The Raincloud Samaadhi

Dharma Megha Samaadhi: The Samaadhi of the Raincloud of Dharma

Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah. Salutations to all the teachers.

Near the beginning of this series, we discussed the root cause of dukkha, or suffering - avidya, or The Primal Ignorance.

Mental Colourings

Avidya is described in many ways, through its various effects. One useful way, however, is to see avidya as the tendency to cluster pratyayas into vrittis through the projection of shabda, artha, and jnana - word, meaning, and idea.

Let us be more specific.

Look around you. You are apparently surrounded by objects - a laptop, a phone, perhaps a cup of your favourite beverage, maybe a table, a chair, walls with doors and windows, and so on. Each of these objects has a name - a word that you use to designate the boundaries of that object and separate it from the objects around it.

After all, the wall and the window are different from each other - one is opaque, and the other is transparent; one is used to provide structure and shape to the room, while the other is used to look outside. Similarly, the table is different from the phone, the beverage is separate from the cup, the laptop is separate from the door.

Each of these objects is, in fact, appearing within your mind - they are all perceptions - pratyaksha-pramaan-vrittis.

P: Wait a second - are you saying that the entire world only exists in my head?

Jogi: Not quite. Just because all we know of the world is within the mind does not necessarily mean that the world does not exist outside the mind. Such a claim would fall under the philosophy of subjective idealism (the Buddhist Vijanavaada philosophy, for example). The world may or may not exist outside of your mind - that is outside of the purview of Yoga.

What we care about here is only what we have evidence for.

We do not have evidence to say conclusively one way or another whether or not the objects exist exclusively within the mind. Either direction would be a leap of faith. Rather, we only know of things that exist within the mind.

In addition to the raw sensory perception, there is a vikalpa-vritti (imagination) of the names of these objects, layered on top of the perception. This is called “shabda” or “word”. For example, when I say “look at the door”, you know where to look. The other way around works as well - look at any object around you, and notice how the word for it pops into your mind almost immediately.

Finally, there is also a classification of the object. This is called “jnana” - “knowledge” or “idea.” That is, there are many different types of doors, and the door in front of you falls into the category of “door”, and not into the category of say “elephant” or “french fries.” This category also appears as a smriti-vritti (memory) within the mind at the moment of perception.

Through the process of Samaadhi, as we have seen, we learn to discern between the shabda, artha, and jnana. Specifically, we are able to separate the artha from the shabda and jnana just like a farmer separates out the grain from the chaff, or like an ant separates sugar from a mixture of sugar and dirt.

At each level of depth of Samaadhi, we are able to do this for various levels of subtlety. Specifically, we start with the gross object (e.g. “door” in Vitark Samaadhi), then move on to the tanmaatras that compose it (e.g. form, texture, etc.), then move to the ahamkaar that composes the tanmaatras, and the buddhi that composes the ahamkaar. We also explore the organs of perception and action in the same way, involuting them into the root cause - buddhi, and further the three gunas that constitute all of reality.

The 25 Tattvas: In Yoga, the entire Universe is classified into 25 different categories, called Tattvas. The tattvas evolve from Prakriti, and culminate in the diversified Universe - including what we call “ourselves”. This diagram shows the tattvas which the attention rests upon in each progressive stage of Samaadhi.

However, at each of these levels, the shabda and jnana are stripped away, and the artha - the object of focus - stands alone in its own right.

Then, through the process of increasingly subtle Ekaagrataa Parinaam - discussed last week - the artha is itself seen as a cluster of finer “pixels”, called pratyayas.

Pratyayas vs. Vrittis: Like pixels vs. pictures

Let us return to the objects surrounding you at this moment. Consider the screen on which you view these words. The screen is not actually displaying words and images. Rather, it is displaying a set of pixels, which are coloured in a specific way. The mind groups some of the pixels together and determines their meaning based on prior knowledge.

The meanings themselves are not inherent in the pixels - rather, the meaning is projected or superimposed onto the pixels.

Our experience of the world is just like this.

What we actually experience is a very large number of momentary, miniscule, sight-perceptions, sound-perceptions, touch-perceptions, etc. We then cluster some of them mentally - just like we cluster the pixels on the screen. Finally, we project, or superimpose, meaning onto these clusters by giving them names, and classifying them into categories (shabda and jnana).

To make this clear, let us revisit the example from the earlier article referenced above:

Let’s take a look at the image below. What do you see?

