"U"nder Scr"U"tiny

Hari OM

Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation.

More on OM as focus of meditation. Today, some exploration of "U".

तैजस/taijasa does not directly mean 'dreaming' but more accurately refers to that state of consciousness within which dreaming can occur. Western science spends a good deal of waking hours on trying to quantify the dream state.  All sorts of myths have arisen (some given a pseudo-scientific twist) as to the nature of dreams.  There is a school of theory which suggests dreams as information processing (any number of scholarly articles can be found online for this)…

That last theory is the closest to the understanding given in Sanskrit tradition.  Taijasa is where the mind can unravel itself, ridding itself of all the unnecessary by running through scenarios.  It is this which gave rise to the possibility of 'interpreting' dreams, because certainly there are dreams which process our fear for us, or our worry, stress and so on.  It happens in taijasa so that we are free to operate without these things in vaishvanara.

At the level of the true meditator, though, the one who would seek to reach to highest being-ness, taijasa is the place to tear away all unnecessary patterns, the imprints of life, or  संस्काराः/samskaara-s.

A large part of spiritual practice is to purify.  This does not simply mean keeping good hygiene (though of course that counts!), but purifying the mind and the intellect also. Keeping our thoughts pure is a major challenge.  The yogi (active meditator) can utilise the taijasa "U" meditation phase to 'empty' the mind. Here it is possible to look objectively at what is arising from one's thought process and make a concerted effort to eradicate the unwanted, build in the wanted and to 'declutter'.  Over time, this becomes a subconscious part within vaishvanara also, so that even in waking state we are no longer bothered by our own inner distractions and are ever more 'present'. An uncluttered mind also then requires less of the decluttering process and one of the side-effects of an efficient yogic practice is the reduced requirement for sleep time in which taijasa can occur.  You will read often of it; indeed Gurudev was renowned for taking no more than three or four hours sleep in each twenty four. Here then comes the relation to 'maintenance', the caretaking of the universe and Vishnu; for that takes an ever-present awareness!

This is not the insomnia of the ill or the troubled.  It is a blissful claiming of the hours to be turned to spiritual pursuit with a mind and intellect now even more greatly sharpened.

It is by bringing in the  अभ्यास/abhyaasa (practice) of  वैराग्य/vairaagya (non-attachment) in the taijasa meditation and subsequently to vaishvanara that we can purify. Through this purification we also gain clarification. The dream state is not a place to stay.  Many think that, to avoid the waking state in which they feel troubled, dreaming (aka fantasy) is the place be. The elations which can be found there become their focus and they forget that dreams have no more substance than steam. There for a moment then gone, and waking must again be restored.  What truly assists a person, is to deal with the waking in a manner whereby it causes them least trouble.  This means putting everything in its rightful place. Dreams can be likened to making tours to foreign places.  We can learn from them, enjoy them, remember them or deem them forgettable, but each time we know there is somewhere else to go.  They are not "hOMe" and therefore we must continue to travel. In spiritual terms this is to move beyond the dream state.

In taijasa, then, we can learn how to be the  साक्षि/sakshi, the witness of our own selves, our inner processes.

SAADHANA.

Practice only U meditation for a while.  Become the witness of the thoughts.  Draw back from your inner and note what arises, how you can brush it away.  SEE your thoughts!!! Are they not amazing, crazy, inconsequent? Distracting certainly.  Occasionally something meaningful will arise.  Note it but see it also for what it is. Mere thought. Allow all to drop away. Keep p'U'rity as your focus.