MEDITATION

                                               OUR BODY AND THE SOUL

          AT THE TIME ( THE TIME OF CONCENTRATION) THE SEER ( THE PURUSA) RESTS IN HIS OWN (UNMODIFIED) STATE. AS SOON AS THE WAVES HAVE STOPPED, AND THE LAKE HAS BECOME QUIE, WE SEE THE GROUND BELOW THE LAKE, SO WITH THE MIND, WHEN IT IS CALM, WE SEE WHAT OUR OWN NATURE IS, WE DO NOT MIX OURSELF BUT REMAIN OUR OWN SELVES.

         AT OTHER TIMES(OTHER THAN OF CONCENTRATION) THE SEER IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE MODIFICATIONS. FOR INSTANCE, I AM IN A STATE OF SORROW, SOMEONE BLAMES ME, THIS IS A MODIFICATION, VRITTI, AND I IDENTIFY MYSELF WITH IT, AND THE RESULT IS MISERY. THERE ARE FIVE CLASSES OF MODIFICATION, PAINFUL AND NOT PAINFUL. THESE ARE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE, INDISCRIMINATION, VERBAL DELUSION, SLEEP AND MEMORY. DIRECT PERCEPTION, INFERENCE AND COMPETENT EVIDENCE ARE PROOFS.

       WHEN TWO OF OUR PERCEPTIONS DO NOT CONSTRADICT EACH OTHER, WE CALL IT PROOF, I HEAR SOMETHIN, AND IF IT CONTRADICTS SOMETHING ALREADY PERCEIVED, I BEGIN TO FIGHT IT OUT, AND DO NOT BELIEVE IT. THERE ARE ALOS THREE KIDS OF PROOF. DIRECT PERCEPTION, PRATYAKSHAM, WHATEVER WE SEE AND FEEL, IS PROOF, IF THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING TO DELUDE THE SENSES. I SEE THE WORLD THAT IS SUFFICIENT PROOF THAT IT EXISTS. SECONDLY, ANUMANA, INFERENCE, YOU SEE A SIGN, AND FROM THE SIGN YOU COME TO THE THING SIGNIFIED. THIRDLY, APTAVAKYAM, THE DIRECT PERCEPTION OF THE YOGI, OF THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN THE TRUTH. WE ARE ALL OF US STRUGGLING TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE, BUT YOU AND I HAVE TO STRUGGLE HARD, AND COME TO KNOWLEDGE, BUT YOU AND I HAVE TO STRUGGLE HARD, AND COME TO KNOWLEDGE THROUGH A LONG TEDIOUS PROCESS OF REASONING. WHEREAS THE YOGI, THE PURE ONE, HAS GONE BEYOND ALL THIS.

         BEFORE HIS MIND, THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, ARE LIKE ONE BOOK FOR HIM TO READ. HE DOES NOT REQUIRE TO GO THROUGH THIS TEDIOUS PROCESS, AND HIS WORDS ARE PROOFS, BECAUSE HE SEES KNOWLEDGE IN HIMSELF, HE IS THE OMNISCIENT ONE. THESE, FOR INSTANCE, ARE THE AUTHORS OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. THEREFORE, THE SCRIPTURES ARE PROOF, AND IF ANY SUCH PERSONS ARE LIVING NOW, THEIR WORDS WILL BE PROOF. OTHER PHILOSOPHERS GO INTO LONG DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS APTA, AND THEY SAY, WHAT IS THE PROOF THAT THIS IS TRUTH? THE PROOF IS BECAUSE THEY SEE IT, BECAUSE WHATEVER I SEE IS PROOF, AND WHAEVER IT DOES NOT CONTRADICT REASON AND PAST HUMAN EXPERIENCE, THAT KNOWLEDGE IS PROOF. ANY MADMAN MAY COME INTO THIS ROOMS AND SAY THAT HE SEES ANGELS AROUND HIM, THAT WOULD NOT BE PROOF. IN THE FIRST PLACE, IT MUST BE TRUE KNOWLEDGE, SECONDLY, IT MUST NOT CONTRADICT KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST, AND THIRDLY, IT MUST DEPEND UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE MAN. I HEAR IT SAID THAT THE CHARATER OF THE MAN IS OT OF SO MUCH IMPORTANCE AS WHAT HE MAY SAY, WE MUST FIRST HEAR WHAT HE SAYS.

           THE THREE SORTS OF PROOF, ARE THEN DIRECT SENSE PERCEPTION, INFERENCE, AND THE WORDS OF AN APTA. I CANNOT TRANSLATE THIS WORD INTO ENGLISH. IT IS NOT THE WORD INSPIRED, BECAUSE THAT COMES FROM OUTSIDE, WHILE THIS COMES FORM HIMSELF. THE LITEREAL MEANING IS "ATTAINED".