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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 1 - The Problem of Union
41. To him whose vrittis (modifications of the substance of the mind) are entirely controlled there eventuates a state of identity with, and similarity to, that which is realized. The knower, knowledge and the field of knowledge become one, just as the crystal takes to itself the colors of that which is reflected in it. This sutra grows naturally out of the previous one. The perfected seer in his consciousness embraces the entire field of knowledge, from the standpoint of onlooker or perceiver and from the standpoint of identification. He is one with the atom of substance, he is able to cognize the minutest universe; he is one with the solar system, the vastest universe he is permitted to cognize in this greater cycle. His soul and their soul are seen to be identical - potentiality is seen in one, and (from the human standpoint) incomprehensible order leading to ultimate perfection is seen in the other. The activity which holds the electrons gathered around their center is recognized as identical in nature with that which holds the planets in their orbits around the sun, and between these two divine manifestations the whole range of form is found. The occult student has to realize that forms are diverse and many, but that all souls are identical with the Oversoul. The complete knowledge of the nature, quality, key and note of one soul (whether of a chemical atom, a rose, a pearl, a man or an angel) would reveal all souls upon the ladder of evolution. And the process is the same [92] for all: Recognition, the use of the sense organs, including the sixth sense, the mind, in appreciation of the form and its constituents; Concentration, an act of the will whereby the form is negated by the senses and the knower passes behind it to that which vibrates in tune with his own soul. Thus knowledge is arrived at, - knowledge of that which the form (or field of knowledge) is seeking to express, - its soul, key or quality. Then follows Contemplation, the identification of the knower with that within himself which is identical with the soul within the form. The two are then one and complete realization is the case. This can be cultivated in a most practical way between human beings. There must be recognition of the contact that comes between two men who can see, hear and touch each other. A superficial form-recognition is the result. But another stage is possible wherein a man can pass behind the form and arrive at that which is the quality of his brother; he can touch that aspect of the consciousness which is analogous to his own. He becomes aware of the quality of his brother's life, of the nature of his plans, aspirations, hopes and purposes. He knows his brother, and the better he knows himself and his own soul, the deeper will be his knowledge of his brother. Finally, he can identify himself with his brother and become as he is, knowing and feeling as his brother's soul knows and feels. This is the meaning behind the occult words of St. John's Epistle "We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." [93] It may be of value here if certain synonyms are again enumerated, which will, if borne in mind, clarify much of the teaching of the sutras, and enable the student to apply these thoughts in practical fashion to his own life.
Spirit | Soul | Body.
Monad | Ego | Personality.
Divine Self | Higher Self | Lower Self.
Perceiver | Perception | That which is perceived.
Knower | Knowledge | The field of knowledge.
Thinker | Thought | The mind (this is the crystal, reflecting the thought of the thinker).
It aids also to remember: That on the physical plane the perceiver uses the five senses in order to arrive at the field of knowledge. That all our three planes in the three worlds constitute the dense physical body of that One in Whom "we live and move and have our being." That on the astral or emotional plane, the lower powers of clairvoyance and clairaudience are used by the perceiver and when misused reveal the serpent in the garden. That on the mental plane psychometry and symbology (including numerology and geometry) are used by the perceiver to arrive at an understanding of the lower mental levels. That only when these three are seen as lower and as constituting the form aspect does the perceiver arrive at a condition where he can begin to understand the nature of the soul and [94] comprehend the true significance of Sutras 40 and 41. That, having reached that point, he begins to discriminate and to use the mind as the sixth sense, arriving thereby at that subjective quality or life which lies back of the field of knowledge (or form). This constitutes the nature of the soul within the form, and is, potentially and in fact, omniscient and omnipresent. Having reached the soul in any form and contacted it through the medium of his own soul, he finds that all souls are one and can put himself with ease in the soul of an atom or of a humming bird, or he can expand his realization in another direction and know himself one with God and with all superhuman existences.
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