIJI: Yes.

DEVOTEE: When we see firstly and say, “What is this?” this is will.

SWAMIJI: This is will. When you see, “This is a handkerchief,” that is knowledge, that is jñāna. Don’t come to that. Move out from that, “What is this?” Move out from that state. You have to move out from that. Which? That perceiving state that, “What is it?” You have to come out from that state [of will] and not to reach that state [of knowledge]. There you have to put your mind [to] rest.²³⁸

DEVOTEE: It means, almost the first impression?

SWAMIJI: First ālocana, prathamābhāsa. It is just prathamābhāsa²³⁹. But it is not actually prathamābhāsa. If it were actually prathamābhāsa . . . when actual pratham-ābhāsa takes place, it is without support. [Here], you have to take support also. So I have put this [dhāraṇā] as śāktopāya. You have to take support of these two first. Before resting your mind in śāmbhavopāya, you have to take support of these two movements first–the support of will and the support of knowledge, where you see the gap in-between for resting. That is śāmbhava; where you rest, that is the śāmbhava state. As [long as] that resting place takes place by these two supports, it is śāktopāya, it won’t be śāmbhava.

DEVOTEE: So, simply seeing the handkerchief, because the cognition goes out, that is will?

SWAMIJI: You have not to see the handkerchief. “What is it?”–that is the movement of will. “This is a handkerchief”–this is the movement of knowledge. So, you have to find out the movement in-between. Come down from that will, [but] don’t reach that knowledge. Look at this movement also [Swamiji demonstrates]. There are two movements. I want to join these two fingers. They are not yet joined. When I am about to move for joining, that is will. When it is joined, it is knowledge. But this movement must not take place. You have to come down from this movement, the first movement, [but] you have not to reach this [second] movement. That is “ālocana²⁴⁰”. That is śāktopāya because it is through these two supports of movements.

JOHN: So then, in any perception, the first moment of perception is nirvikalpa, and then automatically that savikalpa comes. And so that moment between, . . . ?

SWAMIJI: . . . that is nirvikalpa.

DEVOTEE: That is nirvikalpa, but when you go straight into that nirvikalpa moment, into that ālocana, . . .

SWAMIJI: That is śāmbhavopāya.

DEVOTEE: . . . that is śāmbhavopāya. Here you are trying to find the moment between these two points?

SWAMIJI: By support. [With] support, that is śāktopāya.