Reality is like a Roschach plot

Avidya is just like in this Rorschach plot - right now it’s a meaningless (and beautiful) mess, but if you look at it long enough, you start to project meaning onto it - especially if you want to discuss it with someone else. The tendency to conceal the underlying reality and project meaning is Avidya.

By itself, there is no meaning. We project meaning onto the world. This is avidya. At scale, it is called Maya.

Take a look at the meanings projected onto the plot above. I can even make up a story about them:

“A fisherman put his spear into the river. Seeing this foreign, powerful object, all the river-creatures decided they should worship it. The frogs got up really close to it because they had powerful legs, while the fish swam as close as they could, and the crabs carried some leaves to fan the spear with, as a method of worship. Seeing the gathering of the river-creatures, the birds decided to dive in and have a look for themselves. However, as it started to get crowded, the frogs got a bit too close to the spear, and it cut them. As the spear cut through their flesh, they bled, and three droplets of their blood spilled downward into the water.”

Now really speaking, there is no frog, fish, spear or leaves. We projected those onto the plot that did not have objects intrinsic to it. We even separated out the background (the water) without giving it a second thought! But taking the story seriously, we could start to ask questions like “why didn’t the fish get there first?”, “how were the birds able to stay underwater for so long?” or “how did the blood fall downwards in such perfect droplets, and not diffuse into the water?”. These questions can be answered, of course, using the framework that we projected onto the plot (frogs, fish, leaves, river, etc.), but really speaking, the questions are meaningless, and so any answer would be just as fictional as the objects themselves.

Notice, the projections work through language - we create objects by creating a symbol (e.g. a word, or an idea), and then acting as though that symbol is fundamentally somehow real.

These names and symbols are, of course, tremendously useful to us - we can use them to communicate with each other. However, the problem arises when we start to take the names seriously, as though the objects are real in themselves, and not just a collection of individual perceptions assigned a name for convenience, and by convention. This is especially problematic when it comes down to the mind, body, and idea of “me.” Once there is a “me”-idea, questions such as “what happens when I die?” or “where was I before I was born?” can arise. However, really speaking, just like in the example of the Rorschach plot above, these questions are meaningless because the idea of “me” is itself a conventional fiction.

This clustering of perceptions into objects, and then taking those conventional labels seriously is called “avidya” (pronounced uh-vid-yaah) or ignorance. It is the underlying cause of karma, of the idea of the individual sentient being (aka the jiva), and so the ultimate root of all suffering.”

Dharma Megha Samaadhi: Breaking through avidya

प्रसन्ख्यानेऽप्यकुसीदस्य सर्वथा विवेकख्यातेर्धर्ममेघः समाधिः।

Prasankhyaane’pyAkuseedasya sarvathaa vivekaKhyaaterDharmaMeghah samaadhih

For one who sees the harm/has no interest in even [the result(s) of] Yogic wisdom, as a result of the illumination of viveka, [arises] the Samaadhi called Dharma Megha.

- Yoga Sutra, 4.29

Through Samaadhi, we can strip away the words and ideas that cloud our perceptions at various levels of subtlety. Then, once we get good at this, we can use increasingly subtle Ekaagrataa Parinaam to really see the remaining artha - the pure perceptions without the veil of thought - as what it actually is.

That is, where we once saw vrittis, we now see pratyayas.

Then, we start to see that these pratyayas rise and fall of their own accord. They ebb and flow like waves in the ocean - emerging from and dissolving back in to their source - the gunas.

Each line represents an individual vritti - what we normally call a “thought”. This includes perceptions, imagination, memories, etc.

If we look closely, we find that what at first glance seemed like several (three in this image) different thoughts is in fact a series of momentary pratyayas that are rapidly appearing and disappearing. We later cluster them in a way that we feel creates meaning, and convince ourselves that we are holding several thoughts at once.

If we look closely we find that each pratyaya rises and falls independently of other pratyayas. Additionally, we find that they are not truly related to one another - this relationship is something we superimpose upon it later on, within thought.

When this happens, the entire Universe of experience starts to appear like a mirage.

We notice clearly that we have been clustering these individual, momentary pratyayas, and then projecting meaning onto them through force of habit - through our own karma. That is, we have been projecting meaning on to these pratyayas based on our own tendencies - our samskaaras.

