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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 2 - The Steps to Union
22. In the case of the man who has achieved yoga (or union) the objective universe has ceased to be. Yet it existeth still for those who are not yet free. This sutra holds the germ of the entire science of thought. Its premise is based upon the realization that all that we behold are modifications of thought substance, that the thinker creates his own world, whether he be God or man. When a man through the science of yoga (that science which deals with the "suppression of the activities [165] of the thinking principle" or with mind control), has achieved full power over the mind and over mental substance or thought matter, he is freed from the control of those forms which hold the majority of men captive in the three worlds. He stands then apart from the great illusion; the bodies which have hitherto held him no longer do so; the great currents of ideas and thoughts and desires which have their origin through the "modifications of the thinking principle" of men imprisoned in the three worlds no longer sway or affect him; and the myriad thought forms which are the result of these currents in the mental, astral and physical worlds no longer shut him away from the realities or from the true subjective world of causes, and of force emanations. He is no longer deceived and can discriminate between the real and the unreal, between the true and the false, and between the life of the spirit and the world of phenomena. He becomes subject then to the currents of thought, and the world of ideas emanating from great spiritual entities, from spiritual lives, and the great plan of the Architect of the Universe can unroll itself before him. He is liberated and free and subject only to the new conditions of the life of the man who has made the great at-one-ment. The laws of the three worlds are not superseded but are transcended, for the greater always includes the lesser and though - for purposes of service - he may choose to limit himself to a seemingly three dimensional life, yet he goes forth into the world of higher dimensions at his pleasure, and [166] when needed for the extension of the kingdom of God. The object of this science of yoga is to reveal to man the mode of this liberation and how he can free himself. Hence the trend of Patanjali's teaching up to this point has been to indicate man's place in the scheme, to put his finger upon the basic cause of man's restlessness and urge towards activity of one kind or another; to show the reason for the existence of the great world of effects and to tempt the aspirant to an investigation of the world of causes; and so to demonstrate the need for further unfoldment and the nature of the hindrances to that unfoldment that the man will be ready to say: If this is all so, what are the means whereby this union with the real and this dispersal of the great illusion may be brought about? This second book presents the eight great means of yoga, giving thus a clear and concise outline of the exact steps to be followed for the needed regulation of the physical, psychic and mental life.
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