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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 1 - The Problem of Union
5. The mind states are five, and are subject to pleasure or pain; they are painful or not painful. In the original the word "pleasure" does not occur; the thought conveyed is more technical, and is usually translated as "not painful." Nevertheless, the underlying thought is the hindrance to realization caused by the pairs of opposites. The student must remember that in this sutra it is the chitta or mind-stuff which is under consideration, with the modifications it undergoes as long as its versatility and activity are controlling factors. He must not lose sight of the fact that we are [14] dealing with the lower psychic nature, which is the term occultly applied to the lower mind processes as well as to the astral or emotional reactions. All activity in the lower nature is the result of kama-manas, or of mind tinged with feeling, of the desire-will of the lower man. The goal of the Raja Yoga system is that these impulses should be replaced by the considered intelligent action of the soul or spiritual man, whose nature is love, whose acts are wise (occultly understood) and whose motive is group development. Therefore that reaction called pain must be transcended and likewise that termed pleasure, for both of these are dependent upon identification with form. Non-attachment must supersede them. It is interesting to note that the modifications of the internal organ, the mind, are five in number. Manas, or mind, the actuating principle of the chitta, or mind-stuff, is the fifth principle, and like all else in nature, manifests as a duality. This duality is: Lower concrete mind, demonstrating as the activity of the mental body. Abstract mind, demonstrating as the lowest aspect of the ego. In the microcosm, man, this duality becomes a triple modification upon the mental plane, and in these three we have in miniature a picture of the macrocosmic manifestation. These three are: The mental permanent atom, the lowest aspect of the spiritual Triad or of the soul, The egoic body, the causal body, or the karana sarira, [15] The mental body, the highest aspect of the lower personal self. The mental body itself has five modifications or activities, and thus is a reflection, or correspondence of the fifth principle, as it manifests upon the fifth plane, the mental. The modifications are the lower shadow of manas (or mind in the microcosmic manifestation), and this mind is a reflection of mahat (the universal mind), or mind manifesting in the macrocosm. This is a great mystery but will reveal itself to the man who overcomes the five modifications of the lower mind, who through non-attachment to the lower, identifies himself with the higher, and who thus solves the mystery of the "Makara" and treads the Way of the Kumaras. Herein lies a hint to the more advanced students of this science as to the esoteric problem of the Makara, hinted at in the Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky.
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