- RESTRANING OF SENSE ORGANS
Deserting the longings for physical comforts and following one’s conscience is the main feature of restraining sense organs. It is our conscience that causes the sense organs to be indifferent for comforts. When the conscience is fully trained, sense organs are also controlled.
Once trained, the practitioner does not have an awareness of his surroundings. But, during mundane interactions, this awareness is regenerated for practical purposes.
All the five measures discussed so far are the external means of practising Yoga. Now, a practitioner is ready to enter the state of reconciliation. But before that, he has to perfect two more parts of Yoga.
CONTEMPLATION
Last three parts of Yoga are contemplation, meditation and reconciliation. These are all internal means. Contemplation involves concentration of conscience around navel, tip of the nose or heart. Alternatively, a practitioner may practice contemplation by concentrating his conscience externally at an idol of God.
MEDITATION
With the perfection of contemplation, one’s conscience immediately attains a state of meditation. Initially, a practitioner faces difficulty in concentrating and achieving meditation but with practice, state of meditation becomes easy to achieve and there is virtually no gap between contemplation and meditation.
RECONCILIATION
The process that begins with contemplation culminates in reconciliation. Initially, the contemplator and the contemplative have distinct existence. Through continuous practice, such a state is reached when contemplator and contemplative unify. At this stage, the contemplator is fully engrossed in contemplative. He has no knowledge or feeling of his own existence. This is the stage of reconciliation in which the practitioner attains eternal emancipation.
When reconciliation is centred at macro objects, it is known as illogical reconciliation. However, reconciliation centred at micro-objects is known as thoughtless reconciliation for it lacks thoughts of material objects. State of reconciliation in earthly matters is harmful in spiritual point of view. And reconciliation directed to God provides salvation. Hence, all those who wish their welfare must reconcile at God. Perfection of method of reconciliation completes the perfection of all eight parts of the Yoga. At this stage, physical impurities and ignorance that veils one’s conscience are removed and torch of wisdom is lighted in one’s mind. The practitioner attains salvation then.
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