Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul - The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 4 - Sutra 15







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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 4 - Illumination





15. These two, consciousness and form, are distinct
and separate; though forms may be similar, the consciousness may function on differing
levels of being.This sutra should not be considered apart from the succeeding one,
which predicates the fact of the one Mind, or the one Life being the potent cause of all
differentiated lesser minds and lives. This must ever be realized. Three main thoughts
therefore lie involved in this sutra.
First, that there are two main lines of evolution, that which concerns matter and form,
and that which concerns the soul, the consciousness aspect, the thinker in manifestation.
For each of these the path of progress differs and each pursues its course. As has been
noted, for a long period of time, the soul identifies itself with the form aspect and
endeavors to follow the "Path of Death" for that is what the dark path is in
fact to the thinker. Later, through strenuous effort, this identification ceases; the soul
becomes aware of itself, and of its own path, or dharma, and follows then the way of light
and of life. It should ever be borne in mind, however, that for the two aspects their own
path is the right path and that the impulses which lie hidden in the physical [403]
vehicle or in the astral body are not in themselves wrong. They became wrong from certain
angles when twisted from their right use, and it was this realization that led the
disciple in the Book of Job to cry out and say "I have perverted that which was
right." The two lines of development are separate and distinct, and this every
aspirant has to learn.
When this is grasped, he seeks to aid the evolution of his forms in two ways; first by
refusing to identify himself with them, and secondly, by stimulating them.
Through the bringing in of spiritual force, he will also realize the point in evolution
at which his brothers stand, and cease to criticise them for what may be to him wrong
action, but which is for them the natural activity of the form during the cycle wherein
form and soul are identified and considered the same.
The second main line of thought involved in Sutra 15 is more difficult to express. It
lends color and veracity to the contention of many thinkers that things exist and have
form and activity only in so far as the mind of the thinker formulates them. In other
words, that through the modifications of our own thinking principle we build our own
world, and create our own environment. The inference, therefore, is that (given the one
basic substance, spirit-matter) we weave it into forms by our own thought impulses. Others
perceive that which we see, because some of the modifications of their minds are analogous
to ours and their reactions and impulses are [404] similar in some respects.
Yet no two people see an object in exactly the same way, "Things" or forms of
matter do exist; they are created or in process of creation and for them some mind or
minds are responsible. It becomes then a question as to who is responsible for the thought
forms by which we are surrounded. Dvivedi's commentary and translation leans more to this
second line of thought than does the paraphrase of the Tibetan, and it is of profit to
study it, for in the approach of many minds to a problem, its magnitude can be
appreciated, idle and light conclusions are avoided, and approximation to truth becomes
possible. The synthetic point of view is nearer to universal truth than is the
specialized. He says:

"Though things are similar, the cause of mind and things is distinct in
consequence of the difference of minds."


"The preceding considerations establish, in an indirect manner, the existence of
things as objects external to the mind. The Vijnanavadi-Buddhas who maintain that things
are but the reflections of our thinking principle, would object to such a position. The
objection could not bear examination, for the existence of things apart from the thinking
principle is certain. Though there is, indeed, complete similarity among objects of the
same class, still the way in which the objects affect the mind, and the way in which the
mind is affected by them, are entirely distinct. Hence objects exist out of the thinking
principle. Though objects are similar they are not presented to different minds in the
same light, which shows [405] that they are apart from the mind. Again, we often hear more
than one person saying that he has seen the same object as is seen by another. This would
prove that though the object is one, the cognizers are many. This circumstance proves the
distinction of the object and the mind. Again the seer and the sight, i. e., the mind and
the object or the instrument of knowledge and the object of knowledge cannot be one and
the same, for then all distinctive knowledge will be impossible, which, however, is
absurd. To attempt a solution of this difficulty by saying that eternal vasana of the form
of external objects is the cause of all our distinctive knowledge is useless, for that
which has already spent itself cannot become the cause. Hence objective existence must be
granted as independent of the subject. Nor should it be imagined how one substance (viz.
Prakriti) could produce in this case all the multifarious differences of our experience,
for the three gunas and their various combinations in different degrees are enough to
account for all that. In the case of Yogins properly enlightened it is but proper that
knowledge having produced in them supreme Vairagya they do not care for the gunas, which
also assume a state of equilibrium and produce no effect."

The third line of thought deals more specifically with the realization aspect, or with
the condition of awareness of the indwelling thinker and is therefore of immediate
practical value to the student of Raja Yoga. It involves certain questions which might be
expressed as follows: [406]
On what level of being or of realization (for the thought is identical to the occult
student) do I function?
Do I identify myself with the form or with the soul?
Which path am I following, the high way of the soul, or the low way of matter?
Am I in a transition period, wherein my realization is being transferred from the lower
to the higher consciousness?
Though in the body, is it just my instrument, and am I awake on another plane of
awareness ?

These, and similar questions are of profound value to the aspirant, if asked sincerely
and answered truthfully, as in the presence of God and of the Master.





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