We see that in themselves, it was never serious, it was (and is) just a beautiful light show. This experience is known as Dharma Megha Samaadhi - the Samaadhi of the Raincloud of Dharma.¹

Through Dharma Megha Samaadhi, we see that everything that we took so seriously is just a beautiful display of momentary pratyayas - a Blissful Dance. The very thing we took to be the cause of our suffering - samsara - was in fact Nirvana all along.

Another example to make this clear is the smoke that rises from incense.

If you light a stick of incense and watch the smoke for a few minutes, you will start to see patterns in the smoke. If you are very focused, you can even start to give names to particular patterns, and recognise them when they appear again.

If we want to, we can project meaning onto patterns of smoke in incense. We can recognize patterns when they re-appear, we can name them, and we can even develop likes or dislikes for them. However, ultimately, these patterns are just particles of dust rising in the hot air. Any names, meaning, likes or dislikes are just projections superimposed on top of a constantly fluctuating reality.

What’s more, you can even start to have likes and dislikes for particular patterns - perhaps you like the spiral pattern, so when it becomes more upwards you get upset. Maybe you prefer the straight pattern and so when it starts to whirl you hope that it stops spiralling and becomes straight again.

Now these patterns are just particles of dust rising in the hot air from the burning part of the incense stick. They are not actually objects - they appear and disappear, and are constantly in motion. Yet, we can give names to the patterns, classify them, and even plaster on our own preferences upon them.

Through the regular practice of Dharma Megha Samaadhi, we start to see that even the very mind that names and classifies the pratyayas is in itself a pattern of pratyayas.

Even the “I” that seems to “witness” this experience is in itself a pattern of pratyayas.

The process of meditation, culminating in this final “experience” of Dharma Megha Samaadhi (prior to Kaivalyam, or Enlightenment, which is not an experience in itself), is essentially a destructive process. Everything that you once thought to be true is seen to be a projection of thought. This is one meaning behind the symbology of the Nataraja - Shiva doing Tandava, or the Dance of Destruction.

Nothing in this Universe - nothing at all - is exempt from this Truth.

ततः क्लेशकर्मनिवृत्तिः।

Tatah kleshaKarmaNivrittih

From this [Dharma Megha Samaadhi] the [Yogi] goes beyond the kleshas and karma.

- Yoga Sutra, 4.30

This experience results in a feeling of complete dispassion - known as Para Vairaagya. All objects - whether they be physical or mental - are seen as nothing but a pattern of these pixels.

As a result, the likes, dislikes, and fears (the kleshas) are seen to be baseless - just like the liking and disliking of particular patterns of smoke dissipate once we see that the patterns themselves are just projections. They are sublated - just like the fear of seeing a snake is sublated when you realize that it was a rope the whole time. What’s more, even the “seeing” of all of this - the very act of observation or awareness² - is seen in this way.

This experience can be blissful, but for many it can also unsettling.

The more latent attachment there is to the objects, the higher the level of discomfort. This discomfort can lead to the Yogi not wanting to settle into this state, and so it subconsciously manifests as what many practitioners describe as “glimpses.”

Yoga can be seen as a systematic method to weaken the kleshas through the five stages of strength. More here.

If this experience results in a sense of fear, meaninglessness, or disillusionment, or if “glimpses” occur but it doesn’t settle, this is an indication of unaddressed kleshas, and therefore an insufficient focus on the earlier limbs of Yoga. If this is the case for you, take a look at the article here:

Where should I begin? Where does meditation fit in?

On the other hand, if this feels blissful, then the practice is to rest in this state, and habituate oneself to it. This way, when the eyes are open, and the body acts in the world, the Reality is clear.

Next time: Kaivalyam, Moksha, Enlightenment

1. There is some discussion by various commentators as to why Patanjali chose to use the term Dharma Megha for this state. For some, this Samaadhi washes away the kleshas and karma just like the rain washes away dirt. For others, the momentary appearance and disappearance of raindrops classified into the word “rain” is similar to how we group and classify pratyayas into vrittis in our everyday experience. In terms of the word Dharma, some take it to mean “virtue”, in that the Yogi who experiences this state effortlessly follows the Yamas and Niyamas, due to a deeper Understanding of non-separateness. For others, the word Dharma is taken in a different etymological meaning as “characteristic”, wherein all of Reality is seen as nothing but the gunas taking on various Dharmas or characteristics - thus making up our apparently variegated Universe. Regardless of the etymology or meaning of the word, it is to be taken as a map - after all, in Yoga, direct, practical experience is paramount to textual understanding or discussion.

2. Specifically, the chidaabhaasa - Phantom or Reflected Consciousness.